Tesla told some $35,000 Model 3 customers they were days away from getting their cars. Now, those customers don't know when their orders will arrive.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Tesla Model 3.

• Customers have waited over three years for the $35,000, base-priced version of Tesla's Model 3 sedan.
• On February 28, Tesla began allowing customers to place orders for the $35,000 Model 3, known as the standard-range trim, saying the vehicles would be delivered in two-to-four weeks.
• Less than two weeks later, the electric carmaker said deliveries for new orders would take six-to-eight weeks.
• Five customers who've ordered the standard-range Model 3 who spoke with Business Insider have been given indefinite delivery timelines.
• Tesla did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

Customers have waited over three years for the $35,000, base-priced version of Tesla's Model 3 sedan. In March, they received the latest in a series of delays.

On February 28, Tesla began allowing customers to place orders for the $35,000 Model 3, known as the standard-range trim, saying the vehicles would be delivered in two-to-four weeks. Less than two weeks later, the electric carmaker said deliveries for new orders would take six-to-eight weeks. Five standard-range Model 3 customers who spoke with Business Insider have been given indefinite delivery timelines.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

Read more: The biggest question for Tesla is whether the company can make steady profits on its cars

"This sure as hell sounds like a bait-and-switch to me," said Bob Whiteman, who lives in San Francisco and made a $1,000 reservation for the standard-range Model 3 on the first possible day: March 31, 2016.

Whiteman paid a $2,500 deposit to order the vehicle on February 28, 2019. While he was given a two-to-four week delivery timeline when he placed his order, he was skeptical.

"Considering I had seen estimate ranges like that from Tesla many, many times over - all of them dramatically broken - I put very little stake in that," he said.

On March 22, Whiteman received a text from Tesla setting a tentative delivery date for March 30, which gave him confidence his Model 3 would arrive soon. Two days later, Tesla sent him a text delaying his delivery indefinitely.

"Our apologies, we will need to reschedule your delivery appointment to a later date," the text reads. "A Tesla representative will reach out when we have a better estimate of your delivery timing."

Whiteman said he no longer trusts Tesla's projections for when his Model 3 will arrive.

"I have no reason to believe any dates from Tesla," he said.

Three other Model 3 customers who spoke with Business Insider received the same text as Whiteman after getting tentative delivery dates scheduled for late March. Another Model 3 customer was sent a similar message via email, though he was not given a delivery date.

"I am not able to give you a firm estimation on delivery for your car," the email reads. "However, you will get a notification when your Model 3 is almost at the end of line."

'I just don't want to feel like I'm being taken advantage of'

Brent Hyden, who lives in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, reserved his standard-range Model 3 in March 2016. When he placed his order on March 1, 2019, he found the two-to-four week delivery timeframe "kind of odd" since he suspected there would be high demand for the $35,000 model.

On March 22, Tesla gave Hyden a tentative, March 28 delivery date; and on March 24, he received the rescheduling text. A few days later, a Tesla employee called Hyden and told him he could receive a Model 3 by the end of March if he upgraded from the standard-range trim to the standard-range-plus trim, which adds 20 miles of range for an extra $2,500. Hyden said he wasn't interested.

The employee told Hyden the standard-range Model 3 probably wouldn't be available until the end of June, Hyden said. While he's still excited for his Model 3, Hyden said he's been disappointed with Tesla's communication.

"I'd feel a lot better about my experience with the company if they were just upfront, open, and honest," he said. "I just don't want to feel like I'm being taken advantage of."

Not all standard-range Model 3 customers are upset with Tesla. Celia Chiang, who lives in San Jose, made a March 2016 reservation and ordered her Model 3 on February 28. While she didn't expect a three-year wait, she understands why, from a financial perspective, Tesla has delayed standard-range deliveries.

"It's completely okay with me," she said. "I want them to do well. I want them to make money."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk expressed a similar sentiment in May 2018, saying Tesla would "lose money and die" if it started building and delivering the standard-range Model 3. In June, Musk said Tesla would likely begin making $35,000 Model 3s near the end of 2018 and aim for mass production in early 2019.

Tesla did not respond when asked if production for the standard-range Model 3 has begun.

Have you worked for Tesla? Do you have a story to share? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com.

• Read more:
• Tesla pops after news that the tax credit for electric vehicles may be extended
• The latest Wall Street analyst to launch coverage of Tesla says investors should compare it to an unlikely tech giant
• Tesla's senior director of global security has left the company
• Tesla's price target has been slashed by 3 major Wall Street banks. Here's where other analysts stand right now.

Get the latest Tesla stock price here.