Delivery and first road trip story.
Ordered my car in December, reservation #15309 and was told 9-11 months. I didn't really mind the wait because I was locking in at the 2012 price and it would give me time to build up some capital for a pretty substantial (for me anyways) purchase. Received a call March 19th that my car was entering production and would be ready for pickup as soon as the following week, which was surprising news. Guess TM is churning them out pretty fast, or maybe it's just because I ordered one with the big battery, fast motor and almost every option available. I had inquired several times with Tesla about financing and the delivery specialist told me that he would be sending me paperwork to fill out and that their financing department would contact me as soon as I filled out the paperwork, which I promptly did. I also tried to arrange financing at an outside credit union that another friend of mine financed his Model-S through, to get a competitive rate. I did ended up arranging financing straight Alliant Credit Union, who got me a great rate (1.49) also mainly because Tesla's financing department never contacted me, because according to the delivery specialist going into the weekend of the 20th, they were "swamped with deliveries." Also when I informed him what rate Alliant was getting me he pretty much said that it was a great rate and there would probably be no way that whoever Tesla got for me could beat that.
That Saturday (the 23rd) I received a call from their "Delivery Experience Specialist" that my car was being delivered the next week and wanted to arrange a pick up. We settled on a date and he sent me an email with the details on a Friday pick up at Space-X and that at the pick up Elon Musk would be available for a short meet and greet. Sweet! (but he actually wasn't there when I picked it up) The delivery, other than not getting to meet Elon, went well. I told the delivery specialist that my wife and I intended to take the car to San Diego the next day for a day trip for a previously planned event and if he could range charge the car for me. I intended to drop by the Tesla store down in SD and grab an hour or so charge to make sure I had enough miles to make it home, especially since I knew I would probably be driving it fairly quickly and with 3 other adults and a small child in the vehicle as well.
I plugged the car into a 110V outlet last night to top it off, as I have yet to install the 14-50 in my garage. I’m still waiting to see if it’s worth the $1600 investment for me or if I can get away with occasional visits to Hawthorne and my use of chargers near my work. We left Saturday morning with 262 miles worth of charge. Plenty enough to get me to San Diego. The ride down was uneventful and we arrived there with about 103 miles of charge left, door to door google tells me it's 121 miles to our SD destination, I chalked it up to driving with a full load and above the speed limit.
The day at the park was uneventful, no chargers nearby so I just parked it where I could and driving around SD we even saw another Model-S who we all happily waved to as we were crossing paths. We of course waved back.
Here's where the trouble starts, on the way home, to be safe I decided to drop by the Tesla store at the University Towne Center to get an hour or so worth of charge just to be safe before I headed home. I checked Recargo which sure enough said there were 2 charging stations available for use, just like it is advertised on the Tesla website.
We arrived to find both spots occupied by dealer cars. My brother-in-law, who I was travelling with, decided to hop out to find someone to ask if they could move a car for us, while we parked and waited. In the mean time I also decided to call the store to see if I could get someone out there to move one of the cars for us. Here's the most annoying part of the entire Tesla experience and probably what ruined the rest of the evening's events for us. The girl who answered said that they could not move those cars for at least the next 2 hours (which would put the store and mall well past closing time) and that there was nothing she could do, even after I explained the situation to her, and pretty much ended the conversation there. My wife who overheard the entire situation over the bluetooth looked at me and said, "you just spent THAT MUCH money on a car and she won't move one of the dealer cars for you to charge?!"
We called my brother in law and told him what had just happened and he said he was just about to talk to them. He was able to talk to a manager who agreed he would move one of the cars for us to charge. The manager of the store, Peter, came out, surveyed the chargers, went back in to get the key for the other car parked in the other charging spot after he realized that first charging spot was not operational, all the while seeming pretty standoffish about the whole thing. This was a sentiment that my sister-in-law was in total agreement with. He returned with the key for the other Model-S and directed me to park in the second bay but after plugging it into my car and fiddling for a while, no charge. Both of the HPWC were unlit and seemingly unpowered. Peter informed me there was really nothing he could do and directed me to use Recargo to hone in on a J1772 charger across the street while he attempted to try and fix it, although his hopes in getting it operational were not very high. In the meantime, I drove across the street to hunt for the blink station to see how long it would take to get me enough juice to get me all the way home, or at least maybe to Hawthorne to supercharge. I left my wife and passengers at the mall to kill time. I eventually managed to find the charger in a pay lot (12.50) where I had to stop, get out of my car, move plastic lane blockers 3 times in order to get the correct level where the chargers were. I plugged in where I was greeted with 10mi per hour of charge. Charge left, 90miles. Quick math meant I would be stuck in SD until well past midnight at that rate, in an empty parking garage with 1 pissed off wife, 2 annoyed adults and 1 year old who would probably be crying.
