Charge for Winter/Summer Tire Swapping

[tezco]

Charge for Winter/Summer Tire Swapping

Just curious as to folks experience with fees regarding seasonal rim/wheel swapping. I've never been charged for this before; however, at my recent annual I noted a charge for $68.75 for the swap over of my summer tire/rim set to the fall tire/rim set.

I originally purchased the Winter Tire Wheel set from Tesla in 2012, and these were delivered already installed on the car at my delivery date in Nov 2012, with the summer tires and rims arriving at the same time in the back of the delivery vehicle. (Note that at the time we purchased our Signatures, our maintenance plans were somewhat different -- I purchased the so-called 4-Year Anywhere Plan with Unlimited Ranger Service Visits, and a 4-yr extension).

When I purchased the winter tire/rim set from Tesla I was told that the semiannual tire swap would be performed at no charge, once at my annual fall visit, and once in the spring by a Ranger. This is the first time I was charged for this service. The great folks at the service center offered to write off this charge, but said that in the future there would be a charge for any tire swaps, even during the annual tire rotation.

How is this handled at your service center?

 

[ProSkeptic]

Yikes. Does that cost include one season of wheel storage? That would make the price somewhat more reasonable.

 

[tezco]

Yikes. Does that cost include one season of wheel storage? That would make the price somewhat more reasonable.

No. I read in one of the archived threads that Tesla was charging an additional $60 for storage at service centers that had the room to store the tires. I also read that seasonal tire swapping charges varied, depending on which service center one dealt with, but those posts were from several years ago.

It is a little disappointing that the Ranger service has pretty much disappeared (after paying a $1000 premium for the 4+4 plan when I signed up). Fortunately, they still come over to pickup and then re-deliver the car for the annual, which saves me several hours since the status of the service center in Boulder has been "Coming Soon" for a couple of years now.

 

[AoneOne]

My local, independent tire unmounts one set of tires, mounts and balances the other, all for $60. I don't bother with a second set of wheels.

Tesla's charge seems out of line with the effort involved, given that they've already got to remove the wheels car to rotate them. Maybe 5 minutes extra work: that's $800/hour.

 

[Max*]

When I purchased the winter tire/rim set from Tesla I was told that the semiannual tire swap would be performed at no charge, once at my annual fall visit, and once in the spring by a Ranger

Do you have this in writing?

 

[tezco]

Do you have this in writing?

Nope. But even folks that have similar "undocumented policies" discussed with Tesla in the form of e-mail correspondence have had trouble. See also Change of Policy on Tesla Ranger Service.

Although it seems a bit strange to charge $60 to take the winter tires out of the trunk (and then swap them when they are already doing the tire rotation at no charge as part of my service plan), my concern is not so much about the $60; rather, I am concerned that:

1) Tesla has a history of difficulty establishing consistent policies throughout it's system, and
2) Significant changes to existing policies have been made which affect owners that have already purchased the car.

Tesla probably bit off more than they could chew with regards to supporting owners that are far away from the nearest service center, but they should honor their prior committments and make subsequent reductions in the service level apply only to future owners.

 

[Andyw2100]

2) Significant changes to existing policies have been made which affect owners that have already purchased the car.

And are ridiculous, and will probably be challenged in court. At least I hope someone challenges them, because what Tesla is doing is absolutely ridiculous.

Tesla probably bit off more than they could chew with regards to supporting owners that are far away from the nearest service center, but they should honor their prior committments and make subsequent reductions in the service level apply only to future owners.

This is so incredibly obvious to any thinking, rational person with any reasonable sense of right and wrong. How is it possible the people in charge at Tesla don't see it this way?

 

[teslasguy]

I had the same experience. I was told when I got my car in 2012 that if I took the ranger anywhere plan they would swap my winter/summer tires each fall/spring at no charge. And they did for the first year. Then I was told that the policy changed and they no longer will honor that promise. So I sold my winter wheels/tires.

 

[tezco]

Guess I was lucky to get in as many swaps on "customer goodwill" as I did.

 

[jerry33]

When you get them swapped elsewhere, there is a potential $100 charge for new lug nuts after they wreck the originals. It's annoying that Tesla cheaper out on the lug nuts.

 

[tezco]

When you get them swapped elsewhere, there is a potential $100 charge for new lug nuts after they wreck the originals. It's annoying that Tesla cheaper out on the lug nuts.

Yes. Another one of several reasons not to let an impact wrench touch the OEM lug nuts.

 

[JeffVanEpps]

Is this swap something a non-car guy can do for himself? Is there something special about these lug nuts?

 

[snellenr]

Is this swap something a non-car guy can do for himself? Is there something special about these lug nuts?

It just takes a good quality 6-pt socket, breaker bar, and torque wrench. And a nice big floor jack, since it's a heavy car... They're just lug nuts -- I took my right rear off a month ago to plug a leak, and it's no big deal.

 

[jerry33]

Is this swap something a non-car guy can do for himself? Is there something special about these lug nuts?

Note that the lug nuts have a cap on them which is easily damaged so a 6 point socket of the correct size is essential. Sometimes tire shops aren't very careful.