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UK: buying from Tesla used inventory.
- Thread starter Mr Puzzles
- Start date
Photos or we will all think you are telling lies!
Just got home and currently updating. 300 miles on the clock now
i bought a 2021 M3 SR+ a month ago - tesla said the car was in Glasgow. Two days before they called me and said car is in Aberdeen!!! Asked to collect from where it was advertised, told no. Had to drive Aberdeen London in the end.... nonetheless, good way to get to know the car!!!
Pretty much registered so I could contribute to this thread - soon will be new owner of 2021 M3LR.
One of the cheap ones that got snapped up early last month at a great price.
Got a delivery appointment for 31st March afternoon, which then got cancelled less than 48hrs prior to scheduled collection 'due to carrier issues'.
No news of next ETA. Had to reschedule and make alternative arrangements for work - was meant to go to Spain today which I've postponed. Slightly annoyed. Have made several calls to find out what's happening - only to find out that car is still sitting in Corby waiting for work to be done.. so very much on the same boat as a few of you here!
One of the cheap ones that got snapped up early last month at a great price.
Got a delivery appointment for 31st March afternoon, which then got cancelled less than 48hrs prior to scheduled collection 'due to carrier issues'.
No news of next ETA. Had to reschedule and make alternative arrangements for work - was meant to go to Spain today which I've postponed. Slightly annoyed. Have made several calls to find out what's happening - only to find out that car is still sitting in Corby waiting for work to be done.. so very much on the same boat as a few of you here!
Yeah, same here. Ordered a 2021 LR on the 14th March... Given a date of the 31st for collection, booked day off sorted out travel etc only for it to be cancelled on the 29th.... Contacted via the onlie chat to someone who was unbelivable rude and shrot with me who then said car was still at Corby awaiting refurbishment. Not sure how much refurbishment an 18 moth old car with 13k miles should need but concerning as there is no way to even get photos of it.... It's lucky they have a good product because their customer service is the worst.... Still waiting for a date but seems pointless contacting them further..
Sadly, as others have pointed out, it looks like they don't even have the capacity to deliver their new vehicles, let alone their used ones. I assume they were working on the basis that they'd have all the new vehicles done before end of March and would have been able to tag on some used ones by that stage, presumably using some spare slots on transportation. Obviously they either sold more than expected or the staff in place simply couldn't cope. I'm also wondering if they are actually still processing new orders that they have just had to accept they couldn't place before end of quarter.
Either way, they simply aren't able to process the volume of new and used vehicles and it's definitely the used vehicle purchases that continue to be pushed to the bottom of the pile. I've actually gone back to running daily searches on AutoTrader - if anything even close to what I want comes up from a reputable source I've decided I'm going to cancel my order with Tesla. I realised the other day that Tesla really don't give a toss and I'm kidding myself that they care about my purchase and ownership experience.
Either way, they simply aren't able to process the volume of new and used vehicles and it's definitely the used vehicle purchases that continue to be pushed to the bottom of the pile. I've actually gone back to running daily searches on AutoTrader - if anything even close to what I want comes up from a reputable source I've decided I'm going to cancel my order with Tesla. I realised the other day that Tesla really don't give a toss and I'm kidding myself that they care about my purchase and ownership experience.
Although my experience was far from ideal in terms of geography, I ordered my 2021 M3 SR+ on Tuesday and picked it up the same week on Saturday. It was just unfortunate that I had to go all the way to Aberdeen to do so. That said, when I got to Aberdeen, the staff there were beyond lovely. Couldn't have been more accommodating. Think that was because (self admitted) that they don't do a lot of deliveries, so i actually felt a bit like a person instead of a number.
I guess that's what I was expecting. I ordered mine directly off a visit to my local Tesla centre where equally they were super friendly and really helpful. I just assumed that when they were listing them on the website they were pretty much ready to go. I then assumed that they would actually communicate the status within reasonable timeframes. Meh, I suppose I'm just expecting them to show a bit more appreciation for 3 years of hard earned savings being spanked down on one of their cars, used or not.
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
I think that's unlikely. They shift 200 cars a day from the busy sites - that's only at end of quarter, and involves a significant amount of organisation - and they've been doing it that way since the Model-3 arrived on UK shores, so "well versed". I had one of the first M3 in UK in June 2019 - even then they were doing 100 cars a day out of the Heathrow site.
But ... if a boat arrives late, tight on the deadline for end-of-quarter, that will cause a hiatus, as would any problem with car transporters. (but "Logistics" is an easy excuse to give, so might not be the actual reason of course ...)
