Took Delivery of S75D 2 weeks - 1st impressions and dealer experience.

[manchester_m]

Hello to everyone on the forum and this is my first post! Just wanted to share my experience with existing and owners and particularly anyone about to order/awaiting delivery as it may help you to avoid some issues later on.

I bought an inventory model in the last days of Dec 2016 and managed to get a really good discount (from Tesla Manchester - premium upgrade, autopilot 1.0, tan leather, pearl white, 19" wheels). Having had the car for a couple of weeks now, I can say that I absolutely love driving it and constantly look for excuses to take it for a drive. Much has been said on these (and other) forums about the build quality, etc as compared to other premium brands and there probably isn't much I can add to them other than to say it's mostly pretty good with the odd disappointment (the centre storage area). I certainly don't feel short-changed in any way.

The big surprise for me is just how well it rides - this is something of a miraculous achievement by a car company with only a bit over a decade's experience when other marques still can't do suspension after many decades of manufacturing experience (I'm looking at Audi....). The 75D offers plenty of acceleration, being still quicker than most of the cars you're likely to be next to. Range is not really a problem for me as my daily commute is all of 30 miles round trip (and I've got a charger at the office and at home). The car really is a doddle to drive and I now find it awkward to drive the ICE cars we have in our household!

I've had no faults with mine since taking delivery and have met other Tesla owners who all seem to be a pretty friendly bunch and looking forward to meeting others.

The thing that, so far, has taken the shine off the whole Tesla-owing experience for me is the dealership/store/Design Studio (or whatever they call it) experience which, to be blunt, has been shambolic and just plain amateurish. The actual test drive and order process itself for an inventory car was fine and the sales person/product specialist did a good job. The problems start after you place your deposit. In my case, it suddenly became virtually impossible to contact anyone via email or phone. In fact, I actually threatened to cancel my order TWICE in order to get a response from them on basic matters like delivery dates, for example. I had a part-ex car and they still haven't settled the finance on that car, nor refunded the excess so effectively they've had thousands of pounds of my money sat in their account for weeks and it's been a right pain to get any information out of them (there is a mysterious 'trade-in team' that has no contact details).

The handover process seems rushed (they allocated 45 minutes to it) and some of the prep issues others have reported reared their heads (missing parts for UMC connector, mirror not working, wheel damage that was supposed to be repaired/replaced not done). Not the end of the world but also easily avoidable, particularly when there has been so much feedback about these issues (car has been booked in to have mirror sorted). All manufacturers have their problems but I have certainly never experienced such consistent communications problems in 25 years of buying cars from anyone other than Tesla. It could just be Tesla Manchester, though. Also, strange that I've had no customer satisfaction follow-up at all (has this been the experience with other owners?)

My advice: make sure anything you agree with them, particularly financial, is written down (in my case they had 3 separate part-ex figures in their system) and follow the advice that others have posted for things to check at handover. Insist on an inspection visit ahead of delivery.

In summary, the car itself more than makes up for the issues mentioned above and,I wish I had bought this two years ago!

Happy to answer any questions from anyone.

 

[azred]

I think what you are describing about your notadealer will improve somewhat over time as they get more experienced staff. I have noticed the local notadealer looks like it recruited from the high school class of 2016. Of course it may be a decade or more before independent mechanics sprout up. Until then, I think we all just need to acknowledge that some frustration will be the norm at the notadealers.

 

[DJP31]

Thank you Manchester_m for your very helpful first post, and welcome to the forum. Your post contains very familiar themes, namely a car that performs so well it makes up for the at times amateurish organisation around it.

I've been following Tesla for a couple of years and although allowance can be made for growing pains, IMO they are going to run out of early adopters pretty soon, especially when you factor in the price rises.

Although forums tend to attract negative rather than positive reports, that is the nature of these things, I am so disappointed that Tesla do not seem to have learnt. It's almost an expectation that a snagging list will be necessary and a return to the SC a few weeks after delivery. To take a car away from the handover with faults/imperfections is something I've never experienced before, but I'm half expecting it to be the case (pick up S 60D early March) despite intending to give my DS a long list of things I want checked before I agree to take the car.

I only hope they get themselves sorted before the Model 3 gets here. The mass market will not pay £35k+ for a car that is sub standard and needs to go back to the SC inside a month of ownership. The irony is some crazy high percentage of owners would buy another one, they are that good.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Much has been said on these (and other) forums about the build quality, etc as compared to other premium brands ... the centre storage area

I think the centre storage area is a design-issue, rather than a quality one. You either like it or you don't, and maybe the design-decision was based on other factors - such as initial availability of parts / tooling / market-research, or just the Whim of the Boss!, and it may be different to other high-end-marques, but I think its By Design. (There are other Fit and Finish issues which may well be unacceptable for anyone coming from a high-end marque, for me having moved UP the tree, they are fine)

I had a part-ex car and they still haven't settled the finance on that car, nor refunded the excess

My purchase was at the time of imminent price increase, and i wanted to have maximum possible lead time; the price increase was delayed so I cancelled my order and placed a new one (the day before the actual price increase, within the cooling-off-period) and that took a couple of weeks before the refund came through - both my time, and Tesla staff, wasted with me phoning to say "What's going on". The reason given was that refunds had to be authorised by a senior manager and s/he was busy. Might be true ... or, cynical-me, it inflates the current-cash position - as would being tardy with part-ex refunds.

