Tesla

The option of delivery for our area is a wonderful thing, and was a huge relief even though things that I was told would happen didn't actually happen: 1. The driver didn't call to say his arrival time. 2. No registration documents included with car. 3. No bill of lading from the driver. 4. No instruction by the driver on how my wife could drive it if necessary, but nicely, he drove it inside the garage for us. When I got home, I emailed the other customer service guy in Portland and explained our dismay with the delivery process, and asked for the registration documents. He seemed empathetic.

The DMV registration process worked out fine. One little note: do not stick the temporary registration over the defogger elements on back window. In conclusion, I love my car (no gas, quiet, comfortable, high-tech, hauls ass, helping people breathe easier). However, there is a lot to learn... read Tesla's website, watch YouTube tutorials by them and Tesla owners, and see if you get rebates/tax credits. The latest thing I'm doing is getting a ceramic coating on the exterior (the original finish seems soft and scuffs too easily).

This has soured my entire experience. How can you sell a $50,000 vehicle with all the most amazing technology but without the ability to open your garage when you get home? The salesperson did not even mention this or offer it to me when i purchased the car. So in addition to the $300 garage door opener I need to waste two hours of my valuable time taking the car back to Tesla.

The test drive dropped my jaw as the Model X was simply fantastic so we ordered one. I had multiple questions and some worries about buying an electric car such as the charging concept and whether Tesla would be a reliable car. Thus I first bought a used Ford S-Max as a backup/utility car that our gardener also drives around and afterwards I ordered a Model X. I would rather prefer to buy a used Model X but I could not find any reasonably priced Model Xs, all were rather expensive indicating a significant demand. My Model X was delivered in Aix-en-Provence on 27 September so the car is still pretty much new. My review is limited to the first two months of ownership and it is not a long term, multi-year review. I would gladly rank my Model X much higher than any cars I have owned. My rating would be 20 out of 10.

The car is astonishing. Let me tell you why:

1. The design philosophy is totally original so the interior but especially the front panel is super coolly designed. The car is probably the best ever UX design among any car, any time. I would definitely rate my Model X as the "Best vehicle UX design of all-times".

2. The car has far superior performance and range. I was worried about how and where to get the car recharged and so on but these have been no issues. The driving is super cool, silent and feels like you are floating. This car is so advanced that I feel I have my own silent, super fast and comfortable "magnetic levitation" maglev train. I often see Bentleys and Rolls Royce's in Cannes and I feel sad for the owners for spending so much money into those dinosaur vehicles.

3. Tesla has no dealers and you buy directly from the company. There is no haggling or the act of being sold unnecessary accessories at high costs.

4. As you probably know, Tesla cars are awarded the highest safety ratings of any cars, ever built. In France, it is legal to use autosteer on highways and I regularly use this feature with my kids in the car. No one has ever honked at me so far. It has been almost perfect. The autosteering once made an error on the safe side. It braked slightly when I saw no need for it. Autosteering is great not only at high speeds but especially during very slow traffic.

5. The car is expected to have much less maintenance work than ICE cars. Time will show.

6. Tesla has given me good after-sales support. They called me directly to ask if all was fine and I could reach them directly if I have any needs.

7. If you love even a bit of tech, Tesla will make you so happy. The car is tech-wise perfect and offers multiple jaw-dropping features. I have a pin code so my kids can’t accidentally drive the car. If I lose my key, I can start the car with my mobile phone. I can choose how many amperes to charge my car with. The car even has a ‘biological attack protection feature’ explained on its website. Tesla says Model X is “hundreds of times better” than other cars in terms of its ventilation system so they were curious if the car would protect against a military biological attack. So they test it and found that it really does due to the super quality ventilation system. Your Tesla can open and close its doors without you touching them… if you want. This car is the epitome of tech and still it succeeds in giving you a perfectly usable UX with so easy menus. There is so much offered tech wise with zero frustration.

