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This is also a point against online ordering cars - if I can walk into a car dealership, inspect and test drive the car before committing to buying it, that hel

This is also a point against online ordering cars - if I can walk into a car dealership, inspect and test drive the car before committing to buying it, that helps everyone - I can have peace of mind, dealership or manufacturer can fix identified defects before putting the car out again and the process works - manufacturer has incentives to ship as perfect a product as they can considering the dealer is putting their money on the line, Dealers can address minor defects in the pre delivery inspection etc. None of that is possible with Tesla's model - they basically have to get a car looking thing out the door as fast as they can, there's no dealership to cross check and the customer is left with the pieces or the option of waiting in the hope that next one will be better.

vkat 5y ago
I did not buy my car from the dealership lot. They had to put in an order and I waited 3 months for it to be finally available for me to pick up. I could track everything happening with the car. The car was sitting in the container port for an usually long time (2 weeks) so when I asked my dealer he tracked it down and said there was curb damage to the wheel and they had to wait for replacement. Now, I don't expect this kind of service from Tesla but my point is it doesn't matter if you are able to test drive it or not from the dealership and inspect for defects; the manufacturer should have a rigorous quality process that doesn't let these kind of slip ups to happen and if it does happen make it right by the customer.
- blinkingled 5y ago
  > so when I asked my dealer he tracked it down and said there was curb damage to the wheel and they had to wait for replacement. So having a Dealer deal with it helped? As in they did the inspection for you and got it fixed? It's practically equivalent to buying off a lot if you think about it without the extra step of you doing another inspection to catch what the dealer might have missed. With Tesla it's between you ordering and the factory shipping. No additional independent QC like the Dealership and no chance to pre-inspect.
  - vkat 5y ago
    >So having a Dealer deal with it helped? As in they did the inspection for you and got it fixed? No it wasn't the dealer that replaced the wheel but a receiving port of the manufacturer in the east coast.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
driverdan 5y ago
Many people order new cars from other companies because they're not available on the lot. You could still refuse delivery. If I were buying a Tesla I'd do a very thorough inspection of it before accepting it.
- blinkingled 5y ago
  But prior to the shortages I would not need to wait to find a different car if I inspected one and found it had issues. I could just go to another Dealer lot and get one. I think there are still limitations to online ordering cars and the issues become worse when you can't do decent QA _and_ fulfill orders in decent time frame. (For instance if I ordered a Model 3 now - my estimated delivery time frame is March. If I refuse that one for having issues, I am looking at June to get a new car.)
  - driverdan 5y ago
    It's very common to not have the options available on the lot. For popular or new cars you often have to order them from the factory or do a swap with another deal that has the color and options you want. It may be more of a problem now but it's not a new thing.
qubitcoder 5y ago
This doesn't really mirror my experience. I scheduled a test drive for a Model Y online. I drove to the nearest Tesla location in Alpharetta, Georgia (about 1.5 hours away). And then later placed an order online. A couple weeks later, I went back to Alpharetta to pick up my vehicle. This wasn't at the Tesla store, but the service center down the road. During that time, I had ample time to inspect the vehicle and drive it. In fact, the Tesla rep went out of his way to do a thorough walk-through and inspection of the vehicle. I noticed a small smudge on the front, and they took care of it on the spot. From reading forums, it's pretty common knowledge that if you notice any issues, so long as you note it upon pick-up (or in the first days or so), Tesla will happily take care of it free of charge. I haven't used it, but the mobile app also makes it trivial to schedule service if needed (along with other options like roadside assistance).
- blinkingled 5y ago
  So you're driving 3 hours for a test drive. Then you order a different made for you car online. They ship one to a nearer service center, you inspect it - in your case it just happens to be a smudge that the service center can fix without parts. If not then you're either stuck driving a car that needs fixing or reject delivery (not sure if that's possible) and wait another 3 months. Contrast that with normal day GM/Toyota/Honda car dealership - you walk in after maybe a 20 min drive, you inspect and test drive any car on the lot and buy the one you like the most. End of story. If the one color you like had QA issues the dealer can't fix in short time you can go to another dealer nearby. In fact that's exactly what I did recently during shortage - was still able to buy a car I like that I could inspect in a day's time.

vkat 5y ago

I did not buy my car from the dealership lot. They had to put in an order and I waited 3 months for it to be finally available for me to pick up. I could track everything happening with the car. The car was sitting in the container port for an usually long time (2 weeks) so when I asked my dealer he tracked it down and said there was curb damage to the wheel and they had to wait for replacement. Now, I don't expect this kind of service from Tesla but my point is it doesn't matter if you are able to test drive it or not from the dealership and inspect for defects; the manufacturer should have a rigorous quality process that doesn't let these kind of slip ups to happen and if it does happen make it right by the customer.

blinkingled 5y ago
> so when I asked my dealer he tracked it down and said there was curb damage to the wheel and they had to wait for replacement. So having a Dealer deal with it helped? As in they did the inspection for you and got it fixed? It's practically equivalent to buying off a lot if you think about it without the extra step of you doing another inspection to catch what the dealer might have missed. With Tesla it's between you ordering and the factory shipping. No additional independent QC like the Dealership and no chance to pre-inspect.
- vkat 5y ago
  >So having a Dealer deal with it helped? As in they did the inspection for you and got it fixed? No it wasn't the dealer that replaced the wheel but a receiving port of the manufacturer in the east coast.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

driverdan 5y ago

Many people order new cars from other companies because they're not available on the lot. You could still refuse delivery. If I were buying a Tesla I'd do a very thorough inspection of it before accepting it.

blinkingled 5y ago
But prior to the shortages I would not need to wait to find a different car if I inspected one and found it had issues. I could just go to another Dealer lot and get one. I think there are still limitations to online ordering cars and the issues become worse when you can't do decent QA _and_ fulfill orders in decent time frame. (For instance if I ordered a Model 3 now - my estimated delivery time frame is March. If I refuse that one for having issues, I am looking at June to get a new car.)
- driverdan 5y ago
  It's very common to not have the options available on the lot. For popular or new cars you often have to order them from the factory or do a swap with another deal that has the color and options you want. It may be more of a problem now but it's not a new thing.

qubitcoder 5y ago

This doesn't really mirror my experience. I scheduled a test drive for a Model Y online. I drove to the nearest Tesla location in Alpharetta, Georgia (about 1.5 hours away). And then later placed an order online. A couple weeks later, I went back to Alpharetta to pick up my vehicle. This wasn't at the Tesla store, but the service center down the road. During that time, I had ample time to inspect the vehicle and drive it. In fact, the Tesla rep went out of his way to do a thorough walk-through and inspection of the vehicle. I noticed a small smudge on the front, and they took care of it on the spot. From reading forums, it's pretty common knowledge that if you notice any issues, so long as you note it upon pick-up (or in the first days or so), Tesla will happily take care of it free of charge. I haven't used it, but the mobile app also makes it trivial to schedule service if needed (along with other options like roadside assistance).

blinkingled 5y ago
So you're driving 3 hours for a test drive. Then you order a different made for you car online. They ship one to a nearer service center, you inspect it - in your case it just happens to be a smudge that the service center can fix without parts. If not then you're either stuck driving a car that needs fixing or reject delivery (not sure if that's possible) and wait another 3 months. Contrast that with normal day GM/Toyota/Honda car dealership - you walk in after maybe a 20 min drive, you inspect and test drive any car on the lot and buy the one you like the most. End of story. If the one color you like had QA issues the dealer can't fix in short time you can go to another dealer nearby. In fact that's exactly what I did recently during shortage - was still able to buy a car I like that I could inspect in a day's time.