I reserved last year and ordered the AWD Model 3 on July 5th ($2,500 down payment) and I’m still waiting for a VIN.
I got a text a couple weeks ago asking if I could take delivery that weekend and immediately replied “YES!”. A day later they texted back that someone would be in contact with me “in a week or two”. Something wonky happened, my rank speculation is they had a matching vehicle which was slated for someone else and they initially said they couldn’t take delivery that weekend so they reached out to me, but then the original buyer went back and said they could take it? I have no evidence to support that, could just be shitty logistics, or even worse, intentionally testing my buyer readiness to gauge their true demand queue.
But I’m happy to wait as my current 2006 ICE with 104k miles is running fine. I would prefer even waiting another year or two if not for the expiring credit.
The fact that they’re claiming delivery backlog for Model 3 is down to ~10 weeks bodes well for the base model becoming available to order in Q1 I would think.
I'm confused by these stories, mostly because a standard dealership would never treat you this poorly.
If I gave money to a dealership and they didn't give me a car within a few days of my delivery date, I'd cancel the check and buy a car from some other dealership.
Sure, people don't like playing the dealership game, but the fact of the matter is... you have options. There are other dealerships you can work with if your current one becomes abusive.
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I think about the Tesla model of sales and I see these complaints like yours here and there. But I just don't know what kind of recourse I'm supposed to do in that situation. Especially if I set my mind on a particular car.
It could be that effect where the complaints are heard loudest (very few people post online when things go fine... the main people who complain are the people treated poorly). But still, I wouldn't know the strategy for dealing with Tesla sales issues if I were a hypothetical buyer.
This is a major issue with the $7500 credit on the line. If a M3 buyer orders today, but gets delayed like in your case, they'll effectively lose $3750 credit... AND the credit will be delayed to 2019 taxes instead of 2018 taxes. That's a huge difference.
Thats a reasonable point, but this isn't a standard product. Only one company in the world is making them (of this level of quality and performance), and the market has been far more receptive than they can handle.
If you want your new car now, don't buy a tesla. If you want a tesla, then get in line. Alternatively, they could raise the price to shorten the line a bit, but something tells me profit isn't their end goal here. Moving the market away from ICE is the goal, and they are succeeding wildly.
Yes. I agree with this comment. The last quarter of Model 3 production nearly doubled from the previous quarter and I assume that the number of staff to handle all the paperwork and logistics did not increase in proportion.
Anyway, I took delivery of my Model 3 Sep 28th and here's my experience. They emailed me two weeks in advance to schedule pickup at the delivery center in Fremont on Saturday Sep 29th. Then a week later they called me and let me know that they could deliver the car to my house on a Monday. I was set to take delivery on Monday but then after the delivery time had passed, a manager called me to let me know they weren't able to get the car out that day and they'd get back to me to schedule another delivery date. A couple of days later they emailed me and said they could bring the car to me on Friday, and this time they showed up with the car, a little late, around 10:30pm. Overall it was a great experience. I really appreciate that they drove the car to me and it only took a few minutes to sign the paperwork.
Despite the delays and rescheduling several times it was a much much better experience than the (first, last and hopefully only) experience I had at the Toyota dealership in buying my previous car.
I am just over the moon thinking about the fact that I may never have to visit a gas station or get a smog check or have to discuss the problems of idling solenoids with mechanics ever again.
I'm on my second (first was a lease) Chevy Spark EV, which is about as plain as an EV can be, and I rented a Model 3 for a couple days and decided it was lovely, but too much car for the amount I care about cars. But even after five years I'm still "over the moon ... about the fact that I may never have to visit a gas station or get a smog check or have to discuss the problems of idling solenoids with mechanics ever again." That shit never gets old.
I would argue with you on the quality point. There have been lots and lots of stories of bad welds and cars showing up for delivery with misaligned parts. It's difficult to really discuss this with the True Believers though.
You should read the tesla news groups, like telsamotorsclub.com. Lots of true believers, but also honest discussion of how badly they made this process for their buyers. It seems like though they have a very high quality vehicle, they showed their inexperience in struggling to scale the sales and delivery process. Fortunately the cars are good enough that it didn't significantly hurt the company, at least to this point.
What people aren't eager to talk about is the bs that stock shorts put out, because that has gotten old over the year. Examples: there is no demand, they don't last, the batteries go bad quickly, there is no supply of new cars, the new cars are all bad, they make cars but put them in a giant parking lot because they can't sell them, they are unreliable, they catch on fire, etc. There are problems with them, cars have gotten through production that needed paint and minor body work, it's true. But many people got great cars.
If someone brings up a point you find unreasonable, then attack them at that point. But no one in this entire topic has brought up any short-opinion yet.
I think I bring it up because a part of the "Tesla Dream" was that you didn't have to deal with poor salesmen at dealerships.
