Tesla

Even though it was obvious to anybody with eyes that my friends and I were not planning to buy that car anytime soon, the sales guy (a really tall guy) was very friendly and invited us to sit in the car and explained all the different features. If you, unlike me, have the money to buy that car, a visit to this store is worth your while.

It took 2 weeks to get a test drive appointment, but that just made us even more hyped up for the experience. My BF works in tech and is in the market for a new car, so educating ourselves on the Tesla was a definite must.
The store is very small; they have a Tesla inside that you can poke around in and a computer where you can «build your car». There were 2 guys working there on the Saturday that we went; one was busy with people, and the other one took us on our test drive. He was very nice and very helpful and willing to spend as much time with us as we wanted. The test drive was a lap around the block, but he said we could go around it as many times as we wanted, and we could switch drivers also. There’s no pressure at all to buy a car (employees don’t work on commission) and he even encouraged us to do more research and come back for another test drive. You can tell the people working here are Tesla enthusiasts that are just happy to share their knowledge of the car with you.
What I learned:
1) Realistically, the starting price for a Model S is around 80K, since there are some options which are pretty much mandatory (tech package, leather, etc).
2) 3G is only unlimited for 4 years, after which they don’t know yet what will happen. It will likely become a data package you need to pay for.
3) The wait time is about 3 – 4 months for your car to be built once ordered.
4) Leases are available to businesses only
5) You can put your name on the waitlist for the Model X for $ 5000, which is fully refundable (either it goes toward your car or you get it back if you choose not to purchase) but for which you don’t get anything except a spot on the list.
6) There is trunk space in the front as well as the rear
7) There is no iphone integration at all. you can connect to your iphone via bluetooth but it doesn’t show up on the screen. you are at the mercy of whatever apps Tesla chooses to put on the car (they have a spotify clone for example).
8) There is voice activation but it doesn’t work great
Great, no hassle experience. I’d give it 5 stars if there were more things in the store that you could poke around at, but you really are at the mercy of the store employees and there were only two (one of which could be gone on a test drive), so this would be a problem if there were more than 2 people wanting to check out the car at once.
Tip: Watch the Documentary called «Revenge of the Electric Car» (available on Netflix) — it’s a very interesting look at this market and Musk’s dedication and vision.

So it’s small store. Would have liked a little more area to explore the technology and options. The sales associates are great, no pressure but honestly want to be helpful and educational. Before wandering into the Century City store the thought of buying a Model S with the smaller battery was too much of a financial stretch even though we trusted the Tesla technology and loved that it’s electric. In the late 90’s we were lucky enough to be chosen as EV1 owners and hoped that by being early adopters in electric car technology it would someday be conventional. After seeing the Tesla Model S in an environment with sales associates just happy to answer questions and not make a sale, we got back on the Tesla website and ordered a Model S.
Thanks Tesla for a wonderful buying experience. We’ve had the car for 4 weeks and it’s the best car out there gas or otherwise.

It’s a really small shop, enough to show one indoor to view the configurations, and another car right outside. Unfortunately not for a free drawing! It’s the coolest piece of electronic to own now!