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Why I sold my 1-month old Tesla Model S.

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I've said this before = and I'll say it again - TESLA has survived the last 5 years by selling cars to technology people and fanboys who want the snake oil they sell.

I agreed with teh rest of your post but this section needs clarifying: drawing a parallel between Tesla and snake oil sales tells me either you don't understand what snake oil salesmen were all about, or you're just reaching to take a swipe at Tesla out of anger. If it's the latter, that's your prerogative. If it's the former, it should be clarified...do you think Tesla is a fraud, and are willfully deceiving the public? If so please clarify?

Tesla started out as a nice new electric car company. It has morphed into the giant it is today with tentacles reaching in all directions largely because capital markets are giving them an incredible currency (stock issued from treasury) that they can use to provide growth. Those same capital markets indirectly gave Tesla their start, when the financial crisis resulted in several major manufacturers being forced to cut back and sell off major assets that would be unaffordable for most startup car companies. Tesla bought them up in a firesale and were able to start out with little to no debts...which is what usually crushes a new car company.

Comparing the company to a snake oil salesman - a fake doctor who knowingly sold bullshit in a jar as the cure for all illnesses - because your wife's Model X broke a few times...that's a bit strong.
 
I've said this before = and I'll say it again - TESLA has survived the last 5 years by selling cars to technology people and fanboys who want the snake oil they sell.

You do realize that as you keep repeating this, you look even more foolish than the first time you said it?

As they run out of those folks, and move onto the Porsche / BMW / Benz crowd they'd better step up their game big time or they're gonna get their lunch eaten in the court of public opinion.

Too late. They're already well onto those folks...

Tesla’s Model S outsells Mercedes S-Class, Porsche Panamera, and BMW 6/7 Series combined in the US

And here's the results:

Car Brands Ranked by Owner Satisfaction

But of course, like the shorts (if you're not one) Tesla's day of reckoning is coming soon, right? I've been waiting well over 4 years now listening to all the Chicken Littles like you, as my TSLA gains continue to climb, and my quality of life has been greatly improved by owning a Tesla. Snake oil doesn't actually do anything, you do know that right? That's the analogy as to when to use "snake oil" -- when something that purports to do something but does not. Have you ever been in a Tesla? There's nothing on the road like it. It's completely lacking in any snake oil. Please at least understand analogies before you use them.

But also please keep reminding us of your point, that gets weaker each time you say it, so I can continue to chuckle when I read that this thread is now evidence of your point and vindicates you... ha! You must think we're all three years old with that kind of logic.
 
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Quite a list. From your description of your interactions it sounds more like a problem with the service center than with the car. My experience has been that Palo Alto does a great job, Sunnyvale an okay job, and I've not been to Santa Clara. I've also been to the factory SC and they were okay too. Who did the work on your car?

It keeps becoming more clear to me that Tesla's problems were a service center issue. If you don't want to post which one it was publicly, please PM me so that I can be sure to avoid that SC.
 
It keeps becoming more clear to me that Tesla's problems were a service center issue. If you don't want to post which one it was publicly, please PM me so that I can be sure to avoid that SC.

It was Santa Clara. It is entirely possible that my car would have been better at a different service location, but a lot of my issues were with the initial build quality of the car. That said, part of my problem is I didn't go out of my way to a different location to fix Santa Clara's problems. They just kept suggesting I bring it back to them because they have the history of the car.

In hindsight, I would have done many things differently -- such as refusal of delivery, until the fix some of the obvious issues FIRST, but I thought that would have been too extreme. Tesla is tricky. They didn't allow me to see the car until I gave them the check for the full amount of the car, once they processed that, they led me to the car.

Again, in hindsight, I would have suggested I hold onto my money, before looking at the car. But whats done is done.

I'm still satisfied with my decision to sell the car.
 
Reach behind your back and feel along the middle. Do you have one?

;)

Again, I certainly didn't feel when I was picking up my Tesla, that I should have held my money hostage before checking the car with a loupe. I'm not that kind of buyer/person. I gave Tesla the benefit of the doubt that I would have a reasonably built new car, and any issues I would find would easy be fixed with a quick service visit.

From everything I've read, heard, the delivery process is very YMMV. Mine was quick and they basically wanted me out of there asap. They didn't even have the car fully charged, or had the ability to show me how to charge because they didn't have charging setup. This is Fremont, CA mind you. A stones throw from the actual factory.

It was very much "give me your money, and get out of here" kind of process. Not that this has anything to do with the topic at hand, but this was the process I went through. It was mentioned to my by my delivery guy that they are trying out a new process because they are anticipating huge model 3 deliveries in the upcoming months.
 
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Again, I certainly didn't feel when I was picking up my Tesla, that I should have held my money hostage before checking the car....

