I’ve benefitted from reading hours worth of content in TMC and wanted to contribute back to the community. This is my first real post and wanted to share some the lessons I’ve learned about taking delivery of an inventory Model S.
For better or worse, I’m a a very detail oriented guy and the small things tend to catch my eye. Hope this can be helpful to those of you who have found killer discounts on inventory vehicles.
Tesla ultimately agreed to repair the dent in my bumper, but only after I escalated the issue. Once I reached the right level, I was impressed by the swiftness of the resolution and the sincerity of the Tesla team in resolving my concerns. At first I felt a bit bad about doing this, but as a shareholder, I felt providing constructive feedback would help Tesla improve. I’ll post updates up here if there is interest.
Bottom line, I chalk this up as an outlier experience. Tesla is an amazing company that holds itself to a very high standard and is experiencing some teething. I’m convinced Tesla strives to re-define the auto buying process and goes above and beyond to make sure its customers are satisfied. I’ve experienced that myself first hand now within the first week of ownership.
For better or worse, I’m a a very detail oriented guy and the small things tend to catch my eye. Hope this can be helpful to those of you who have found killer discounts on inventory vehicles.
1. Carefully read the Demo Condition Notification. Make sure you understand what kind of damage Tesla determines to be “minor cosmetic imperfections” vs “major.” Minor imperfections are factored into the discounted price, whereas with major imperfections, Tesla will make a fix. This document should be presented to you before you buy the car and you sign it when reserving the vehicle. This document is not given to you at delivery.
2. Pay close attention to the warranty definition in the Demo Condition Notification. My owner advisor presented me with one copy and the delivery team provided me with an alternative version. In the first copy, my 4 year/50k mile warranty was _incremental_ to the existing mileage on the car. In the copy the delivery team provided me, the warranty began at 0 miles, which meant I effectively had a <50k mile warranty. Tesla honored the first version that I had been presented.
3. Determining what is “minor” damage to the car can be tricky. If your DS insists you have bought the car “as-is” and you feel the damage warrants repair by Tesla, ping your Owner Advisor for how to proceed. I showed the damage to my Owner Advisor and the local service team for their opinion on whether or not it was major/minor (they agreed with me). My OA was wiling to help me navigate through the organization.
4. Don’t feel compelled to rush through your delivery experience. Be firm in asking for more time to inspect the car and inspect it under different lighting conditions. The day I took delivery, I had only a few minutes to inspect before my DS went to the next customer and did not notice a 3” dent in the rear bumper until I had left (dang pearl white). There were several awkward moments when I pointed out damage to my DS, who had to ask her manager multiple times on procedure. In retrospect, I should have spent a lot longer during delivery and had the DS make extra time for me. The delivery teams may not be as familiar with inventory car protocol, so it can be helpful to have a second opinion from someone higher up in the organization. If you feel like the DS’s opinion and your opinion are orthogonal, ask for the Regional Delivery Manager’s contact information or ping your Owner Advisor for help.
5. Pick and choose your battles. I understand an inventory car should come with normal wear and tear like minor scratches on paint/chrome, rock chips, and small scuffs in the leather. Those come with the territory and you should probably only push on the issues that really mean a lot to you. My Delivery Experience Specialist bluntly told me to either accept the damage to my bumper or to return the car. Neither option sounded ideal, so I remained tenacious and escalated upwards in the organization. See last few paragraphs for more details.
6. Check these areas before you leave. Here are some spots where folks might not think about looking for damage: scratches on the door handles once they present, frunk crease above the emblem, the underside of the frank, mobile charging connector (I tested mine on the spot too), all upholstery in the footwells (I had a large tear in one of the passenger foot wells), rubber seals around all the doors, headliner smudges (especially on the sun visors), the seams where the headliner and rubber seals meet (a 5” portion of my headliner had popped out), and tire tread depth (particularly rear tires on the inside).
2. Pay close attention to the warranty definition in the Demo Condition Notification. My owner advisor presented me with one copy and the delivery team provided me with an alternative version. In the first copy, my 4 year/50k mile warranty was _incremental_ to the existing mileage on the car. In the copy the delivery team provided me, the warranty began at 0 miles, which meant I effectively had a <50k mile warranty. Tesla honored the first version that I had been presented.
3. Determining what is “minor” damage to the car can be tricky. If your DS insists you have bought the car “as-is” and you feel the damage warrants repair by Tesla, ping your Owner Advisor for how to proceed. I showed the damage to my Owner Advisor and the local service team for their opinion on whether or not it was major/minor (they agreed with me). My OA was wiling to help me navigate through the organization.
4. Don’t feel compelled to rush through your delivery experience. Be firm in asking for more time to inspect the car and inspect it under different lighting conditions. The day I took delivery, I had only a few minutes to inspect before my DS went to the next customer and did not notice a 3” dent in the rear bumper until I had left (dang pearl white). There were several awkward moments when I pointed out damage to my DS, who had to ask her manager multiple times on procedure. In retrospect, I should have spent a lot longer during delivery and had the DS make extra time for me. The delivery teams may not be as familiar with inventory car protocol, so it can be helpful to have a second opinion from someone higher up in the organization. If you feel like the DS’s opinion and your opinion are orthogonal, ask for the Regional Delivery Manager’s contact information or ping your Owner Advisor for help.
5. Pick and choose your battles. I understand an inventory car should come with normal wear and tear like minor scratches on paint/chrome, rock chips, and small scuffs in the leather. Those come with the territory and you should probably only push on the issues that really mean a lot to you. My Delivery Experience Specialist bluntly told me to either accept the damage to my bumper or to return the car. Neither option sounded ideal, so I remained tenacious and escalated upwards in the organization. See last few paragraphs for more details.
6. Check these areas before you leave. Here are some spots where folks might not think about looking for damage: scratches on the door handles once they present, frunk crease above the emblem, the underside of the frank, mobile charging connector (I tested mine on the spot too), all upholstery in the footwells (I had a large tear in one of the passenger foot wells), rubber seals around all the doors, headliner smudges (especially on the sun visors), the seams where the headliner and rubber seals meet (a 5” portion of my headliner had popped out), and tire tread depth (particularly rear tires on the inside).
Tesla ultimately agreed to repair the dent in my bumper, but only after I escalated the issue. Once I reached the right level, I was impressed by the swiftness of the resolution and the sincerity of the Tesla team in resolving my concerns. At first I felt a bit bad about doing this, but as a shareholder, I felt providing constructive feedback would help Tesla improve. I’ll post updates up here if there is interest.
Bottom line, I chalk this up as an outlier experience. Tesla is an amazing company that holds itself to a very high standard and is experiencing some teething. I’m convinced Tesla strives to re-define the auto buying process and goes above and beyond to make sure its customers are satisfied. I’ve experienced that myself first hand now within the first week of ownership.