Bad experience. First service to fix delivery issues on new M3

[dm33]

We picked up our first Tesla a few weeks ago. We were told we couldn't even open the door to the car until we purchased the car, sending the money over, accepting the car.

We were told that we had the first 100 miles and some number of days to report any issues we found and they would be covered.

Diligently we went over the car with a fine tooth comb and found 7-8 issues. I had expected to find a special entry in the app for delivery issues, but apparently its just schedule a service.

We scheduled it at first available. Weeks later I take it in a week ago Tuesday, 3/28/2023. They fixed all the issues the same day except one. A tiny dent on the first edge of the passenger door, as it they tried to open the door and there was a screw in the way and it slightly bent the leading edge of the door. It was barely noticeable until you notice it. The service advisor said they would definitely fix it. They wanted to make it right because it was a new car delivery. This is at the service center in Fremont next to the factory. The SA said he'd see about taking it to the factory to have them fix it. I was a little worried about how complicated that sounded, and worried that it wouldn't be easy to fix this dent other than replacing the door. But the SA was very reassuring and very pleasant. I thought the car was in good hands.

Well... here I am a week later. No work had been done on the door in a week. I have been unable to contact anyone at the service center by the required app. I left three messages which had not been responded to. I called and left a message that was not returned. I finally drove to the service center last Friday. I was assured the car would be ready that day or Saturday morning at the latest.

But it wasn't. The car was moved to the factory. And it's been sitting there since Saturday. Its now Monday night, almost a week since I dropped it off.

I was on hold with the store today for 90 minutes when an SA said he'd check and get right back to me. 90 minutes later he came back with ZERO information. Said he'd call or text tonight when he found out anything. Except... no surprise... no call, no text.

The app has said, every day, that the car will be ready at 7pm that day, except for one day it was 8:15pm (long after they close at 7pm). Now it says the car will be ready 3/31/2023 despite it now being 4/3/2023.

I'm not sure when this will end. This feels like a delivery issue. We only had the car two weeks and now it's been in service a whole week (so far) to resolve delivery issues. If it's that hard, Tesla should give us a different car without delivery issues. The most serious issue BTW was the passenger seat had two loose anchors letting the seat loosely rock around. Not cool. Other than that I could have lived with the other issues.

Any suggestions regarding how to deal with Tesla service and delivery? Please tell me Tesla service isn't always this bad? I'll be mortified if anything actually goes wrong with the car. Feels like there is no service for this car. If I had known I would have questioned getting a Tesla at all.

 

[t3sl4drvr]

Your experience reminds me of my ownership experience from 2021 to 2022. Loved the car, but finally had to sue Tesla to make things right. Switched to BMW.

Came back to this forum to learn if Tesla has gotten their act together and thus whether I can consider owning another Tesla in future (still really like the car).

Thank you for sharing your experience - a good reminder why I do not drive a Tesla at the moment.

 

[momoz74]

Wow. Sounds just like my Orlando service center story.

Traded my 2019 M3P for a new 2023 (hw4) model S Plaid.
Camera problem day one so no autopilot or or tac. Took a week to get appt. Dropped off and got a 2015 p85d disgusting loaner (stinks and looks horribly used and abused).

3 days in a parking lot without touching and then notified they had to order a part. (Forward camera). Over a week in service now, they will not answer my messages outside of “car is in service” and “sorry for the inconvenience “. I’ve asked for calls back or more detail and it just never happens.

Every day the app changes to the current day for estimated completion.

Having the 2019 model 3. I never had a problem.. so never experienced this horrific service.

I’ve owned the plaid for 20 days now half in the shop. With the ignoring, i feel captive.. may have to drive up there and get face to face.

If I could “undo” this purchase at this point I would… and this experience may have soured my Tesla passion.

 

[linuxwarrior]

I just came back from the FortWorth Service Center TERRIBLE SERVICE, they were not helpful at all.

My new M3 trunk came misaligned from the factory to the point it was scratching the paint on one side. I noticed this 1 week after delivery after opening and closing the trunk a few times. Requested Service on the App and I was directed to TESLA 275 University Dr, FortWorth Service Center. I accepted a $0 dollar estimate on the app. I drove about 1 hour, waited another hour and was told that THEY CANNOT FIX IT and THAT I WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR IT myself at a third-party body shop. That they have a strict 24hs and 100 miles policy. After talking to "the manager". I explained there was no way I could have noticed this at delivery and that he needed to make an exception in this situation. He kept repeating himself and then I was ASKED TO LEAVE because I said it was a sh*ty policy. Way to goo Tesla, all over aligning a trunk and a drop of touch up paint.