As I walked the four blocks back to the mall I picked up the phone and called the customer support number for corporate. I informed the gentleman about the situation and how I really just wanted to get enough juice to get home or get to the supercharger. He was fairly helpful in getting me some options, the San Diego service center was not picking up their phones, probably because it was 6:30 on a Saturday, but I told him that Newport Beach was 1/2 way to LA and asked if it would be possible to HPWC there at the tesla store. He asked me to hold while he called around to see if he could get me a faster charger anywhere.
In the mean time I gave a call to a buddy of mine in San Diego. I explained to him the situation and I asked him if he had a 14-50 outlet in his garage or if he could wire one up because his house is in the midst of being converted to Solar. He said he would make a quick home depot run and call me back in 10 minutes.
By then I could tell from the tesla app that I had around 105 miles of charge available. I told everyone that I would walk back, get the car and we would make a run for fashion island or drop by and charge at our friend's house, eat dinner and make an evening of it. The tesla corporate CSR eventually came back with the number for the contact at the fashion island store, which I promptly called and left a message for. My San Diego buddy called me back literally 30 seconds after I hung up with tesla corporate and told me he found the 14-50 outlet at the depot and could wire it up for me in no time. On the way out of the mall I walked in to the fairly busy Tesla store to see if there was any luck with their two chargers. Peter seemed a little bit friendlier in the store compared to when I first met him in the parking lot, my brother in law also told me that he was fairly friendly in the store, but that first impression still kind of stuck with me. He offered to call fashion island as well, went to the back and came back with the same number for Alex that the tesla corporate guy gave me. On the walk back to the car I called him again but no response, but after paying to exit the parking garage and wrapping up the blink charging Alex did call me back and told me he would leave his Model-S unplugged for the night just in case I did stop by to get charge there.
I drove the car back, waited in the loading zone for them to gather up my 1 year old niece who had to have a ride on the train in the middle of the mall before we left, and as we were about to pull out Peter ran out to tell us that he thought that he got it working, we pulled back into the charging spot but alas, still no juice.
We drove the three or so miles to my friend's house who sure enough wired us up a 14-50 outlet. I plugged the car in while everyone went in, my wife to rest after the ordeal and her sister to bathe the 1 year old and get ready for dinner and bed. We hopped in my buddy's ICE drove to pick up take out for everyone (my treat of course, it was the last I could do for the electricity and inconvenience), and caught up with everyone while we waited for enough juice to get us home. After 2 hours or so, and some quick math we decided we had enough charge to make it home, packed up the car and headed back.
80 Miles from destination, TPMS warning. I’ve been through my fair share of tire problems with my previous car (2006 BMW 330i), and could tell that it wasn’t a flat, but probably just a warning from the temperature change, or maybe a faulty sensor but decided to pull over and check anyways. Everything looked clean but throughout the rest of the entire trip back the error would appear and disappear, requesting that I contact my nearest Tesla Service Center. We eventually did make it the entire way with 20 miles to spare, without having to stop at the supercharging station.
My main problem with the entire experience was probably the girl who picked up the phone at the San Diego store who told us that she would not/could not move the cars for at least 2 hours. That conversation just soured the entire rest of the trip and experience for us. My brother in law pointed out that Peter actually worked his butt off trying to get that charger operational for us, but it was indeed Saturday on Easter weekend, and it can be understandable that things do go wrong, he only has some control of the mall’s electrical system, but it just kind of sucks that on one of our first outings something like that spoils the entire ownership experience for you. I’m a fairly understanding person, it comes from having to deal with unreasonable users as an IT professional, but I can’t say the same for my wife, whose last words to me tonight were, “when we go to Palm Springs in April, we’re taking my BMW.”
If you made it this far, thanks for reading, other than the uncured range anxiety I'm enjoying the car very much so far. I went into it knowing that I would be doing some "beta testing" but the trade off is that I get to enjoy one of the most technologically advanced cars in the world.
