LSDTester#1
Ingesting large quantities of LSD
I actually read this entire post. Glad I did. Your last paragraph nails it.So, this is my 2nd Tesla vehicle. The first was in 2017 and the only options at the time were the S and X. Both were fairly high priced niche vehicles. The starting price of my S was $69,990. That experience was ok. From order to delivery was about 2 weeks but they found an inventory match that met my specs. Was $76,490 before tax as I ordered it...by no means an inexpensive car but about half the price of a fully loaded P100D at the time.
Fast forward to ordering a Plaid the weekend after attending battery day (RN11399). Quite the different experience. Seeing other orders made much later getting deliveries sooner does bite. But the way I see it, this is the first major refresh since 2017 where all you really got was a much better looking (IMO) front fascia and AP2.0 hardware. A lot of those older S owners that can afford a new S I'm guessing ordered. A lot of speed freaks that saw the specs ordered. A lot of people with enough spare cash that want the best of whatever saw the quickest production car ever made also ordered. Tesla also has a lot of additional attention now with the success of the 3 and Y.
Somebody once said that Tesla has democratized performance...anybody with the ability to afford a mid range vehicle can now have one of the quickest accelerating cars on the market with the Model 3. What beats that? The new Model S...and bonus it's a family sedan with storage to spare. Combine that with the global chip and supply line shortage and the known limitations on battery production and it's no wonder some of us are having issues getting our cars.
Depending on your color/trim/wheel/location combo you could be looking at a very confusing delivery estimate if you have one at all. I'm not far from the factory but white/white/carbon/19 seems to be a death knell combo for deliveries.
Sure, it would be fantastic if the SA's would have more information to provide to us. Transparency would help us all understand better when we can expect our cars. Tesla could definitely improve in this area. But in a world of extremely limited supply among one of the most highly demanded vehicles I find it hard to believe the "competition" with their stealership model, desperate to sell one of their aging models already sitting in their lot is in anyway a better system.
We're waiting in line for one of the best vehicles you can possibly purchase at a price unheard of by the incumbents among a global shortage of unprecedented proportions. I can only imagine Tesla is making as many as they can as fast as they can of their highest margin vehicles available. So as they say...patience is a virtue (as I refresh my order page for the 50th time today).
