Top 3-5 things to look for during delivery...

[Brian_2024]

I'm taking delivery of my MYLR next week and can't wait. However I'm concerned I'll miss something during the inspection since it's a long process. I'll probably follow a YouTube video or the Tesla Prep app but I'm not familiar with the car (only test drove one in July for about 20 minutes and was instantly sold) so may miss some things.

What are the first/top 3-5 things you would check?

What would you consider deal breakers vs no big deals?

What's the process if someone rejects the vehicle do to defects -- is the $250 deposit refunded?

Hoping all goes well and I'll officially join the club

 

[ewoodrick]

Take a walk around the car and take a look for obvious issues.
Make sure that you are ready to prove current insurance on the new car.
Make sure that payment is lined up.
If there are multiple signers, make sure that they are all there.
Most importantly have someone there take a picture of that big grin on your face!!!!

I'd guess that 99.9% of the deliveries go extremely well. When you read the forums, you'll hear the 0.1% who sign up just to complain. And this happens for ANY car or ANY product.

I think that on my second car, there were one or two little things that we put on the list, a few weeks later, we scheduled an appointment and they got fixed.
Things like panel alignment are often trivial to fix.
Unlike normal dealer, don't expect a detail team to clean the car before you get it. You'll probably get it just off the truck and there will probably be road dirt on it.

Don't make the inspection a long process, it only makes the delivery advisor's job harder and less likely to help if there are issues. After all, how much inspection did you don't on your other vehicles?

 

[AJ..]

Take a walk around the car and take a look for obvious issues.
Make sure that you are ready to prove current insurance on the new car.
Make sure that payment is lined up.
If there are multiple signers, make sure that they are all there.
Most importantly have someone there take a picture of that big grin on your face!!!!

I'd guess that 99.9% of the deliveries go extremely well. When you read the forums, you'll hear the 0.1% who sign up just to complain. And this happens for ANY car or ANY product.

I think that on my second car, there were one or two little things that we put on the list, a few weeks later, we scheduled an appointment and they got fixed.
Things like panel alignment are often trivial to fix.
Unlike normal dealer, don't expect a detail team to clean the car before you get it. You'll probably get it just off the truck and there will probably be road dirt on it.

Don't make the inspection a long process, it only makes the delivery advisor's job harder and less likely to help if there are issues. After all, how much inspection did you don't on your other vehicles?

“Don't make the inspection a long process, it only makes the delivery advisor's job harder and less likely to help if there are issues” - I’m sure all will go smooth on this one but that isn’t too helpful. He is looking to pay close to 50,000 (after paying taxes on that earned income) and then paying another sales tax on top of that. I would argue take delivery early on in the day on a bright sunny day so light is good. Take a colleague who can help (if you can find one) - as having someone to talk to is very helpful. I can’t imagine how someone who’s job is to make sure customer has smooth experience will have a problem.

Tesla who uses email/demo videos and paperless delivery - would be helped if they give paying customer time (say 1-2 hrs for proper inspection- they’ve earned some repute with panel issues or some recent news of cracked panel?) before actually having customer pay 55k and take the car.

Even a drone captured video of the car sent pre delivery to the customer will do wonders to the whole process.

A happy customer will come back for a new X or a plaid S few years down

 

[MacO512]

Take as long as you want just be polite and respectful if it's a long time and let them know it's a big moment for you.

I'd walk along outside and check panel gaps.

Kind of wish I'd looked if rear motor was upgraded 4D1 or 980 performance motor as I got weakest 990/3D5. Probably not worth rejecting for that though and probably kind of unfair to. Not sure I'll ever ghost it or use the difference anyways.

Problem is you can't get in the vehicle until you accept delivery. On my first Tesla there was mark in headrest from the front seatbelt wrapped around it in shipping and it never went away as delivery guy suggested it would.

Honestly I love the 3 and Y but IMO they're a basic entry level car production wise so if I don't see any damage to the car/paint or horrible panel gaps I'm accepting delivery. You can always request service if there's a defect. Yes it's easier to not deal with that and have it perfect when new so maybe some people would prefer to reject. But on the flip side if you decline and try to get a new VIN you have to redo all financing, registration, trip permits, delivery schedule, etc which to me is more of a pain than getting something fixed. That is unless it's significant damage or many multiple issues.