Ordered my car in December, reservation #15309 and was told 9-11 months. I didn't really mind the wait because I was locking in at the 2012 price and it would give me time to build up some capital for a pretty substantial (for me anyways) purchase. Received a call March 19th that my car was entering production and would be ready for pickup as soon as the following week, which was surprising news. Guess TM is churning them out pretty fast, or maybe it's just because I ordered one with the big battery, fast motor and almost every option available. I had inquired several times with Tesla about financing and the delivery specialist told me that he would be sending me paperwork to fill out and that their financing department would contact me as soon as I filled out the paperwork, which I promptly did. I also tried to arrange financing at an outside credit union that another friend of mine financed his Model-S through, to get a competitive rate. I did ended up arranging financing straight Alliant Credit Union, who got me a great rate (1.49) also mainly because Tesla's financing department never contacted me, because according to the delivery specialist going into the weekend of the 20th, they were "swamped with deliveries." Also when I informed him what rate Alliant was getting me he pretty much said that it was a great rate and there would probably be no way that whoever Tesla got for me could beat that.
That Saturday (the 23rd) I received a call from their "Delivery Experience Specialist" that my car was being delivered the next week and wanted to arrange a pick up. We settled on a date and he sent me an email with the details on a Friday pick up at Space-X and that at the pick up Elon Musk would be available for a short meet and greet. Sweet! (but he actually wasn't there when I picked it up) The delivery, other than not getting to meet Elon, went well. I told the delivery specialist that my wife and I intended to take the car to San Diego the next day for a day trip for a previously planned event and if he could range charge the car for me. I intended to drop by the Tesla store down in SD and grab an hour or so charge to make sure I had enough miles to make it home, especially since I knew I would probably be driving it fairly quickly and with 3 other adults and a small child in the vehicle as well.
I plugged the car into a 110V outlet last night to top it off, as I have yet to install the 14-50 in my garage. I’m still waiting to see if it’s worth the $1600 investment for me or if I can get away with occasional visits to Hawthorne and my use of chargers near my work. We left Saturday morning with 262 miles worth of charge. Plenty enough to get me to San Diego. The ride down was uneventful and we arrived there with about 103 miles of charge left, door to door google tells me it's 121 miles to our SD destination, I chalked it up to driving with a full load and above the speed limit.
The day at the park was uneventful, no chargers nearby so I just parked it where I could and driving around SD we even saw another Model-S who we all happily waved to as we were crossing paths. We of course waved back.
Here's where the trouble starts, on the way home, to be safe I decided to drop by the Tesla store at the University Towne Center to get an hour or so worth of charge just to be safe before I headed home. I checked Recargo which sure enough said there were 2 charging stations available for use, just like it is advertised on the Tesla website.
We arrived to find both spots occupied by dealer cars. My brother-in-law, who I was travelling with, decided to hop out to find someone to ask if they could move a car for us, while we parked and waited. In the mean time I also decided to call the store to see if I could get someone out there to move one of the cars for us. Here's the most annoying part of the entire Tesla experience and probably what ruined the rest of the evening's events for us. The girl who answered said that they could not move those cars for at least the next 2 hours (which would put the store and mall well past closing time) and that there was nothing she could do, even after I explained the situation to her, and pretty much ended the conversation there. My wife who overheard the entire situation over the bluetooth looked at me and said, "you just spent THAT MUCH money on a car and she won't move one of the dealer cars for you to charge?!"
We called my brother in law and told him what had just happened and he said he was just about to talk to them. He was able to talk to a manager who agreed he would move one of the cars for us to charge. The manager of the store, Peter, came out, surveyed the chargers, went back in to get the key for the other car parked in the other charging spot after he realized that first charging spot was not operational, all the while seeming pretty standoffish about the whole thing. This was a sentiment that my sister-in-law was in total agreement with. He returned with the key for the other Model-S and directed me to park in the second bay but after plugging it into my car and fiddling for a while, no charge. Both of the HPWC were unlit and seemingly unpowered. Peter informed me there was really nothing he could do and directed me to use Recargo to hone in on a J1772 charger across the street while he attempted to try and fix it, although his hopes in getting it operational were not very high. In the meantime, I drove across the street to hunt for the blink station to see how long it would take to get me enough juice to get me all the way home, or at least maybe to Hawthorne to supercharge. I left my wife and passengers at the mall to kill time. I eventually managed to find the charger in a pay lot (12.50) where I had to stop, get out of my car, move plastic lane blockers 3 times in order to get the correct level where the chargers were. I plugged in where I was greeted with 10mi per hour of charge. Charge left, 90miles. Quick math meant I would be stuck in SD until well past midnight at that rate, in an empty parking garage with 1 pissed off wife, 2 annoyed adults and 1 year old who would probably be crying.
