Is it time for my Mid-Life Crisis already?

My Roadster, at Tesla Motors HQ in Fremont, CA.

Yes, this is a long post. If you don’t want to read the whole thing, the short version is: The car pictured above is mine. It’s great! Tesla Motors as a concept is great! Tesla Motors as a company to deal with is not so great, if you are trying to do anything other than purchase a new Model S.

It all started when…

Actually, the whole story is much, much longer than this post, and will be reserved for those who really care. Ask me about the Avanti some time over a beer (or several).

The more recent part…

I loved the Tesla Roadster when it first came out in 2008. I even got to test drive one when I was in the Bay Area for business in 2009. The biggest problem (aside from the price) was that the charging infrastructure just didn’t exist yet. By the time the Roadster 2.0 came out, I was between jobs and there was no way I could consider such a purchase.

Once I landed at Isilon Systems, I started looking again. By that time, the last of the Roadsters were being sold, but a few used ones would show up from time to time.

Every time I tried to pursue a used Roadster, I would either leave multiple messages with the seller and never get a response, or something was wrong with it. I was offered two different Roadsters which had ruined batteries (from being left unplugged for too long). Each of these sellers assured me that “It is a simple repair”. Simple, perhaps, but very expensive.

Then I saw the new Certified Pre-Owned Roadster program on the Tesla Motors web site, and started following that page. The Roadsters there were all in good shape, and had been through a seven hour, 214 point inspection to make them nearly as good as new. But there was only a 90 day limited warranty. After a few weeks, Tesla improved the program by including a “better than new” warranty (37 months / 37,000 miles, as opposed to the original 36 months / 36,000 miles they had when new). The prices increased a bit when this happened, but suddenly this seemed feasible. And in the past five years, the charging infrastructure, at least on the East and West coasts, was shaping up nicely.

After a few more weeks, the Roadster pictured above showed up on the Pre-Owned page. The price was good, as were the options included. Better yet, it was one of the original “Signature 100” – the first 100 production Roadsters delivered in 2008.

Signature 100 badges can be seen near the rear wheel, and on the door sill.

…and here are the signatures of the builders

Everything should have been straightforward and easy from this point on. However, with Tesla concentrating heavily on selling the new Model S, I ran into ineptitude and frustration at every turn. Anyone looking to buy a Model S (or Model X), however, will probably see none of the issues I have seen.

I started by following the link on the web page to register my interest in this car, and to ask how to proceed. And then waited. Several days. This was like my earlier attempts with private sellers who never answered my emails or phone messages.

So, I went down to the Tesla Showroom in Washington DC. I met the staff, and they were all great, and very knowledgable about the Model S. But, understandably, none of them really knew anything about Roadsters. After all, the Roadster went out of production in 2011, and none of them had been at Tesla that long. Still, my salesperson did a great job. She made some calls, found the forms to fill out, took my deposit, and got me in touch with the Manager of the store where the car was supposed to be.

Since I had paid my deposit and the forms had been filled out, this Roadster was now reserved for me, and all that we needed to do was finish paperwork. Or so I thought.

The store manager in Florida (where SalesForce said my car was located) told me that the the car wasn’t there. It had been, but he thought it was on a truck bound for Fremont, California.

This is when the frustrations and ineptitude began. While each individual I dealt with was very good and helpful, the company as a whole was obviously growing faster than it could keep up, and processes were breaking down. A buyer of a Model S might not see it, but since I was doing something out of the ordinary, I couldn’t help but notice the problems.

Two days later, I got an email from someone at Tesla Headquarters, telling me that they had received my email request, that the car was available, and all I had to do was put down a deposit to have it reserved. Wait a minute! How many reservations will they take for the same car? I called back and told him that he should see that I had already reserved this car. After several minutes, he determined that the wrong forms had been filled out, and that now everything was good. So, I asked him if he knew where the car was. He said, “Sure. It’s in Florida.” I told him that it wasn’t, and he said that he would ping the car and find out where it was.

The following day, I received a notice from DocuSign telling me that my Model S purchase paperwork was ready. Aside from getting the model wrong, this part of the process worked very smoothly, and I had all of the paperwork signed and submitted in less than 20 minutes. The paperwork stated that Tesla final payment instructions were being emailed to me.

They weren’t.

The following day, I called up the guy at Headquarters to ask about when the payment instructions would be emailed, and he told me that this was only for the Model S, and that I could send a check for the whole amount or hand it over on delivery. I asked again if he knew the location of my car. He told me it was “here, in Fremont”. Of course, I should have known that it wasn’t, but this was still (relatively) early in the process.

The next day (a Friday), I sent a check for the full balance to Tesla Headquarters via FedEx, and it was cashed on Monday. The next day, the final copy of the Vehicle Purchase Agreement arrived, signed by Tesla Headquarters, and stating that delivery should be one week later.

On the stated delivery date, I asked for an update, and was told “We should be able to get the car out to Rockville soon”. Other (internal) emails included along with this one revealed that the car had been lost a second time, when it was unloaded from the truck in Arizona. It had not been in California the previous week. It had been lost for several days, and had just arrived in Fremont that morning.

At least they were apologetic about the whole thing. And now, it seemed that everything was finally under control. I was told that the car should arrive within seven days.

And it did! I heard six days later that the car had arrived at the Rockville Service Center, and that there would be a new inspection, then delivery and handoff would be scheduled. The local guys at the Service Center asked if I needed someone to give me a walkthrough of the car (which would delay delivery, since they would have to find someone). I assured them that I had already read the Owner’s Manual and watched the walkthrough videos, so I was good.

The following day, I got another call telling me that the inspection had found a sticking trunk latch and a need for a wheel alignment, which they had already completed. I asked if I could drop by and take some pictures. By the time I got there, the car was at a detailing shop, but they cheerfully gave me a ride to see it. Here was my next surprise…

Is it just me, or is something missing here?

