Before you purchase a Tesla...know this.

[Beta V]

My Model X has been back at the dealership about a dozen times--more than any car I've ever owned. Again, I've experienced some pretty serious problems (some as you describe), some entirely my fault like snapping back my driver-side mirror. The more serious repairs included:

• Cannot plug in the charging wand at Superchargers. (Replaced defective receptacle--three visits).
• Driver's seat gears wore out. (Replaced driver's seat--two visits)
• Trailer hitch would not attach. (Replaced entire tow mechanism--two visits)
• Strange vibration at 40 mph. (Never found the solution--one visit)
• System forgot who I was--would not remember profile. (Reinstalled firmware from scratch--two visits.)
• Key fob stopped working. (Replaced fob and then another firmware reset/reinstall--three visits.)
• Body work (broken mirror and gull-wing door glass repair. Five visits)

My experience with service, over the 18 months I've owned the car, has varied. I've waited over an hour for someone to answer me on the phone on a weekday. Lately (in the last six months or so), customer service has gone downhill. When dealing with my last issue, calls to the dealership were literally not answered. I had to drive down and speak to them personally to get my issues resolved. Calls and email to corporate (even tweets to Elon) were ignored or returned with a canned answer. Once the dealership takes the car and works on it, I have no issues. Most work is done on time and with good to excellent attention to detail.

Yes, customer service is an issue for me.

I'm really happy that some owners report "I've had no problems at all and everything is rosy." Many of us (too many) don't share your view of the problem.

 

[Az_Rael]

Shouldn't be a problem since it's a gas car with a battery. Lots of gas car technicians. I wonder if the Bolt will be the same?

The Volt was actually a battery car with a gas generator, so more in common with a Bolt than you might think. Bolts also have "normal" car parts too like suspensions, brakes, etc. So at least at the dealer I had the experience would be the same since the techs were the same.

 

[LCR1]

Easter Sunday is really worse, just as bad a Christmas. Every Subway Sandwich and Chipotle were closed. Every store except Walmart was closed.

..and oh by the way, *all* dealers are closed every Sunday, not just Easter.

Completely depends on the state.

 

[Az_Rael]

I'm teetering on purchasing one but the local service center (Burbank) scares me a bit. After a sales pitch (good experience) in Pasadena, I went to the Burbank center to look around. There were 4-5 bored looking salespeople in the room, none of which could be bothered to assist. When I directly questioned one of them, the response was a lazy wave in the direction of one of the cars and that I could "take a look myself."
If the service at this location is similar to their sales, I'm concerned.

I wish I could completely dismiss your concerns, but unfortunately I can't. The service people at Burbank are really nice, but everyone is super disorganized. So parts won't get ordered, items on your ticket won't get addressed, etc. They do have extended hours until 1AM during the week now, so that makes dropping off and picking up cars easier. I also have had good luck getting loaners the few times I have needed one (I have a spare car, so we don't always opt for a loaner).

Basically I usually end up having to make 3 to 4 trips down there for every issue. 1st trip to drop off car, 2nd trip to pick up and figure out what they haven't done and either leave car or re-book. Then 3rd and 4th trips for the 2nd visit to finish what didn't get done on the first one. Since we live in Palmdale, none of that is trivial.

But maybe you will get lucky with a car that doesn't require much service.

 

[Nocturnal]

Disagreeing here. My service has always been quick and easy. My only lingering issues are not receiving my spoiler, and long wait time for replacement brake pads (somewhat understandable).

Some manufacturers excel at reliability (like Toyota). Others are known for great customer care (like Mercedes). Tesla has very high owner satisfaction in regards to owners being satisfied with the overall performance of the car, as indicated by the extremely high owner satisfaction rating in Consumer Reports.

They are not known for customer service, and long term they have not ranked highest on reliability. I knew this going in to my purchase. I was trading off some points for reliability and customer care for having the most fun car to drive. It's definitely a trade off and you have to go in to a Tesla purchase understanding you are making these concessions.

Yup, that is where they have the most room for improvement. It's not an excuse, but if I wanted to be coddled I'd be driving an old fashioned Mercedes.

