After getting through the math mentally and reading/watching all the videoett I could over the last several months I finally signed up for a test drive. I figure I should probably test drive it before I buy it. I highly doubt anything will change my mind at this point but its a good part of the process and seems like a good next step. I also wonder if they’ll have any wisdom on the options/configuration i’m considering.

I filled out the form via Safari on my iPhone while waiting for my kid to finish a weekend activity. I filled out the form at noon eastern time. Monday around 4pm eastern I got a voicemail (I had been in a meeting) from someone trying to schedule the appointment. I called them right back but got no answer and left a message. I waited 24 hours for a call back, then called again and once more got voice mail. About a half hour later I got a call back and we scheduled a time for Friday. It was easy to find a slot, they do test drives from 10am-8pm and all but 2 slots were free for this coming Friday. Not shocking given the limited presence they’ve had in our state.

Other than the semi-apologetic discussion around the only store location in MA being in Natick (not an issue for me since its walking distance from my office), the only “qualification” question I was asked was what I was driving today (2007 Acura MDX). Seems like somewhere in this process someone should be doing a bunch more qualification to know for test drives with certain qualifications what is more/less likely to lead to a purchase in terms of qualification criteria and perhaps balance the time investment accordingly. Tesla is known for spending no marketing money and having a strong brand. Still they’re paying that guy to set up the appointment, someone else to do the test drive, etc. and a few analytics on the data wouldn’t cost much and could help fine tune things. I guess they don’t need it today.

Not sure if they’re understaffed, or what but if it was my business and I was getting an inbound lead for a $100K ASP product I would have wanted to be more responsive. Sure its a hot product with a 3 month or so wait and many people test drive and don’t buy, but still it’s not like there’s any knowledge at this level, its pure appointment setting.

Their test drives are scheduled for an hour which includes a walk through of the car and a 15-20 minute test drive. Other than a license you don’t need to bring anything.

The only highway nearby is the Mass Pike and its a toll road (to get on/off). I hope we can do some highway driving since thats a lot of what I do and i’d like to hear/feel it at 65 (although a lot of time on the mass pike is sitting still in heavy traffic too).

More to come on the experience and process.