Indiana Jones

As the title reads, I was waiting on the Taycan, (on the waiting list) and for a few reasons, I have decided to pass.

With that being said, I found the Model 3 Performance to be the next toy for me, but attempting to purchase one has be difficult to say the least.

I have negotiated the terms of the deal twice, and the dealership has changed their tune both times, blaming their finance team. I am beginning to lose my patience and faith in Tesla as a whole if this is how they operate. Wondering if any of you have had similar experiences?

I may reach out to another dealership or just walk all together. In their defense, they keep offering me more free stuff to earn my business. They are missing the point, that I don't care about 1000-2000 off, I just want a quick, painless, and transparent deal.

thebishman

What type of games are they playing? I thought the price of the car was as configured online +/- maybe asking for/receiving free Supercharging, although if there's a trade-in that's always a chance for them to do something stupid I guess.

Pokerhobo

What do you mean "dealership"? Unless you're buying used, you don't go through a dealership, you go directly through Tesla.com.

Adk46

Tesla Service Center is the proper term for where you go to get a Tesla. Getting mine during the rush of September 2018 was an ordeal. I was just checking the "ordering and delivery" thread in a Tesla forum, and it seems they are still making people angry. It's not the folks at the Service Centers so much as some distant room full of computer jockeys. I would have switched to a different "dealer" if that were possible, but it's pointless with Tesla - it almost made me think the dealership laws were a good idea (in fact, they did originate out of consumer protection, in part.)

Your patience will be rewarded, the ordeal quickly forgotten - hang on.

Needsdecaf

Gallery is where you go to look at new Teslas. In some states that permit direct sales, the product assistants can order it for you. They do it the same way you would do at home. They will set up your account and push the button to order but it’s literally how you would order it on your couch. In states where direct sales are prohibited, they can’t legally do it for you, but they can legally sit there while you do it and tell you what to do. Silly.

Service centers are seperate. We used to have a gallery at the North Houston service center but no more.

But this is the real weakness of Tesla. Yes, I’m criticizing Tesla. Some of you take note, you thought I never would did you? In any event their weakness is their back office that processes the paperwork. They are remote, understaffed, and largely clueless. Bad, bad combo. Honestly my buying experience was so bad that if the car had any legitimate competition at the price point, I would have gone elsewhere. Elon touts “two minutes to buy” but it’s really 2 minutes to order, but the paperwork is a nightmare. God forbid you have a trade. Once your paperwork is clean, though, delivery is pretty seamless.

I have long said on the Tesla forums that if they don’t shape this up they WILL put themselves out of business. The average punter who isn’t tied to a Tesla or an EV won’t stand for it.

Needsdecaf

See my post above. It can be a process but it gets easier. I think it was still worth it. PM me if you want to discusss specifics or need help. Good luck.

daveo4porsche

Tesla sales experience for delivery is wonderfully simple and typically quick (YMMV) - Teslas sales experience for ordering and tracking your order is beyond horrible and the WORST purchase experience of any automotive vendor - online ordering is simple, but after that process everything "between" ordering and delivery is an exercise in demonstrated incompetence and you typically have to deal with 3 to 4 different people for your order each of which demonstrates different levels of being clueless - it's amazing they are still almost in business - but after product delivery things typically settle down into a happy experience, but yes the purchase process can be an exercise in frustration and I do know people that have not completed it - I respect and understand these people's decisions and it's an area in which Tesla has much much room to grow.

Adk46

Every state is different regarding how to get a Tesla - I was too focussed on the situation in New York, where Tesla got special legislation fo have five non-dealer dealerships. They resemble a regular dealership - showroom, people who act like salespeople, test drives, and a service center in the back. But they're not independent franchises like traditional (and otherwise legally required) dealerships. And, as I said, there's a group of amateur hour computer jockeys that are poorly trained to use a poorly designed system for getting cars into customer hands. Well, I shouldn't give them all the credit - the "dealer" people registered my car with the wrong license plates, which was not easily fixable.

