Your best tips regarding ordering?

[AudubonB]

First, am hoping NOT to repeat the excellent recent (late March 2013) thread entitled "If I knew then what I know now". That reviews owners' decisions wrt options chosen and not chosen.

Rather, am starting this thread to learn if there are suggestions owners have regarding how best to approach TM, and tips for negotiating the order and delivery process. I already know most of what I do and don't want (base S / standard, not air, suspension / no pano / 19" rims / charger adaptors / twin chargers - HPWC can wait / no trundle seats or shelf / standard radio (I'm numbingly tone-deaf...) / metallic green (haven't figured interior yet....) / no body armor (aftermarket appears to be superior).

I do not yet know whether I am best served by 'home' delivery, factory pick-up, or otherwise. It won't be real home - that's here in Bush Alaska - but to our AZ retreat. If factory pick-up, should I drive it back to AZ or bring my car-hauling trailer, or the enclosed, or the dump trailer? Regarding all that, need some numbers: while it's easy to find overall length, can someone take a tape and measure: 1. edge of front bumper to back of REAR tire patch; and 2. edge of rear bumper to front of FRONT tire patch? Thanks much.

Has anyone experience in tying down an S? I didn't look closely at the exposed frame when at the showroom.

"Best" questions to ask your DS?

All the other things that only those who have gone through the procedure know?

Thanks very much in advance -

 

[Trnsl8r]

Well... first thing to point out is that if you do factory pickup you're subject to CA sales tax of some ~9%. So unless you're die hard for the factory tour (which you could probably score anyway) and driving cross country with a car on a trailer (since it doesn't sound like you plan on driving the S itself?), I would opt for home delivery or store/service center in Scottsdale.

 

[ZBB]

I live in Scottsdale and just placed an order this weekend.

Tesla doesn't have an AZ dealer's license yet, so they can't do deliveries at the Scottsdale store or future service center yet. The combination of AZ and Scottsdale sales/use tax is less than CA -- 7.05% starting June 1 (a temporary 1% tax expires then).

I plan on doing delivery at my house...

 

[AudubonB]

I had read in another thread of some out-of-staters picking up at HQ and getting whacked by CA tax. As I responded on that thread as well, I for one cannot understand that, as in the past I have purchased a vehicle from a CA dealer; flew down with my AK registration AND new license plate in hand, and paid a total of $50 as some kind of processing fee. And that was the utter total that Sacramento received.

Regardless, if for whatever reason TM does not have that capability, I am willing to have it delivered. It can't be to Alaska - I'll do that haul myself - but it could be either to our place in AZ or to my in-law's in Carson City, NV. The trailer part - for me, not necessarily for the next person - is that I detest flying, so why would I want to fly to whatever airport's nearest to TM when I could drive there and haul it back?

 

[vfx]

Maybe have it delivered to OR or WA?

 

[Jason S]

Well... first thing to point out is that if you do factory pickup you're subject to CA sales tax of some ~9%. So unless you're die hard for the factory tour (which you could probably score anyway) and driving cross country with a car on a trailer (since it doesn't sound like you plan on driving the S itself?), I would opt for home delivery or store/service center in Scottsdale.

This is the biggest issue with your plan overall.

Although I'd recommend the air suspension, just putting that in there.

You should get NEMA 14-50 (RV / welder) plug in addition to the J1772 (aka public EV charging common plug) and the normal wall socket plug STANDARD. Other more oddball adapters (Roadster, NEMA 6-50, other NEMA) are probably not common enough to bother with (I say this even tho I have a Roadster adapter and have gotten good use from it). And tho I have the HPWC and twin chargers, I say offset the cost of the 2nd charger and get the air suspension instead.

 

[bluetinc]

It's very simple. The dealer that sold that car to you broke California BOE laws and had they been caught would have been libel for it.

Peter

I had read in another thread of some out-of-staters picking up at HQ and getting whacked by CA tax. As I responded on that thread as well, I for one cannot understand that, as in the past I have purchased a vehicle from a CA dealer; flew down with my AK registration AND new license plate in hand, and paid a total of $50 as some kind of processing fee. And that was the utter total that Sacramento received.

Regardless, if for whatever reason TM does not have that capability, I am willing to have it delivered. It can't be to Alaska - I'll do that haul myself - but it could be either to our place in AZ or to my in-law's in Carson City, NV. The trailer part - for me, not necessarily for the next person - is that I detest flying, so why would I want to fly to whatever airport's nearest to TM when I could drive there and haul it back?