But also Tesla is typically chaos, so it may just be that. Inventory is growing each quarter - originally all customers were new, and if they traded anything in it went to auction. Now they have plenty who are "replacing". They may go straight to auction too, but even if the percentage of cars "undelivered" at the end of quarter stays the same the growing sales figure means that is a higher number of cars each quarter ... which they have to tool up for (badly as it turns out, but sadly that too is normal for Tesla / chaos).
They are still in the mould of being able to shift everything - so if not to you then to someone else. No business model to have to care about whether you are treated well ... or not. At present.
I've had 5 cars off Tesla since 2015. On the last one they made a gargantuan foobar. Most people would assume some weight attached to "long term customer", they weren't interesting in even giving me a brass farthing.
Yup. Apart from some small risk that you get a Friday Lemon, which is same with any other brand, folk mostly drive away with the sweet smell of success. But interaction with Tesla Back Office is dismal.
Blimey. They're AWFUL! I'd find it so funny if I wasn't near certain to be writing one of these of my own in the next few weeks.
Jeez, that makes for depressing reading. It's clear that there is a significant number of people that have poor experiences, although I now feel like my complaints are pretty minor by comparison to some of those! At least they're consistent!
@WannabeOwner - Thanks for that, it's really interesting to hear some background on the situation and your previous experiences. A shame that it's not the experience it once was, but I do hope it's worth the wait.
I do wonder what has actually happened with our March 31st deliveries. I know we can only speculate, as getting any info out of Tesla will be impossible, but it must be one of the following:
1. Some system glitch assigned us collection dates of 31st March before our cars were ready, they then realised the mistake and cancelled our dates. But that doesn't explain why some were notified of cancellation 24/48hrs before, when mine was notified 1 week before.
2. They do have logistical / transport issues and bumped our deliveries in favour of new inventory for Q1. But then why keep changing the story and why don't we have new dates yet, even 1/2 weeks away? I've been told 'minor cosmetic fixes', 'waiting on parts', 'logistics transport issues' by various different members of staff. Are they just told by senior management to make stuff up to placate/confuse customers so we think 'oh well a delay is fine if it means the vehicle will be fully inspected/repaired'? Is it just some propaganda style 'Firehose of falsehood'.
3. Last minute request came from the very top to swap out the Tesla 'T' badges with golden Doge's across the entire fleet.
While I wouldn't rule out 3, I'm leaning more towards 2.
It would be great if we had some official (or anonymous) representative from Tesla in this community who could maybe shed some light on what's happening behind closed doors.
1. Some system glitch assigned us collection dates of 31st March before our cars were ready, they then realised the mistake and cancelled our dates. But that doesn't explain why some were notified of cancellation 24/48hrs before, when mine was notified 1 week before.
2. They do have logistical / transport issues and bumped our deliveries in favour of new inventory for Q1. But then why keep changing the story and why don't we have new dates yet, even 1/2 weeks away? I've been told 'minor cosmetic fixes', 'waiting on parts', 'logistics transport issues' by various different members of staff. Are they just told by senior management to make stuff up to placate/confuse customers so we think 'oh well a delay is fine if it means the vehicle will be fully inspected/repaired'? Is it just some propaganda style 'Firehose of falsehood'.
3. Last minute request came from the very top to swap out the Tesla 'T' badges with golden Doge's across the entire fleet.
While I wouldn't rule out 3, I'm leaning more towards 2.
It would be great if we had some official (or anonymous) representative from Tesla in this community who could maybe shed some light on what's happening behind closed doors.
Hi.. put deposit down to secure 2020 Black M3P with 13k on the clock for £33,300 and been given a 4-6 weeks wait time although on the site i can see now it mention 2-4 weeks.
Similar car available from other garages but only reason holding on for it is the 2 years warranty.. 1 year left and another 1 year extended from Tesla.
I dont mind waiting.. but trying to get some time lines from them so i can manage selling my existing car as I have a buyer waiting to pickup.. reading all these messages not looking too good.
My mate ordered a new one that was in stock.. picked up in days turnaround!
Similar car available from other garages but only reason holding on for it is the 2 years warranty.. 1 year left and another 1 year extended from Tesla.
I dont mind waiting.. but trying to get some time lines from them so i can manage selling my existing car as I have a buyer waiting to pickup.. reading all these messages not looking too good.
My mate ordered a new one that was in stock.. picked up in days turnaround!
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
First MS I had was a whip-the-sheet-off and delivery-specialist spent an hour one-to-one going through everything. Car was plugged into charger during that hour so I left with "full tank".
1st M3 was a group presentation - made sense compared to 1:1 (that I have, obviously, had to pay for in previous OtherBrand dealership purchases, and quality of delivery-specialist was "variable", as we all know).