As I walked the four blocks back to the mall I picked up the phone and called the customer support number for corporate. I informed the gentleman about the situation and how I really just wanted to get enough juice to get home or get to the supercharger. He was fairly helpful in getting me some options, the San Diego service center was not picking up their phones, probably because it was 6:30 on a Saturday, but I told him that Newport Beach was 1/2 way to LA and asked if it would be possible to HPWC there at the tesla store. He asked me to hold while he called around to see if he could get me a faster charger anywhere.
In the mean time I gave a call to a buddy of mine in San Diego. I explained to him the situation and I asked him if he had a 14-50 outlet in his garage or if he could wire one up because his house is in the midst of being converted to Solar. He said he would make a quick home depot run and call me back in 10 minutes.
By then I could tell from the tesla app that I had around 105 miles of charge available. I told everyone that I would walk back, get the car and we would make a run for fashion island or drop by and charge at our friend's house, eat dinner and make an evening of it. The tesla corporate CSR eventually came back with the number for the contact at the fashion island store, which I promptly called and left a message for. My San Diego buddy called me back literally 30 seconds after I hung up with tesla corporate and told me he found the 14-50 outlet at the depot and could wire it up for me in no time. On the way out of the mall I walked in to the fairly busy Tesla store to see if there was any luck with their two chargers. Peter seemed a little bit friendlier in the store compared to when I first met him in the parking lot, my brother in law also told me that he was fairly friendly in the store, but that first impression still kind of stuck with me. He offered to call fashion island as well, went to the back and came back with the same number for Alex that the tesla corporate guy gave me. On the walk back to the car I called him again but no response, but after paying to exit the parking garage and wrapping up the blink charging Alex did call me back and told me he would leave his Model-S unplugged for the night just in case I did stop by to get charge there.
I drove the car back, waited in the loading zone for them to gather up my 1 year old niece who had to have a ride on the train in the middle of the mall before we left, and as we were about to pull out Peter ran out to tell us that he thought that he got it working, we pulled back into the charging spot but alas, still no juice.
We drove the three or so miles to my friend's house who sure enough wired us up a 14-50 outlet. I plugged the car in while everyone went in, my wife to rest after the ordeal and her sister to bathe the 1 year old and get ready for dinner and bed. We hopped in my buddy's ICE drove to pick up take out for everyone (my treat of course, it was the last I could do for the electricity and inconvenience), and caught up with everyone while we waited for enough juice to get us home. After 2 hours or so, and some quick math we decided we had enough charge to make it home, packed up the car and headed back.
80 Miles from destination, TPMS warning. I’ve been through my fair share of tire problems with my previous car (2006 BMW 330i), and could tell that it wasn’t a flat, but probably just a warning from the temperature change, or maybe a faulty sensor but decided to pull over and check anyways. Everything looked clean but throughout the rest of the entire trip back the error would appear and disappear, requesting that I contact my nearest Tesla Service Center. We eventually did make it the entire way with 20 miles to spare, without having to stop at the supercharging station.
My main problem with the entire experience was probably the girl who picked up the phone at the San Diego store who told us that she would not/could not move the cars for at least 2 hours. That conversation just soured the entire rest of the trip and experience for us. My brother in law pointed out that Peter actually worked his butt off trying to get that charger operational for us, but it was indeed Saturday on Easter weekend, and it can be understandable that things do go wrong, he only has some control of the mall’s electrical system, but it just kind of sucks that on one of our first outings something like that spoils the entire ownership experience for you. I’m a fairly understanding person, it comes from having to deal with unreasonable users as an IT professional, but I can’t say the same for my wife, whose last words to me tonight were, “when we go to Palm Springs in April, we’re taking my BMW.”
If you made it this far, thanks for reading, other than the uncured range anxiety I'm enjoying the car very much so far. I went into it knowing that I would be doing some "beta testing" but the trade off is that I get to enjoy one of the most technologically advanced cars in the world.
