First Tesla service experience (mixed results)

[pelargir]

We took our factory-new MS 75D to a Tesla service center this week to have 2 problems fixed: a carpet stain and some trim that was lifting off the body. Both problems had been present and were noted by the delivery team when we took delivery last month. (There was also a paint chip in the rear liftgate but we were told a body shop will have to fix that.)

The service center fixed both problems to my satisfaction, however it took them 3 days to do so. We dropped the car off at 2:30p on Wednesday and it wasn't ready until 4p on Friday.

Communication during those 3 days was poor or non-existent. Nobody I spoke with was able to provide me with an estimate as to when the car would actually be finished. It wasn't until I told them Friday morning that I had to have the car by 4p so I could get it to our detailer to be Opti-Coated that they actually committed to a time and actually performed the repairs.

My question to the group is this: has your service experience been similar? Has it taken several days to fix minor problems? The impression I got was that since we weren't waiting at the service center for the repair, we got pushed to the back of the line in terms of priority. Is it better to wait at the service center for these types of fixes?

My expectation is that the repair will be done within 24 hours of dropping off the vehicle. Why have us drop off the vehicle if it's just going to sit there for 3 days? But is this not how the service centers usually do things? Just trying to get an idea of whether this is typical or not. Thanks!

 

[Unpilot]

I'm curios did they give you a loaner while they had your car?

 

[pelargir]

I'm curios did they give you a loaner while they had your car?

They did when I asked. It was a pre-refresh MS 85 with no autopilot.

 

[Dennisj00]

A better loaner than any other dealer would have for you!

 

[TaoJones]

A better loaner than any other dealer would have for you!

But not the loaners Elon said we would get. Further, putting an AP owner into a non-AP car, especially if they are unaware of the reversed stalks, is not helpful.

Since the expectation was set, that's the expectation I have. Would be nice to see some follow through. It's been almost a year since he made the statement, and experiences are still inconsistent at best.

Put another way, if owners do not demand accountability, then there is a greater chance that there won't be as much of it.

 

[cpsss]

I do have similar experience. Lack of communication, only fixes the most obvious issue, etc. They are however, very polite in the process.

I think it's very typical. I have much lower expectation now.

 

[henderrj]

We must be really lucky in Seattle. Over the years that I've owned the car I've had it in four times, always with tremendous results. This time I got a loaner that was just an ice vehicle, but they did the repair so fast I could have gotten it back the same day! I had no idea it would be that fast as the entire steering rack had to be replaced. Maybe it's just kudos to the Soho team but never anything but the best.

 

[cpsss]

We must be really lucky in Seattle. Over the years that I've owned the car I've had it in four times, always with tremendous results. This time I got a loaner that was just an ice vehicle, but they did the repair so fast I could have gotten it back the same day! I had no idea it would be that fast as the entire steering rack had to be replaced. Maybe it's just kudos to the Soho team but never anything but the best.

To be clear, they are fast and accurate on obvious issues, like a lifting off panel; however on software aspect they seem know so little in my opinion.

 

[Johnny A]

I've had a 2017 Model S 100D since November 29, 2017. I discovered a chip in the windshield on the ride home from the factory in Fremont the first day I had the car. When I got the courtesy call from Tesla at 4pm the day after I picked it up to see how I like my new car, I explained the issue with the windshield after spewing my ecstatic pleasure with the vehicles performance and comfort. The Tesla rep without hesitation told me, "... OH JOHN! That's terrible... we will take care of the windshield."

So I scheduled an appointment over the phone with the San Rafael, CA Service Center and explained that they could keep the car for ten days while I traveled to Florida and New York from December 9 through the 19. The only stipulation was that I needed a ride to and from the SFO airport from where I'd be staying before my flight and of course, to the Service Center upon my return flight (a total of about 3 individual UBER rides). When I showed up for the appointment at 11am, nobody knew that I was prepared to leave the car for ten days. They said they couldn't give me a loaner for that long, so I should reschedule the repair. My feeling was they should have agreed to pay for UBER rides for me, but that seemed too confusing for the staff at the Service Center. I parked my car at a friend's place near the airport for ten days.