Yes, you are right. My comment was more of a joke. Although they say in every joke there's a kernel of truth and if you were my son telling me this story I would tell you that what "should" happen in the world is not what "does" happen in the real world, and as Ronald Regan famously said repeatedly "Trust, but verify". He said it about the Russians (Soviets at the time), who we know he didn't really even trust, but hopefully you get my point.

Having said that, the world takes all kinds and you didn't do anything wrong in handing over the cheque before seeing the vehicle. I'm just trying to get you to grow a little more of a spine... ;)
 
Yes, you are right. My comment was more of a joke. Although they say in every joke there's a kernel of truth and if you were my son telling me this story I would tell you that what "should" happen in the world is not what "does" happen in the real world, and as Ronald Regan famously said repeatedly "Trust, but verify". He said it about the Russians (Soviets at the time), who we know he didn't really even trust, but hopefully you get my point.

Having said that, the world takes all kinds and you didn't do anything wrong in handing over the cheque before seeing the vehicle. I'm just trying to get you to grow a little more of a spine... ;)

Of course I get your point. It's well taken. I learn from my mistake, and not something i'll ever do again. Contrary to what you may think, i'm not completely spineless, but rather I pick and choose my battles carefully. I didn't go into my typical car buying defensive posture when dealing with Tesla, only because they are so different and so accommodating with me. They let me take home a car for the weekend to see if it will work for me. This is before I even put down a deposit. After all is said and done. I have zero ill will towards the company, and will still track them in my portfolio. There are certain processes that I don't like and disagree with, and as a customer, the best I can do is let them know.
 
Hey all, Just wanted to mention how great this forum was and invaluable to Tesla owners.

Around July of this year, my wife and I decided to get a new Model S. We picked a new inventory S75 (with new 4.x 0-60) times. Prior to ordering the sales staff was pretty amazing--letting us take home cars for the night before we made our decision. We were able to find one *exactly* how I wanted it.

When it was delivered, there was a few issues right off the bat. Some were obvious (hard water spots on the paint, and generally very dirty) but some weren't, like non-functioning steering wheel controls.

Now you may think i'm being picky, I will say that my wife and I have probably purchased 8 or so new cars in the past 5 years and none have had to go back for any warranty work.

The service department while pretty good, failed to address some of the issues when I dropped off the car, even though it was on their work order (it took me dropping off the car twice before they would address the hard water spots) They claimed it was a mis-communication with their 3rd party detailer.

My first week of ownership, I had been back to the dealer 3 times already.

Still, I was enjoying the car and from reading these forums alone made it seem like the typical teething pains a new owner has to go through.

Then as the weeks piled on, I would notice more and more issues. Like the obvious panel gap issues in the B pillar interior trim. One that took 3 weeks to order to order a piece of plastic. I forget another issue where the chrome trim in my mirrors were warping and they had to remove the door panel to replace the mirrors. When I looked over their work the next day, they forgot to re-attach the puddle lights, so back to the dealer I went.

When I picked up the car again, they had dropped a wrench or something hard into the door jamb, making a nice dent.

Now while I don't mind teething pain issues, I do mind when things don't get fixed. Like my alignment issue. I think the car had 3 alignments and was still off. I decided to just let it go. At this point, they told me it was as good as it is going to get.

All in all, after 4-weeks, I had brought the car in for repairs, comebacks for failed repairs, etc.. for a total of 8 or so visits.

Again, all these are small issues, but they added up to something big for me. I spent a lot of time going back to the service center, I spent a lot of time wondering if something was normal or not, and I decided i've had enough. I told my wife a the 1-month anniversary of owning the car that i'm going to sell it. I'll take that loss, I didn't really care anymore. I've followed up with Tesla, and all I get was a bunch of 'i'm sorrys' and this is 'not normal' It's almost as if i'm talking to a wall. Again, none of these issues were safety related, and I still enjoyed the car, but I hated that every time I got in it, there was a laundry list of issues for them to look at.

I still think Tesla has an amazing product with a good future. Just wish it worked out better for me.

Thanks for reading.

For those wondering, I lost about 15 thousand dollars.

For those who want to know my detailed list of issues:

1. Interior b-pillar trim not fitting correctly.
2. Water leaking in one of the windows.
3. Steering wheel buttons didn't work.
4. Hood not aligned. obvious gap from one side to another.
5. Steering wheel not centered.
6. Car pulls hard to the left.
7. Hard water spots in the paint when I first took delivery.
8. Random spots in the paint where it was dull.
9. Chrome trim on the mirrors warping.
10. Passenger door not closing properly.
11. Rubber seal on passenger door not fitting correctly.
12. famous chrome window trim not lining up. They would pull it up or down to line up, but a day later, they would not be aligned again. (this one, I didn't care about, but it was there)

I find this interesting as I have never taken my Tesla in for service. Not that it has not been in for service, but they either come to my house and do the repair in my driveway or pick the car up, leaving another Model S, repair the car and bring it back. That is their policy in St. Louis. They even picked up the car when I purchased new tires last week. I know other Tesla owners in other states and we frequently brag about this unique service. I am fairly confident this is their global policy. Are you sure that you have a Tesla?

