Tesla X last straw - Open Letter

[umeshunni]

Me too. I also sold my previous car since I got a delivery date of March 30th, only to be canceled the day before - not to mention buying insurance and financing for the 90D which isn't delivered yet, 2 weeks later. At about the 1 month mark, I will start having real financial costs due to this last minute delay, so I'm hoping for an unsoured relationship with Tesla that our delivery isn't delayed much further.

 

[AnOutsider]

Me too. I also sold my previous car since I got a delivery date of March 30th, only to be canceled the day before - not to mention buying insurance and financing for the 90D which isn't delivered yet, 2 weeks later. At about the 1 month mark, I will start having real financial costs due to this last minute delay, so I'm hoping for an unsoured relationship with Tesla that our delivery isn't delayed much further.

Going on 3 weeks of silence from Tesla on our X. Given this is the third Tesla we've had and all 3 have had some sort of communication issue, my wife is pretty much over it. It's looking like the next battle is how to pull out and not lose the deposit.

 

[Drivin]

Going on 3 weeks of silence from Tesla on our X. Given this is the third Tesla we've had and all 3 have had some sort of communication issue, my wife is pretty much over it. .

Remember, no news is good news!

 

[ohmman]

I have to imagine some portion of the delivery issues are related to the 3rd row seat latch recall. The communication issues are related to it being, you know, Tesla. But I do imagine that's what's going on - a scramble to make sure they have the proper supplies for the seat latches and potentially replacement door latches. Tesla has a hard time with transparency on those matters.

I'm sad to see people dropping out, but I totally understand. Hopefully when production gets more reliable - like it has been for Model S - you'll come back into the fold. Or, even better, maybe Tesla will surprise you with a delivery next week. I still haven't put together my full personal review of the X, but I can say that I'm glad we got it - I probably could have been tipped towards canceling if I hadn't taken delivery, and I'm glad it didn't work out that way. For me personally, I'm also very glad I didn't end up going the ICE/PHEV route.

Wish you guys luck.

 

[ABCCBA]

Pretty simple answer. Cancel your order. That is exactly what I did, and I do not regret it for one moment. You can always buy one later on. But, a car is not worth the stress and anxiety. Plus, it will save you $135,000+ and give you an opportunity to see what life is like without the expensive toy.

 

[umeshunni]

Pretty simple answer. Cancel your order.

Not so simple for me since at this point, I have paid for it and at least in theory, there is a car sitting in the factory with my name on it, just waiting for new seats.

 

[Drivin]

Not so simple for me since at this point, I have paid for it and at least in theory, there is a car sitting in the factory with my name on it, just waiting for new seats.

How did you pay for it "in theory" ?
If they didn't deliver it, you didn't pay for it.
Are you referring to the reservation fee?

 

[ABCCBA]

Not so simple for me since at this point, I have paid for it and at least in theory, there is a car sitting in the factory with my name on it, just waiting for new seats.

I lost $5k cancelling. Are you saying you paid $135k+ for a car that was never delivered?

 

[umeshunni]

How did you pay for it "in theory" ?
If they didn't deliver it, you didn't pay for it.

They said the delivery was on Wednesday (30th) and on the previous Friday, I received a mail with final payment options which included an ACH transfer. I chose the ACH transfer since it was easier than bringing a check to the pickup (and dealing with transferring funds from multiple bank accounts to a single checking account etc). On Monday morning, I received the call postponing the delivery with no ETA beyond 'April'.
I suspect many others who were promised a last week of March delivery date are in the same boat.

 

[ABCCBA]

Did you sign any paperwork accepting delivery? Do you have a receipt for your all cash transaction? What about a Sales Tax receipt for your state. Did you receive any paperwork to register the vehicle? Or, did you just voluntarily contribute to Tesla Motors an amount equal to your purchase price? Very odd, if true.