 

[rpo]

I just came back from the FortWorth Service Center TERRIBLE SERVICE, they were not helpful at all.

My new M3 trunk came misaligned from the factory to the point it was scratching the paint on one side. I noticed this 1 week after delivery after opening and closing the trunk a few times. Requested Service on the App and I was directed to TESLA 275 University Dr, FortWorth Service Center. I accepted a $0 dollar estimate on the app. I drove about 1 hour, waited another hour and was told that THEY CANNOT FIX IT and THAT I WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR IT myself at a third-party body shop. That they have a strict 24hs and 100 miles policy. After talking to "the manager". I explained there was no way I could have noticed this at delivery and that he needed to make an exception in this situation. He kept repeating himself and then I was ASKED TO LEAVE because I said it was a sh*ty policy. Way to goo Tesla, all over aligning a trunk and a drop of touch up paint.

Sue them. It's apparently the only way to obtain customer service. That is beyond f'd up.

 

[rpo]

We picked up our first Tesla a few weeks ago. We were told we couldn't even open the door to the car until we purchased the car, sending the money over, accepting the car.

We were told that we had the first 100 miles and some number of days to report any issues we found and they would be covered.

Diligently we went over the car with a fine tooth comb and found 7-8 issues. I had expected to find a special entry in the app for delivery issues, but apparently its just schedule a service.

We scheduled it at first available. Weeks later I take it in a week ago Tuesday, 3/28/2023. They fixed all the issues the same day except one. A tiny dent on the first edge of the passenger door, as it they tried to open the door and there was a screw in the way and it slightly bent the leading edge of the door. It was barely noticeable until you notice it. The service advisor said they would definitely fix it. They wanted to make it right because it was a new car delivery. This is at the service center in Fremont next to the factory. The SA said he'd see about taking it to the factory to have them fix it. I was a little worried about how complicated that sounded, and worried that it wouldn't be easy to fix this dent other than replacing the door. But the SA was very reassuring and very pleasant. I thought the car was in good hands.

Well... here I am a week later. No work had been done on the door in a week. I have been unable to contact anyone at the service center by the required app. I left three messages which had not been responded to. I called and left a message that was not returned. I finally drove to the service center last Friday. I was assured the car would be ready that day or Saturday morning at the latest.

But it wasn't. The car was moved to the factory. And it's been sitting there since Saturday. Its now Monday night, almost a week since I dropped it off.

I was on hold with the store today for 90 minutes when an SA said he'd check and get right back to me. 90 minutes later he came back with ZERO information. Said he'd call or text tonight when he found out anything. Except... no surprise... no call, no text.

The app has said, every day, that the car will be ready at 7pm that day, except for one day it was 8:15pm (long after they close at 7pm). Now it says the car will be ready 3/31/2023 despite it now being 4/3/2023.

I'm not sure when this will end. This feels like a delivery issue. We only had the car two weeks and now it's been in service a whole week (so far) to resolve delivery issues. If it's that hard, Tesla should give us a different car without delivery issues. The most serious issue BTW was the passenger seat had two loose anchors letting the seat loosely rock around. Not cool. Other than that I could have lived with the other issues.

Any suggestions regarding how to deal with Tesla service and delivery? Please tell me Tesla service isn't always this bad? I'll be mortified if anything actually goes wrong with the car. Feels like there is no service for this car. If I had known I would have questioned getting a Tesla at all.

My disaster of a delivery experience (No quality control)

I took delivery of my X six days ago. Below is my experience and list of issues after five days. Also, this is my 4th Tesla (3 prior Model S's), so I am accustomed to the quirks/autopilot/delivery experience, but this has been quite a decline. I received the delivery texts and emails...

teslamotorsclub.com

That's my customer "service" story and I'm probably a week away from the car being bought back after six months of ownership hell. And I owned three Model S's before with zero issues with the cars or service. Something has changed with Tesla's service centers recently (or we both are dealing with terrible ones), and it makes the ownership experience horrible.

