Car Vibration Service Fee

[Kee_Chain]

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well,

I have been noticing a vibration from the wheel when I drive around 55+ MPH on the highway. I believe it to be an unbalanced tire but I set up a service appointment and Tesla wants $175/hr for diagnostics on a warrantied car. I have fought and complained but I do not know what else to do. Tesla says they can waive this fee if they find a problem. But what isn't stopping them from saying it drives normal and they charge me the $175. Any advice, this is ridiculous!

Thank you.

 

[Madsen203]

Is there another SC you can try? Nissan was like this. Vowed to not do service with them again. Lexus has the best warranty service I’ve ever experienced.

 

[Mike_TV]

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well,

I have been noticing a vibration from the wheel when I drive around 55+ MPH on the highway. I believe it to be an unbalanced tire but I set up a service appointment and Tesla wants $175/hr for diagnostics on a warrantied car. I have fought and complained but I do not know what else to do. Tesla says they can waive this fee if they find a problem. But what isn't stopping them from saying it drives normal and they charge me the $175. Any advice, this is ridiculous!

Thank you.

It's common for them to give an estimate in your service request beforehand without seeing the car. You most likely won't be charged anything but if you bring in the car with a damaged wheel that shows, for example, you hit a curb or damaged the tire, you may have to pay for the diagnostic fee.

I've had good luck with my service requests to always include a lot of pics and a detailed explanation of the problem you are having.

 

[jpfive]

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well,

I have been noticing a vibration from the wheel when I drive around 55+ MPH on the highway. I believe it to be an unbalanced tire but I set up a service appointment and Tesla wants $175/hr for diagnostics on a warrantied car. I have fought and complained but I do not know what else to do. Tesla says they can waive this fee if they find a problem. But what isn't stopping them from saying it drives normal and they charge me the $175. Any advice, this is ridiculous!

Thank you.

In my experience (thirty years as a partner in a multi-line dealership), wheel balance and alignment are not covered by the OEM warranty. They are considered owner maintenance, like wiper blades, brake linings/pads, and other wear items. The SC is just setting expectations here. However, these items are often covered by what we used to call "policy work", or courtesy adjustments. Several factors come into play in this decision, e.g. mileage, general condition of the vehicle, and reciprocal courtesy from the owner. I have been treated with courtesy at my local SC. My advice is to expect the same, and show up prepared to extend the same respect in return. Good luck to you.

 

[GeezerSquid]

Go to local tire shop and pay them 15-25 dollars and they will balance that tire. If it works, good. If it doesn't work, then try the Service Center. Good luck!

 

[Pianewman]

Kee_Chain: What's your mileage?

 

[whisperingshad]

All dealer charge a service fee for diagnosis, they waive if it is due to something under warranty.

 

[Kee_Chain]

Kee_Chain: What's your mileage?

10,000 Miles

 

[Pianewman]

10k miles, if it's a tire/wheel problem, is NOT covered by warranty. This really ISN'T ridiculous, as no auto manufacturer would warranty a tire/wheel balance issue after 10k miles.

Take it to your tire company (Discount Tire, Firestone, Goodyear) of choice, have them inspect/balance wheel/tire. Don't involve Tesla in this.

 

[Kee_Chain]

10k miles, if it's a tire/wheel problem, is NOT covered by warranty. This really ISN'T ridiculous, as no auto manufacturer would warranty a tire/wheel balance issue after 10k miles.

Take it to your tire company (Discount Tire, Firestone, Goodyear) of choice, have them inspect/balance wheel/tire. Don't involve Tesla in this.

This has been a day one problem I got the car, Tesla kept pushing a diagnostic fee, being how poor Tesla service is. They never mentioned to me that the fees would be waived if they found a problem. If this little detail was mentioned beforehand, I would have not waited 10k miles...

 

[Pianewman]

Good point. However, tire balance issues, if not resolved early, only get worse, ultimately ruining the tire, and potentially damaging suspension components because of the vibration.
I hope you're able to get this resolved, although after 10k miles, the tire in question is probably compromised. Sorry about that.

 

[BreatheEasier]

I had both wheel balance and alignment covered no issue early in ownership with less than 2K miles, but my SC was very nice and let me know even though the 'estimate' would say $175, it would not be charged at the end and would show it was covered by warranty unless it appeared I damaged a wheel. Pretty painless overall, but I completely get that folks hit things and then want to get free service from their own mistakes. But at 10K miles, unless you have been documenting this early on with Tesla, this is hard to imaging will be covered under warranty.

 

[Kee_Chain]

Good point. However, tire balance issues, if not resolved early, only get worse, ultimately ruining the tire, and potentially damaging suspension components because of the vibration.
I hope you're able to get this resolved, although after 10k miles, the tire in question is probably compromised. Sorry about that.

Fingers crossed not! The Indianapolis SC has been a constant let down. The car drives great from 0-50 mph, after that I notice a shake on free way speeds.

 

[Kee_Chain]

I had both wheel balance and alignment covered no issue early in ownership with less than 2K miles, but my SC was very nice and let me know even though the 'estimate' would say $175, it would not be charged at the end and would show it was covered by warranty unless it appeared I damaged a wheel. Pretty painless overall, but I completely get that folks hit things and then want to get free service from their own mistakes. But at 10K miles, unless you have been documenting this early on with Tesla, this is hard to imaging will be covered under warranty.

I am going to give my SC the messages from early on about the complaint, I am hoping they will work with me. If worse come to worse, a have a local tire shop that will work with me. I am very positive the fix is rebalancing the tire, as I have had one mechanic friend say it is most likely a tire unbalanced.

 

[Pianewman]

As I stated earlier, 10k is a LOT of miles on an unbalanced tire. There could well be uneven wear/flat spotting.

I wouldn't even bother with the SC. Discount Tire will balance it for around $20.

 

[Kee_Chain]

Update, on August 25th, Tesla did re-balance all four tires and eliminate the vibration coming from the wheels. They didn't mention anything about milage or deny the service under warranty. They covered it under warranty.

 

[Pianewman]

WOW! I'm stunned. Good for you!

 

[BreatheEasier]

Yes, good for you - great outcome!

 

[BR7!]

I took delivery of the car two weeks ago, have been to SC twice and they can't fix the problem. The car only has 700 miles and no idea what the next steps are. The vibration is significant during acceleration and regeneration at speeds over 60.

 

[Kee_Chain]

I took delivery of the car two weeks ago, have been to SC twice and they can't fix the problem. The car only has 700 miles and no idea what the next steps are. The vibration is significant during acceleration and regeneration at speeds over 60.

I spoke too soon . Going to work today, the vibrations came back even worse over 55 mph. I gunned it around 110 mph today and the whole car felt like it was about to fall apart. Ughhhh.