It's almost an expectation that a snagging list will be necessary and a return to the SC a few weeks after delivery.

I don't think that is the case, I think it's just "We were too busy to complete this job by the deadline". But ... I'm in software, every time we miss a deadline and ship "in a hurry" the knock-on effects of the remedial work absolutely crucifies us; all deadlines and promises to other clients go out of the window as we perform emergency repairs on the crap-code. Must be the same for Tesla - the first-fix is the cheapest one, and surely cheaper to fix it before-release rather than after. But ... maybe "Car's shipped" is such an important statistic that it takes centre stage? Bit like Hospital Waiting Lists - "let's get you to see a doctor immediately, and get you off the Stats, and your follow-up-appointment can be ... erm ... year's-from-now."

My sales-pitch to friends has changed, and it does not reflect well on Tesla. My wife is far more vocal - along the lines of "Car is useless, THIS fault and THAT fault". I see the reality as being less bleak and I interceded with "Yes, but its her daily-driver, she's happy driving it (we've got other cars if she wasn't ) she has never broken down, she has never had to fill up on a stinky forecourt, she doesn't have the dreadful dealer-experience of yesteryear but, yes, we are putting up with a bunch of things, but they are not really significant to our daily lives - other than in comparison to the sticker-price of the car and the market-segment that its aimed at"

The issues are generally:

• Software changes that make the screen unusable/less usable in some way or change the behviour from "what we bought, and liked at that time"
• Software updates that have poor QA, bringing both new bugs (albeit usually trivial, but annoying) and also bringing back previously fixed bugs

plus Weird Behaviour:

• one headlight flashing beam/dip, couldn't find anyone else that had the problem, didn't have time to get it back to Service (I set the "Level" to point down and oncoming traffic didn't flash me! so I figured that was OK) but it went away after a software update
• similarly with static on the radio - all but went away with a software update, so couldn't be bothered to get it to Service, has now come back (far worse) with latest update. Only found one other person that had a problem.
• heating is dreadful. We drive an hour with temperature set modestly - say 21-22C; outside is relatively cold (say 5C) but consistent; we are perfectly comfortable. All of a sudden, after a decent amount of journey (an hour or so), we both get freezing feet at the same time. Can't be bothered to get the car back to Service to get that fixed either ... the daily commute is short enough Wifee doesn't have a problem.

 

[tonyj01]

Hi all,

I am no apologist, I recently had some warranty work sorted at Stockport, Manchester service centre. I want to tell you good things about them there. I think they realise they have a premium priced brand that must reach to a more mass market in order to succeed, service was much more like you would get from other premier makes.

I have found the experience good, they now have some possible remedial work to my steering mechanism. I have also has a faulty wiper motor replaced this year [mine is an S90D March 16]. In addition, they have sent me a emailed online service survey, 48 hours after the service visit - all was good.

The few warranty issues have been solved with grace, but my goodwill to the car is so high, it hasn't bothered me.

[An aside, I had a few Lexuses around 15 years ago, very well made cars, not exciting, if any minor thing went wrong, the whole dealership were mortified - people would apologise and apologise].

Regards,

Tony

 

[WannabeOwner]

I want to tell you good things about them there

Good point, and mirrors my experience. My car went back for the Radio and Heater to be looked at. We also had a "Vehicle may not re-start after next Park" - I put it down to stopping fairly quickly at Lights etc. and the "will not re-start" never happened ... so ...

I took it to the service centre, they gave me a loaner, apart from the fact its a fair trek to Service, for me, no quibble. All went very well, they obviously thought I'b been put out so they brought the car back to me on a trailer, which was more than I had expected. They changed the drive unit too, so the dash-message was actually real! The heater and radio were better, albeit not 100%.

 

[WannabeOwner]

if any minor thing went wrong, the whole dealership were mortified

I had a similar experience with a Japanese camera manufacturer, back in the 80's I think. I had a long zoom lens with a Macro setting which got "confused" between the two modes. Took it to the local dealer who said it could be fixed under warranty, in his experience it would take a long time, etc. As it happened I was about to go to Japan on business so I took it with me, phoned the company when I got there and caught the train out to their factory to drop it off. They seemed mildly surprised that a customer would do this, let alone a foreigner, told me that it was not appropriate that I travelled by train and paid for a taxi to take me back into town!