But based on these stories I keep hearing about Tesla (sometimes) dragging their feet and so forth... I just realize that I'd personally prefer the dealership model when it comes to customer service.
Yeah, Tesla offers a consistent price across the country. That's good and all, but delivering a car is more than just the price. Its about delivering on time, with good updates and support.
This "VIN Shuffling", missed deadlines, taking of money ($2500 down and no information??) and so forth would be enough to make me angry. A car is a big purchase and a sizable portion of my budget. I don't want my time to be wasted like that, or for my plans to be upended due to poor scheduling. (Ex: If I was selling my old car, the exchange between selling my car and buying a new car needs to happen very smoothly and predictably. Otherwise, I'm stranded without a car for several days!!)
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[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 37.4 ms ] threadI got a text a couple weeks ago asking if I could take delivery that weekend and immediately replied “YES!”. A day later they texted back that someone would be in contact with me “in a week or two”. Something wonky happened, my rank speculation is they had a matching vehicle which was slated for someone else and they initially said they couldn’t take delivery that weekend so they reached out to me, but then the original buyer went back and said they could take it? I have no evidence to support that, could just be shitty logistics, or even worse, intentionally testing my buyer readiness to gauge their true demand queue.
But I’m happy to wait as my current 2006 ICE with 104k miles is running fine. I would prefer even waiting another year or two if not for the expiring credit.
The fact that they’re claiming delivery backlog for Model 3 is down to ~10 weeks bodes well for the base model becoming available to order in Q1 I would think.
If I gave money to a dealership and they didn't give me a car within a few days of my delivery date, I'd cancel the check and buy a car from some other dealership.
Sure, people don't like playing the dealership game, but the fact of the matter is... you have options. There are other dealerships you can work with if your current one becomes abusive.
-------
I think about the Tesla model of sales and I see these complaints like yours here and there. But I just don't know what kind of recourse I'm supposed to do in that situation. Especially if I set my mind on a particular car.
It could be that effect where the complaints are heard loudest (very few people post online when things go fine... the main people who complain are the people treated poorly). But still, I wouldn't know the strategy for dealing with Tesla sales issues if I were a hypothetical buyer.
This is a major issue with the $7500 credit on the line. If a M3 buyer orders today, but gets delayed like in your case, they'll effectively lose $3750 credit... AND the credit will be delayed to 2019 taxes instead of 2018 taxes. That's a huge difference.
If you want your new car now, don't buy a tesla. If you want a tesla, then get in line. Alternatively, they could raise the price to shorten the line a bit, but something tells me profit isn't their end goal here. Moving the market away from ICE is the goal, and they are succeeding wildly.
Anyway, I took delivery of my Model 3 Sep 28th and here's my experience. They emailed me two weeks in advance to schedule pickup at the delivery center in Fremont on Saturday Sep 29th. Then a week later they called me and let me know that they could deliver the car to my house on a Monday. I was set to take delivery on Monday but then after the delivery time had passed, a manager called me to let me know they weren't able to get the car out that day and they'd get back to me to schedule another delivery date. A couple of days later they emailed me and said they could bring the car to me on Friday, and this time they showed up with the car, a little late, around 10:30pm. Overall it was a great experience. I really appreciate that they drove the car to me and it only took a few minutes to sign the paperwork.
Despite the delays and rescheduling several times it was a much much better experience than the (first, last and hopefully only) experience I had at the Toyota dealership in buying my previous car.
I am just over the moon thinking about the fact that I may never have to visit a gas station or get a smog check or have to discuss the problems of idling solenoids with mechanics ever again.
What people aren't eager to talk about is the bs that stock shorts put out, because that has gotten old over the year. Examples: there is no demand, they don't last, the batteries go bad quickly, there is no supply of new cars, the new cars are all bad, they make cars but put them in a giant parking lot because they can't sell them, they are unreliable, they catch on fire, etc. There are problems with them, cars have gotten through production that needed paint and minor body work, it's true. But many people got great cars.
If someone brings up a point you find unreasonable, then attack them at that point. But no one in this entire topic has brought up any short-opinion yet.
But based on these stories I keep hearing about Tesla (sometimes) dragging their feet and so forth... I just realize that I'd personally prefer the dealership model when it comes to customer service.
Yeah, Tesla offers a consistent price across the country. That's good and all, but delivering a car is more than just the price. Its about delivering on time, with good updates and support.
This "VIN Shuffling", missed deadlines, taking of money ($2500 down and no information??) and so forth would be enough to make me angry. A car is a big purchase and a sizable portion of my budget. I don't want my time to be wasted like that, or for my plans to be upended due to poor scheduling. (Ex: If I was selling my old car, the exchange between selling my car and buying a new car needs to happen very smoothly and predictably. Otherwise, I'm stranded without a car for several days!!)