Some genius at Tesla decided to put all five of these quasi-dealerships in the NY Metro area, so there's none in Albany or Buffalo. But they do have mobile service, now running out of some service "outpost" in Albany. Have had mobile service come out once, all good otherwise.

Needsdecaf

Yup. Sums it up well.

Like i said, I really love my Model 3. But had something with similar specs and price been available I would have bailed.

Yeah, not the best distribution for sure!

earl pottinger

Here in Ontario all the galleys are in Toronto or Hamilton, that leaves a lot of Ontario not near a display.

Earl Colby Pottinger (Tesla, Taycan, Bollinger, Rivian and other BEVs fan)

whiz944

There is no 'dealership' in the traditional sense. Just go to the web site, configure the car you want, and basically press "buy it now". If you have a trade in, you'll get an email asking for photos, description, etc, and they give you a value within 24 hours. (In my case I had a Carmax quote, and Tesla was a little better. In other cases, I've heard Carmax does better.) Some more email goes back and forth, and eventually you get your delivery date/time at the Delivery Center.

When I picked up my car a year ago, from the Fremont California Delivery Center, that one location was probably delivering 200-300 cars that day. It was a mad house. To make matters worse, their Contracts computer system was having problems, so they were running a few hours late. Once they got the actual paperwork, it all went very quickly. Finally did get my car and am very pleased with it.

Some folks can get their car delivered directly to their house. A friend of mine who is a long-time Tesla employee actually did some home deliveries during last years crunch. He said it was a lot of fun!

GT325

The have finally opened a service center in Rochester to service the rest of NYS outside of the metro area. My purchase experience was ok. My service experience was great 3 years ago but it has slowly devolved to the point that I will not purchase another tesla until they get their act together. Great car and innovation but terribly poorly managed business.

https://www.tesla.com/findus/locatio...nriettaservice

Indiana Jones

I speak of their showroom that has sales professionals that assist with buying and test drives etc...

Details -

Without completely boring you, showroom salesperson and their manager sat down with me to configure and find the right car. When financing (100% financed**), they told me that they don't make anything on financing, but will assist and their rates (usually 4-5 options) are very competitive. They ran my credit and said that Wells was the best option and that it came back at 3.75%. At closing table I was informed in addition to my $2500 dp, I would owe another $8,000 because Wells wasn't offering 100% financing, but that I could get someone to co-sign LOL for the 100% (insult by the finance kid haha). I inquired about the other finance options, because I was told my credit was run through 4-5 banks, and they told me they only ran it with Wells (getting irritated already with the lies).

I reminded them there was a mistake, as the manager told me I was approved at 100% with Wells at 3.75. Got frustrated soon thereafter and walked out.

I was called by a different manager 2 days later, who said Wells was not going to offer 100%, shopped the financing more, and came back with another option for 100% at 4.59, told them that was too high and was not part of the original deal, they reached back out an hour later and miraculously found 100% financing at 3.5%. Great news, deal is on, deliver the car, and we are all set. WRONG!

As they were set to deliver the car the next day, I was informed the 3.5% rate required roughly $5,000 down, and that they (the sales team) were misinformed by Tesla finance dept.

Lost it with them, this was Saturday at 7pm, they told me they were calling the big shot under Elon...lol.

Set to have an answer tomorrow, but hopes aren't too high.

I can reach out to my bank and have the money for DP, but prefer to be 0 out of pocket and now that they have run my credit, who knows how many times, I am putting them in the fire to get the deal done that we agreed on!

It seems as though the left hand has no idea what the right is doing, but in their defense they have offered me $1000 off sticker, $500 in online credits at their store, 2000 miles of free supercharging, and all weather floor mats. With all of that being said, I have no idea what their threshold is so far as discounts are concerned and don't want to cave as I have personally dedicated a week or more to get this done. I have read that Tesla offers nothing off, and I have heard they have offered $6000 off the model 3...

First world problems, I know, but at this point I am losing a bit of faith in them. I could only imagine if the car needs to go in for service.

Indiana Jones

Clearly you've dealt with them before... and I am fairly certain it will be worth the hassle.

daveo4porsche

Welcome to to Tesla - it’s infuriating!