Anyone ever use Tesla Roadside Assistance?

[DblOSmith]

While supercharging on Sunday, a Tesla owner came up to me and TLDR told me that Tesla Roadside Assistance (TRA) number automatically dials to 3rd parties and not Tesla and that those third parties are not open on weekends which left someone stranded. It all seemed a bit odd. I was curious about other people's experience using TRA on their new car.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I think that owner got his facts confused. I'm pretty sure calling TRA actually reaches Tesla directly. THEN Tesla calls other 3rd-party roadside assistance companies to go help the owner. I do not believe that the TRA number automatically forwards to some 3rd party. Makes no sense.

For instance, there have been several stories of people with flats calling Tesla and the closest service center is sent out to put on a "loaner" spare tire+wheel until the owner can get to the shop to get their fixed tire back. That couldn't happen if TRA is just forward to some random 3rd party service.

 

[jjrandorin]

While supercharging on Sunday, a Tesla owner came up to me and TLDR told me that Tesla Roadside Assistance (TRA) number automatically dials to 3rd parties and not Tesla and that those third parties are not open on weekends which left someone stranded. It all seemed a bit odd. I was curious about other people's experience using TRA on their new car.

To answer thread question, yes, like 4 times (all for flat tires) unfortunately. @HankLloydRight is correct, roadside assistance goes to tesla (either phone or through the app) and they engage a local third party for you.

This is no different than something like AAA, or roadside assistance provided by just about any other vehicle brand (BMW, Merc, etc etc).

As for "not open on weekends" I guess that would depend on what was needed. If you needed a mobile ranger for a 12v battery, that would have to wait till the weekday. If you need a tow somewhere, the car can be towed as tow trucks operate on weekends. This is the exact same as any other brand, so it sounds like either they are confused, or talking about situations where the service center is not open on weekends.

 

[Watts_Up]

While supercharging on Sunday, a Tesla owner came up to me and TLDR told me that Tesla Roadside Assistance (TRA) number automatically dials to 3rd parties and not Tesla and that those third parties are not open on weekends which left someone stranded. It all seemed a bit odd. I was curious about other people's experience using TRA on their new car.

I think the correct statement would be "Tesla Service Centers" are not open on weekend.

So getting for example a replacement tire or a loanner wheel can be difficult
because an exact Tesla tire replacement might not be available at a local shop.

Note: My local Tesla SC in California is open on weekend.

Getting a tow truck for a flat tire might take longer because towing companies
respond first to car accidents, or disabled cars blocking the traffic, as hight priority.

I would recommend looking at this TMC thread started by @Mr Miserable :

30 hour wait for recovery. Lessons learnt.

My Model 3 broke down on Thursday evening. The dreaded 12v failure. Indications were messages like "Vehicle may not restart","Electrical system is unable to support all features" followed shortly afterwards by red warnings to pull over as the vehicle was about to shut down, which it did. The...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[daniel]

I think it was back around 2017 or 2018 I drove my then-new Tesla Model 3 from Spokane where I lived at the time, up to Canada for my summer hiking trip. One of the wilderness hiking lodges I went to required leaving the car in an open very rural area where there was no shade. I shut off everything that could be shut off. Unbeknownst to me, the car drained the battery down to about 15 or 20% keeping itself cool. I was left with enough charge to get to the nearest small town but not to my next destination. There was a J1772 charger, but it required an account to use it and nobody answered at the charger's service number. My NEMA 14-50 (sorry, I'm not sure if that's the correct designation) charger plug would not fit any outlets in the town, not even at the RV park.

So I phoned Tesla. They arranged for a local wrecker to flat-bed my car to my next destination, where there was a Tesla supercharger, and they pushed the latest OTA update which included the ability to turn off (or limit?) cooling.

I think it would not be possible to automatically forward your call to a local place without first knowing where you are and what you need. And of course while some services are not available on weekends, others are, depending on location.

 

[DblOSmith]

All the responses so far makes sense, thank you. I've never used it TRA, so I had no idea. I used AAA and it's saved my butt multiple times. I got the sense that the driver was confused or not completely sure what he was talking about, and now I'm sure. He said that someone had a flat tire and they were just stuck on the side of the road (as if tow trucks don't exist on the weekends). He also said that no tire shop was open on weekends, even though I looked across the parking lot at one that was open. Like I said, it was all odd. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I got the sense that the driver was confused or not completely sure what he was talking about, and now I'm sure.

Unfortunately, I've met many more people at superchargers that are woefully misinformed and spreading myths/rumors for things like this, than people who are properly informed. Sad.

 

[daniel]

A decade before the incident I described above, I got a flat tire north of Spokane. I was too far out for cell service. No matter what insurance you have, unless you have a satellite phone you're out of luck if there's no cell service. I tried to change the tire myself. I used to be able to do that when I was younger, but on this occasion I could not budge the lug nuts. Eventually some good Samaritans stopped and changed the tire for me. Then I had to drive for an hour or two at 35 mph on the doughnut spare on a two-lane country highway holding up cars behind me, and periodically pulling over to let everyone pass. Now my car doesn't have a spare at all.

 

[jgbaldwin]

Got got a nail in my tire and the mountains of Colorado about a week ago, and sat on hold for 45 minutes. While I was on hold I managed to pull the nail out and plug the leak and use my portable 12 volts air pump to bring the tire back up to pressure.. when I finally did get an answer the person was competent and set up a text string in case my patch failed. Tesla should offer a annual fee-based option to have a better roadside service. A company like Urgent.ly has an app and is set up for faster engagement. On a night like the one where I was in the mountains it's going to take over an hour to get a service provider anyway, so when you have to wait almost an hour to talk to somebody you really puts you into an agonizingly long process

 

[daniel]

Got got a nail in my tire and the mountains of Colorado about a week ago, and sat on hold for 45 minutes. While I was on hold I managed to pull the nail out and plug the leak and use my portable 12 volts air pump to bring the tire back up to pressure.. when I finally did get an answer the person was competent and set up a text string in case my patch failed. Tesla should offer a annual fee-based option to have a better roadside service. A company like Urgent.ly has an app and is set up for faster engagement. On a night like the one where I was in the mountains it's going to take over an hour to get a service provider anyway, so when you have to wait almost an hour to talk to somebody you really puts you into an agonizingly long process

Most car insurance includes an option for roadside assistance. You can call anybody for help, and then file a claim with your insurance. You're not locked into one provider as you are with Tesla or AAA.