Andyw2100
Well-Known Member
Tesla has been doing a number of things lately that is likely to result in them getting sued. What's one more?
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Change of Policy on Tesla Ranger Service
- Thread starter >NetZero
- Start date
-
- Tags
- Tesla Inc.
Tesla has been doing a number of things lately that is likely to result in them getting sued. What's one more?
Breezy
Member
I read through this thread and another one regarding changes to Tesla Ranger Service.
I must have missed it: What rates does Tesla charge now for Ranger service? Is it $3/mile one way? I understand that rates start at $100 per call within a certain distance, but what is that distance?
I live 200 km from the nearest Service Centre.
I must have missed it: What rates does Tesla charge now for Ranger service? Is it $3/mile one way? I understand that rates start at $100 per call within a certain distance, but what is that distance?
I live 200 km from the nearest Service Centre.
I've asked several times and have not been able to get a firm answer. Someone at HQ actually said it varies by SC.
Yes, Tesla is having trouble establishing uniform policies and procedures throughout it's service system. See also Charge for Winter/Summer Tire Swapping.
Andyw2100
Well-Known Member
Anyone who was following this thread would probably be interested in this recently started one:
Tesla Valet service goes POOF!!!
Tesla Valet service goes POOF!!!
I just had a rude awakening on this very point (Ranger service). I have been an extremely happy Model S owner for nearly three years, and I put in a reservation for a Model X nearly three years ago. Concerned about service in Montana, before plunking down my $5K, I called Tesla Motors and was assured that my car would be serviced by Rangers for $100 per trip. When invited to configure about a week ago, I asked again and Tesla HQ confirmed with the nearest service center (Salt Lake City) that Ranger service to Montana would be $100. I placed my order and then, surprise! The Tesla sales rep told me they had changed their policy and there would now be a $1,000 surcharge for each service. I canceled the order.
Remember this quote from Elon Musk: "Each piece of the customer experience should be world class.
I've told Tesla service division that their job is to NEVER make a profit. Operate the business at the zero profit point.
Regular franchises make most of their profits on the service, not on the sale. This isn't good."
Remember this quote from Elon Musk: "Each piece of the customer experience should be world class.
I've told Tesla service division that their job is to NEVER make a profit. Operate the business at the zero profit point.
Regular franchises make most of their profits on the service, not on the sale. This isn't good."
Andyw2100
Well-Known Member
And while this is really lousy for you, having waited all this time, having been told just a week ago about the $100 ranger service, and having just placed your order, as bad as it is, at least you still had the option to cancel your order and part ways with Tesla. In that respect you are in a stronger position than those of us who already took delivery of our vehicles, and then learned of the policy change.
The point that I and others have been making all along is that if Tesla really feels they must change their policies, they may do so going forward, and risk losing business from people like you. But they have an obligation to people like me, who purchased based on the promises made before I purchased, and the policies in place at that time.
Further to my post of a few days ago, I have since managed to work things out satisfactorily with Tesla and have “uncanceled” my order for a Model X 90D in Montana. I still feel strongly about the lack of affordable service in Montana and have urged Tesla to provide a better solution for the hopefully short interim period before we have a Tesla Service Center in Bozeman. In the meantime, if the car is too costly to service, I'll sell it to someone who lives closer to a service center or, if it holds up well, I'll just enjoy it immensely.
Hurray! Montana is a great place for Tesla to get good feedback on how the X it "handling", um, "non-California" environments. Please make sure you give them feedback on concerns you have so that the products improve.
Are you able to give us details?
I was assured (verbally, nothing in writing) by their service manager that they want me to be absolutely satisfied with my new Model X, including its service. We went through various potential scenarios: routine annual maintenance $1,000 for Ranger; roadside breakdown, no charge; etc. We discussed possible events between those two extremes and I came away convinced that I would be treated well and any charges would be appropriate and fair, if not delightful. The bottom line is they know that charging an arm and a leg for servicing a broken car is not in their best interests and, as mentioned above, I can likely sell the car with ease if the system is unworkable in practice.
I would not hold my breath. We've been waiting for the upstate NY service center (ideally in Syracuse for the most centrally accessible location, though Rochester would be OK) for three years now with no hint of even a start. And there are a lot of Teslas up here now. We damn well need a service center, as much as Houston needs one. And there are no legal problems with opening a service center, even though there might be with a store.
