eye.surgeon
Active Member
The root of the problem is investors care about production and sales, and what wags the stock wags the company. The stock doesn't give a crap about repair wait times, not their problem.
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A word of warning for potential Tesla owners.
- Thread starter ndhaon91
- Start date
Chaz
Big Kahuna
To compound the problem, many independent body repair shops do not want to go through the hassle of getting Tesla certified. I recently had my MS totaled and spent a lot of time talking to nearby body shops and why they haven't been certified. Most said it wasn't worth the investment yet (they mentioned they would have to make physical changes to their shop, certify their mechanics, get inspected, and ultimately pay their certified employees more) and they have plenty of non-Tesla business to keep them busy (at least in southern Colorado).
Of the shops that do work on Teslas, I found varying time repair estimates from four months to well over a year for the same car. I can't help but wonder if they are tired of the parts supply issue and put Teslas at the bottom of the priority list while they focus on non-Teslas in their shops.
Either way, it would be great if a more robust parts supply chain existed.... sorry for beating a dead horse.
Of the shops that do work on Teslas, I found varying time repair estimates from four months to well over a year for the same car. I can't help but wonder if they are tired of the parts supply issue and put Teslas at the bottom of the priority list while they focus on non-Teslas in their shops.
Either way, it would be great if a more robust parts supply chain existed.... sorry for beating a dead horse.
I had the same experience with a dented driver side door being fixed at ServiceKing. Had to force my way in to their lot after 2 months of waiting to get my car back while parts were pending.
Turns out, Tesla has a 3-tier prioritization scheme for body parts. It starts out at "1", then the body shop is supposed to escalate it to a "2" after a week of not being delivered. After that, a Tesla Service Center can bump it up to tier 3 for the body shop.
As it happened, ServiceKing hadn't bumped up the priority and I kept getting passed over. I would call in, and a new shipment of the parts would show up at the California warehouse, but never get delivered to my shop.
After talking to the Service Center, they were able to get the parts in about a week after I had been waiting for 6 months.
Turns out, Tesla has a 3-tier prioritization scheme for body parts. It starts out at "1", then the body shop is supposed to escalate it to a "2" after a week of not being delivered. After that, a Tesla Service Center can bump it up to tier 3 for the body shop.
As it happened, ServiceKing hadn't bumped up the priority and I kept getting passed over. I would call in, and a new shipment of the parts would show up at the California warehouse, but never get delivered to my shop.
After talking to the Service Center, they were able to get the parts in about a week after I had been waiting for 6 months.
That's when you anonymously leave a burning bag of poop on the doorstep. 6 months of nothing would be the worst.
nomis_nehc
Member
Just chiming and saying how "logical" some of you are to advise the poster to continue driving a damaged car.
I wouldn't want to, not just my Tesla, any car that is damaged and should be repaired, I would not have it running around on the road.
I wouldn't want to, not just my Tesla, any car that is damaged and should be repaired, I would not have it running around on the road.
It all depends on how damaged it is.
I just had a dented door and rocker panel, no biggie.
jelloslug
Active Member
Xenoilphobe
Well-Known Member
FlatSix911
Porsche 918 Hybrid
He posted photos of the rear end damage... as long as the signals and brake lights work, he is good to go
Pinot.Noir
Member
If you really want to get the word out I would drive the Tesla and put a sign on the back that says "waiting for repair parts from Tesla...6 months and counting!"
whitex
Well-Known Member
I think you may have been hitting Elon's cool aid a bit heavy. Bringing repairs in house doesn't solve parts not being available problem, unless you're telling me Tesla is somehow able to ship parts to their own stores in timely manner but shipping to non-Tesla owned locations adds months to the process.
The talk to Tesla bringing repairs in house, in true Elon style with no timeline of course, is just another one of Elon's tweetures design to pacify critics. It may not happen for years, if ever, and even if it does, it doesn't solve the problem of non parts at all unless each service center turns into a parts factory for their needs. Remember Elon solving the high insurance problem for Teslas by bringing it in house? How did that turn out? How about Elon's promise for everyone getting P100D loaners?
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whitex
Well-Known Member
Maybe the issue here is you're thinking rationally. Think like Elon (may require Ambien) and you'll realize he was envisioning each service center manufacturing it's own parts. After all, if they can make Model 3's in a tent.... I'm sure he has visions of star trek replicators making the parts in the back of each service center. "Computer, drive unit for VIN xyz123" - queue replicator noises - "Tada! Shiney new drive unit ready for installation! Matching production specs of the VIN too." Now, that is a true Elon style solution.
whitex
Well-Known Member
Ha ha, in sales BS situations like this I always ask if they are willing to back their statements with anything tangible in writing. For example, "Tesla will provide me a loaner Tesla for any time over 5 days to ship parts". Totally reasonable if what they say is true, right?
It’s a risk benefit you have to weigh for yourself. Thank you for letting us know this problem still exists... hopefully Tesla hears our concerns. But as many have mentioned, first time buyers... don’t let this be the deciding factor alone. For me the safety benefits, (IE) let’s say this accident happened at high speed, the increased probability of walking away in the Tesla outweighs the headaches of dealing with a lower speed accident.
Sir Guacamolaf
The good kind of fat
This has been an issue for .. MANY years now. Acknowledged by people who no longer even work at Tesla like Jon McnNiel. And even by Elon himself.
There has been zero improvement on this huge negative of Tesla ownership.
Don't hold your breath on "Hopefully Tesla hears our concerns" .. they hear, they just don't care.
5 years and nothing has changed in this aspect - over priced and over charged repairs with insane amount of waiting for parts. A double whammy on cost and time.
Chill.
I’m not holding my breath. I understand it’s not been prioritized as it should have been.
It would be good to hear if there are any people who have had a positive experience with a relatively quick turn around time for repair.
Wouldn't you start looking to source your own parts? Are there not lots of flooded Tesla's in Texas? body panels (especially plastic parts) should be fine from a car that was totaled from a flood. I wouldn't want to do it for a leased vehicle, unless the insurance paid me (well) for it. However, I wouldn't have to wait months from it to be fixed.