 

[MacO512]

Take a walk around the car and take a look for obvious issues.
Make sure that you are ready to prove current insurance on the new car.
Make sure that payment is lined up.
If there are multiple signers, make sure that they are all there.
Most importantly have someone there take a picture of that big grin on your face!!!!

I'd guess that 99.9% of the deliveries go extremely well. When you read the forums, you'll hear the 0.1% who sign up just to complain. And this happens for ANY car or ANY product.

I think that on my second car, there were one or two little things that we put on the list, a few weeks later, we scheduled an appointment and they got fixed.
Things like panel alignment are often trivial to fix.
Unlike normal dealer, don't expect a detail team to clean the car before you get it. You'll probably get it just off the truck and there will probably be road dirt on it.

Don't make the inspection a long process, it only makes the delivery advisor's job harder and less likely to help if there are issues. After all, how much inspection did you don't on your other vehicles?

Insurance and payment have to be done in the app prior to delivery appointment right? So those shouldn't be a concern.

 

[Kairide]

The whole Tesla inspection checklist thing is overrated.
Make sure the VIN matches, the color is what you ordered and there are 4 wheels.
Same as any other car you’d buy.

 

[ModLY]

I picked up my Model Y 2 wks ago. I scheduled a delivery at 11 AM, was so optimistic and hoping everything should be ok.

The agent seemed not that interested in spending time with me (there were no customers in the shop). She had me sign the papers, unlocked the car, told me to come back and get her if I need anything. I took some 'delivery check list' with me, which I printed off of some online sites. After walking 2 times around the car. Found couple of paint bubbles and a 5 inch line on the door, which seemed to be a scratch. Hesitantly checked the emergency exit door latch, Driver side- DID NOT work.

I went inside for the agent. She was upset that I used the emergency door latch, said " dont ever use that, it will damage the trim". I explained I knew, but its not working. And then unbelievably, she said "take the car to a body shot who can fix the scratch" . WTH. At that time, I was about to refuse the delivery. She went in, talked to some one, came out, took it to the service station. They buffed the scratch. She put a work order for the door repair (later the mobile service agent came and found the cable was left unattached, fixed it in 2 min).

So take your time, get an idea about what to check. Be polite, accept the car if the issue is reasonable. I know, mine was a $64K car, but I understand stuff can happen in this world.

Oh BTW, if you are paying the cash, dont add the bank account until you are ready. I added my bank account about a week before delivery. The money was deducted 3-4 days before delivery without my approval, weird!

 

[MacO512]

The whole Tesla inspection checklist thing is overrated.
Make sure the VIN matches, the color is what you ordered and there are 4 wheels.
Same as any other car you’d buy.

Agreed. Before I bought my first Tesla I read all these lists of 100 things to check but now after 3 Tesla deliveries could care less. It's a pain to redo the purchase, and you have a complete warranty for a few years to cover any issue you find.

Used vehicle is totally different, I'm checking like hell and quizzing the seller (hopefully the prior owner)

 

[MacO512]

I picked up my Model Y 2 wks ago. I scheduled a delivery at 11 AM, was so optimistic and hoping everything should be ok.

The agent seemed not that interested in spending time with me (there were no customers in the shop). She had me sign the papers, unlocked the car, told me to come back and get her if I need anything. I took some 'delivery check list' with me, which I printed off of some online sites. After walking 2 times around the car. Found couple of paint bubbles and a 5 inch line on the door, which seemed to be a scratch. Hesitantly checked the emergency exit door latch, Driver side- DID NOT work.

I went inside for the agent. She was upset that I used the emergency door latch, said " dont ever use that, it will damage the trim". I explained I knew, but its not working. And then unbelievably, she said "take the car to a body shot who can fix the scratch" . WTH. At that time, I was about to refuse the delivery. She went in, talked to some one, came out, took it to the service station. They buffed the scratch. She put a work order for the door repair (later the mobile service agent came and found the cable was left unattached, fixed it in 2 min).