At least Tesla is slowly, slowly, slowly getting around to putting a service center in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh! 23rd largest MSA in the country! (Detroit, 14th largest MSA in the country, is also missing but I understand there are legal problems with the state of Michigan.)
Bozeman? I wouldn't expect a service center EVER at this rate.
This is Tesla's single weakest point. They DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH US geographical coverage with their service centers. Not anywhere *near* enough. If they don't fix this problem, it'll severely damage model 3 sales.
Actually, if I run through the MSAs from highest population to lowest, and skip the ones where Tesla actually has a service center or a "coming soon" marker, I can find the top most underserved priorities. I skip those within a plausible driving distance of other planned service centers including practically everything in California:
#1 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News
#2 Richmond, VA
#3 Birmingham, AL
#4 Buffalo, NY
#5 Albany, NY
#6 Rochester, NY
#7 Grand Rapids, MI
#8 Tulsa, OK
#9 El Paso, TX
#10 McAllen, TX
#11 Charleston SC
#12 Boise, ID
#13 Syracuse, NY
#14 Wichita, KS
#15 Spokane, WA
#16 Fayetteville, AR
#17 Pensacola, FL
#18 Springfield, MO
#19 Corpus Christi, TX
#20 Shreveport, LA
...and I'll just cut the list off there.
If I were trying to cover the country's metro areas as efficiently as possible, I would promptly open a service center in Syracuse, NY (within reasonable driving distance of Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, and the rest of upstate NY), and one in Richmond, VA (within reasonable driving distance of most of Virginia including Norfolk), and one in Charleston SC. (Southern Texas is probably not a great market at the moment, but I'd look into that too.)
I can't imagine why these aren't on the priority list. Tesla is instead building redundant centers in the metropolises, which is mostly not a productive use of time -- they should find one really big lot and build a megaservice center instead. (Though I understand building one on each side of NYC since nobody likes to drive through NYC.)
Who do we have to lobby to get service centers built in Syracuse (and for that matter Richmond and Charleston)? The importance of these locations ought to be obvious to Tesla management, but apparently it isn't.
Andyw2100
Well-Known Member
As much as I would --LOVE-- a service center in Syracuse, or even Rochester, and as much as I agree 100% that we desperately need one, I'm not sure why you believe that there are no legal problems with opening a service center. The following posts would appear to disagree:
Believe me, neroden, I hope that you are correct, and that there really are no legal hurdles that need to be jumped, and that this is just an issue of getting Tesla to do it. But I fear that isn't the case.
I had previously mentioned that I could no longer advise those who asked me in Richmond or Virginia Beach to buy a Tesla due to the $300 or $600 charge per service under this new policy. Last weekend I was informed that Tesla has hired a full-time ranger who will spend two days per week in both Richmond and Tidewater who will provide service at no charge. This is obviously a big step in the right direction and I'm pleased that someone seems to be thinking rationally about the situation in Virginia. I was also informed that Tesla's policy was not to charge the fee to people who had purchased the extended plan, although I was in fact charged for my annual service despite having purchased the plan. It seems equally possible than the service guy who told me the rule is misinformed or that whoever handled my annual service was. One never knows.
I read the legislation. There are no legal problems with opening a service center. The legislation ONLY talks about selling and marketing cars (dealership license), not servicing them (car repair shop license).
I am correct. You can read the law for yourself. So could anyone at Tesla Motors. Their legal department seems to have cheese for brains, however.
Others have posted similar thoughts and experiences with the Tesla ranger change. I want to share my experience from today.
First a little background. We own a 2013 P85, which we purchased new. The closest service center to us is 257 miles away. When we bought our car, one of the deciding factors was the ranger service. It was $100 a trip then. Being that Tesla was a small new player in the auto industry, the ranger service (100$ trip) was a major contributor to our decision to buy.
Tesla called and asked if a service tech could come over tomorrow to do the fix for the seatbelt recall.
I asked if they could also do some service work (rattle in the A pillar, very noisy, and loud noise when doing sharp turns). I was informed they couldn't do that on this trip. The stated reason was this appointment is a courtesy to repair a recall item. I then asked what the price would be to have a ranger come to the house and fix our issues (due to poor build quality).
The service rep informed me it would be $3 a mile to our house and $3 a mile back. At that rate a service call would end up costing $1500, just to have Tesla fix build quality issues that have been in my car since almost the beginning of our ownership.
