EV general discussion
- Thread starter Ricochet J
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Soldato
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So glad I’m with EDF and a full 7hours charging every night
I know you don’t want a Tesla but the experience is reassuringly transactional with absolutely no special treatment or personal service
This was the process of buying my model 3 back in 2021.
You configure and pay your deposit online and get given an estimated delivery date.
You get occasional delivery updates in your account and via SMS. About 10 days before collection asking car was allocated to me.
You get a text message and email a week before collection reminding you to pay the balance with a bank account number to pay it to (the pre-text is they’ll allocate the car to someone else if you don’t pay 3 days before delivery). The payment shows in your online account within an hour.
A few days before you get sent some links to a few videos to watch to ‘induct’ you to the car.
On collection day you rock up to the multi-story car park at Bluewater, stand in line with about 10 other people collecting in that 30 min slot, your ID is checked, you get handed 2 plastic credit cards in a cardboard pouch and get told your car is 3 rows down on the left.
That last part is the only time I actually spoke to a person. It even comes with words to the effect of ‘please leave within 15 mins because the next lot of customers are right behind you’.
It’s not good service but it was erm… efficient.
Associate
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- 19 May 2010
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- Cheltenham
I know you don’t want a Tesla but the experience is reassuringly transactional with absolutely no special treatment or personal service
This was the process of buying my model 3 back in 2021.
You configure and pay your deposit online and get given an estimated delivery date.
You get occasional delivery updates in your account and via SMS. About 10 days before collection asking car was allocated to me.
You get a text message and email a week before collection reminding you to pay the balance with a bank account number to pay it to (the pre-text is they’ll allocate the car to someone else if you don’t pay 3 days before delivery). The payment shows in your online account within an hour.
A few days before you get sent some links to a few videos to watch to ‘induct’ you to the car.
On collection day you rock up to the multi-story car park at Bluewater, stand in line with about 10 other people collecting in that 30 min slot, your ID is checked, you get handed 2 plastic credit cards in a cardboard pouch and get told your car is 3 rows down on the left.
That last part is the only time I actually spoke to a person. It even comes with words to the effect of ‘please leave within 15 mins because the next lot of customers are right behind you’.
It’s not good service but it was erm… efficient.
Mercedes - used car was placed in the collection bay with a full cover over it and the OH’s name on the TV screen behind it in a very lavish ceremony, before the glass doors were opened and you could drive it away…
Did they charge it to 100% for you if not... written apology from the Benz family required!Mercedes - used car was placed in the collection bay with a full cover over it and the OH’s name on the TV screen behind it in a very lavish ceremony, before the glass doors were opened and you could drive it away…
Associate
- Joined
- 19 May 2010
- Posts
- 2,438
- Location
- Cheltenham
Mercedes - used car was placed in the collection bay with a full cover over it and the OH’s name on the TV screen behind it in a very lavish ceremony, before the glass doors were opened and you could drive it away…
I’m guessing the flip side is you probably had to listen to a hard sell on finance at lol% APR, gap insurance at 5X the rate online, magic ceramic coating which will be gone in 2 washes, some kind of extended warranty not worth the paper it’s written on, tire insurance and who knows what else the dealer is peddling this week.
Associate
- Joined
- 19 May 2010
- Posts
- 2,438
- Location
- Cheltenham
No, no, no and no - just give me the bank account details to send you your money please and thank you.
Wish I'd taken the bloody tyre insurance. I have to LOL when they offer a ceramic coat on a used car with less than perfect paint work.
Pretty much the same experience i had when buying my AUC Tesla
Ditto
It is clearly another car-a-van.
With a panoramic glass roof so it is a posh car-a-van
If it is the same as the other brand offerings on that platform (Peugeot and Citroen, etc.) then I find that platform pretty hateful - the steering wheel position and seating proportions is kind of odd with limited range of adjustment - you feel like you are driving with your knees up and kind of twisted. The hand brake is down on your right by the door which is easy to catch yourself and on and just annoying. I'm not sure how much it is to do with being hire vehicles or not but the ones we've had the steering was heavy and awkward at slow speeds while light and a bit unnerving on faster roads - especially the country A roads around here.
I usually enjoy vans but not this platform.
I know you don’t want a Tesla but the experience is reassuringly transactional with absolutely no special treatment or personal service
This was the process of buying my model 3 back in 2021.
You configure and pay your deposit online and get given an estimated delivery date.
You get occasional delivery updates in your account and via SMS. About 10 days before collection asking car was allocated to me.
You get a text message and email a week before collection reminding you to pay the balance with a bank account number to pay it to (the pre-text is they’ll allocate the car to someone else if you don’t pay 3 days before delivery). The payment shows in your online account within an hour.