So take your time, get an idea about what to check. Be polite, accept the car if the issue is reasonable. I know, mine was a $64K car, but I understand stuff can happen in this world.

Oh BTW, if you are paying the cash, dont add the bank account until you are ready. I added my bank account about a week before delivery. The money was deducted 3-4 days before delivery without my approval, weird!

Checking for a scratch is a good idea because it might be hard to claim and get covered after you've driven it.

Things like the latch are fine to inspect at delivery but it's fine to worry about it later if you prefer to leave as that's covered by warranty.

 

[johninor]

...

Don't make the inspection a long process, it only makes the delivery advisor's job harder and less likely to help if there are issues. After all, how much inspection did you don't on your other vehicles?

Every other new car I purchased (at least a dozen for me and family), I had the opportunity to test drive it before purchasing and a decent amount of time looking it over inside and out. I wasn't looking for things like minor misaligned panels or tiny paint imperfections, Almost every car has some that I find the first time I detail it. I was just looking for big problems.

 

[Resist]

The agent seemed not that interested in spending time with me (there were no customers in the shop). She had me sign the papers, unlocked the car, told me to come back and get her if I need anything.

I went inside for the agent. She was upset that I used the emergency door latch, said " dont ever use that, it will damage the trim". I explained I knew, but its not working. And then unbelievably, she said "take the car to a body shot who can fix the scratch" . WTH. At that time, I was about to refuse the delivery.

At first I was going to say it's good that your sales rep didn't spend time with you because there is nothing worse than someone stand over you while you inspect a car. Makes you feel rushed. But then her non concern about the scratch and lack of knowledge about the emergency door latch makes her incompetent. Using the emergency door latch will not damage the trim, as long as the car has power. I've used mine numerous times and it always drops the window, just like using the button. But if the car doesn't have power to drop the window then yes it will hit and damage the trim.

 

[Resist]

What's the process if someone rejects the vehicle do to defects -- is the $250 deposit refunded?

Pretty sure the ordering process says the $250 is not refundable, but only if you don't end up buying a car. I think you can reject a car due to defects several times.

 

[ewoodrick]

Every other new car I purchased (at least a dozen for me and family), I had the opportunity to test drive it before purchasing and a decent amount of time looking it over inside and out. I wasn't looking for things like minor misaligned panels or tiny paint imperfections, Almost every car has some that I find the first time I detail it. I was just looking for big problems.

And you paid a dealer a few thousand dollars for that luxury.

Tesla is truly a different paradigm.

 

[ewoodrick]

“Don't make the inspection a long process, it only makes the delivery advisor's job harder and less likely to help if there are issues” - I’m sure all will go smooth on this one but that isn’t too helpful. He is looking to pay close to 50,000 (after paying taxes on that earned income) and then paying another sales tax on top of that. I would argue take delivery early on in the day on a bright sunny day so light is good. Take a colleague who can help (if you can find one) - as having someone to talk to is very helpful. I can’t imagine how someone who’s job is to make sure customer has smooth experience will have a problem.

Tesla who uses email/demo videos and paperless delivery - would be helped if they give paying customer time (say 1-2 hrs for proper inspection- they’ve earned some repute with panel issues or some recent news of cracked panel?) before actually having customer pay 55k and take the car.

Even a drone captured video of the car sent pre delivery to the customer will do wonders to the whole process.

A happy customer will come back for a new X or a plaid S few years down

Unlike a dealership, where the salesperson delivers the car, Tesla is don't by someone who is either salary and hourly and doesn't get commission on your car.
What the do have is a list of cars in front of them that people are coming in today to pick up. No matter what you do, they've got a bunch of people still waiting.

 

[MacO512]

And you paid a dealer a few thousand dollars for that luxury.

Tesla is truly a different paradigm.

Yeah there is certainly negatives to the Tesla delivery experience. At dealerships I have had some very helpful salespeople assist with picking up the vehicle, help get it thoroughly washed/detailed, make sure the gas tank is full, let me test drive before, answer numerous questions with their undivided patient attention. Tesla just doesn't provide that Your basically picking up a commodity item similar to curbside delivery at the grocery store.

