If You Want A Tesla Here’s 5 Things You Must Think About First
1. Before You Order a Tesla
When you order a Tesla, you will get an estimated delivery date on Tesla’s website. You cannot bump up this date to become sooner. The reason for this is that your Tesla vehicle is getting custom built at a Tesla factory.
You can, however, ask Tesla to delay your order, but Tesla will only do this for so long. Eventually, you will have to take order and pay any price increases for the vehicle and software, like FSD, that are available.
You will also want to look at any State rebates you get for having an electric vehicle. This will help reduce the price you pay for your vehicle.
There are new technologies coming, like a Ryzen processor and the 4680 batteries coming out of Giga Texas. I believe the Ryzen processor is already getting put in the Model 3 vehicles from Fremont according to Twitter and Reddit, but the 4680 batteries are still not available yet. In my opinion, if you want a 4680 battery car, you’re going to have to wait a few months to order.
You should also think about how much you’re going to drive and what you’ll use your car for. If you just drive short distances and don’t need to tow anything, a Model 3 RWD , with the new LFP batteries makes a lot of sense.
If you’re going to take long commutes and tow small trailers, or want a little bit bigger vehicle, a Model Y may make more sense.
2. Before Taking Delivery
3. While Owning Your Tesla
Tesla Slashes Model 3 And Model Y Wait Times In China
Last week, Tesla in Australia increased estimated delivery times on its Model Y Performance variant. At the end of the same week, Tesla significantly decreased the wait times on nearly all models it produces in Shanghai for its local market.
What does the new China wait time look like and what could it mean for thousands of existing Tesla order holders here in Australia?
How Can You Get Your Ev With No Waiting Time
Well, if we are talking about the Tesla, the only option to avoid waiting is to buy something right there in the dealership. This may be a vehicle after a test-drive session or it may be a car that was standing there for 1 year in a store. We see no problems in buying such cars, but someone will not consider them brand-new vehicles anymore.
Unfortunately, even if you live in Fremont, you can’t just get the vehicle immediately simply because your car goes into production after you order it.
Here’s what you can try to reduce waiting time to zero or minimum:
- Older models. If you buy a Tesla Model 3, it may be delivered much faster than Tesla Model Y in 2022 just because the Model 3 is a much older model and fewer people order it right now. But once the Model 3 is facelifted, any other Tesla will be easier to buy.
- Dealership models. Some Teslas are always standing there in the dealerships. You can buy them with zero waiting time – just pay the money and get into the vehicle to drive it home.
- A used Tesla. You may also go to a dealer and buy a used Tesla readily available for you at any time of the weekdays. These cars are cheaper, you won’t need to wait at all, but they are used and this is a serious disadvantage.
- Choose another brand. You may go for Hyundai or Nissan, or even Chevy EVs that are available with shorter delivery times just because they are not as popular as Tesla vehicles are.
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Tesla Wait Time: Tesla Model X
The standard Tesla Model X currently has the worst wait time of any Tesla car, with the cheapest model forcing you to wait for a delivery date sometime between July and October 2023. Thankfully it too can be brought forward, if you pay a little extra.
The best delivery estimate you can get right now is March and June 2023, provided you buy one of the following add-ons: One of four premium paint jobs , 22-inch wheels , the black & white or cream interior the six-seat layout or seven seat layout .
Adding the Full Self Driving or Enhanced Autopilot doesnt do anything to improve wait times, nor does combining multiple add-ons for the sake of it.
Meanwhile the performance-centric Tesla Model X Plaid will arrive sometime between November and December 2022. Adding extra features doesn’t bump up your estimate in any way.
Changing Your Delivery Appointment
If circumstances change and you suddenly need to change your appointment, then it can be done, but youll need to contact your Tesla representative as quickly as possible. You should also be aware that if your Tesla is already in transit to the delivery location, then changing the delivery address may not be possible.
Its always best to reflect carefully on your delivery date when arranging and confirming with your representative. Choose dates and times where the risk of things suddenly changing or going wrong are minimal.
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Interior Before Driving Away
Check for any obvious damage to the seats, the plastics, and the kick plates on all four doors and the boot.
Check any ordered accessories are present. You should at least have a UMC charger with appropriate adapters.
Check mileage. It should be relatively low at no higher than 50 miles if new.