I consider myself a reasonable person. I understand the cost for the ranger service was unsustainable at $100 a trip. However I feel that Tesla needs to go retro on their pricing for ranger service (to original owners, for build quality issues) as this was a big selling point to me as an early adopter, who did not live close to a service center. They offered the ranger fee as an incentive for people like myself who were not going to be close to a service facility. This was done obviously to address anxiety about the lack of service centers.
Love my car, love the positives owning it brings, but this situation is not going to make me a repeat Tesla owner. The people that want to see my car and go for a ride (I park it at my store and give customers rides in it) always ask the one question.."what happens if you need service".
The answer I have to give now is not a selling point anymore.
First a little background. We own a 2013 P85, which we purchased new. The closest service center to us is 257 miles away. When we bought our car, one of the deciding factors was the ranger service. It was $100 a trip then. Being that Tesla was a small new player in the auto industry, the ranger service (100$ trip) was a major contributor to our decision to buy.
Tesla called and asked if a service tech could come over tomorrow to do the fix for the seatbelt recall.
I asked if they could also do some service work (rattle in the A pillar, very noisy, and loud noise when doing sharp turns). I was informed they couldn't do that on this trip. The stated reason was this appointment is a courtesy to repair a recall item. I then asked what the price would be to have a ranger come to the house and fix our issues (due to poor build quality).
The service rep informed me it would be $3 a mile to our house and $3 a mile back. At that rate a service call would end up costing $1500, just to have Tesla fix build quality issues that have been in my car since almost the beginning of our ownership.
I consider myself a reasonable person. I understand the cost for the ranger service was unsustainable at $100 a trip. However I feel that Tesla needs to go retro on their pricing for ranger service (to original owners, for build quality issues) as this was a big selling point to me as an early adopter, who did not live close to a service center. They offered the ranger fee as an incentive for people like myself who were not going to be close to a service facility. This was done obviously to address anxiety about the lack of service centers.
Love my car, love the positives owning it brings, but this situation is not going to make me a repeat Tesla owner. The people that want to see my car and go for a ride (I park it at my store and give customers rides in it) always ask the one question.."what happens if you need service".
The answer I have to give now is not a selling point anymore.
Last edited:
I would double check if they actually would charge you on the return leg. While I could have missed other such reports, my experience, and what I recall reading elsewhere is that the $3/mile is a one way charge. Ask to speak to the service manager if you need to. Hopefully, its a tinge of good news (though even $750 is high obviously... I'm in a very similar situation to that price wise).
I checked back, it's $3 a mile, round trip.
I'm considering selling the car before it needs a fix for something that is just big enough to be a nuisance, but minor enough not to stop the vehicle from being driven.
As crazy as that sounds, consider the clunking noise coming from the front end. A couple of years ago (?) TM tried fixing our P85 and used a temp fix (per the ranger). Ranger also noted at that time they still did not have a permanent fix for the problem. Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I was driving like I was weaving through traffic cones (quite country road, low speed) and felt/heard a hard clunk from the front end. I think whatever spacers, or other fix the ranger did is now loose.
This could end up being a safety issue. However I won't know because I am not going to pay TM $1500 to come look at my car for possible manufacturing issue. I'd rather just take the damn thing to carmax and sell it.
One of my favorite cars, with what I believe to be the only viable alternative fuel source (EVs). It's easy on the eyes, very fast, handles well. Everything I want, with the exception of service.
I will try calling them next week and ask to speak with a service manager.
Krugerrand
Meow
You could discuss and demonstrate this (the front end clunking issue) when the Ranger shows up for the seatbelt. Remember the person on the phone and the person showing up are two different people. The one showing up may have some 'pull', they may be more sympathetic and go out of their way on your behalf, they may be concerned it is a safety issue and work for you on your behalf, etc., etc., etc... It's also a lot easier for people to say no on the phone, then to your face particularly if it's obvious in the moment you've got a very real problem. Give it a shot, you never know.
Another option would be to have a mini-vaca/visit family/friends/something of that sort in the general vicinity of the SC, drop off the car, get a loaner, do your thing for a few days, get your car back.
Ouch. I can understand your consideration for selling the car. Good luck making the best decision that you can (when it looks like no decision is a clear winner).
Similar threads