They said the delivery was on Wednesday (30th) and on the previous Friday, I received a mail with final payment options which included an ACH transfer. I chose the ACH transfer since it was easier than bringing a check to the pickup (and dealing with transferring funds from multiple bank accounts to a single checking account etc). On Monday morning, I received the call postponing the delivery with no ETA beyond 'April'.
I suspect many others who were promised a last week of March delivery date are in the same boat.

 

[pvogel]

Hmm. Since you've paid in full, I wonder if the lemon law time clock kicks in?

 

[ABCCBA]

Hmm. Since you've paid in full, I wonder if the lemon law time clock kicks in?

I'm thinking the same thing, but he would have to accepted delivery, not just made a 'paid in full' deposit.

 

[Drivin]

They said the delivery was on Wednesday (30th) and on the previous Friday, I received a mail with final payment options which included an ACH transfer..

That is really unfortunate.
You need to talk to someone there, asap.
Since you paid, but no delivery happened, it is reasonable that they would provide a full refund of the ACH transfer.
Getting the money back may make you feel better and you can then take it from there and decide whether you will eventually go with it or not.
Most importantly, if you get your money back and decide to go ahead when the vehicle is ready, spend the time and effort going over the car in detail before accepting delivery. Don't depend on a "to do" list - you have the most leverage before you sign for delivery.

Good luck.

 

[Drivin]

I'm thinking the same thing, but he would have to accepted delivery, not just made a 'paid in full' deposit.

For California, car makers have a lot of wiggle room on the the lemon law, particularly;
"The 30-day limit shall be extended only if repairs cannot be performed due to conditions beyond the control of the manufacturer or its agents."

If the repair is based on trouble getting parts from a third party, 30 day clock may not matter.

Besides, as you point out, this car wasn't delivered, so even then the lemon law doesn't kick in.

 

[shadaz]

Does anyone know if I can cancel my order and apply the deposit towards a new order? I never took delivery, but my car is supposedly at SC for last 2 weeks... and who knows how much longer due to the recall... It seems like the earlier models VIN < 2000 are going to have to many small issues and I rather just get one with the bugs all worked out.

 

[ABCCBA]

Call your DS. The worst they can say is No. But, I would pursued them to transfer the deposit to a new model vehicle.

Does anyone know if I can cancel my order and apply the deposit towards a new order? I never took delivery, but my car is supposedly at SC for last 2 weeks... and who knows how much longer due to the recall... It seems like the earlier models VIN < 2000 are going to have to many small issues and I rather just get one with the bugs all worked out.

 

[Scrith]

So not only are they selling far less than they imagined (order today, get it next month, according to their order page), but several people are getting cold feet about their open order (including me) and generally quite frustrated by Tesla's lack of communication with their paying customers. This doesn't seem like very good news for Tesla, at least as far as the Model X is concerned.

 

[Dr ValueSeeker]

They said the delivery was on Wednesday (30th) and on the previous Friday, I received a mail with final payment options which included an ACH transfer. I chose the ACH transfer since it was easier than bringing a check to the pickup (and dealing with transferring funds from multiple bank accounts to a single checking account etc). On Monday morning, I received the call postponing the delivery with no ETA beyond 'April'.
I suspect many others who were promised a last week of March delivery date are in the same boat.

Well, you just helped Tesla sweeten their quarterly report with another bombastic customer deposit number
I wrote here before, that once the quarter ends, there is no more rush and expect quite some delays. The BIG delivery tent at the factory before March 31? That has been dismantled.

 

[Drivin]

So not only are they selling far less than they imagined (order today, get it next month, according to their order page).

I was surprised to see that they are claiming delivery in May for orders today which is as fast as an S order.

 

[SΞXY P100D]

To the OP...

Thanks for opening this thread and sharing your eye opening story. Even more shocking to me is to hear from several others who are experiencing major delays as yourself. By now I'm sure that even Elon Musk himself has read all this. It was really nice of him to respond to your tweet to give you some assurance. I hope he follows through and that everything works out for you!

It's right for them to change the game plan with the Model 3 by making their own employees the guinea pigs (for lack of a better term) rather than the general public.