 

[MoHazee4]

So far, none have a compelling EV, and by the time they do, they will still be behind in technology, range and performance. Customer service for my S85 has been far better than any dealer's service. I don't doubt there are some edge cases, but for the six years I've had mine, it's been at least good and often excellent.

History shows...it's not the first to market who wins....it's who delivers a consistent, high-quality product. Henry Ford perfected the assembly line for automobiles, he didn't invent the automobile. Competitors only need to innovate slightly to gain an edge over Tesla.

I agree - no competitors today have a comparable EV, not even close. But -- Competitors have woken up....they are coming for Tesla.

Porsche's new ev has Tesla in it's sights. The Porsche is known for delivering on quality & customer service.

I love my Tesla - absolutely - but - if Tesla want's to be seen as competition for consumers in the market for a Porsche or Audi ev, Tesla will need to figure out the production/manufacturing challenges, and especially customer service.

People buying anything for $50k, should receive some pretty good customer service.

@Elon - We need to arrange a meeting with Lexus, they have customer service figured out. Too bad I don't enjoy driving a Lexus as much as my M3D.

 

[ammulder]

So, perhaps a bit of irony... one of the articles about the upcoming quarterly results said investors have pre-asked the question (and I'm paraphrasing), "You said in last quarter's call there would be a big push to improve customer service. How's that working out for you?"

 

[MoHazee4]

Probably not as soon as you think ...
Audi E-Tron SUV Delayed Yet Again Due to Battery Supply Woes: Report
BMW says electric car mass production not viable until 2020 - Reuters
Mercedes-Benz reportedly delays EQC electric SUV volume deliveries to November
And there're more...

1 - Audi E-Tron delay - maybe they should be given a free pass? I see so many Tesla heads making up excuses for missed deadlines. I have not strong feelings about the deadline issue for Tesla, beyond saying - if you set a date, you need to get pretty close to hitting it. I could care less why it took you longer than you projected.

2 - BMW - 2020 is less than 10 months away....

3 - MB's delayed ev ... delays for volume ... the article also says the vehicle is already sold out. Great for MB!

 

[Seven7]

I'm skeptical that dealers of ice vehicles will be interested in servicing pure electric vehicles.

 

[viper driver]

First service today on my Model 3. The mobile guy came to my house to fix a faulty radar, after I texted him last Thurs and asked him to.

I'll compare that to my last dealer visit to my local Ford dealer, who told me they were too busy to fix my Raptor...ever.

 

[evM3Sekar]

Apparently, you havent gone to other auto mfgs and talked to them about their EV s.
Honestly it's rather annoying, when you are educating them and answering your own questions.

I second that. I went in to a Nissan dealer beginning of March to test drive the new Leaf Plus - ok, they didn't have one, so I test drove a Leaf. 4 weeks later, when the guy called me to sell me a Leaf (not a Plus), I was already driving my Model 3!

 

[dmurphy]

I'll compare that to my last dealer visit to my local Ford dealer, who told me they were too busy to fix my Raptor...ever.

I one drove a F**d as a company fleet vehicle... Brought it to the dealership (as per F**d's instructions) for an oil change. The service guy at the dealership screamed at me "Get that piece of &&it out of here - I don't make any money on fleets!"

Dealerships can rot as far as I'm concerned. Long live Tesla.

 

[LCR1]

First service today on my Model 3. The mobile guy came to my house to fix a faulty radar, after I texted him last Thurs and asked him to.

I'll compare that to my last dealer visit to my local Ford dealer, who told me they were too busy to fix my Raptor...ever.

There's like 4 dealers in the Tucson area, all of them refused to work on your truck?

I one drove a F**d as a company fleet vehicle... Brought it to the dealership (as per F**d's instructions) for an oil change. The service guy at the dealership screamed at me "Get that piece of &&it out of here - I don't make any money on fleets!"

Dealerships can rot as far as I'm concerned. Long live Tesla.

Something about that doesn't seem right, Ford loves our fleet vehicles, maintenance on them costs the same as any other vehicle.