Check rear view camera, if necessary select reverse to do so.
Bottom Lineare Teslas Worth The Wait
Teslas waiting times for their EVs have been heavily criticized and have been a hot topic of conversation among consumers. But, are they really as bad as they’re made out to be?
When looking at the estimated waiting times of other popular EV options, they seem to be fairly consistent. For example, some of the most popular EVs such as the Porsche Taycan, Volkswagen ID.4, and the Ford Mustang Mach-E all have estimated waiting times of over 6 months.
So, with competitors also experiencing extended delays, the lengthy wait times for a Tesla dont seem as bad as once thought.
Furthermore, with Tesla still leading the industry in terms of performance, safety, and innovation, they’re an option that’s hard to look past.
If you do decide to get a Tesla or any other EV for that matter, you should consider solar power as a way to charge your car and power your home.
Check out how much you will save charging your Tesla with solar panels
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How Long Does The Process Take
Your collection day and delivery appointment might be over within 30 minutes, especially if the dealership isnt busy with collections and it isnt your first time buying a Tesla. If you have some familiarity with the process, it can be over very fast.
Many Tesla owners report the process taking well under an hour in any circumstance, unless it just so happens that on that day there happen to be many people collecting at the same time. The appointments are scheduled, however, so its not so likely that will happen.
The longest you could reasonably expect to take is an hour, and that would likely only be because you yourself were extending the time by asking questions, and getting familiar with the car, which in itself is a good and wise move.
Can You Do Something To Get The Ordered Tesla Faster
People keep asking us what they can do to catalyze the process of their Teslas delivery. We can’t say for sure what you should do because this process is really hard to control and influence. To start with, you shouldn’t worry much – there is little you can do, so just relax, grab your beer and wait for your dealer to call you.
If you just can’t wait, you may try different things which will still not be very efficient:
- file a complaint for your dealer – Tesla is known to be a partially client-oriented company, so they will take your complaint, but it’s highly unlikely this will change something with your delivery
- initially, when you only make a deposit, ask a dealer to sign a document with a certain delivery date and some consequences if these terms aren’t met – you’ll need a good lawyer for this.
We can’t see any good ways to deal with possible delays in the delivery of your Tesla. But if you just can’t sit on the couch and wait until the long-awaited call from the dealership, you may try these things. Chances are you’ll get your vehicle a day or two sooner than you could have it before all your actions.
Unfortunately, your complaints and angry calls will not change the fact that chips are hard to get, the Tesla factory has a lot of orders, and trucks need to follow some logistic rules and procedures to deliver your ordered vehicle to the dealership.
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Before Heading To The Delivery Center:
If you haven’t had any contact with a Delivery Advisor/Scheduler since “First Contact,” before you drive to pick your vehicle up, call the Tesla delivery location’s direct number, and verify that your vehicle is indeed ready to go. There have been reports of people driving hours to pick up their Tesla only to be told their vehicle isn’t even in production yet!
The Dates Keep Slipping
One bemused Tesla customer, Steve Salem, placed his order for a long-range all wheel drive Model Y with premium interior and silver metallic paint on May 31. He had test-driven the vehicle outside of New York City, and later ordered online, arranging to pick up the car in Los Angeles where he would soon be living.
According to records and correspondence he shared with CNBC, Tesla’s site initially said a Model Y should be available in an estimated 4 to 8 weeks, putting the late end of his estimated delivery window around the week of July 26.
After placing his order online, paying a $100 non-refundable fee to do so, the Tesla site showed Salem a new estimated delivery window with Aug. 10 as the latest possible delivery date. The dates continued to change in his Tesla account, and Salem says he did not receive apologies from sales staff or even email notifications with each change. The date range shifted all the way into October at one point, and then back to a date in late August. As of Monday this week, the estimated date was between Sept. 4 and Sept. 24.
Three other customers who are waiting for Model Y and Model S vehicles also told CNBC that they had to keep checking their accounts to detect changes to their estimated delivery dates.
While he hasn’t given up on his Tesla, Salem said he might have to eventually. “I’m fortunate that I’m not in desperate need for a vehicle. But I’d like to drive the car,” he said.
Crosby was not immediately available for comment.