 

[colepalmer]

Here’s my experience with the car appearing perfect. A week after delivery, I still don’t know what’s wrong with my car. This is an email to the GM of Tesla-Paramus:

Mr Garcia:
I purchased a car from you that was delivered on Thursday the 18th at your location in Paramus. We got up at 4:30 in the morning, drove an hour to the Portland, ME airport, flew to Newark, took an Uber to Paramus and arrived promptly for our 10:00 AM delivery appointment.
After driving it home (400 miles), arriving home at 9:00 PM and plugging in the charger; the next morning my phone would not communicate with the car nor would it open the car. I called roadside and they were able to retrieve the card keys from the glovebox. The car appeared to work fine. When I went out later to use the car, a warning appeared on the screen that I should pull over safely and that the car was shutting down due to battery issues. I called roadside and spoke with “Joey”. He dispatched a tow truck to haul the car to the nearest Service Center which is in Peabody, MA. Just speculation, but Joey suspects that the trouble rests with the new Lithium Ion 12v battery. The car shows a charge of 222 miles, but would not charge to the full 80% charge despite two attempts to do so.
We received NO assistance when we picked up the car. The representative at the desk was most concerned with the remaining money due on the account and said “there are videos you can watch in the car”. I said I wanted to see the car before funds changed hands. The exterior of the car appeared in perfect condition, but they refused to allow me to see the interior of the car until I gave them the check (??????). I handed over the check and accepted delivery and asked for help getting set up which was refused. I might add that this is the first car I have never driven before purchasing it.
“Joey” assured me that this was a high priority situation and that it would get your attention. He also assured me that a loaner car would be available, but that I had to get it out of Paramus due to cost center concerns (my words, not his, but that was the gist). I have called you 10 times over the past 24 hours and have received no response from you. I have left 4 messages with your service department asking that you call. On three of the Service Advisor calls, they said that they would send you a message asking that you call me.
I have been completely ignored and the amount of frustration I am experiencing is through the roof. I contacted CARMAX to see about selling the car and they want to see it first. They are suspicious given the very low miles on the car and won’t give me a price. I don’t see that as a viable alternative at this point and I am stuck with this car unless I can get relief under the Maine Lemon Law.
I have copied Peabody so that they also have a record of this. I am considering renting a car to be in Peabody on Monday morning (2 hr and 15 min drive) as there is no way to speak with anyone and there is no accountability at Tesla for anyone or anything. All calls get routed to people with no experience and no authority in order to shield those who have the ability to make any decisions and the authority to take corrective action to make this right.
I should also note that when the car was towed, it was a flat bed that raised it up into tree branches. There likely are scratches on the roof. I would appreciate it if Peabody could closely examine the roof for any evidence of this.
As this may only be a 12v battery issue, I was told that Tesla Rangers do not come this far. That would have been my preference and would have avoided the towing experience.
I was uncertain that I had actually made the appointment after hanging up with “Joey." When I went to do so, there was a possibility for a Ranger to come here, but it would have been on June 7th and I couldn’t afford to be without the car that long. So the information he gave me was incorrect.
I finally received a response from Dawn-Marie at your office. She is working on getting me a loaner from Peabody, MA with an Uber to get me down there. I asked if they could bring me a car, but she indicated that this would likely not be possible. VERY inconvenient.
This car has 400 miles on it...just a trip from New Jersey to Maine. This is a $55,000 purchase, not an insignificant amount for us. The fact that the car was in our possession for only one day and is already in the shop and useless doesn’t inspire confidence in the Tesla product. The fact that we are the only ones outraged and being inconvenienced by this is astounding.

 

[rpo]

Demand that Tesla provide you a rental car. They usually just book them through a local Enterprise. And you can keep it until the car is repaired. Or, if it is one issue after another like my Model X was, you can lemon it and get all of your money back. Don't sell it whatever you do.

 

[holeydonut]

Demand that Tesla provide you a rental car. They usually just book them through a local Enterprise. And you can keep it until the car is repaired. Or, if it is one issue after another like my Model X was, you can lemon it and get all of your money back. Don't sell it whatever you do.

Yeah it's weird... a lot of folks like to recommend "just sell your car for a loss and move on." I don't quite understand how that is tenable for the majority of car owners since... that's a fairly large financial loss to do so.

Anyway @colepalmer , godspeed on your attempt to get things right. I don't think Tesla is equipped to actually handle things well. They are going on a bare-bones effort to simply satisfice. So if there's any issue that requires careful attention, Tesla simply cannot deliver. Eventually the least common denominator is the floor set by legal doctrine. But by the time things involve lawyers, the experience is off the rails and terrible for all involved.

@t3sl4drvr , I highly recommend you just go with a different manufacturer. The pains of dealing with Tesla service aren't worth the headache of dealer markups.

FYI here's a link to my experience and why my Dream Tesla garage is over.

 

[t3sl4drvr]

Here’s my experience with the car appearing perfect. A week after delivery, I still don’t know what’s wrong with my car. This is an email to the GM of Tesla-Paramus:

Please note the 30-day deadline for opting out of arbitration in your purchase contract. You might want to exercise it.

