But based on these stories I keep hearing about Tesla (sometimes) dragging their feet and so forth... I just realize that I'd personally prefer the dealership model when it comes to customer service.
Yeah, Tesla offers a consistent price across the country. That's good and all, but delivering a car is more than just the price. Its about delivering on time, with good updates and support.
This "VIN Shuffling", missed deadlines, taking of money ($2500 down and no information??) and so forth would be enough to make me angry. A car is a big purchase and a sizable portion of my budget. I don't want my time to be wasted like that, or for my plans to be upended due to poor scheduling. (Ex: If I was selling my old car, the exchange between selling my car and buying a new car needs to happen very smoothly and predictably. Otherwise, I'm stranded without a car for several days!!)
Anyway, I took delivery of my Model 3 Sep 28th and here's my experience. They emailed me two weeks in advance to schedule pickup at the delivery center in Fremont on Saturday Sep 29th. Then a week later they called me and let me know that they could deliver the car to my house on a Monday. I was set to take delivery on Monday but then after the delivery time had passed, a manager called me to let me know they weren't able to get the car out that day and they'd get back to me to schedule another delivery date. A couple of days later they emailed me and said they could bring the car to me on Friday, and this time they showed up with the car, a little late, around 10:30pm. Overall it was a great experience. I really appreciate that they drove the car to me and it only took a few minutes to sign the paperwork.
Despite the delays and rescheduling several times it was a much much better experience than the (first, last and hopefully only) experience I had at the Toyota dealership in buying my previous car.
I am just over the moon thinking about the fact that I may never have to visit a gas station or get a smog check or have to discuss the problems of idling solenoids with mechanics ever again.
What people aren't eager to talk about is the bs that stock shorts put out, because that has gotten old over the year. Examples: there is no demand, they don't last, the batteries go bad quickly, there is no supply of new cars, the new cars are all bad, they make cars but put them in a giant parking lot because they can't sell them, they are unreliable, they catch on fire, etc. There are problems with them, cars have gotten through production that needed paint and minor body work, it's true. But many people got great cars.
If someone brings up a point you find unreasonable, then attack them at that point. But no one in this entire topic has brought up any short-opinion yet.
If you want your new car now, don't buy a tesla. If you want a tesla, then get in line. Alternatively, they could raise the price to shorten the line a bit, but something tells me profit isn't their end goal here. Moving the market away from ICE is the goal, and they are succeeding wildly.