Yes We Did & First Trip

To answer my question at the end of my August 6th post – “Yes we did!” Sept 27th we picked up our new Tesla S P100D in Tempe after a very frustrating experience in getting our vehicle delivered. Plus they promise it will only take 15 minutes for us to be on our way. Well our appointment was at 2pm and we left with our new car at 3:30 pm (sure – 15 minutes??)

We ordered the Tesla on August 6th with a Sept delivery date. We got a call the end of August right before Labor Day for delivery, but made an appointment for Sept. 5th as we were heading up to the cabin. Sept. 4th we get a call in the afternoon that our car was damaged in transport so delivery was delayed to get it fixed. Was promised a call in 2 days to give status. Never received a call, so Jim called and spoke with someone who promised to get right back to us. Once again – no call. We contacted the delivery advisor and told her we didn’t want a new vehicle that had already been damaged and in the body shop. She promised to get with her supervisor and get back to us. Yea, you guessed it – no call. We emailed – no response.

Finally we get a call from our sales rep we dealt with when we ordered. She was extremely apologetic and helpful. We had several options; wait until November to get another delivery or she found one in Colorado like we ordered except the inside trim instead of wood as we ordered was carbon fiber. She even came by our house the next evening so we could look at a vehicle with that interior to see if we would like it. We agreed to the change, so she started the process to have the vehicle shipped from Colorado. Well a couple of days later she called and said she found one in So. Calif just what we wanted, so changed to that vehicle.

I know, I’m probably getting boring going on with this story, but there’s more. Jim receives call to set a delivery appointment for Sept 20th with a email confirmation. We drive to Tempe (115 miles) and they inform us that they don’t even have our car. Don’t know anything about our appointment or how it was made. So drove back home empty handed. Contacted our sales rep and she took control of the process from then on. We had a legit appointment for the 27th and she was there to make the delivery to us – finally. If it wasn’t for Kristen Teehee, our sales rep out of the Scottsdale store, I’m afraid we would still be waiting for a car. Believe me – Tesla is quite disorganized but the car is GREAT! So thank you Kristen Teehee.

So Friday at 4am we were on the road heading towards Indio to check on the shade structure construction on our lot. Now that we are part of the EV family, we get the pleasure of stopping not for gas, but to juice up. We didn’t start out with a full charge so it took a little bit longer at the superchargers along the way. We stopped in Buckeye then in Quartzite and had enough for our running around in Indio. The driving experience of a Tesla is different than a normal car, takes a little getting use to, but the instant power, smoothness and technology is wonderful.

Our construction is coming along quite nicely. We are quite pleased so far. This is the first time we’ve seen it since they started construction.

After meeting with the contractor, we went shopping for appliances, light fixtures, fans, cabinet handles, etc. After spending an another fortune on all of that, we met with the contractor again to plan the landscaping and finalize everything. Probably another 3-4 weeks and it should be complete. I’m looking forward to our time over there this season.

We booked a room at the Embassy Suites in LaQuinta (because it was close, plus had an Tesla charger). Not knowing how much of a charge we would get overnight at the hotel, we went and did a 1/2 hour charge at the Supercharger in Indio, but come to find out, the charger at the hotel would have been just fine.

After checking in, we partook in their free drinks to unwind from the day and enjoyed a dinner at the hotel, then off to bed after a 3:30 a.m. start.

Left for home after breakfast the next morning with 2 charging stops along the way (not so long as trip over as we had a full charge). The car ran great, cruised along at about 80 mph. With Traffic Aware Cruise Control, it automatically adjusts the speed to the vehicle in front of you. It also has Driving Assist which we didn’t use. It might take a while to get use to the car before I go trusting it to drive for me.

Now we are part of the Tesla cult! Oh, by the way, our cost to drive 930 miles – $0.00! (Yes you read that right -zero – we have free Supercharging for the life of the vehicle plus charging at the hotels are free.)