Consult a lawyer experienced in dealing with lemon law and Tesla. Given the timeline, there could still be ways to resolve this without need for lemon-law case.

Document (and when possible/lawful record) all interactions with Tesla. Even then ones where they just do not pick up the phone or answer to you. Good record might help you in resolving this.

Do not expect Tesla to make things right like most normal companies would. That MAY happen, but Tesla is special: they completely lack empathy towards their customers.

 

[colepalmer]

Thank you everyone. I have a copy of the Maine Lemon Law and it appears to state that it has to be multiple attempt to fix the same problem.They have identified two problems...the power conversion unit and something I wasn’t aware of...adefective coolant hose. Tomorrow is the one week anniversary of picking up the car. I haven’t seen one ounce of urgency at any step along the way. Tesla employees are neither trained in empathy nor urgency.

 

[rpo]

Do not expect Tesla to make things right like most normal companies would. That MAY happen, but Tesla is special: they completely lack empathy towards their customers.

This is the quote of the year.

 

[colepalmer]

Please note the 30-day deadline for opting out of arbitration in your purchase contract. You might want to exercise it.

Consult a lawyer experienced in dealing with lemon law and Tesla. Given the timeline, there could still be ways to resolve this without need for lemon-law case.

Document (and when possible/lawful record) all interactions with Tesla. Even then ones where they just do not pick up the phone or answer to you. Good record might help you in resolving this.

Do not expect Tesla to make things right like most normal companies would. That MAY happen, but Tesla is special: they completely lack empathy towards their customers.

This is all helpful and sound advice. Thank you for your time. I’m clearly not a Tesla kind of guy.

 

[holeydonut]

Do not expect Tesla to make things right like most normal companies would. That MAY happen, but Tesla is special: they completely lack empathy towards their customers.

Agreed, this should be front and center on Tesla.com as their corporate motto. They think it's a privilege for a customer to have the option to pay money to get access to Tesla's glorious technology. So if the technology or product fails to deliver, it must be the customer's fault.

I have Solar charging 3x Powerwalls, a Performance 3, and 2 Tesla Gen 3 Wall Connectors. I was ready for the all-Tesla "clean energy BEV" experience, and capped off my dream Tesla garage with an 2023 Ultra Red Model X. But the car they delivered sucked. Defects, slew of error codes, and mind-blowing corner cutting during manufacturing.

Tesla rep told me that my wanting a "substitution of collateral" (aka a swap to a good/working new Model X) was indicative of me being unable to afford their product and likely buyer's remorse. I've heard the same lame-ness from some Tesla Fanbois.

@t3sl4drvr, you are spot on. Tesla simply doesn't care about customers or even bother aligning themselves to customers. Because in their mind, Tesla exists above customers.

 

[rpo]

Tesla rep told me that my wanting a "substitution of collateral" (aka a swap to a good/working new Model X) was indicative of me being unable to afford their product and likely buyer's remorse.

Holy sh&t.

 

[holeydonut]

Holy sh&t.

Yeah, sound familiar to something you read lately?

Basically me trying to get a replacement car at 500 miles was indicative of me trying to get out of a purchase all together. The logic doesn't compute in my mind, but apparently I'm an idiot loser.

Tesla's playbook is basically to put the customer on the defensive since they do not believe their products could ever be sub-par.

 

[kelledy]

My disaster of a delivery experience (No quality control)

I took delivery of my X six days ago. Below is my experience and list of issues after five days. Also, this is my 4th Tesla (3 prior Model S's), so I am accustomed to the quirks/autopilot/delivery experience, but this has been quite a decline. I received the delivery texts and emails...

teslamotorsclub.com

That's my customer "service" story and I'm probably a week away from the car being bought back after six months of ownership hell. And I owned three Model S's before with zero issues with the cars or service. Something has changed with Tesla's service centers recently (or we both are dealing with terrible ones), and it makes the ownership experience horrible.

May I ask how your buyback process went after you still under the vehicle? How long did it take them to refund you your money?

 

[rpo]

May I ask how your buyback process went after you still under the vehicle? How long did it take them to refund you your money?

Not good. I am now just over 6 months since requesting the buyback. Tesla is not responding. I've called so many times and my attorney has emailed every single day. We've managed one response which was to tell me to simmer down and that they would send the buyback offer later that day...which never happened.

I sued Tesla and the service manager in small claims yesterday for a refund for the rental car that they provided me but then refused to pay for, so hopefully that gets me onto their radar.