Anyone else extremely frustrated with getting Model S in for service?

[Mike K]

I'm growing increasingly frustrated too. I can deal with the 3 week wait times for an appointment and I can deal with the fact that my early build 2013 is going to have more problems than the average Model S but what really chaps my ass is when they give me back the car not fixed.

This past appointment was the worst by far. It went in to have the tire pressure monitoring system fixed for the third time, to fix the "replace battery in key fob" error, to fix a rattling speaker and to install a new pano-roof seal because the original was coming apart at the seems.

When I got the car back the first thing I noticed was that not only was the pano-roof seal still detached in the same place as before but whoever had installed it had pulled down my headliner to do so and put a kink in it on both sides as well as got grease all over the A, B and C pillars on the passenger side of the car. Strike 1.

Within a few days the tire pressure monitor service light came on again. Strike 2.

A couple days later my brand new keys were giving me low battery warnings in the instrument cluster. Strike 3.

And the moment I left I noticed the speaker rattle wasn't fixed.

So 4 problems it went in for, none of them fixed and they gave the car back to me in worse condition than it was received.

And the fix is for them to order a headliner which JUST came in even though the original service appointment was in late April. I have no confidence they'll fix the problems but this time I plan on politely insisting they check the car thoroughly before handing it back to me. I don't care if that means the tech or the service writer has to take it home. If I get it back with the same problems though I'm going to come unhinged.

I really think it's a matter of the X having so many issues. I think they're very clearly choosing quantity over quality with respect to service right now because it's the lesser of two evils in their eyes but yes, in a big city service right now is pretty bad.

 

[flyinghawaiian]

I've had my Model S serviced twice and have been very impressed. The first was for a vibration in the headliner and they sent out a ranger to repair it at home. Didn't know they still did this even though I live in SAT and there's a service center in AUS.

Next, had a windshield cracked. Waited 3 weeks for an appointment, but that's in line with my Audi and BMW dealers. But, Tesla picked up the vehicle, got it repaired the same day, then delivered the car back to our house. They also did a complete inspection of the car and found we had a screw in the tire that was unrepairable and needed to be replaced.

Best car service experience both times, compared to my BMW and Audi.

 

[Maksidaa]

I'll throw in my recent experience. When I bought my CPO P85, I asked about installing the 3rd row rear facing seats. The SvC ran the VIN, and told me it could be done, they would just need to order the parts and set up an appointment. The next available appointment was 6 weeks out. Ok, fine, I can wait, no big deal.

As time goes by, I started a short list of other things I wanted the SvC to check out. An alignment issue, LTE upgrade, seat belt that wouldn't retract. Nothing major, just little things. The appointment date came, I made sure they had a complete list of my concerns, and I was told it could all be done in a couple of days. Fortunately, we were given an S85 loaner with rear facing seats, so that was nice.

After the second day, we got a text that our Model S was next in line to be looked at. The third day, a text that said they were carefully diagnosing any and all problems. The fourth day we got a text that work had begun and we would be updated when our car was ready. Then we got a text that some parts were being overnighted for the rear facing seats and they were not sure when work would be completed.

I called the SvC just to check on when they thought the repairs would be completed, and to make sure everything had been diagnosed properly. The rep said they were only able to start on the rear facing seats when they realized they didn't have all the parts. The alignment had not been checked, and the LTE retrofit was in progress. The seat belts were a known issue but the parts were on back order and it would be at least 2 months before they could swap them out.

I told the rep it was no big deal, we were glad to have the S85 loaner and we could wait as long as it took to get everything done and done right. He seemed genuinely upset that it was not as smooth of a process as it could/should have been, and he promised they would get the car back to us as soon as possible.

We got the car back after a week, the alignment was fixed, the third row seats are in, and the LTE is set up and working. Now we just have to wait a couple of months for the seat belts to be repaired.

Overall, not a terrible experience, but certainly not the same experience I would have at my local Toyota dealership.

 

[evp]

We'll have 4 to 5 times the number of Teslas on the road at the end of 2018 than we do now if Tesla achieves their goal. They'll need four times the Service Centers to even maintain their current level of service, which can charitably be described as "overbooked". There are about 60 SvCs in the US now. If we are to have 240 to 300 SvCs by the end of 2018, Tesla needs to be opening about 200/2.5 = 80 a year, or one every 4.5 days, just to keep up. Are there any indications this is happening?

 

[srini]

Tesla doesn't need no more service centers like the other car companies! OTA service and self service are the new games in town. Tesla the leader!