A few days before you get sent some links to a few videos to watch to ‘induct’ you to the car.
On collection day you rock up to the multi-story car park at Bluewater, stand in line with about 10 other people collecting in that 30 min slot, your ID is checked, you get handed 2 plastic credit cards in a cardboard pouch and get told your car is 3 rows down on the left.
That last part is the only time I actually spoke to a person. It even comes with words to the effect of ‘please leave within 15 mins because the next lot of customers are right behind you’.
It’s not good service but it was erm… efficient.
And thats just the sales service, then comes the after sale service which is even worse.
Tesla was built and scaled up with the goal of selling cars, everything after you have sold the car was secondary, and they used to even worse at these things, its improved a lot but they are still way behind the traditional car companies
There was a period where my city had a couple tesla showrooms but not workshop, so you could buy a tesla but you could not actually do any servicing or repairs and it took them nearly two years to build their first tesla workshop..
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As someone who has used the Tesla servicing I must say I find it pretty good...both for the workshop and also for the call-outs.
I brought mine to the workshop as the boot was out of alignment and as I drove into the carpark the car automatically went into service mode. Parked up, left the car there and collected it a couple hours later without needing to speak to anyone. Everything was done in-app.
My car then developed a rattle at speed a few months back. The ranger came out to me, took the car for a spin and demonstrated the rattle. Parked up back at home and a few tweaks and all done and dusted within the hour.
Yeah, Tesla are far from perfect but have run rings around all the main manufacturers for pre sales and post sales for me too..
The ranger is a great idea, certainly for small stuff that's a god send, although I think their more spread out workshops are the main pain point, I just get someone to pick me up and then drop me off later in the day, but it would have been nice if it wasn't 25 miles away, but it was a slick process and they have a more laid back attitude to everything..
My experience with VW was absolutely dire.. £400 quote for the 2 year 'service', the hard sell when picking the car up (which took 80 mins+), a 4 day workshop trip just for a SW update, and then the recalled battery modules (I was lucky, it only took 3 months to get the parts and booked in, but it was 120 miles away!).. Or Nissan with their annual £LOL service and refusing to fix the seat motor which had burnt out because they decided to interpret the warranty to make the seat motors fall under 'adjustable' parts.. it took a complaint to head office to get that idiocy resolved.. not to mention VW wouldn't even touch the pano roof rattles and seat squeak.. Every time we booked in was 8-12 weeks away and a dire experience with endless fob offs..
Each to their own, I have warmed to the Tesla approach, it's a good compromise and I like the efficiency and app based approach and I like the more relaxed nature, they don't stress over third party accessories fitted..
The best traditional manufacturer experience I get is BMW lately.. their main issue is the time it takes to 'book in' and hand over the keys, and even pick it up, an MOT took 90 mins because of the palaver of hand over/pick up and 'here's your walk around video assessment'.. but they don't over charge, and do provide some actual 'service' , their coffee/biscuits are a nice touch and the sales staff seem to know when to leave you alone..
The ranger is a great idea, certainly for small stuff that's a god send, although I think their more spread out workshops are the main pain point, I just get someone to pick me up and then drop me off later in the day, but it would have been nice if it wasn't 25 miles away, but it was a slick process and they have a more laid back attitude to everything..
My experience with VW was absolutely dire.. £400 quote for the 2 year 'service', the hard sell when picking the car up (which took 80 mins+), a 4 day workshop trip just for a SW update, and then the recalled battery modules (I was lucky, it only took 3 months to get the parts and booked in, but it was 120 miles away!).. Or Nissan with their annual £LOL service and refusing to fix the seat motor which had burnt out because they decided to interpret the warranty to make the seat motors fall under 'adjustable' parts.. it took a complaint to head office to get that idiocy resolved.. not to mention VW wouldn't even touch the pano roof rattles and seat squeak.. Every time we booked in was 8-12 weeks away and a dire experience with endless fob offs..
Each to their own, I have warmed to the Tesla approach, it's a good compromise and I like the efficiency and app based approach and I like the more relaxed nature, they don't stress over third party accessories fitted..
The best traditional manufacturer experience I get is BMW lately.. their main issue is the time it takes to 'book in' and hand over the keys, and even pick it up, an MOT took 90 mins because of the palaver of hand over/pick up and 'here's your walk around video assessment'.. but they don't over charge, and do provide some actual 'service' , their coffee/biscuits are a nice touch and the sales staff seem to know when to leave you alone..
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Tesla seem to model themselves on the apple store experence rather than a traditional car OEM, which to be fair I think is actually a good thing!
For all that the products have been a bit (a lot) crap, JLR's service was actually really good in my experience.
For all that the products have been a bit (a lot) crap, JLR's service was actually really good in my experience.