R2 Delivery at Normal, IL Plant?

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Things may change again, but they quit doing plant tours over a year ago. I'm in Illinois, but picked up all four of my Ts at the plant.

This comment reminds me of the line "You might say I went right up to the factory and picked it up. It's cheaper that way."

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[JEV]

I live about an hour away from Normal. I picked up my 2022 R1T at the factory, but only had a quick look at the end of the assembly line. They said they couldn't give a complete tour. More recently I went there to drop off my truck for service, but no tours were available. You can peak through the window from the lobby and see where the vehicles come off the line.

 

[rbdavis808]

I've seen OoS Kyle videos of delivery at the Normal factory. Is this just a tiny delivery-only operation, or do they have anything like a showroom where casual walk-in visitors would be welcome? I'm asking because I will be on vacation very close to there in late August and would love to see (and hopefully demo drive or at least sit inside) an R2. We live in Honolulu which has a pretty small delivery center, not to mention distant from the factory, and who knows when I might be able to see/drive one out here? I'd certainly want to do that before committing on our own late-ish 9/25 reservation.

Any (hopefully informed) speculation when R2 demo cars might be available at sales/delivery centers in general, perhaps based on R1 launch experience?

 

[SANZC02]

I've seen OoS Kyle videos of delivery at the Normal factory. Is this just a tiny delivery-only operation, or do they have anything like a showroom where casual walk-in visitors would be welcome? I'm asking because I will be on vacation very close to there in late August and would love to see (and hopefully demo drive or at least sit inside) an R2. We live in Honolulu which has a pretty small delivery center, not to mention distant from the factory, and who knows when I might be able to see/drive one out here? I'd certainly want to do that before committing on our own late-ish 9/25 reservation.

Any (hopefully informed) speculation when R2 demo cars might be available at sales/delivery centers in general, perhaps based on R1 launch experience?

They have a delivery center in the back. This was 3 years ago, I think 6 vehicles could be in there.

 

[fastwheels]

Safety and a scripted story is needed. Do other manufacturers offer tours?

I've done the Corvette factory tour twice in Bowling Green - it's a great tour!

 

[JEV]

I've seen OoS Kyle videos of delivery at the Normal factory. Is this just a tiny delivery-only operation, or do they have anything like a showroom where casual walk-in visitors would be welcome? I'm asking because I will be on vacation very close to there in late August and would love to see (and hopefully demo drive or at least sit inside) an R2. We live in Honolulu which has a pretty small delivery center, not to mention distant from the factory, and who knows when I might be able to see/drive one out here? I'd certainly want to do that before committing on our own late-ish 9/25 reservation.

Any (hopefully informed) speculation when R2 demo cars might be available at sales/delivery centers in general, perhaps based on R1 launch experience?

You can enter the lobby at the main factory entrance. The parking lot is typically full, so you may have a hard time finding a parking spot.
I'm not sure how they are currently handling new purchase delivery, but for service you pull up at the front and go to the front desk and they have someone from service come there to get it. There is an R2 on display in the lobby, but it's roped off and you can't sit in it. It's an early prototype.
You might try the Chicago show room, since that is setup for a better customer experience.

 

[JEV]

You can enter the lobby at the main factory entrance. The parking lot is typically full, so you may have a hard time finding a parking spot.
I'm not sure how they are currently handling new purchase delivery, but for service you pull up at the front and go to the front desk and they have someone from service come there to get it. There is an R2 on display in the lobby, but it's roped off and you can't sit in it. It's an early prototype.
You might try the Chicago show room, since that is setup for a better customer experience.

Here's a picture of the R2 on display in the lobby.

 

[Gen(R3)Xer]

Safety and a scripted story is needed. Do other manufacturers offer tours?

Tesla used to. Not sure if they still do. I used to work for Honda, but I don’t remember any tours. Of course I worked at R&D, so no one was coming there to see a bunch of engineers in matching uniforms with BO, staring at a computer screen for 12 hours a day.

 

[Nadus]

Safety and a scripted story is needed. Do other manufacturers offer tours?

I live a few hours from Normal, but if I were closer to the factory I'd volunteer to guide tours for free one day per week. I'm retired, so I'm always doing volunteer work anyway. That doesn't solve the safety and scripting issues, but at least it wouldn't require a paid employee's time.

 

[rbdavis808]

You can enter the lobby at the main factory entrance. The parking lot is typically full, so you may have a hard time finding a parking spot.
I'm not sure how they are currently handling new purchase delivery, but for service you pull up at the front and go to the front desk and they have someone from service come there to get it. There is an R2 on display in the lobby, but it's roped off and you can't sit in it. It's an early prototype.
You might try the Chicago show room, since that is setup for a better customer experience.

Thanks for that info! Unfortunately we won't be anywhere near Chicago. We are spending a few days each in Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. -- presumably one or more of those also has a showroom, I just hoped that as by late August there'd be a guaranteed few dozen R2s somewhere at Normal there might be a way to get close to just one of them. We're staying a few days in nearby Springfield, may just bop over to Normal on a lark to see what's there in any case.

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