What if I "total" my Model S?

[dsm363]

I can see both sides. That person definitely should not be bumped to the front of the line but if there is a cancelation or a way to work them back in then I hope they can. It shouldn't be a written policy and should be taken on a case by case basis by Tesla. Once they're at max output and have taken a big dent out of their wait list then I think it will be less of an issue and that person will simply have to wait.

 

[NigelM]

The real thing is I wouldn't know.

And neither would anyone else.:wink:

@Bonnie: I see what you're getting at but Tesla ramp-up seems to be going so smoothly (let's hope it stays like that!) and they're on course for a target of 20,000 cars next year. In 250 work days that's 80 cars per day. Quite likely that Tesla will leverage capital investment by running 2 small shifts per day instead of 1 large shift so that's 16 hours for 80 cars, or 1 car every 12 minutes coming of the line. Personally I'd be happy to see that Tesla might support a customer whose car got wrecked when the cost to me is only 12 minutes wait. I wouldn't see it as negative, rather as a reflection of their great customer service. BTW, once serious "batch production" gets going cars will never come off the line in exact sequence number.

 

[bonnie]

True, Nigel. I'm thinking more about the first 5000 reservation holders. Each one knows what the highest VIN is that they should get.

Once the ramp up happens and everything normalizes, I agree. No one would ever know. But look around this forum. I'd bet you could identify a couple of people who would be very upset over even one bump in line.

 

[NigelM]

Risk of going OT, sorry:

I don't believe that Reservation numbers are inextricably linked to the VIN#'s. Maybe at the beginning yes, but once batch production starts? In any case, there's enough known instances where the lists weren't compressed that there must be a few free numbers in there.

Have faith in the human spirit. Hopefully anyone irritated at moving one place back will realize that it could have been them in that situation.

 

[bonnie]

I DO have faith in most of the human spirits I encounter. I've just had some setbacks recently, specifically from viewing some posts in other threads.

But you're right, the reservation numbers won't be so closely linked to VINs later. I agree about the free numbers floating around in the sequence - that's what I've been saying from the start. Use one of those.

 

[ckessel]

A totaled car is just on one end of the accident continuum. You could also have a severe accident where it's not totaled, but you've got a number of body panels to replace. We'd certainly expect people to be allowed to "jump in front" to get a replacement bumper, fender, etc. Same for warranty issues.

I'd assume all of those get to jump in front. I'd hope so in fact, since I don't want to buy a car that's all but impossible to get repaired in a timely manner.

 

[VolkerP]

There is an established way to alleviate the consequences of disastrous events. Insurance. Tesla can sell a "vehicle replacement warranty" to every new vehicle owner, stating that Tesla will replace a totaled car within x weeks from an unallocated production slot. Add your favorite fine print to that paper. I think for a car as unique as Model S, Tesla can sell that paper for what, $500?

If the "events" don't happen in the allocated number, that's fine because regular reservation holders will get their cars earlier. If big numbers of Model S get totaled within a short time, bad luck for Tesla.

 

[tdelta1000]

It's November 2012.

I've had my Tesla for 3 months and it got totaled.

How is this managed? You'd want a replacement. With the wait list, how would you ever get one in a timely fashion? I guess this is a potential problem for people who will be getting the Model S as a replacement vehicle.

Would you wait?

I would tend to believe that your insurance company would have to honor that commitment. I also think there will be a wait time only because the insurance company will have to respect TM's time lines..

 

[AnOutsider]

There is an established way to alleviate the consequences of disastrous events. Insurance. Tesla can sell a "vehicle replacement warranty" to every new vehicle owner, stating that Tesla will replace a totaled car within x weeks from an unallocated production slot. Add your favorite fine print to that paper. I think for a car as unique as Model S, Tesla can sell that paper for what, $500?

If the "events" don't happen in the allocated number, that's fine because regular reservation holders will get their cars earlier. If big numbers of Model S get totaled within a short time, bad luck for Tesla.

At first I was like.. wtf... but then I was like... yeah... I might buy it. The only thing though, is that insurance like that is only good for like the first 6 months to a year. After that, there should be plenty of used cars, gaps in production and extra parts floating around that it wouldn't matter. So then I was back to "no way".

 

[vfx]

...

So while I assume there are some empty slots in the queue & Tesla will help where they can ....

Slots do open up. Roadster number 5 guy died. Many who had full down payments passed on the Roadster when the crash of 2008 happened. Press cars and dealer demos cars get sold countrywide. Really the only question is whether the guy whose car was totaled will be OK with the specs on the car that is sitting there unsold.

 

[Trnsl8r]

True, Nigel. I'm thinking more about the first 5000 reservation holders. Each one knows what the highest VIN is that they should get.

...

Don't look, but it only too them three cars to get off-track with the VIN numbers... #3

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Don't look, but it only too them three cars to get off-track with the VIN numbers... #3

The collective wisdom on '#3' is that it's a red herring; it's probably from the Beta VIN sequence (of which there are purportedly separate parallel series - for testing, for engineering, for display - mentioned at the Santana Row event in March) rather than the production VIN sequence.