I had my parking brake fail and warnings saying the vehicle may roll, Tesla confirmed the brake failed and said they could fix it in a week or so. They didn't seem to care the car could roll, told me to be careful when parking basically. Then they didn't have the parts in stock, then they ordered the wrong parts, then it took them 3 days to overnight parts. Tesla mobile knew I had issues with my sunroof and eventually told me my Sunroof needed to be replaced, so I schedule the service, I go to pick the car up and they tell me they just cleaned it because they didn't want to replace it.

.We can compare Tesla to dealers all day, they are no better. But at least with dealers there's multiple to choose from if one wants to play games.

 

[Lasairfion]

It sounds like the quality varies place to place. It's really not acceptable to have poorly performing staff at any location. Elon did say that he intended to push the quality of customer service this year, so I hope that he is working on it. As I mentioned elsewhere though, Elon is one person, running a lot of different companies. He really needs an actual Head of Customer Service with the authority to get stuff done.

For now, we'll have to take Elon at his word, and since he can't have eyes everywhere, then if you have a terribly poor service centre or store with staff who are obviously not working their best, then put a complaint in to Tesla. Enough at the same place will get noticed. And don't forget the other side too. Call in your awesome service centres and enthusiastic store staff too. They'll soon have a map of where they need to focus their push this year.

 

[petergy]

I needed service once for my Model 3 and a Tesla ranger took care of it quickly and conveniently. However, the nearest service center is over 150 mi from where I live, so I can certainly sympathize with OP and hope Tesla will open more SCs. I also have AAA for roadside assistance just in case Tesla in unavailable.

 

[viper driver]

There's like 4 dealers in the Tucson area, all of them refused to work on your truck?

Only Holmes Tuttle specifically. The only way I could get them to work on it was to leave it there on Sunday when they were closed, with the keys inside, and a note on the door. Once I found that process I could get service. It's so close to my house I never tried any other dealers in Tucson, no. If I'd go and see a service advisor, or call, they'd tell me they were too busy and to go somewhere else. I didn't expect fantastic Lexus-level service, just someone willing to take my money to fix my $50k truck. To clarify, true story--they didn't say we can't work on it until X date, you'll have to wait. They told me they couldn't--period. And to go somewhere else. I don't get it.

This hassle, plus the frequency of breakdowns, is why I sold the Raptor. It was AWESOME. It broke a lot.

I personally avoid the stealership like the plague. I love the idea of a mobile repair. I'd pay extra for it.

 

[Lasairfion]

The Fast Lane Car reverse their Model 3 into a concrete wall. Cue shenanigans finding a Tesla and Insurer approved body-shop; plus a rather in depth interview with the body-shop staff:

 

[Mr X]

You are correct. I have noticed the same issue myself and several others in various forums (including Tesla's own) commenting about the poor customer service, especially on the phone.

I hate to say it - but these issue are why Audi, BMW, MB... will be very competitive when they have comparable ev's on the market. Which will be soon. I love my Tesla - but - customer service is a factor for my purchasing decision.

Tesla needs to get customer services figured out, they have until my loan is payed off....because I will be in the market for another ev...

"Soon" lol. All of their EV's have been delayed and if they want to try and compete they have to try to compete with a 2012 Model S first. That's 7 years ago. We're in 2019 now. Where's that competition?

 

[MoHazee4]

"Soon" lol. All of their EV's have been delayed and if they want to try and compete they have to try to compete with a 2012 Model S first. That's 7 years ago. We're in 2019 now. Where's that competition?

Fair enough. Point being - competition is on the horizon and a key advantage will be customer service.

 

[LCR1]

"Soon" lol. All of their EV's have been delayed and if they want to try and compete they have to try to compete with a 2012 Model S first. That's 7 years ago. We're in 2019 now. Where's that competition?

And the model S has largely been the same since 2012. The 3 production has been delayed and still is, remember how Tesla kept saying they would be making 10,000 model 3's a week by the end of 2018, Tesla should have made 130K 3's this last quarter, when in reality the made less than 63K and only delivered 51K.... so still want to talk about companies being slow to market and delayed?

Also, no one has to compete with a Model S it's a full size luxury car, the smallest market there is, Why dump all your resources into the smallest market.