 

[AudubonB]

For an update -

Have placed my order: RN 7xxx18!!!!!!! Good and exciting for us as am sure it must be/have been for all of you likewise.
What's just a little different about this order as Tesla and we have put it all On Hold until August, as we will be having it delivered to our winter retreat in AZ, in October. So TM will put it into the production system in August, ready some time in Sept, and we'll try to coordinate delivery so it and we get down to the Valley Of The Sunstroke at about the same time.

As much as conceptually I like how the air suspension works, I really, really don't like how it DOESN'T work...when it doesn't. Those puppies turn into a real bear to repair, when such is needed. And as far as improved performance is concerned.....


...for me, "better performance" for the past several decades has meant the improved handling of an F-350 crew cab long bed in the times when I'm hauling neither a 30' gooseneck nor our camper, etc. Thus, all this - the "standard" S with no air suspension - has me grinning like a 5th grader on Valentine's Day.......

 

[montgom626]

For an update -

Have placed my order: RN 7xxx18!!!!!!!

Good news! You are going to love the MS!!!

 

[derekt75]

For Californians, I'd recommend getting solar power around when you order your Tesla. Arizona power is generally cheaper, so it might not make financial sense (cents?) for the OP, but you might still look into it.
I've been paying $0.35/kWh to power my car, and while I signed the SolarCity contract in December, it's still going to be a couple more months before my car is using cheap energy.

 

[AudubonB]

For Derek from the OP:
Here in Alaska, most specifically where we live, our so-called "grid" rates are the highest in the world....and I believe you can include McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, in that figure (not that anyone pays for use down there...). Before I provide the number, let me give you a blood-curdling equivalent.

You know what you fork over to your electric utility each month? Now, take that check, and write it out on the 1st of the month. And the 2nd. And 3rd. And..and.......And 31st. And even THAT does not equal what we would be paying.

When I snipped the wires to our utility, and told them to go do something anatomically impossible to themselves, we were being charged....wait for it.... $4.25 for each and every kilowatt-hour. And THAT meant that even here with the measly sun we get at 63º latititude, whatever it cost me for PV panels and inverters and the nine tons of battery I have as storage, plus my integrated solar hot water collection system and tank, and the backup generator.....
well, it priced out at effectively the same as the S will be setting me back... was all worth it.
Sure beats forking over more than $10,000 each year for using NO electricity ("TURN THAT LIGHT OFF - NOW!"), and that of the worst quality (53 - 67Hz) and system going down all the time.

So....already got those panels here, Derek! And in Arizona, we'll be putting in panels, too, even though off-peak rates from APS are at the fantastic +/- 6 cents range.

 

[dsm363]

Wow. That's impressive. Certainly is one way to encourage solar with the $4.25/kWh.

 

[AC1K]

When I snipped the wires to our utility, and told them to go do something anatomically impossible to themselves, we were being charged....wait for it.... $4.25 for each and every kilowatt-hour. And THAT meant that even here with the measly sun we get at 63º latititude, whatever it cost me for PV panels and inverters and the nine tons of battery I have as storage, plus my integrated solar hot water collection system and tank, and the backup generator.....

wow, i only have 8¢/kWH in Calgary (locked in for 5 years) make the 85kW only $7 to charge after tax....

 

[neroden]

I do not yet know whether I am best served by 'home' delivery, factory pick-up, or otherwise. It won't be real home - that's here in Bush Alaska - but to our AZ retreat. If factory pick-up, should I drive it back to AZ or bring my car-hauling trailer, or the enclosed, or the dump trailer? Regarding all that, need some numbers: while it's easy to find overall length, can someone take a tape and measure: 1. edge of front bumper to back of REAR tire patch; and 2. edge of rear bumper to front of FRONT tire patch? Thanks much.

Has anyone experience in tying down an S? I didn't look closely at the exposed frame when at the showroom.

"Best" questions to ask your DS?

"Do you register and title cars for my state or do I have to do it myself? If you do it, what is the name of the Tesla person who does insurance/title/registration for MY state? What is their phone number? When can I call them?"

:biggrin: Yeah. That accounted for a substantial portion of my problems. As others have pointed out, you should also ask about the California sales tax issue.

If you're planning to use the car in both Arizona and Alaska, I'm actually very unsure what the sales & use tax rules are, but you should look them up yourself on your state governments' websites.

Find out exactly what you need in order to register the car in your desired state, and in order to get a suitable title certificate. Then specifically tell your Tesla DS that you need Tesla to provide/do *those things*, and give them a list. We've had people receive cars without required inspections, we've had Tesla fail to file title paperwork, I've had to ask specificallly in order to get anything approximating a "bill of sale", etc. etc.