Model 3 Warranty - 4 years but 12 months or 12,000 for Rattle?

[Pcm888usa]

After several months after I took delivery of a M3 LR Dual Motor, the left side door developed a rattle that sounded like a loose screw. Due to the Covid-19 and California Stay Home order, I did not try to bring it in thinking I have 3 years plus warranty to address it. I recently made an appointment to bring it in and was told Rattle Noise is only covered under a 1 year 12,000 miles warranty and a $195 Diagnostic Fee will be charged. This is the first I heard of such a think. I searched the official website at Tesla for the Warranty information and I could not see such term.
Loose screws or panel or whatever unusual noises in the car is considered a defect in workmanship. It is amazing Tesla would single out this issue and apply a secret warranty term.
Are members aware of this? Since I am only 13 months into the warranty period, I am going to fight it especially for months I was not able to bring the car in for service due to Stay Home order.

 

[HarleyW]

They seem to make things and terms up on the fly. Is there a warranty booklet in the car or is That a constantly changing on screen only?

Hard for someone to get coverage when there is no hard copy from when you bought the car. Easy for them to change it when they see fit.

 

[PNWLeccy]

Technically, there is a clause in their warranty that excludes all noises, squeaks and rattles. They have an informal rule (that they have cited to me each time I've made appointment) that they will only take a look at rattles for 1 year/12k mi. After that they will charge a diag fee.

I think this is pretty bullshit because as you mentioned it's often a defect that causes these but they do it to give themselves an out.

 

[texas_star_TM3]

if it makes you feel better... other more traditional manufacturers have the same rule. Ford from my experience comes to mind. although Lexus and Mercedes will definitely find/ fix rattles under warranty for more than just one year

 

[robl45]

Technically, there is a clause in their warranty that excludes all noises, squeaks and rattles. They have an informal rule (that they have cited to me each time I've made appointment) that they will only take a look at rattles for 1 year/12k mi. After that they will charge a diag fee.

I think this is pretty bullshit because as you mentioned it's often a defect that causes these but they do it to give themselves an out.

LOL, the defect is Tesla crap build quality. I really enjoy my car, but man Tesla needs to get a clue, they have crap build quality and they can't keep laying it off on the owner. Just like when I had to replace the felt that tore on the bottom of the car with them claiming I hit something. Duh, bottom of car is always gonna have scrapes. Anyway, if its the door, take the door apart, its not that difficult from watching the videos of how to take the door handle out.

 

[PNWLeccy]

LOL, the defect is Tesla crap build quality. I really enjoy my car, but man Tesla needs to get a clue, they have crap build quality and they can't keep laying it off on the owner. Just like when I had to replace the felt that tore on the bottom of the car with them claiming I hit something. Duh, bottom of car is always gonna have scrapes. Anyway, if its the door, take the door apart, its not that difficult from watching the videos of how to take the door handle out.

Yea, I've watched wayyy too many videos so that I could disassemble and get at the rattles myself since they have been pretty incompetent at fixing them anyways. There is one persistent one from the rear that I usually ask mobile service about if I am having something else fixed just to see if there are any common places to check that I might've not yet. (I have dismantled most of this car and fixed everything but this one so i'm a little stumped)

 

[AxlxA]

Did you guys know that panel gaps/alignements are only covered up to 1000 miles? I got lazy and thought I could live with a lifted hood hinge but due to COVID and frequent car washing, I could stand it no more... and when the tech came, he said they have to charge me for it. He offered to let me argue with his manager but I said wuss out and took the charge. So easy to align too jebus I could've done it in 15 mins myself.

 

[PNWLeccy]

I find mobile service techs much more forgiving if you mention something that might take them 10 min to adjust. I just say "hey, if you have time could you adjust this if it's easy?" and they give it a go 50% of the time in my experience

 

[aspec818]

My car is 1.5 years old with 13k miles. The rear has developed a bunch of random rattles and sounds like an old bucket when going over road imperfections. What are the chances Tesla covers this under warranty? I actually don’t mind paying $195 if the rear rattles are fixed.