 

[Garlan Garner]

Yea, delivery problems now? When "only" some tens of thousands are being ordered and delivered. It appears Tesla will not make their 100,000 sales target this year. HAving said that it still is pretty cool custom ordering a car and getting delivery in 6-8 weeks. But they need to really ramp it up big time in the next year and a half. I sincerely hope Tesla can somehow accomplish 500,000 by 2018

I think they will make it, otherwise they are going to lose customer confidence.

 

[SFPD]

I just recently had a really bad experience with service--

I had scheduled an appointment months in advance to drop off my car on a Friday before a week long vacation. My service advisor said it would likely take a couple days to complete. When I got back a week later my service advisor emailed to say that they hadn't even looked at the car to begin service (it was "still in queue"). ANOTHER WEEK passed and my car was still in queue. *17 days* after I dropped off my car they began the service and emailed to tell me that they'd need to order some parts. Once the parts came in it just took a day of actual work time to get everything fixed up.

Pretty ridiculous to book an appointment months in advance and for the car to just sit there at the service center collecting dust for weeks before it's even looked at. I've never experienced similar maintenance delays with a private garage or dealer in the past. Really quite a shame.

 

[jeffro01]

Tesla are you listening???? The service center expansion isn't happening nearly fast enough, especially in high concentration markets like the Bay Area...

I wish there was some way to get it through whoever is in charge of this that the situation is not acceptable and will eventually cause great harm to the brand, especially when the Model 3 comes out...

The wait times are a joke, just a freaking joke. The lack of Model S loaners is a joke as well... Anytime they get a decent amount of them they sell them all off to meet quarterly or yearly sales goals... Tesla hides a LOT because their car is so amazing as they'd have been out of business long ago if that wasn't the case...

For all the negative media attention AP is getting, it's entirely misplaced, it should be focused on the abysmal state of the service side of the house...

Jeff

 

[jeffro01]

I just recently had a really bad experience with service--

I had scheduled an appointment months in advance to drop off my car on a Friday before a week long vacation. My service advisor said it would likely take a couple days to complete. When I got back a week later my service advisor emailed to say that they hadn't even looked at the car to begin service (it was "still in queue"). ANOTHER WEEK passed and my car was still in queue. *17 days* after I dropped off my car they began the service and emailed to tell me that they'd need to order some parts. Once the parts came in it just took a day of actual work time to get everything fixed up.

Pretty ridiculous to book an appointment months in advance and for the car to just sit there at the service center collecting dust for weeks before it's even looked at. I've never experienced similar maintenance delays with a private garage or dealer in the past. Really quite a shame.

That's 100% unacceptable... You must have more patience than I ever would because if that happened to me I'd be livid, just livid... There is no way I'd have allowed my car to sit that long without being touched, I'd have screamed bloody murder well before 17 days, more like day 3...

Jeff

 

[Norfolk Enchants]

don't even mention the wait for Body Repairs should you be unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident.

 

[David99]

That's 100% unacceptable... You must have more patience than I ever would because if that happened to me I'd be livid, just livid... There is no way I'd have allowed my car to sit that long without being touched, I'd have screamed bloody murder well before 17 days, more like day 3...

Jeff

Wait until your Model S needs body work after an accident. Mine was at the shop for 11 weeks! A lot of it was waiting for parts from Tesla. They finally gave me the car back with some clips missing cause Tesla couldn't deliver those (in 11 weeks!!).

Service has been good and fast for me until the Model X came out. Now the service centers have to fix the quality issues that should never have left the factory and they are all way overbooked.

Unfortunately the Model S is not anywhere near as reliable as similar cars or even lower prices cars. I have had my Model S at the service more than all my previous cars combined.

 

[Todd Burch]

Just want to make sure that you folks are complaining to Tesla directly (not just at the service center, but escalating if you feel you need to). Obviously, the complaints here won't necessarily get the attention from Tesla that they deserve.

 

[roblab]

I see that the title is whether anyone else is extremely frustrated. I guess that leaves the door open for me to say that I had one service issue, a rattle, which was fixed in 15 minutes. That was on my new 90D. I did feel that the factory should have detected it, but it's the only service I plan to have for quite a while. I was not extremely frustrated.

 

[SFPD]

Just want to make sure that you folks are complaining to Tesla directly (not just at the service center, but escalating if you feel you need to). Obviously, the complaints here won't necessarily get the attention from Tesla that they deserve.