While in Florida on December 11, I called the General Service Appointment line again explaining that San Rafael didn't take my car on the original scheduled date and I needed to reschedule. I asked how long the windshield replacement would take, and how long the car needed to sit after the installation. The Tesla rep said, "it'll take two hours to install and then you can drive the three and half hours home no problem". So they scheduled me an appointment for 8am the following day of my flight arrival, December 20. I figured that would work... and with stopping for an hour's worth of Supercharging in Ukiah, CA, I'd be home before dark and in time for dinner.

Fast forward to December 20... I arrive at the San Rafael Service Center at 7:30am (I didn't want to risk any possible morning rush hour traffic) as I'm a stickler for being early rather than late for an appointment. Well, the guys at Tesla were surprised to see me so early, and told me that they were still setting up my loaner for the day. I told them that I didn't think I'd need a loaner for just two hours, could they just have someone take me downtown and recommend a good breakfast place? The Tesla rep said, "... two hours? No we need your car until 4pm." I was like, "... NO WAY! I was specifically told this service would take two hours and that I could drive it immediately after. We'll need to reschedule for another time." Ya know... some guys with Teslas have a life outside of the Tesla Service Center. So now we reschedule for January 8 at 11:30am.

Fast forward to January 8... I drive down that morning (3-1/2 hours) and when I arrive at 10:30am (I like to be early) the Tesla rep tells me that he's just charging up my loaner, and the guy who does the windshields will be coming down tomorrow, so you're car should be ready by around 4pm tomorrow. I asked why they had me bring the car in a full day early? I live pretty far and I wasn't planning on spending the night. The Tesla rep was like, well, I didn't realize that you lived so far away and by the way, how will you be paying for this? I explained that I was told that Tesla was installing the new windshield at no charge. The Tesla rep started making phone calls to everyone including the original sales manager at the Corte Madera Tesla store who I haven't seen nor heard from since way back in October when I originally put the $2500 deposit down on my vehicle. The Tesla rep literally disappeared for about 20 minutes and comes into the waiting room and says, "... ok, your loaner is all charged up and you're good to go." No mention of the payment for the repair, so I figure ok... we got that cleared up. I explain that I'll be driving back home now, so just call me when my car is ready. He says that they could bring my car to me on a flatbed when its done and pick the loaner up upon delivery. I was like yeah, that sounds good... this way I don't have to spend a whole day driving again to pick up my car.

Slow forward to January 10... I get a call from the Tesla rep to inform me that my car is "ready for pick up and the flatbed delivery couldn't possibly happen this week... it would be sometime next week." So I make a plan to drive back down the next day (the 11th) to pick up my car. When I hand them the key to the loaner, another Tesla rep says to me, "... so, there's an $876 balance on the service invoice. How would like to pay for that?" I said, "excuse me? I'm not paying for that."

He went and got my car and it was so, so clean... like brand new again. I love my Tesla S 100 D!

 

[roblab]

Even if you have a bad service experience, at least in my experience, "service" is a rarity. Most new owners, and maybe some older ones, perhaps, think that "service" on a Tesla is something like "service" on a gas car. It ain't. I've had my car for over two years. I don't remember taking it in for service, ever.

What in the world is there to service??

 

[sharpgator]

I really like my new Tesla, but corporate communication skills are non- existent. In my experience so far, Tesla simply doesn’t communicate.

