I picked up my 2018 Model S 100D at Burbank Tesla this weekend. This car was a showroom demo--I don't know which showroom. My salesperson told me there was no damage on the car, and that the price was reduced because it had 264 miles on it. Also, I would be able to take delivery within 2 weeks. Yay!
But not yay.
My Tesla Burbank delivery specialist did NOT walk me around the car and have me sign off on its perfection or lack thereof. I looked at the back of the car because I signed the papers at a desk behind the car. It seemed fine. I looked at the driver's side, because I had to get into the car to get an orientation and to drive it. No problem there. The interior of the car, also perfect.
I drove the car straightaway to Valley Clear Bra, one of two trained and authorized X-Pel Prime PPF dealers with loads of experience with Teslas, so the owner, Dan Gill, could start the paint protection film application on Monday. The process was to take 5-7 days.
Yesterday, Dan called me about a scrape he noticed on the bottom of the passenger side front bumper. I immediately drove to the shop to see what he was talking about. Needless to say I was horrified, and called my delivery specialist at Burbank. She was out of the office, so I called my salesperson, then texted him a photo. He said the damage looked like it happened when the car was offloaded from the delivery truck.
Today, the delivery manager at Burbank called to tell me they are not accepting responsibility for the damage. She said they have 3 people inspecting every square inch of the car before contacting me for pick-up.
I'm posting this in hopes that my bad experience with the Tesla Burbank delivery team will help someone else.
Lessons Learned:
1. I should have insisted on walking around the entire car to inspect it. I feel stupid, because I trusted the delivery specialists to check everything. I expect more from ANY car that costs as much as this one!
2. The owner of Valley Clear Bra didn't see the damage on the car when I dropped it off, either. It's in kind of an unusual and awkward spot that you'd have to really look for. Also, he started the PPF application on the top of the car and worked his way down. He only noticed the scrape when he raised the car up to do the bumper. So, we should have done the same walk-around that a rental car company would do before releasing a car to the customer.
3. That said, the owner of Valley Clear Bra is taking care of everything for me, since Tesla Burbank isn't. He's taking my MS to have the damage repaired by a reputable body shop specializing in luxury cars.
But not yay.
My Tesla Burbank delivery specialist did NOT walk me around the car and have me sign off on its perfection or lack thereof. I looked at the back of the car because I signed the papers at a desk behind the car. It seemed fine. I looked at the driver's side, because I had to get into the car to get an orientation and to drive it. No problem there. The interior of the car, also perfect.
I drove the car straightaway to Valley Clear Bra, one of two trained and authorized X-Pel Prime PPF dealers with loads of experience with Teslas, so the owner, Dan Gill, could start the paint protection film application on Monday. The process was to take 5-7 days.
Yesterday, Dan called me about a scrape he noticed on the bottom of the passenger side front bumper. I immediately drove to the shop to see what he was talking about. Needless to say I was horrified, and called my delivery specialist at Burbank. She was out of the office, so I called my salesperson, then texted him a photo. He said the damage looked like it happened when the car was offloaded from the delivery truck.
Today, the delivery manager at Burbank called to tell me they are not accepting responsibility for the damage. She said they have 3 people inspecting every square inch of the car before contacting me for pick-up.
I'm posting this in hopes that my bad experience with the Tesla Burbank delivery team will help someone else.
Lessons Learned:
1. I should have insisted on walking around the entire car to inspect it. I feel stupid, because I trusted the delivery specialists to check everything. I expect more from ANY car that costs as much as this one!
2. The owner of Valley Clear Bra didn't see the damage on the car when I dropped it off, either. It's in kind of an unusual and awkward spot that you'd have to really look for. Also, he started the PPF application on the top of the car and worked his way down. He only noticed the scrape when he raised the car up to do the bumper. So, we should have done the same walk-around that a rental car company would do before releasing a car to the customer.
3. That said, the owner of Valley Clear Bra is taking care of everything for me, since Tesla Burbank isn't. He's taking my MS to have the damage repaired by a reputable body shop specializing in luxury cars.