What is the best way to escalate this concern to Tesla? I attempted to email Ownership@ but received an auto-reply that the address is no longer being monitored. I then tried ServiceHelpNA@ and got an email back that the service manager at my local center would be reaching out to me. Three days later I hadn't heard back and emailed them again requesting that the issue be escalated further, and got this reply:

if you wish to escalate further it would need to be through the Service Center Manager. Please expect to be contacted within 1-2 business days

Well it's been 6 days since that last email and I still haven't been contacted by the service center manager!

 

[hsctiger93]

I think the concentration of Tesla in CA is cause for concern since it's a microcosm of what may happen in the US when Model 3 arrives.

The Raleigh SC has been nothing but awesome. While I don't like the change in fees for collecting my car in VA, that's not their fault.

When we had a leak in the trunk I didn't need to ask them to tear all the carpet and padding in the trunk out and start over. They did it because it was the right thing to do. I can guarantee you if our Acura had the same problem I'd fight them over every square inch of warranty work to make sure mold did not become a problem.

Scheduling is usually a couple or three weeks out for regular 12.5k mile services, but they got me in quickly when I had my leak.

So, I'm the opposite of frustrated now. Concerned if we can't get a service center in Richmond though. Raleigh and Rockville are going to get crushed when 3 gets here.

 

[Todd Burch]

What is the best way to escalate this concern to Tesla? I attempted to email Ownership@ but received an auto-reply that the address is no longer being monitored. I then tried ServiceHelpNA@ and got an email back that the service manager at my local center would be reaching out to me. Three days later I hadn't heard back and emailed them again requesting that the issue be escalated further, and got this reply:

Well it's been 6 days since that last email and I still haven't been contacted by the service center manager!

Calling is always better, IMHO. If you can handle it at the service center level, do that. If you feel you need to go higher, I'd call the support number--just make it clear when you talk to someone that you don't want to get connected to your service center--that you want to escalate the issue.

 

[iffatall]

I just called the Fremont service center this morning for an appointment to fix certain noises. The earliest one I could get was for 23 August, which is about 5.5 weeks out. The issues were not urgent, and I did not push for it. So I think it is OK.

I have observed that the wait time here has been about six weeks for last couple of years. I wonder, if the wait time is consistent, it means the rate of cars coming in is same as rate of cars going out, then the wait time should eventually come down, shouldn't it?

 

[Gizmotoy]

Update:

I was contacted by Sunnyvale's Service Manager, who I'm told was contacted by his manager, regarding my experience. Tesla has, perhaps unsurprisingly in retrospect, noticed this post. If we're lucky, some of the rest of you having trouble will hear from your SCs as well.

They were apologetic and wanted to hear more about my opinion on of how things were handled. I explained that, as usual, the service itself is always excellent but the wait times have grown so long that it's starting to be a problem. And that I realize it's probably not my SC's fault this is all happening, but it does affect me negatively.

In my particular case, I'm not sure if it's logical or not because I don't understand enough about the steering system, but I admitted I'm a bit worried about the safety of the vehicle when it makes these noises while turning, and that another long wait puts me after summer vacation trips and such. It sounds like a mistake was made and that repeat visits for the same issue are supposed to be prioritized, but something happened (perhaps because I needed to delay?) and that didn't occur in this case. They're going to get my car in ASAP. That's much appreciated, and it's good to hear that's how it's supposed to work.

It also sounds like they have a realistic plan for reducing the strain on the SCs in the area.

I felt a bit bad being the bearer of an unflattering opinion, especially when delivered to the SC when I suspect the root cause comes from corporate, but I am cautiously hopeful that all of Tesla is fully aware of the situation in general are are taking steps to address it.

So I hope things get better. Fingers crossed.

 

[Norfolk Enchants]

I just called the Fremont service center this morning for an appointment to fix certain noises. The earliest one I could get was for 23 August, which is about 5.5 weeks out. The issues were not urgent, and I did not push for it....

Body repair center in Cleveland told me that they had 6 Teslas in front of me in the queue and it was 2 months before they could start work on my car...LOL

 

[mmccord]

Scheduling service for minor issues has been tough, but for major issues I've been more than satisfied. My gauge cluster computer failed on Thursday. The car drove, but I had no speedometer, autopilot freaked out when engaged, etc. I drove it down to Paramus and dropped it off. They had no loaners so they got me a rental.

They had the gauge cluster replaced and firmware updated same day. I picked it up before they closed. I'm very happy with that visit.

Scheduling regular service/minor warranty repairs has been more difficult however.