Today at 12:40, I received my M3P.
This post will primarily consist of a few photographs. I need to gather my thoughts to tell the whole story, and there’s plenty to tell. Israel is ahead of the whole planet in many ways, with lots of interesting and not so pleasant nuances. However, all these annoyances couldn’t spoil the driving experience of this car. I need a few days to collect my thoughts. For now, all I can say is WOOOOOOW.
On Monday, I will take the car for nano-coating, and then I’ll describe everything in detail. First In – Last Out Now is the time to summarize my experience of receiving a Tesla car in Israel. Now, I might catch flak from the “Holy Elon” supporters, but while the uncle is indeed cool, some business nuances are slightly repulsive.
The Tesla brand, valued at either 500 or 700 billion, and after two days of owning the younger model in its top configuration, makes me understand why. I’ve driven various expensive cars and several supercars, but the emotions that the M3P 2021 gives (unfortunately, I haven’t driven the previous M3 model, only once drove a P75D Model S) are incomparable. It’s something new, something cosmic. You just don’t understand the mechanics of the process. I won’t talk about the explosive acceleration, everyone talks about that. I don’t understand how a car with 20-inch wheels and 35-profile tires can be so soft, quiet, and comfortable. How quickly you get used to the completely new one-pedal control. In two days and 250 km (mostly in the city), I used the brake pedal maybe 4 or 5 times. The quality of the cabin, the materials, nothing creaks or cracks (I’ve had Audis, Volvos – not cheap models, so I have something to compare with), and the car’s ergonomics. At some point, you realize that the two buttons (controllers) on the steering wheel and the 15-inch screen in the center are more than enough. In short, those who have only seen reviews on YouTube and pictures on the internet won’t understand, you have to feel it, you just need to sit in and drive this car – it’s truly a RUBICON.
A Spoonful of Tar Spoils a Barrel of Honey Tesla has been trying to enter the Israeli market for about 7 years, first through representatives, then on its own. Each time there were different obstacles, from legislative issues to infrastructure. We live in a world where people with big money want to make even more money, at our expense and the expense of those same uncles with big money. At some point, all parties found a common ground, and in mid-2020, Tesla brought a test batch of cars to Israel for internal tests and began building a technical center (garage), Showroom, and Supercharger points (charging stations). By November, the state of Israel settled on “safety” requirements and by the new year made some adjustments to the conditions (which almost disrupted the first deliveries of cars to the country). Tesla had to urgently remove the software for Israel from their cars (more on this below).
By the end of January 2021, Tesla received permission from the Israeli government for import, and sales of cars started on February 2nd (at that point, Tesla in Israel had nothing but a building facade and a few test cars). On the first day, more than 1000 cars were sold (unofficial data, based on various Telegram groups where surveys were conducted), and then the most interesting part began: various rumors, date shifts, price increases, complete confusion. Tesla representatives were silent, adding more rumors and confusion to the buying process. Occasionally, they sent emails, saying everything was going according to plan, and cars would be on time for those who ordered before 14:00 on February 2nd. By the end of February, a letter came saying to transfer the entire sum of money to CITI BANK. The next day, I received the long-awaited call from a Tesla representative in Israel, who said everything was going as planned, the cars would be by the end of March, don’t believe the rumors, everything will be fine, and asked to write on WhatsApp in case of urgent need. After the conversation, I transferred the money and continued to wait. Once a week, I received some SMS with status updates, another price increase, followed by another SMS that for those who already bought, it means nothing. Telegram groups reacted sharply to everything happening, everyone was very nervous, Tesla representatives lazily answered emails or WhatsApp. (Perhaps they can be understood, as there were very few of them, and many more wanted to get their cars first).
Two weeks before the car delivery, as we all already knew by that time, that the cars were not in Israel (there was some mix-up with the first ship), we received a letter saying we need to insure the car, and that the delivery of cars will take place in the last week of March 2021, which only added to the tension, as for insurance you need to know the model code (according to the internal price list), and this code is assigned only after receiving the cars in the country. But Tesla negotiated with an insurance company, which at its discretion insured cars differently, with a price range that could reach 2000 shekels ($600).