Next M3 was a PowerPoint presentation for the whole group of 20-30 people picking up at "11am" - I thought that was a really good idea, a fully trained-trainer, rather than "random bod". Also if someone asked a question the whole group got to hear that (potential) "Gem"
Then I picked up an MS ... and got the same M3 PowerPoint presentation! I was the only MS collection that day ... twice the money (well ... you get my drift) and half the service!! Not needed in my case as already familiar ... but ...
Then the MY. Absolutely no hand over at all. "Here's your keys, off you go". In fairness plenty of eager young folk around for anyone that had a problem (I couldn't get the phone to pair ... they sorted that)
Now new cars spend the first week repeatedly updating to latest firmware version (they've been a month on a boat form China, and who knows what stale version they install on the production line - and how long they hang around before they get onto the boat). And I've had as little as 30% charge at collection - Staines has no chargers, so its whatever the car either has left from the boat ride from China, or what it got when plugged in, on arrival, at the quay - 7kW Max I assume, and probably only "some quays have chargers" - before transporter arrived for it.
So the business plan is "Good enough", where enough means "absolute minimum"
Beats me. Back office staff famous for making stuff up. Loads of threads here that will confirm that (i.e. folk here knew more than the service person did). Of course we'd like them to say "I'll find out and get back to you". But even if not that then "Dunno" would be heaps better than "Here's a stab-in-the-dark guess that I've done to "help" you".
I really really struggle with that sort of reason - I just can't believe that someone wouldn't go to the media with that story. But. Fred-the-Shred and Robert Maxwell secretaries quite happy working through the night shredding evidence before the fraud squad's arrival ... and Enron's "separate set of books" was astounding - a lot of people to persuade that black-is-white if you want to pull that one off. Easy enough in a country dictatorship (penalty = off-with-your-head), normal business max sanction is "fired" (whilst having to take into account the threat of "unfair dismissal" claim), I'd like to think its not that easy to have a "mass-dishonesty" policy.
My buying experience was not good and echos what most have said here. But I was stupid enough to pay in full straight away, expecting to collect within a couple days. I then kept chasing them every couple days via chat and call backs to the point they took longer and longer to read through all the previous notes on my account 
But the fact I paid in full for a car that showed as available, made me keep contacting them and moaning.
Some were really pleasant to talk with and understanding and some were just making up any story about the car which a few I called out on as not true, such as where the car is located and they quickly changed their story by saying that they didn’t refresh the system and were looking at a different car
I resigned to the fact I would be cancelling and then fighting to get my money back quickly. One guy even said it would take 3 weeks for my refund if I did So I decided to continue and wait.
So even on the collection date I expected not to be happy with the car as I kept thinking what could be wrong with the car with it not being ready for collection.
But this is where the experience changed, I got the train and walked into the Milton Keynes shopping centre looking for the Tesla shop and finally found it and the service was brilliant. He took me to see my car and explained he knew the car and knew the previous owner as we were walking to the car park and that the previous owner exchanged it after two weeks for a LR model and the car was basically brand new.
Got to the car and I inspected for quite some time looking for any evidence of repair and soon realised it was immaculate. No scratches, chips anywhere and alloys unmarked. Interior also like new (White Interior)
He took the time to explain everything and pair my phone as a key and go through the controls etc.
So hang in there and wait if you can, customer services know absolutely nothing about the car you are buying and just fob people off. I would also suggest asking to be put through to the location the car is sitting at, if you want a better steer on a collection date.
But the fact I paid in full for a car that showed as available, made me keep contacting them and moaning. Some were really pleasant to talk with and understanding and some were just making up any story about the car which a few I called out on as not true, such as where the car is located and they quickly changed their story by saying that they didn’t refresh the system and were looking at a different car
I resigned to the fact I would be cancelling and then fighting to get my money back quickly. One guy even said it would take 3 weeks for my refund if I did
So I decided to continue and wait. So even on the collection date I expected not to be happy with the car as I kept thinking what could be wrong with the car with it not being ready for collection.
But this is where the experience changed, I got the train and walked into the Milton Keynes shopping centre looking for the Tesla shop and finally found it and the service was brilliant. He took me to see my car and explained he knew the car and knew the previous owner as we were walking to the car park and that the previous owner exchanged it after two weeks for a LR model and the car was basically brand new.
Got to the car and I inspected for quite some time looking for any evidence of repair and soon realised it was immaculate. No scratches, chips anywhere and alloys unmarked. Interior also like new (White Interior)
He took the time to explain everything and pair my phone as a key and go through the controls etc.
So hang in there and wait if you can, customer services know absolutely nothing about the car you are buying and just fob people off. I would also suggest asking to be put through to the location the car is sitting at, if you want a better steer on a collection date.
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