Dissapointing Tesla Service Center Experience

[ibcrypto]

I brought my Model 3 Performance with less than 3K miles in for a wheel alignment because the steering wheel was off center. As I was leaving I had a bad feeling about my very pampered 75K car being scratched - there were many cars being moved around by many different people in tight quarters. I got a call later in the day from the service advisor that the technician "scratched" the Rim but they could have a "rim repair person repair it". I said its a 900.00 rim and how the heck can that happen to a 75K car? After arriving another person claiming to be the manager but he did not have a business card said they would ONLY do a repair. After inspecting the damage it was more than a "scratch". It was more of a gouge that went thru a layer of what looked like paint. I said they will have to grind it down and it will not look the same. They tried explaining they would repair it but not replace the rim. I said No and that I would not take the car unless they at least escalated. Then another manager came out, (still no business card). I was told if I did not take the car home they would charge me 100.00 per night storage. After quite some time of going back and forth they finally said they would try to do something. I am waiting to hear back.... In the mean time I called a Tesla Body that has been doing Tesla exclusive since 2012 and was told if it had a gouge that was more than minor damage and technically they would have to remove material etc and thus I would not be the same.

Am I expecting too much to ask for a new Rim?

Do not mistake my frustration with the service center with negativity for the tech/company over all. I love the Car/Company but this type of stuff needs to be addressed and they need to not leave the customer with a dead end after they damage a 900.00 rim and threaten with storage charge after they damage - after all if I were to have them fix it they would have needed it overnight anyhow.

 

[TeeEmCee]

Do not mistake my frustration with the service center with negativity for the tech/company over all.

Give it a few weeks/months ...

 

[Ultron]

would really need to see a picture of the damage to know if you over reacted or not. But ill-regardless, that was low rate on their part to threaten to charge you storage fee. I would have lost it about then.

 

[ibcrypto]

Pictures attached.

The discussion did get a bit heated. I even suggested to the second manager that it kinds seemed like they were retaliating in bad faith with the 100.00 fee. It was not until I explained the list of "other issues" I faced with initial cash purchase, other items I decided NOT to repair because I felt the risk of botching the spoiler/way off center roof glass was not worth the risk... At the end I thanked them and shook hands and said I would be expecting a followup sooner than later.
Thank You

 

[ibcrypto]

Second picture.

 

[tvad]

That’s easily repairable by a decent wheel repair guy. In LA, it’d cost around $75 for the repair man to come to your location, and you would not notice the repair when completed.

Seriously, it’s an easy, every day repair for a competent wheel repair man.

 

[Wennfred]

Lots of good wheel repair guys in Los Angeles

Dr. Wheel | Premium Wheel Repair Service

But I agree, bad customer service, I would send a tweet over to Elon, this how they treat a 75k car. All bad.

Fred

 

[TeeEmCee]

You know, they did the same thing to one of my wheels. The damage was a tiny bit more significant than on yours. They initially said they would replace the wheel (the cheaper, 18” variety) but then, of course, they did not.

After some weeks and a bunch of other issues, they made an effort and either repaired the wheel or replaced it. If they indeed repaired it, I could not see any sign of it, it looked like new.

I do however remember that they said a new 18” rim would be about $200. Are you sure yours is indeed $900? That’s way more than even a flow-formed BBS, more than twice as much as a flow-formed TSW and as much as a Chinese forged wheel. For a generic cast wheel, $900 is quite a lot.

 

[ibcrypto]

I asked the First Service Advisor the cost and he said about 900.00. Model 3 20" Sport Wheel and Tire Package

They probably "gouge" you if you only buy one rim with no tire....

At least I got a free bag of pretzels.

 

[Skunis]

Lucky they admitted to the damage right away and even offered you to repair it.

I had a wheel alignment done on my car with under 200 miles on it. I have the 18" Aero wheels and when I got home, took the caps off to put on the Aero wheel cap kit I noticed damage on one of the rims. I did my research and knew it was from the alignment. I reached out to the SC and they denied it. I couldn't even speak to a manager. All he would do was email me and denied it as well saying I had the car more than the allotted time and they wouldn't cover it.

There is no way to escalate at Tesla, they just ignore you. Love the car hate the service from a multi-billion dollar company.

I wanted the damage repaired. I called a reputable rim repair guy, he came to my house and for $125 I cannot tell there was ever any damage.

He even asked me what happened. I started telling him the story and he even asked what service I had done. When I mentioned the alignment he, with many years of doing wheel repair, said that was the cause. They put the alignment stuff on wrong and too tight. He has seen it many times as dealerships he does business with.

So, all beware and make sure you inspect your car before and after you bring it for service. Each SC is different and sounds like the one the OP goes to is somewhat honest.

Just beware this can happen to you too.

 

[ArcticStation]

Last year, my Ford dealer notified me that they had caused minor cosmetic rim damage to my nine year old Fusion Hybrid (our winter "beater") during a winter tire swap. I probably would never have noticed, or I would have simply assumed that I had hit a curb sometime in the past. The dealer explained that the damage was only cosmetic and I could drive the car until the new ($500) replacement rim arrived the following week. They also apologized because I would have to return to the dealership in a week to swap out the rim. They offered me a loaner on the day of the swap. None of this was going to cost me a cent, only my time and the inconvenience. (BTW, they do tire rotations and annual safety inspections at no cost).