From memory that was a Friday and the start of a public holiday, including Monday, but they said they would bring the fixed lens back to my office on Tuesday. Tuesday came and I got a phone call at work that they hadn't quite finished, would it be OK if they returned it to my hotel instead. So that evening they arrived, at the appointed time, full of apologies; they had not been able to repair the lens, it should never have gone wrong, would I accept a new one instead? and a full set of filters for the inconvenience I had been caused ...

... fantastic service, and glad I hadn't just dropped it off at the local UK dealer!!

 

[DJP31]

I don't think any of us doubt the enthusiasm and desire to help of the staff, for me it's the lack of QC improvements that are troubling. It's a great testament to the car that despite all these niggles and irritants the experience of the car is more than good enough to make up for them.

I am expecting the car to have been properly PDI'd though, and am hoping my impressions have been unfairly influenced by the negative slant forums can often take.

@tonyj01, I'm leaving Lexus after nearly 10 years to go to Tesla . Unexciting but brilliant cars, and a dealership ethos to match, in my experience.

 

[manchester_m]

Hi All

Thanks for all the feedback. Again, consistently the view seems to be that the warranty/remedial work by the Service Centre is impressive compared to other manufacturers. My car is going in in a couple of days for the minor issues to be sorted out and, to be fair to Tesla Manchester, that part was quite smooth: I had a call from them around a week after delivery to arrange either collection of my car or loan car for the day (a wheel had a minor scratch at delivery, easily repairable, but instead they are replacing with a new one!). As the work is scheduled to take a couple of hours, I have opted to take the car in myself and wait at the service centre ONLY so I can find someone to speak to regarding the completely crap communication from sales/finance.

I didn't want my first post to come across as a rant based on limited experience but I do now feel that this is inexcusable by them and potential new owners need to be aware of this so your expectations are realistic (of course, this aspect of Tesla ownership may be massively improved by the time others receive cars..). In my experience, I've had a better sales/comms experience from a humble Ford garage, never mind any of the premium marques. Of course this has to be balanced by the fact that the warranty/repair experience of most other marques does not seem to be as impressive as Tesla's and I guess this aspect means there is a lot of goodwill towards them from current owners.

I have to say the way the test drives were handled was a breath of fresh air: I drove 3 separate cars and at no point did the salesperson try to pressure me to do a deal or make it seem like a chore (don't even recall having to show my driving license...in stark contrast to a recent experience with another manufacturer where I had to sign all kinds of disclaimers before allowing me anywhere near the car). All the info/advice I was given by the salesperson seemed to be accurate and I have nothing but praise for that part.

Will try to write up a fuller review of driving/ownership experience sometime in the next few days.

 

[tonyj01]

Overall car dealerships are very strange to deal with.

I am lucky to have owned cars from many premium brands - the buying experience is so often incredibly poor, you go in as a buyer, and all you meet, if they can be bothered to say hello, are the resident "sales prevention officers". You know the ones - they don't call back, or can't get you the 3 litre four wheel drive to test, ["No, I don't want to test the 1.6L 2wd car, it's not the same"] etc, etc.

Trying to buy a car every few years is always a lesson to those of us any form of sales or customer relations - you always learn how NOT to interact with the public

I think this Tesla thing is at an interesting stage, we buy this car which is such a departure from ICE machines, we seem to carry great goodwill, we are their ambassadors almost everywhere we go.

So, overall, if the goodwill feeling were low, plus a feeling of poor dealer experience, we would really be moaning. The earlyish adopter/new tech feeling still outweighs for me [and they are giving me good service].


Tony

 

[cheshire cat]

I hear several echos already even tho I have yet to take delivery----trying to be constructive, sales /drive have been great but I wonder if I was just lucky in getting someone with a mature attitude as opposed to the mainstream "cool dudes" . As this as my second attempt (depot) it may be I wouldn't have purchased based on my experience of some other staff, and whilst it's difficult to judge someone merely from a phone call, a recent conversation with the service manager left me quite impressed.

 

[azred]

I hear several echos already even tho I have yet to take delivery----trying to be constructive, sales /drive have been great but I wonder if I was just lucky in getting someone with a mature attitude as opposed to the mainstream "cool dudes" . As this as my second attempt (depot) it may be I wouldn't have purchased based on my experience of some other staff, and whilst it's difficult to judge someone merely from a phone call, a recent conversation with the service manager left me quite impressed.

I think "mature" anything from Tesla staff is asking a lot. This is a very young company selling and servicing a product quite different from the other many cars on the road. Consequently, I wasn't surprised that most of the sales and service staff who I have dealt with look like they graduated from high school last week. It may be many years before we have a trusted, experienced, mature private mechanic to service these cars.