So now that I'm near a keyboard, I wanted to vomit my experiences yesterday and today about the car. Feel free to skip, or put on a work out video.
1) Yesterday DCU came through very quickly - I smartly decided to have the check sent to Tesla per the MVPA address. There was a real chance the physical check wouldn't have made it to me on time as the overnight has been taking up to 3 business days, and I was slated to pick up tomorrow.
2) I let my service center know what was going on - and once I had the scan of the check and tracking number (i forwarded both emails, along with the docusign from DCU) the service center told me, "good to go"
3) they didn't push for me to get the car earlier, but when i expressed interest, they said they could move me an hour earlier Friday. Friday? 2 days? not if you're part of this forum....so once they told me I was good, and I had some cancellations for my afternoon, and they said their latest pickup was 4pm that day and it was abotu 1:15pm, I asked can i pick it up now? and i gave my cell and asked to call me if no good.
4) I got my jacket on pretty quickly and zipped out the door. they called on my way to warn me might take 30 minutes to get the car ready, and I was fine with that as I drove faster.
5) BTW, I dreaded anything happening to the Benz on the way there - that would have f'd up the trade in. Nope, no problems
6) I get to the dealership like a giddy school girl, and see a beautiful red S, and more importantly, a gorgeous blue. The sun was actually out, and it was magnificent. and the shiny tires looked great. But i could easily see Pzero. that was a problem.
7) I had trouble parking the Benz, that place was jammed to the gills! new cars, inventory, etc. but was able to email that if that is my car and it has summer tires we have a real problem (doesn't affect this aspect, but we have 2 snows coming up, today and saturday, and it's flurrying now)
8) I get out, and therefore don't remove my benz plates. I did delete stuff from the navigation, garage door openers, etc. and had the thing cleaned out except for my "transfer bag" - EZ Pass, insurance card, etc.
9) long story short, I wouldn't sign anything. and I wasn't playing chicken (though I kept thinking tires might only be $1,500) - at the end of the day, they ended up taking the wheels off of a new car that wasn't delivered yet, and put them on mine. I asked them (not in an accusing way) how could Tesla send these to the northeast? they were also flabbergasted and said the car was probably originally intended for warm climates. They also mentioned they saw my prior emails, etc. about all seasons (I made that clear out of the gate)
10) side note - that red also had summer tires.
11) Once I had to wait for the tire swap, I signed the papers, went to the Benz, took off the plates, surrendered my registration and keys, and chilled about 30 minutes. I accepted the app "delivery" and it unlocked all sorts of goodness I'm still playing with.
11) lesson - a) stick to your guns and b) if you don't do your homework, they won't warn you it's the wrong tires, etc. - which is frankly not cool.
Finale - I have a service appointment at my office parking lot for monday for the console issue that i bet many have and don't notice - my neighbor is getting a new console and I likely will as well - there's a bottom shelf, and when you close the cover, the light goes on and when you fully open the cover the light goes out. reverse what it should be doing. if they never fixed it i wouldn't really car, but hey, new car and all that....
I'll write my impressions on another thread (that's what I do) but all in all, for those waiting - I have not seen anyone say it wasn't worth it (unless their car was an absolute clunker)
This will take a ton of time to get used to. I drove home like a white knuckle. I can't do most things on the car yet (at least not efficiently while driving, etc.) but I can see in 2 weeks I'll be a touch screen ninja.
Again, for those waiting patiently or impatiently,
1) it's a car. and it's only a car.
2) for me the biggest annoyance or fear was that i was forgotten in the tesla system
3) there's a LOT of negative stuff here. not saying negative people, but yeah, if my new car had damage, or wasnt' put together well, i'd be p'od, but I think most people make more noise when there's a problem then when things are good.
4) the long you wait, the more stuff will likely be improved or fixed. I think the quality control was poor in June, again mine was FLAWLESS. I did look. I still can't notice glass distortion (if it's there I can't see it). Paint defects? If there too small for me to see. And I'm NOT giving them a hall pass. My buddy's LR in August had crappy rubber trim sticking out of the window. I looked for that. nope, flawless. door handles, gaps, etc.
good luck to those waiting, hang in there. Try not to think about conspiracy theories. and yes, i'd like new headlights. but these are fine. As good as my benz? problably not. Better than my wife's lexus? you bet.
I'm happy to try to answer any questions I can whether on the forum or through a PM, and I plan to lurk here a bit longer as an attempt to give back; this and the other delivery forums were great "therapy" but at times I think they may have done more harm than good. Yes, I've seen newer orders get their cars first. Is it a conspiracy? I don't think so, I think it's logistics and luck of the draw - if you can't pick up and a later order can, and you are in a different area than that later order and the carr is "right there" yeah, I think they'll send to the one who can accept quickly. that sort of thing.