Also, wondering if you took the $7,500 tax credit? That should have reduced you loss significantly.

BTW-I have a 2013 Model S with 65K miles and have had 4 repairs over the four years including replacement windshield wiper, set belt recall, door handle failure, and charging door problem. The later was a user error.
 
I find this interesting as I have never taken my Tesla in for service. Not that it has not been in for service, but they either come to my house and do the repair in my driveway or pick the car up, leaving another Model S, repair the car and bring it back. That is their policy in St. Louis. They even picked up the car when I purchased new tires last week. I know other Tesla owners in other states and we frequently brag about this unique service. I am fairly confident this is their global policy. Are you sure that you have a Tesla?

Also, wondering if you took the $7,500 tax credit? That should have reduced you loss significantly.

BTW-I have a 2013 Model S with 65K miles and have had 4 repairs over the four years including replacement windshield wiper, set belt recall, door handle failure, and charging door problem. The later was a user error.

Careful, your confidence could be your downfall! :) I have heard of this "ranger" service and it does sound fantastic. This is not offered where I live. I assume the ranger service was developed to serve areas with low Tesla volume, as it would be too much overhead to open a dedicated service center.

The 15k loss will be post 7500 tax credit, I have not yet filed.
 
Wow, your experience is 180 degrees from mine. I find your story surprising and I also find it astonishing that you would post on the owner's forum 239 times in the past four months and reply to my post within 3 minutes. Seems like you might have more productive things to do, like maybe shorting TSLA?

Take off your tin foil hat man. You should really read my posts. I don't believe I've bad mouthed tesla, but rather just posted my ownership experience as succinctly as I can.

Is it entirely possible that other owners will have different ownership experiences that does not mirror yours?
 
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I find this interesting as I have never taken my Tesla in for service. Not that it has not been in for service, but they either come to my house and do the repair in my driveway or pick the car up, leaving another Model S, repair the car and bring it back. That is their policy in St. Louis. They even picked up the car when I purchased new tires last week. I know other Tesla owners in other states and we frequently brag about this unique service. I am fairly confident this is their global policy. Are you sure that you have a Tesla?

The first three years they did that for me too but it ended during year four. It was their policy early on but it's not now and it will likely "go POOF" where you are too:

Tesla Valet service goes POOF!!!

Seems like you might have more productive things to do, like maybe shorting TSLA?

Do you really think he created this thread with the intention it will cause the stock to fall so he can cash in his shorts? We need to understand Tesla has shortcomings, one of which is quality control, and save calling out shorts for the real ones, at least in my view.
 
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What Year was the Model S75? If Money is of no concern then why didn't you order brand new 2017 off the website? Why go through Dealers?..... Technology...
Did you read the thread or no? The pertain CLEARLY said there was an inventory model that was the same as if he'd ordered one. Please read and STOP jumping on the bandwagon of him Mott sweating $15k, just because it might ruin YOUR retirement!!
 
Agreed! I know of no other manufacturer that doesn't allow buyers to see the car that they're buying. Too ridiculous. Maybe this was the "policy" of this specific Tesla location?

Nothing is final until you're at the dealer signing the paperwork. What you're supposed to do is to have the delivery checklist in your hand, and to check over the car thoroughly. Where you're prepared to reject the car if it doesn't meet your expectations.

Now I don't know how many people actually do that anymore. Things with Tesla are better now than they used to be, and so most of the truly egregious stuff doesn't happen anymore. As an example before I picked up my 70D I saw a TMC post about someone who got mismatched interior. I can't even imagine the level of incompetency that's required for that to happen.

In my case there wasn't anything significant, and I only had a few minor complaints. So all in all it was one of my better new car experiences. I tend to be really OCD first with a new car then over time I don't want to be bothered to nitpick about little things.

It was the first time I used a delivery checklist, and I'll probably always do so in the future. Like my next car isn't a Tesla, but I'll make a checklist for it.
 
Careful, your confidence could be your downfall! :) I have heard of this "ranger" service and it does sound fantastic. This is not offered where I live. I assume the ranger service was developed to serve areas with low Tesla volume, as it would be too much overhead to open a dedicated service center.

The 15k loss will be post 7500 tax credit, I have not yet filed.

I'm not sure if this is exactly what the ranger service is.

Basically over the last year or so Tesla has been gearing up to do a lot more house call type service. It's really the only way they can manage so many vehicles in certain regions.

But, there is a limit in terms of what they can do. It's not like they can do an alignment, but they can take care of quite a few things. As an example I complained about a squeaky seat (it rubbed against center console), and that was an easy thing for them to come out and fix.
 
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