 

[jjrandorin]

My car is 1.5 years old with 13k miles. The rear has developed a bunch of random rattles and sounds like an old bucket when going over road imperfections. What are the chances Tesla covers this under warranty? I actually don’t mind paying $195 if the rear rattles are fixed.

Pretty close to zero chance they attempt to fix it under warranty. Not zero chance, but close enough to zero that you should be prepared to pay for it. The diagnostic charge is also what they charge to examine and attempt to fix it. I was told it could be more if it took significantly more time, for example, if you have rattles in two completely different places on the car that they would have to disassemble to get at.

 

[TomT]

Actually, we had a bad rattle in our Ford Escape that they happily found and fixed 30 months after we bought it... I have generally found Tesla warranty coverage to be worse than pretty much all the other manufacturers coverage... They denied a couple of things for me that any other manufacturer would have covered with no questions asked. I love Tesla but their support simply sucks.

if it makes you feel better... other more traditional manufacturers have the same rule. Ford from my experience comes to mind. although Lexus and Mercedes will definitely find/ fix rattles under warranty for more than just one year

 

[robl45]

Agreed, most dealers suck and I've caught some just lying and being lazy, but Tesla is beyond ridiculous. Telling a customer that wipers spraying blue all over the side of the car is normal and switch to different fluid was a jaw drop moment. Charging to replace the fabric that is a pathetic excuse for an underbody protection was the last straw for my local service center. I will try the one a little further away and see if maybe they are better.

Actually, we had a bad rattle in our Ford Escape that they happily found and fixed 30 months after we bought it... I have generally found Tesla warranty coverage to be worse than pretty much all the other manufacturers coverage... They denied a couple of things for me that any other manufacturer would have covered with no questions asked. I love Tesla but their support simply sucks.

 

[LACALawyer]

if it makes you feel better... other more traditional manufacturers have the same rule. Ford from my experience comes to mind. although Lexus and Mercedes will definitely find/ fix rattles under warranty for more than just one year

My SL 550 rattled till the day I sold it for my 3

 

[Pied]

Every car I have bought starting 2010+ had rattles. Dealers that will fix them are hit or miss.

I usually fix the rattles myself. You just need some tape, foam, or tie wraps to stop loose wires touching the trim. There are a lot of youtube videos on how to remove trim pieces for popular cars

 

[robl45]

Every car I have bought starting 2010+ had rattles. Dealers that will fix them are hit or miss.

I usually fix the rattles myself. You just need some tape, foam, or tie wraps to stop loose wires touching the trim. There are a lot of youtube videos on how to remove trim pieces for popular cars

Finding the rattles are the tough part and sometimes it's more involved

 

[cwerdna]

They seem to make things and terms up on the fly. Is there a warranty booklet in the car or is That a constantly changing on screen only?

Hard for someone to get coverage when there is no hard copy from when you bought the car. Easy for them to change it when they see fit.

That is why pages like Vehicle Warranty and warranty PDFs like https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/downloads/tesla-new-vehicle-limited-warranty-en-us.pdf need to fed to Internet Archive: Wayback Machine and http://archive.is/ to avoid revisionist history. Most definitely save a copy of the PDF from Tesla at the time of purchase/lease.

if it makes you feel better... other more traditional manufacturers have the same rule. Ford from my experience comes to mind. although Lexus and Mercedes will definitely find/ fix rattles under warranty for more than just one year

I've never had any problem w/Nissan and Toyota covering diagnosis remediation of squeaks, rattles and abnormal noises within the 3 year/36K basic warranty and after 1 year/12K miles.

I can't speak to GM yet as I've not yet tried and have a GM vehicle past the 1 year mark but before the 3 year mark.

 

[robl45]

Yes Tesla service sucks, sad but true. I've had all kinds of makes and they all tend to suck but Tesla I would expect to be a bit betterv especially with massive known quality issues