I asked, “Why would you send my car to be detailed without the hard top?”, and cringed a bit while waiting for the answer I knew was coming. “What hard top?” was the reply. It seems that during one of times that the car was lost, the hard top had been removed, and the soft top installed. It had not arrived on the truck.

Next surprise. The local Service Manager called the next morning to say that the car was ready, but since it was a used vehicle, there was a different piece of paperwork required from the California DMV. It had not been sent with the car, and was expected “in a couple of days”. That was too much. I called everybody who had been involved in this, asked to speak to managers, and pointed out that, after the amount of money I had spent and time they had wasted, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect that all necessary paperwork be expedited to arrive by the next morning, or failing that, a refund check should be ready instead.

The paperwork did arrive the following morning, I had notations made in the acceptance that I was still owed my hard top, and I finally was able to drive off with my Roadster.

Only a few minutes after leaving the Service Center, I received a call telling me that the hard top had been found and that it would be shipped, and asking if it needed to be overnighted, as well. Since I was now feeling much more relaxed, I let them know that my plan had always been to remove the hard top immediately for the Summer, so I would be willing to wait while it was shipped by a more affordable method.

I then proceeded to drive my Roadster as much as possible, and the smile hasn’t left my face since.

Home, at last!

To be completely fair, every single Tesla Motors employee I dealt with was very courteous and helpful. The problems were entirely rooted in the fact that Tesla was at the time totally focused on selling and shipping the new Model S, and anything else just didn’t fit into the processes in place. I would encourage anyone who has been wanting a Roadster to go the Certified Pre-Owned route, but be aware that it might not go entirely smoothly.

Despite all of this, I think the Roadster is one of the best purchases I have ever made. I haven’t had this much fun driving in 30 years.

I had meant to post this more than a week ago, but I’ve been too busy driving my Roadster around.

Tesla Motors should have used this as their motto: Zero Emissions, Infinite Fun.

9 July Update:

After more than a month, more than a thousand miles, lots of demo drives, and lots of questions from interested folks, I’m loving the Roadster more every day. It is simply the neatest car I’ve ever owned.

Also, though… After more than a month, and some nagging, I have found that Tesla Motors has once again lost my Hard Top. It was shipped to the wrong location, and nobody thought to try tracking it until I raised a fuss.

Worse, I just discovered that my Maryland registration paperwork hasn’t even been started, because they “forgot” to have the Maryland Safety Inspection done, but never bothered to contact me so it could be performed.

Meanwhile, I have been pulled over on several occasions by local Police officers who, understandably, do not recognize the California Temporary registration. California doesn’t issue temporary tags – just a small, barely visible, and hard-to-read (especially after over 30 days in the sun) piece of paper taped to the rear window.

If this car weren’t so much fun to drive, I’d be tempted to demand a full and immediate refund.

I have to go for a drive now, so I can cool off and stop ranting.

12 July Update:

I got word today that my Hard Top has arrived at the local Tesla Service Center.

Unfortunately, they tell me that they have found “blemishes”, and they want to address these before I pick it up.

I am taking this to mean that the Hard Top was mishandled and damaged once it was removed. What will I find when I pick it up? Will it be visibly damaged? Incomplete? Will it even be the same color as my car? I’ll just have to wait and see, but my expectations at this point are, understandably, on the low side.

16 July Update:

I have been asking for documentation of my warranty on a regular basis since I took delivery of the Roadster. I was initially told that there was no such documentation, and that it would just be entered into my Service Record.

Today, I received a copy of the Warranty, and it appears that Tesla is trying to back out on the originally promised coverage. The document states that the battery is only covered for 90 days or 3,000 miles, even though the wording I was presented with on the day I wrote the check clearly said, “37 month / 37,000 mile bumper-to-bumper Warranty (including the battery)”.

Looks like I’m going to have to resort to threats again. This truly saddens me.

17 July Update:

After more angry emails and threats, I now have a Warranty document which reflects the coverage I was originally promised.

I’m guessing that this current Tesla CPO program is being done as a dry run for the much larger one which will come when Model S owners start to trade in for the Model X. I can only hope that the CPO management is taking careful notes of all of the problems they are having now, so that the future CPO process will run more smoothly.

18 July Update:

We’re one step closer! I got a call from the Tesla Service Center saying that my Hard Top was ready to pick up. So, I drove up and had one of the mechanics there help me with the installation. With the heat wave we’re having here, I’m not going to be taking the top off for the next week or two, anyway. There are a couple of visible scrapes on the rear edge, which probably indicate that it was standing on edge for a while. So, not exactly “like new” as promised, but I’m going to say it’s good enough.

Finally! All the parts of my car are here!

Tomorrow, they’re scheduled to pick up my Roadster for the State Safety Inspection, and have promised a Model S loaner for the day. After that, an expedited registration could have all of the issues solved by the end of the month.

19 July Update:

The Service Center did not come through with the promised Model S loaner. They did, however, get my Roadster’s Maryland Safety Inspection done, and they shipped the certificate to somebody at HQ who handles registrations. They are now promising to expedite the registration process, and say they think they can have my tags by the end of next week. I doubt they can work that quickly, but at least everything seems to be moving along now.

27 July Update

I finally have my tags and registration. Once the folks at Tesla Motors HQ started actually doing the paperwork, it only took 8 days to have the tags delivered. Not bad. With the amount of time they spent sitting on the paperwork before doing anything, though, it took a total of 52 days.

All that is missing now is the Maryland Title, and I think that might get mailed separately by the MVA.

Now, shall I keep the standard (boring) tags, or go for some clever custom tag? How about “1VSPRM2”?