Okie, I'll be totally honest with you and tell you what I would tell my own kids: You're sounding like a spoiled brat. I am not trying to be insulting or disrespectful, but that is my honest assessment of your rant. It has been well documented that Tesla was hoping to deliver 5,000 cars by the end of the year, and then revised that estimate down to around 3,000. Your reservation number is close to 9,000, and you're whining that your car wasn't delivered? Take a number and wait in line (specifically behind just about everyone from the low 3,000's right up to number 8,887). Of course I understand that you got your hopes up when Tesla sent out that email asking if you wanted to receive your car before the end of the year...But you should have taken that with a nice big chunk of realistic salt, especially given the 3,000 estimate that everyone knew about since the Q3 earnings call. Tesla couldn't possibly know how many people would want to receive their car in 2012 vs. 2013 until they asked them, right? Now, do I think that they should have asked production numbers anywhere near as high up as you? No way...They should have stuck to the 3,000-4,000's first, and slowly moved up from there if they needed to. But just because they asked you doesn't nullify that the fact that they were realistically only going to get around 3,000 cars out before the end of the year, period. How on earth could you realistically think that they were either going to triple their projected output, or that you would leapfrog approximately 5,000 other reservation holders? The "fail" is in your unrealistic expectations.
So, what should you do? Personally, I'd look at the big picture, be patient, and wait for your awesome car to arrive, especially since your revised delivery date is still relatively near. I waited over two and a half years to get my car, how long have you been waiting? And, while shifts in delivery estimates are of course frustrating, they should be expected when you consider that Tesla is a start-up company that is making the most revolutionary car of our generation. Do you have any concept of how difficult it is for ANY automobile start-up to bring a car to market and survive as a company? Let alone one as revolutionary as Tesla's Model S...And they are attempting to accomplish this during one of the most economically volatile periods in the last I don't even know how many decades! When you really think about it, it's really verging on miraculous that any of these cars ended up being delivered in the first place...There were times when I really thought that it was a realistic possibility that my $5,000 deposit would end up being a tax write-off as a loss on a failed Preston Tucker-esque investment opportunity. Yet, somehow, through the ingenuity and genius of Elon Musk, Franz von Holzhausen, George Blankenship, and the entire Tesla team, I now have not just Motor Trend's Car of the Year, but a true Car of the Future sitting in my driveway, plugged in and charging up. So if I were you, I would try and have a little bit of respect for that, and perhaps calm down and get a little perspective before you talk about "fails."
For the record, there's nothing wrong with being disappointed that you don't have your car yet. Over the last year, my delivery estimates went from late summer, to early fall, to late October/early November, to December/January. But it eventually came, as it has for a few thousand (not hundred, but thousand) other reservation holders. Your turn will come, and pretty soon at that. And regardless of what you thought might/hoped would happen, you had to know that a start-up company such as this was likely to have growing pains, fits and starts, stumbles and recoveries. Personally, I judge the success of a company on how well the recover from mistakes, rather than expecting that they will never make mistakes in the first place. And at the end of the day, Tesla is making, and delivering an amazing product. You want to know if you should cancel your reservation now? Ask anyone who has taken delivery of their Model S, even someone whose car has glitches, or didn't arrive in perfect condition, or was delivered missing something...Ask ANY of them if they would return their car if they could, or if they would have cancelled their order knowing what they know now. I think you would be hard-pressed to find anyone. Maybe a couple of people, out of several thousand. MAYBE...
Lastly, I want to reiterate that I'm really not trying to be insulting, but I was just really struck with your ungrateful and undignified sounding characterization of this situation. Tesla is by no means a perfect company, and the Model S is by no means a perfect car. They are both works in progress. And this forum, and the official Tesla forum have been very useful places for reservation holders and interested parties to learn about Tesla, share information and experiences, and even respectfully discuss the mix-up, blunders, faux pas and false steps made along the way. But it is almost always conducted in a respectful and constructive manner. If I were you, I'd take a step back and try and get a little perspective on the big picture. And if you still want to cancel, hey, that's your decision...You'll just move someone else who is eager to get their Model S one step closer to getting their dream car.
Either way, best of luck to you with whatever decision you make. Namaste.