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Anytime Before Delivery Day
What Do Dealers And Buyers Say
We’ve talked to some fresh Tesla owners and also to one dealer . And here’s what we know now:
Dealers usually say that the estimated delivery time for an average Tesla EV is from 4 to 8 weeks, but they agree that sometimes this time may be longer because of some reasons that the company can’t control. The representative of a dealer we were talking to said that the average delivery time is about 10 weeks.
Tesla owners are much less optimistic. The majority of owners told us that they had to wait over three months, one of them was waiting for almost 2 years for his Model X. Only one person said that she waited for 6 weeks just as had been stated by the dealer. Also, Tesla owners say that dealers are not helpful and responsive.
Dealers have to support the company policy and give you some estimated delivery time that is pretty much never true. And this is something you should remember when depositing your new Tesla. Don’t plan any trips on your new car until you actually get it.
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Tesla Model Y Wait Times
And last but not least, there’s the Tesla Model Y. Depending on the version you choose, wait times could be very short or quite tedious. Anyone who buys the Long Range Model Y today shouldn’t expect delivery until October 2022 and January 2023. But if you get the Performance Model Y instead, the wait time decreases significantly going down to estimated delivery between June and July 2022.
Can You Calculate The Tesla Delivery Date With Any Precision
There are often rumors that circulate online about buyers apparently being able to work out their own delivery date as long as they have received the VIN, but none of these are substantiated by any fact. Insideevs.com published a piece in October 2021 where they detailed the once-again extending delivery times of Tesla models.
They reported that the entry-level Tesla Model 3 would need about 10 months before delivery, but only 7 months if you ordered with the 19-inch wheel option. At the time of writing they were estimating that if you were to order a new Tesla in October 2021, youd be waiting until :
- Model 3 August 2022 for Standard Range Plus with 18 wheels
- Model S June 2022 for Long Range
- Model X September 2022 for Long Range July 2022 for Plaid
- Model Y: July 2022 for standard wheels, and April 2022 with 20-inch wheels
What it shows is a pattern of extending delivery times, perhaps caused initially by excessive orders, but then exacerbated by the chip shortage and the effects of the pandemic. Such news is a strong indication that even if you had a formula to calculate the delivery date with some accuracy, youd have to be recalculating quite often to take into account further delays that are happening.
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Collection From Tesla Location
When collecting your Tesla from the agreed-upon location, the most important thing you can assuming you have all the paperwork in hand is a full and thorough inspection of the car. This is arguably even more important than the tour of the vehicle that the Tesla rep will want to give you to set up your profile and show you the main features.
By all means, take the assistance from the rep in setting up your in-car profile, key cards, vehicle settings and whatnot. Make sure you are fully cognizant of those main features, how to activate and deactivate them, and so on.
Youll more than likely find, however, that your new Tesla is very intuitive and user-friendly, and its not unlike using a good smartphone in the end.
More important is the inspection. You should report any problems you find to your Tesla rep at the time of collection. To try and do it retroactively after having the car for several days will make things very difficult a lot of the time. Below is a useful checklist of things to look for:
Inspect Before Confirming Receipt and Driving Away
For the exterior, check the following:
For the interior, check the following:
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Check within 24 hours or Before Driving 100 Miles
These are things that if you miss in the first inspection, you should try to make sure they are alright within the first 24 hours. If you wait longer, it can be a problem:
For the exterior, check the following:
What You Need To Do Before Your Delivery Day
Once your delivery date is fully scheduled and confirmed, you need to prepare several important things. Theres paperwork and finances that need to be confirmed before you can take delivery of your Tesla. First of all, prepare all of the necessary documents. They include:
- Your drivers license
- Trade-in Ownership Documents
You need to make the final payment if youre cash buying, or e-sign and submit any additional documents indicated in your Tesla account for financing. Its worth noting here that according to the Tesla website, credit cards are not accepted for the final payment.
Before your delivery day, check your Tesla account to be sure youve uploaded and submitted any documents that are needed, and if youre financing, you should keep chasing the finance department to get confirmation on your approval well before your collection day. No news is not always good news where Tesla finance is concerned.
If youre trading in, you should also stay on top of your point of contact with Tesla on that. They arent very familiar with the used car market and so their workings are not always as efficient as they are with companies like Carvana. Even trading in a Tesla can be hard, so ensure you get confirmations on the trade-in price for that car, too.
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