My Model X is two-generations ahead of any other vehicles including my old 2017 Land Rover Discovery. One extra remark, we did not have any problems but still feel a bit cautious about the falcon doors that are rather easy to use especially in tight spaces. Many public garages in France have low ceilings so it is not very easy to use these doors. My overall two-month experience has been fabulous. I have one simple suggestion to potential owners: Have your own test drive and see for yourself. Be cautious with the media coverage. I am grateful to Volvo for delaying their delivery by two months and making me a Tesla owner. Thank you all at Tesla, you have literally created the future of the automobile. Just for information purposes, Tesla has no automobile competitors. Its next target should be to beat the MagLev train :-)

I later tried to reach out to Tesla about gaining something as simple as a formal letter declaring the vehicle free of asbestos as required by Australia, and again was flatly told to kick sand. I wouldn't hoped that a company that sells premium vehicles would at least be able to provide alternate means to help me in my situation. I cannot change my circumstance required of me by the military. This leaves me no choice but to seek out other EV companies when the time comes to purchase another car.

I actually purchased 2 model 3's and am currently trying to purchase my third. The first time I arrived early for my 7:00pm delivery appointment only to find a showroom of angry customers waiting on their new car. I finally received mine around midnight with a scrape on the front of the hood. I was told that I would be contacted to repair it. This never happened. When my tires were bald as a cucumber at 22,000 miles and I told the service person this he simply said "that's just a salesperson being a salesperson". I had skidded off the road because of this. When I asked for a manager he refused to come out. He was too busy.

In getting my third Model 3 I accidentally pressed the wrong final payment button online and nobody at Tesla could help me. The next day when I spoke to the dealership I was told they would "look into it". This now Thursday and my Tesla was scheduled to be delivered on Sunday. When I called back later I was told by the person in delivery that she spoke to her manager and now was able to take care of it herself. On Friday when I called her she told me not to worry and that she was taking care of it. I returned the rental car that I had based on my conversation with her.

Today (Saturday) she is telling me that it would be 3-7 days to resolve this. She then told me that her Manager would "do me a favor" and hold the car for me and not sell it to someone else. Boy am I lucky. This Manager as of now has yet to call me as requested. The Rep who spoke to me said that he was overloaded by Tesla and she would reach out to him again to ask him to call me. WHAT A DISASTER DEALING WITH TESLA EMPLOYEES. The car is nice but definitely not worth the aggravation and heartache you will go thru to get it. Service is also terrible.

The customer service rep was so rude. She just kept saying read the contract and hung up on me. What a terrible company. I didn’t get my money back that I paid for a self driving car. But they think a 3 year old car should have brand new tires after 40,000 miles? Ridiculous. Beware. Not a very reputable company. Especially after all the problems I had with the car, computer always crashing. Streaming radio not working all the time. They must really be hurting for money to want to screw over their old customers for every penny they can.

The sales rep told me it would take 20 mins to fully charge a 1/2 full car battery with one of the Super chargers but the actual time was more than an hour and 15 mins. I was sitting charging my vehicle and called vehicle support to ask about the error messages (only got through after being on hold for 50+ minutes). I opened the door while I was on the call and the car alarm went off for no reason & wouldn't stop. Support had had a record of all the error messages but no clue what was going on or what to do about it.

There were other quality issues like rough metal edges around the trunk that obviously were not finished properly but painted over anyway and other signs of poor quality manufacturing I overlooked (but probably shouldn't have). I returned the car after 6 days but the accessories (wall charger, mats & a few other accessories) had already shipped to my home. They don't allow returns to the dealer - you must email Tesla for permission and return labels but for weeks no one responded at all - not even an auto reply.

Finally after 3+ weeks after returning my car I got the return labels & shipped everything back Fedex. Then they had the nerve to charge me a 15% restocking fee on my items - which will total more than $150 - returns I had to make because of their defective car! I never even opened any of the boxes since I had already returned the car when they were delivered. One box was slightly damaged by Fedex but it had car mats in it so I wasn't concerned. Now Tesla is saying I opened the box and the mats are used so no refund and they are shipping them back to me (seriously?!?). If they are (which I highly doubt but how would I know? - I never opened the box), Tesla shipped them to me in that condition. But of course since I can't reach a human, I'm stuck sending more unanswered emails.

I tried contacting their board of directors who are allegedly available via their website (no reply). Chat is a 1 to 2 hour wait during very limited west coast hours and they just refer back to the support email that no one answers. A total waste of time. Not a single person from Tesla ever contacted me to follow up on that $90K defective vehicle. They electronically deducted my down payment but took more than 30 days to issue a refund. I really wanted to love that car but I truly detest a company and an owner who allows this kind of unacceptable customer service and such a substandard quality vehicle. I can't imagine the nightmare if I had kept the car and needed service. I will never go near a Tesla again.