Time allowed for inspecting the car?

[ctbear]

When taking delivery of the car, how long do I have for inspecting the car before I have to accept it? I don't want to spend hours at their location and would prefer doing that at home.

I also read that you have to accept it before opening the doors, which means I have to finish my checklist there right? What about inspecting the interior?

 

[charlesoris]

When taking delivery of the car, how long do I have for inspecting the car before I have to accept it? I don't want to spend hours at their location and would prefer doing that at home.

I also read that you have to accept it before opening the doors, which means I have to finish my checklist there right? What about inspecting the interior?

Personally, I am planning to inspect the car's exterior and interior at the Delivery Center. Once I am fully satisfied, I will hand over the paper check for the downpayment, and if not, I will pass on the car till the next one comes along. The car's cost is high and I don't have time to take the car to a bodyshop or a repair center to correct factory problems. And if the next one is just as bad, I will forget about my deposit and look at other manufacturers in 2022. Happy New Year

 

[Sludog]

When taking delivery of the car, how long do I have for inspecting the car before I have to accept it? I don't want to spend hours at their location and would prefer doing that at home.

I also read that you have to accept it before opening the doors, which means I have to finish my checklist there right? What about inspecting the interior?

You can look over the exterior as much as you want before accepting delivery. The doors won't unlock until you accept delivery. I'm not sure how it's possible to spend hours inspecting the car. When I picked up my Model 3 I was there about an hour but I spent some time setting up car settings. A guy next to me was taking delivery of his Model S plaid about the same time I arrived. He looked over the car for like 20 minutes spent a few minutes taking to me and then took off. Didn't seem like he was too worried about panel gaps and he spent almost 150K on his car.

 

[Wahnyc]

You can look over the exterior as much as you want before accepting delivery. The doors won't unlock until you accept delivery. I'm not sure how it's possible to spend hours inspecting the car. When I picked up my Model 3 I was there about an hour but I spent some time setting up car settings. A guy next to me was taking delivery of his Model S plaid about the same time I arrived. He looked over the car for like 20 minutes spent a few minutes taking to me and then took off. Didn't seem like he was too worried about panel gaps and he spent almost 150K on his car.

which center did you pick up from?

 

[charlesoris]

You can look over the exterior as much as you want before accepting delivery. The doors won't unlock until you accept delivery. I'm not sure how it's possible to spend hours inspecting the car. When I picked up my Model 3 I was there about an hour but I spent some time setting up car settings. A guy next to me was taking delivery of his Model S plaid about the same time I arrived. He looked over the car for like 20 minutes spent a few minutes taking to me and then took off. Didn't seem like he was too worried about panel gaps and he spent almost 150K on his car.

I spoke with my DA and I was assured that I will have access to the exterior and the interior before I would accept the vehicle. Of course, the initial take from my SA was to limit inspection to the exterior, but if you insist, you will be granted access to the interior (DA will unlock the car for you). All you have to do is to discuss this issue with your DA - on the whole, Tesla employees are nice people to deal with.

 

[Sludog]

which center did you pick up from?

Cherry Hill

 

[CaseyL]

I spoke with my DA and I was assured that I will have access to the exterior and the interior before I would accept the vehicle. Of course, the initial take from my SA was to limit inspection to the exterior, but if you insist, you will be granted access to the interior (DA will unlock the car for you). All you have to do is to discuss this issue with your DA - on the whole, Tesla employees are nice people to deal with.

Our car was unlocked and we even sat in it to fill out the forms before we accepted it. Our SA told us to take our time and left us with the car for a while.

I agree with the comment above. Everyone at the service center was nice. The other people picking up cars were hanging around and laughing and talking. No one seemed in a hurry.

 

[canada]

You can look over the exterior as much as you want before accepting delivery. The doors won't unlock until you accept delivery. I'm not sure how it's possible to spend hours inspecting the car. When I picked up my Model 3 I was there about an hour but I spent some time setting up car settings. A guy next to me was taking delivery of his Model S plaid about the same time I arrived. He looked over the car for like 20 minutes spent a few minutes taking to me and then took off. Didn't seem like he was too worried about panel gaps and he spent almost 150K on his car.

 

[skipugh]

When taking delivery of the car, how long do I have for inspecting the car before I have to accept it? I don't want to spend hours at their location and would prefer doing that at home.

I also read that you have to accept it before opening the doors, which means I have to finish my checklist there right? What about inspecting the interior?

I just took delivery of my model S at their Baltimore dealership. I had downloaded a checklist from « Tesbros ». This was my first Tesla ever. So, I asked for and got a knowledgeable person to go over the vehicle with me, especially the « how to do ». It was missing the UMC bag with the charging cable and adapters as well as the trunk cover. They got those for me before I left. I also found a few panel gaps, their person had me take some photos of it and and told me to report it to Tesla via the app. My wife and I probably spent about an hour inspecting the car with someone with us about ½ the time. I never felt rushed.

 

[Dknj23]

you usually have a 1 hr window to do your inspection and finalize paperwork. i picked up my plaid late dec and the SA opened the door for me and said take a look around and i will be inside once i'm ready. no hassle and had as much time as i wanted to look over everything before signing anything, this was in Princeton NJ and was my second Tesla from there.

 

[mrwug]

I don't want to spend hours at their location and would prefer doing that at home.

If you're planning to spend hours inspecting the car, you're probably overthinking things. I got through my checklist in 30-40 minutes. Now I didn't go crawling under the car looking for missing fasteners but I don't see the value in searching for such minutiae. I can't think of much that would show up outside the first few days that would get caught by such an inspection.

For example, I did have an annoying rattle turn up after a couple days that no amount of inspection would have turned up. A little use of the Google machine and I figured out that tapping the back of the seat would seat the fastener(s) causing the rattle.