Car Delivery, five days before delivery, without any warnings (SMS, WhatsApp, email), changed the status on the website that the delivery would take place in the port of Ashdod. And here’s the most interesting part, people who ordered later received their cars earlier 🙂 it’s frustrating. First In – Last Out, I had Friday 12:40 am on my calendar, and as luck would have it, the weather got worse, there was strong wind, and it was pouring like from a bucket. Tesla did not manage to open its showroom, garage, and even superchargers. They rented a large open parking lot in the port of Ashdod, installed 3 small red umbrellas and a white tent in the center, set up a couple of dozen chairs, and invited people for delivery. In just 3 not full days, Tesla delivered all 230 cars that came to Israel.
At the time of the car delivery, neither the website nor the application worked properly (that is, if you compare it with the European or American ones)
The cars were not very clean, which is understandable, as there was a strong wind with sand and heavy rain.
Assembly Quality, there are many rumors that the assembly quality of Tesla is not very good, and this was indeed the case with the first cars, and from year to year, the quality grows, of course, it is still far from Rolls Royce, but it is understandable and there is an explanation for this, not many factories, huge demand, there is practically no time for QA, QC, this of course does not add pluses to the brand but not everything is so sad and in the whole world they fight with it and solve issues, but we are in Israel, and here the realities are a little different.
There were several cars at the delivery (especially the SR models), where the cars had torn rubber seals of the windows, openly bad gaps at the doors, there were several cars with putty on the trunk lid, company representatives were not very willing to fill out some forms and write some statements. There were several cars whose charging port would not open. There were also cars whose rear door would not open, there were also cars with local damage (at the time of unloading) scraped bumper, door, wing, disc with the wing…
Regarding my car, after a quick inspection in the rain, and checking the main elements, I realized that overall everything was excellent (and with Performance models), according to the same Tesla representatives, there is a more thorough pre-sale inspection. I had a small “dent” on the disk 1x2mm, at the very edge, it was not visible at the delivery (I had to take a small brush and paint over the “dent”) already after washing in the detailing center, they found 2 factory flaws on the hood (photos)
- the rubber seal of the trunk did not sit properly. This issue was resolved in the detailing center. Just put it in as needed.
The biggest problem is that in fact, about all these shortcomings, I had to report through the Tesla application and schedule a “repair” time, but when trying to apply, the nearest technical center to me, was offered as Dubai or Rome. An attempt to call a Tesla representative during the holiday (we now have Passover (Easter)) led nowhere. I will talk to them after the holiday. How these issues will be resolved by others, who have more serious problems, I do not know.
Israel is a country of wonders and silly laws – or give me back my Sentry mode At some point, either in 2018 or 2017, Israel banned the installation of sound alarms on new cars, as it can disturb people’s sleep and create noise after 11 pm. And also, it interferes with the Orthodox prayers. Therefore, Tesla was forbidden to use Boombox and Sentry mode, in the form in which it works all over the world, and Tesla literally “barbarically” removed it from the firmware of the car coming to Israel. When asked to the representatives, like, aren’t you crazy, they just shrugged their shoulders, saying maybe in a future firmware version they will return it to you. But no dates were named. Moreover, no one warned buyers that Sentry mode would not be active in Israel. And this is not very good.
Result Pros The car is FIRE, it’s useless to argue here, it’s the best car for 2021.
Cons The way everything happened in Israel from the moment of purchase to the moment of delivery, no other company would be forgiven for such behavior, and this is a fact. What happens next, only time will tell, but at the moment, not having your own charging, you have to use alternatives (Efcon, GO IV, etc.), which is also not very convenient.
Tomorrow I will take the car to the Detailing center, I will polish and cover with nano. Maybe a little later I will wrap the front in PPF.
Write, ask questions, press the heart, subscribe 🙂 I hope I briefly described the situation that I personally experienced.
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