Things the sales guy said...

[SoCalNick]

This is more just a funny things they say vs any badgering over auto-wipers, etc...

I did the test drive. I commented on how small the rear window was in the rear view mirror. The sales guy immediately said "I always drive with the rear view camera on" and did just that on the lower-half of the screen. Cool, but not my thing.
I was speaking to a friend who is on the other side of the country, and he told me the exact same story...
Perhaps they both read the same "things to say to a customer" manual.

Also, took my wife to see the car. On the way over she's asking questions about what happens if it rolls over, etc. I explained the low center of gravity, etc. When we got there, she asked the same question on the shop-floor to the sales girl. Sales girl (who seemed to know nothing) just replied that it was *impossible* to roll over.

Has anyone else noticed things like that?

 

[Lukez]

I find that I never ask a sales person a question that I actually want an answer for. They are typically not very technical people and if they are good sales people they will tell you what they think you want to hear.
Same goes to buying a TV, a toaster, a bed, etc. Tesla is no different.
Educate yourself and use the sales people to get you what you want. Just my 2c

 

[Peewee]

I told my sales guy that I wanted a non-D version, because it was more fun.

- He replied that he would do the same, and it was the best one to go for.

3 weeks later, I ordered my car, an S75D

- He told me that the D version was the one to go for, and he would have done the same

 

[BinaryField]

This was pretty much my experience when I visited a Tesla store last month. Got a lot of "sales speak" answers to my technical / performance questions about the car. I'm very new to the Tesla market, but I felt like I knew more than the representative was willing or able to say. I'm relying now on sources like the nice people on this forum!

 

[trils0n]

Hmm. I always drive with the rear camera on, and mention that whenever someone asks about the small window. It is a common question, and a great feature, and I miss it when I drive any other car, so not surprised that's what they say. Like having a 4th mirror.

And when the initial crash tests of the Model S were completed by the government, the standard roll over test didn't make the Model S roll over, so they had to modify the test to get it to flip, so that's probably where the exaggeration of it is "impossible to roll over" came from.

 

[Leopold Stotch]

I find that I never ask a sales person a question that I actually want an answer for. They are typically not very technical people and if they are good sales people they will tell you what they think you want to hear.
Same goes to buying a TV, a toaster, a bed, etc. Tesla is no different.
Educate yourself and use the sales people to get you what you want. Just my 2c

Exactly.

 

[Max*]

My sales woman was good, she honestly told me which features at the time were completely unnecessary and which were good. She didn't lie or bend the truth. She wanted to get me in the car that I needed, not just any car, and not just to get a sale.

 

[kort677]

I'm just curious, what is the fixation some people have about their view out the rear?

 

[trils0n]

I'm just curious, what is the fixation some people have about their view out the rear?

Don't know, I never had any problems with it, but seems to be a common question. I've given over a hundred test drives in my car, and it comes up a lot. Probably people wanting to be safe in an unfamiliar, new, expensive car, so they get extra cautious. Or being used to driving a large SUV with a big back window.

 

[trm2]

I mentioned the small view during my test drive and the salesman said that yes, it is small, but you do have the option of the camera. I really liked the rear view camera/mirror when I drove a Chevy Bolt - it is a mirror or camera depending on how you set it, so it is just very familiar to look in one place.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

I'm just curious, what is the fixation some people have about their view out the rear?

when I did the first test drive event in Fremont I thought the rear view sucked and looking over your shoulder sucked too for blind spot corners. the rear window is pretty far back and the slope angle etc. makes the view out of it pretty minimal compared to many other cars
Now I absolutely love the S with center console camera and wide set side mirrors. There is pretty much nothing you can't see while your head is facing straight ahead. other cars suck to drive without the wide camera
there is really no need to turn your head to back up either

 

[kvandivo]

I did the test drive. I commented on how small the rear window was in the rear view mirror. The sales guy immediately said "I always drive with the rear view camera on" and did just that on the lower-half of the screen. Cool, but not my thing.
I was speaking to a friend who is on the other side of the country, and he told me the exact same story...
Perhaps they both read the same "things to say to a customer" manual.

I just want to chime in and say that this MUST be in the manual, because our test drive guy in the middle of the country said the identical exact same thing when we commented on how bad the view was out the back.

 

[sdugan99]

Test drive 2 weeks ago before buying my 90.

Things they said that were wrong or sales speak

1. Smart Air - not standard. Air suspension is standard but not the automatic
2. Showed me the Steering control selections (Sport, Comfort, Standard) and said that was the suspension and you would feel more bumps in the sport vs comfort
3. Have to buy now these deals won't last - but didn't show me one deal
4. You have to have leather, we don't sell or see any with the base seats.

6. Cameras read the speed limit signs and display on dash.
I really felt like I know about the car then he did and could have done a better job. All in all I got what I went in for a test drive.

2 weeks later I have a 90D so he couldn't have been that bad

 

[sandpiper]

This was pretty much my experience when I visited a Tesla store last month. Got a lot of "sales speak" answers to my technical / performance questions about the car. I'm very new to the Tesla market, but I felt like I knew more than the representative was willing or able to say. I'm relying now on sources like the nice people on this forum!

It's like that with any technical product. You're not going to get any useful information from the typical salesperson on ANY form of electronics - computer, TV, stereo, whatever. People who are good with technical products typically don't wind up in retail.

 

[kvandivo]

Our test drive guy stated very emphatically that the AP2+ car we were driving was reading the speed limit signs. When I pointed out that the very street we were on had a conflicting number on a sign we'd just passed, he told us that it was because the car just happened to not be able to read the number there and had fallen back on its non-updated database number.

 

[d21mike]

I did a test drive on 8/30/17 before placing my order. I had watched a lot of videos and also read about the car here. I notice a lot of comments about HW 2.0 vs 2.5 so decided to see what he said. His answer was they are EXACTLY THE SAME. I same you mean that they work the same but they are not the same. NO, they are exactly the same. I continue to press him for about 1-2 minutes but he would not back off. I tried multiple times to allow him to say yes there is a small hardware difference but you will not see a difference in how the car handles. But no, he insisted that there was no difference in the HW.

 

[Doug_G]

I always drive with the rear view camera on - love that feature, especially in heavy traffic.

The Model S famously broke the roof crush test machine. Even if you can somehow could get the car roll over with it's incredibly low center of gravity, you're as well protected as any street car in existence.

 

[sdugan99]

Our test drive guy stated very emphatically that the AP2+ car we were driving was reading the speed limit signs. When I pointed out that the very street we were on had a conflicting number on a sign we'd just passed, he told us that it was because the car just happened to not be able to read the number there and had fallen back on its non-updated database number.

Of forgot that one. Yes he told us the cameras pick up the speed limit signs and display on drive dash. We were surprised and thought this was cool and we hadn't heard of it. Now that I have the car I know how wrong he was as I am get wrong speed limits often.

 

[kort677]

I always drive with the rear view camera on - love that feature, especially in heavy traffic.

why?
what could be going on back there that would be something to divert you from being focused on where the car is going?
I try to look out the windshield, especially in heavy traffic, what is happening to my rear is of no interest to me. it's not like I can control what a driver to my rear is going to do nor could I react to anything happening back there, especially in heavy traffic.

 

[sandpiper]

Of forgot that one. Yes he told us the cameras pick up the speed limit signs and display on drive dash. We were surprised and thought this was cool and we hadn't heard of it. Now that I have the car I know how wrong he was as I am get wrong speed limits often.

The absence of this feature really confuses me. It's not a complex thing to do. Tesla certainly has enough data to train their system to read the signs. It's odd that it's been in AP1 for so long but not in AP2.