Overall I super enjoy the entire Tesla experience over a dealership, but yes for some people it's very lacking.

Maybe Tesla could have a $200 white gloves fee to have better attention at delivery for those buyers who would greatly appreciate that next level service that is just not available.

 

[Mateo83]

Unless there's a very blatant issue, Telsa doesn't give two shits about you inspecting the car on the spot. They want you to sign and leave. They will tell you you have 3 days or 100 miles to report issues to service.

When you get home:
check panel gaps, frunk & truck alignment. Paint imperfections or lack of paint.

 

[ewoodrick]

Unless there's a very blatant issue, Telsa doesn't give two shits about you inspecting the car on the spot. They want you to sign and leave. They will tell you you have 3 days or 100 miles to report issues to service.

When you get home:
check panel gaps, frunk & truck alignment. Paint imperfections or lack of paint.

During so many times of the year, the delivery centers just don't have the time or space to spend a lot of time with the cars. And their solution is as you said, just report it later.

And again, you aren't dealing with a salesperson, they aren't going to lose any money if you don't pick up the car.

But most people have found out that indeed, the company will stand behind their product and repaint or repair it if needed. Regrettably, they seem to do a fair amount of it. But again, don't look at Internet forums for reality. They may only have 1% deliver issues, the Internet just magnifies it.

 

[Mateo83]

During so many times of the year, the delivery centers just don't have the time or space to spend a lot of time with the cars. And their solution is as you said, just report it later.

And again, you aren't dealing with a salesperson, they aren't going to lose any money if you don't pick up the car.

But most people have found out that indeed, the company will stand behind their product and repaint or repair it if needed. Regrettably, they seem to do a fair amount of it. But again, don't look at Internet forums for reality. They may only have 1% deliver issues, the Internet just magnifies it.

While my car was in the body shop for 2 weeks, I got an M3 loaner and free supercharging.

 

[wofer]

I'm taking delivery of my MYLR next week and can't wait. However I'm concerned I'll miss something during the inspection since it's a long process. I'll probably follow a YouTube video or the Tesla Prep app but I'm not familiar with the car (only test drove one in July for about 20 minutes and was instantly sold) so may miss some things.

What are the first/top 3-5 things you would check?

What would you consider deal breakers vs no big deals?

What's the process if someone rejects the vehicle do to defects -- is the $250 deposit refunded?

Hoping all goes well and I'll officially join the club

I took delivery of my MYLR yesterday. Spent about 10 to 15 minutes walking the perimeter of the vehicle to ensure no visible defects or issues. Same with the interior. My only issue was the tires. Because many on this forum and Reddit all had various answers when it came to the make/model/rating of the tires when taking delivery. So I wasn’t sure what tire would be coming with my MYLR

What I got with my MY was the Goodyear F1 Asymetrical All Season tires on my 20” wheel package. Since I never read a review regarding this tire I was clueless as to the handling, specs, etc. While pulling out the phone to Google this tire, I asked the advisor if she had any info on the specs. She basically told me this was a performance tire. I’m like, you know this is Colorado, right? Why is Tesla mounting performance tires on an AWD MYLR being sold in Colorado? Needless to say it was a moment when I thought, ok this is a deal breaker.

Long story short, this tire is an All Season Performance tire, and not just a performance tire as she said. After some research on this tire, it doesn’t have the best reviews as far as driving in snow. So I was a little disappointed with the tires that came with my car, however the rest of the delivery process was very smooth.

I will run with this tire for a while to see how well they do when we get significant snow. At some point I might swap them out for my go to Continental Extreme Contacts which I had been running on my SUV. These tire handle extremely well in snow and icy conditions.

 

[Kairide]

My only issue was the tires.

this tire is an All Season Performance tire, and not just a performance tire as she said. After some research on this tire, it doesn’t have the best reviews as far as driving in snow. So I was a little disappointed with the tires that came with my car

Your MY came with all season tires and you’re disappointed they don’t have good reviews driving in the snow. Did you want your MY to come with snow tires? Confused on what you’re actually disappointed in.