Why does Tesla make taking delivery such a nightmare

Where?

Fort Worth, Texas location.

Had absolutely no delays taking delivery with temp plate from NJ delivery center. I think your experience is not typical.

Sounds like a you problem.

I transferred plates from my previous car. The process was seamless for me. When I arrived to the Tesla store the plate was attached and off I went.

Just funny how difficult they make it to spend money. It’s like they don’t want me to buy the car.

Found the buying part the easiest/smoothest, the pickup process the worse. Service center seemed unprepared despite booking an appointment. Strange that carvana has gotten the buying/selling process down much easier.

I guess my only answer is is that every Tesla store is different and some have better employees than others… Was just wondering if there was a chance that you bought it from out of state and had to get something else done that may have caused the delay… Sounds like that store just isn’t on top of things.

Probably because of this: I'm not sure about your state, but in our state (most states where it does business, probably?), Tesla isn't legally a car dealership, they're more like a Target or HomeGoods or whatever: Just a place that sells stuff, but their stuff happens to be cars. As a result, in many states, they can't be directly tied into the state's DMV, because they're not a car dealer. That makes licensing and registration much tougher. You'd have a similar experience if you ever bought a car at an out-of-state dealer that didn't have access to your state's DMV. (We've done this twice, once with an EV and once with an ICE car, and both times were a paperwork nightmare.)

Yeah that is my guess too. Not entirely sure why they wait until day before delivery to order the plates when the delivery date has been reset multiple times despite the car sitting on the lot 10 minutes from my house.

This makes sense and I appreciate the response. Still doesn’t answer why they delay ordering plates until the day before delivery day and then have to apologize when they don’t make it in time. But that makes sense

I am also a Texas buyer. Mine came with temporary plates. We have bought three Teslas and it has been that way. I bet there was a goof somewhere in your order and they had to fix it. But the other part of your comment about being in and out of a normal dealership in an hour was what made me laugh. I hope I never have to go to a normal car dealership ever again. I’m 50 and I have bought and sold a decent number of cars in my life and it’s usually closer to an all day experience of sitting around waiting and signing paperwork.

Hmmm, I order a MYLR a couple years ago. I was 500 miles from the delivery place (there isn’t one in my state). When I showed up it took about an hour to do the paper work and have the rep sit in the car and walk us through the set up. Then we were off.

That’s an issue with your state. Not with Tesla.

In most states I’ve lived, “dealers” have the ability to simply grab and assign a temporary tag from ones they have. Tesla Stores are NOT dealers, so an extra step is required most likely.

I took delivery and was in and out in 15 minutes, plus the time I took to look over the car. Other dealers take 2-3 hours to do that.

In California, the temp plates were already on the car on delivery

This makes sense and I frankly wasn’t aware of that.

I’m going through something similar. Delivery date was the end of this week, they texted yesterday and said I could schedule earlier because my car was in, I scheduled for yesterday afternoon. Then they called and said I can’t come in because there’s a service message on my car and they have to take it back into service. A minute later I get a notification saying my new appointment time is this Thursday at five. There was a reschedule option so I rescheduled for today at three. I texted from the app and asked is my car going to be ready, can I pick it up today and somebody answered and said that I can come in at 11 AM, 1 PM or 5 PM. I said well I’ll take the 1pm. It hasn’t been updated. I texted Tesla on a number my wife gave me and asked them if my car is ready and can I pick it up today. No word yet. Ordering was very easy, pick up is not so easy. They’re trying to make things touchless from a phone call contact point of view, but sometimes things are so much easier when you just pick up the phone and can talk to somebody.

They dont. Again, it's a you problem. Tesla is literally the easiest way to purchase a car and yet you're finding issues with it.

Yep. I will give my rep credit, he finally called me yesterday after a few days of messaging and it was great being able to talk with somebody.

My temporary plates were already on the vehicle when I received it in Texas. Literally showed up to the delivery center, shot the breeze with the delivery guy for about 10 minutes, and drove out.

Paramus and springfield fucked me up, I only go totowa now

If you’re having issues with the ordering and delivery process, you’re in for a world of pain when you have to deal with the service

Yeah this hasn’t been the best entrance into this world despite my best attempt to stay excited.

I'm in NH but could only take delivery in Paramus in 2024. Thankfully we have our own center now.

The Tesla experience is the best experience buying a car. It’s so much better than a typical dealership. I think your case is the exception.

I ordered mine and wanted to pick it up after a holiday weekend and they bugged me all weekend telling me it was ready for pickup and kept trying to get me to change my appointment so it wouldn’t be sitting on their lot all weekend. So I guess it just depends.

I picked up in OKC yesterday and I have a Missouri temp tag. I guess that is how they work around dumb direct-to-consumer dealership laws. Thats why you can’t lease a Tesla in OK. But it was quick and painless. No typical dealership bullshit.

Our delivery was fast and easy.

no issues with my NY smithtown center. Was able to transfer custom physician plates.

Placed sucked so bad and their master technician is a liar. Don't ever bring your vehicle there

Cherry Hill, NJ - had no issues like this. 15-20 minutes in and out on scheduled delivery date, including cleaning a black smudge that was on my white seat.

There's your problem: [https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/texas-law-keeps-teslas-made-in-the-state-from-being-sold-directly-to-texans](https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/texas-law-keeps-teslas-made-in-the-state-from-being-sold-directly-to-texans)

That sucks. Sorry to hear it. I'm in SoCal and my experience was the exact opposite. The only thing I wasn't happy about was the the sales advisor either didn't know or misled me when he told me my February build-date unit would come with TACC, FSD, and Autosteer. It does not come with Autosteer. None of them built from February on do. And it doesn't say Autopilot or Autosteer on my purchase order so I can't really do much about it. But my delivery was a piece of cake. Although I did plan wisely in advance. I found that some people reported waiting hours for theirs because the dealership was very busy, so I booked the very first delivery appointment they had which was 10:30 a.m., then I showed up at 10:00 to make sure I was the first one. The process included signing over my trade-in, a quick walk-through and feature demonstration from the person who worked with me, and I was on my way. In and out in less than 10 minutes, plus the extra time I spent on my own inspecting the car. And in general, any time the DMV is involved you can expect a clusterf@#k.