Late next month, Tesla Mobile Service is scheduled to rotate my tires and perform the annual brake service recommended for a Tesla driven in the Northeast. I made the appointment on-line in early August and the first available date for Mobile Service was late September. I was also offered the option of driving to the nearest Service Center 250 miles away ($272.50 for the 500 mile round trip at the current IRS mileage rate of $0.545/mile, plus a day away from work and around ten hours spent on the road) for a late August appointment. The estimated labor charge quoted by Tesla for either option is $300 plus. I also considered using a local tire and brake shop or asking my Ford dealer to do the work, or simply do it myself (I have the floor jack and torque wrench, and can buy a can of aerosol brake cleaner and lithium lube). But if anything were to go wrong…you get the picture.

Our Model 3 is a great car and we love it. And we are willing to put up with the inconvenience and challenges of owning a Tesla, but most new car buyers will not. For Tesla to succeed, the corporation MUST address these issues now.

 

[Skunis]

Late next month, Tesla Mobile Service is scheduled to rotate my tires and perform the annual brake service recommended for a Tesla driven in the Northeast. The estimated labor charge quoted by Tesla for either option is $300 plus.

Our Model 3 is a great car and we love it. And we are willing to put up with the inconvenience and challenges of owning a Tesla, but most new car buyers will not. For Tesla to succeed, the corporation MUST address these issues now.

First issue is a brake service and tire rotation should NOT cost $300. Not even for a luxury vehicle.

Second, you are correct. Right now we are all "early" adopters and once Tesla moves past that stage they will need to fix the customer service and car service center issues. They will not survive once other manufacturers catch up (and they will catch up). Tesla will get roasted by the bad reviews and consumers will go with the brands that they know.

I commend Tesla for a fantastic product and fantastic tech support (unheard of software updates).

If they can fix the other issues they would be near perfect. If you saw the email that I received from the SC service manager your mouth would drop. It was nasty and he refused to speak with me on the phone or respond to any other emails.

 

[MrBadger]

but most new car buyers will not. For Tesla to succeed, the corporation MUST address these issues now.

Yes, Tesla need to sort this PDQ whilst they still have time on their side.

 

[GreenT]

First issue is a brake service and tire rotation should NOT cost $300. Not even for a luxury vehicle.

Second, you are correct. Right now we are all "early" adopters and once Tesla moves past that stage they will need to fix the customer service and car service center issues. They will not survive once other manufacturers catch up (and they will catch up). Tesla will get roasted by the bad reviews and consumers will go with the brands that they know.

I commend Tesla for a fantastic product and fantastic tech support (unheard of software updates).

If they can fix the other issues they would be near perfect. If you saw the email that I received from the SC service manager your mouth would drop. It was nasty and he refused to speak with me on the phone or respond to any other emails.

We are NOT early adopters. Not after over 15 years of accepting their relentless excuses. 10 years ago their service was 10 times better!
What fantastic tech support. What support? Their firmware only gets worse by the week.

They have 1 year left ...

 

[Skunis]

Yes, Tesla need to sort this PDQ whilst they still have time on their side.

Agreed!

We are NOT early adopters. Not after over 15 years of accepting their relentless excuses. 10 years ago their service was 10 times better!
What fantastic tech support. What support? Their firmware only gets worse by the week.

They have 1 year left ...

I didn't think of it that way. Only for those who were waiting on the Model 3. I would say we are early adopters. Tesla was definitely not ready for the influx to their SCs with the Model 3 release.

10 years ago they had much fewer cars on the road and probably the right amount of service techs. Not an excuse just the facts. But again they were ill prepared.

At least we get updates. There is plenty of tech out that have various bugs and never get updates or even correct issues at all.

I think they have more than 1 year. I think I give them 5 years for other manufacturers to catch up. If they do not get things straight they will have major issues.

 

[Petrocelli]

I brought my Model 3 Performance with less than 3K miles in for a wheel alignment because the steering wheel was off center.

Was this at the West L.A. Centinela location?

 

[ibcrypto]

Thanks for all the comments! Yes at least they were upfront honest about this. I do think the manager is trying to keep superiors from finding out. I think they need to recruit more veteran dealership managers from dealerships etc and clean house on this. Hopefully Elon has a task force on it! This stuff is very fixable!

Been thinking of switching to Tesla Insurance but not sure how confident with the Customer Service/Claims etc part of it yet.

Tesla has some great opportunities around services and new service products in my view. BUT they NEED to bring into more focus FIRST some of these very important gaps impacting very loyal customers!

As soon as this is finalized I will update which location.

Thank You!

 

[TeeEmCee]

Our Model 3 is a great car and we love it. And we are willing to put up with the inconvenience and challenges of owning a Tesla, but most new car buyers will not. For Tesla to succeed, the corporation MUST address these issues now.

Now imagine that Ford had a competing vehicle ...

You're right, they MUST do so NOW, not later.

 

[OCR1]

If Toyota (or Lexus) had a comparable alternative to the Model 3 Tesla never would have heard of me. Which is disappointing because I really like the fact that my car was built in California. But the service is beyond dreadful so I would have no concerns about going back to a reliable Japanese brand if the option existed. But since the car is totally awesome I’ve just leaned to set my service expectations really low.

 

[N5329K]

Our Model 3 is a great car and we love it. And we are willing to put up with the inconvenience and challenges of owning a Tesla, but most new car buyers will not. For Tesla to succeed, the corporation MUST address these issues now.

This!
Robin