So far, this is my experience....
1). Tesla no showed for my delivery and didn’t call
2). Tesla no showed for my phone walk through, though they did call 2 hours after the appointment to let me know they couldn’t do it today.
3). When I found an inventory car on the web site that met my needs, I called to make the deal. I was told they would have me a price on my trade in within a couple of hours and would call me back. Phone call never happened. Eventually, the car sold. I found a similar one about a month later.
4). Tesla no showed for my rescheduled phone call walk through. I gave up at this point and figured I had pretty much oriented myself to the car.
5). I called the service line with a car software glitch that keeps happening. They said they would investigate/query the car and get back to me. Never happened.
6). So, I called back a few weeks later with the same software glitch and reminded them that they didn’t call back. They very politely apologized and swore up and down that they would follow through this time. Never happened. Still waiting.
7). I called my service center to schedule an appointment with the Tesla ranger. I was told that the Mobile Concierge would need to call me back on Monday. Never happened.
8). I ordered an accessory online. After a week of not getting a shipping confirmation, I emailed asking for one. No response for several days. I emailed again. Same. I called the customer service number. I was rudely told that there is no phone number for accessories and that I would need to email them. So, I emailed them again to cancel my order (found the item on eBay at this point). Finally got a response.
9). My local Tesla Ranger is an absolutely excellent communicator. He calls back when he says he will and he calls to let me know he is coming. Wow!

So far, I’ve really liked my Tesla but unless the pattern above changes, I won’t own a 2nd one. Hopefully, as Tesla ages as a company, they will recognize the need for first class customer service and communication. I think my Tesla Ranger needs to head up the customer service division because he completely “gets it”.

 

[unbelievable]

What in the world is there to service??

I suggest you watch this video.

 

[unbelievable]

He went and got my car and it was so, so clean... like brand new again. I love my Tesla S 100 D!

What a nightmare, you have a lot of patience. So glad it ended like this!

 

[henderrj]

To be clear, they are fast and accurate on obvious issues, like a lifting off panel; however on software aspect they seem know so little in my opinion.

I don't follow you, at all. In fact your answer seems nonsensical to me. What service have you had that hasn't worked out correctly?

 

[CameronB]

We took our factory-new MS 75D to a Tesla service center this week to have 2 problems fixed: a carpet stain and some trim that was lifting off the body. Both problems had been present and were noted by the delivery team when we took delivery last month. (There was also a paint chip in the rear liftgate but we were told a body shop will have to fix that.)

The service center fixed both problems to my satisfaction, however it took them 3 days to do so. We dropped the car off at 2:30p on Wednesday and it wasn't ready until 4p on Friday.

Communication during those 3 days was poor or non-existent. Nobody I spoke with was able to provide me with an estimate as to when the car would actually be finished. It wasn't until I told them Friday morning that I had to have the car by 4p so I could get it to our detailer to be Opti-Coated that they actually committed to a time and actually performed the repairs.

My question to the group is this: has your service experience been similar? Has it taken several days to fix minor problems? The impression I got was that since we weren't waiting at the service center for the repair, we got pushed to the back of the line in terms of priority. Is it better to wait at the service center for these types of fixes?

My expectation is that the repair will be done within 24 hours of dropping off the vehicle. Why have us drop off the vehicle if it's just going to sit there for 3 days? But is this not how the service centers usually do things? Just trying to get an idea of whether this is typical or not. Thanks!

You said a few times "3 days" but earlier you had said you dropped it off late afternoon on a Wed and picked it up late afternoon on Friday.

If the earlier Wed-Fri comment was accurate, seems like this was 2 days (plus 1.5 hrs), not 3?

But in any case, sorry to hear of your trouble and the poor communication. I've only been at the service center a few times so far (knock on carbon fiber!) but I haven't had much too many communications issues, fortunately. They mainly utilized text message for me, which I liked.

Only unfortunate thing I ran into was one time I got a text message saying my car was ready (early) and to come pick it up. Cool! But when I got there, they said it wasn't actually done and I had to wait another hour. Not as cool! But with the exception of that mix-up, my service center has been ok with their comms with me so far.

 

[pelargir]

You said a few times "3 days" but earlier you had said you dropped it off late afternoon on a Wed and picked it up late afternoon on Friday.

If the earlier Wed-Fri comment was accurate, seems like this was 2 days (plus 1.5 hrs), not 3?

But in any case, sorry to hear of your trouble and the poor communication. I've only been at the service center a few times so far (knock on carbon fiber!) but I haven't had much too many communications issues, fortunately. They mainly utilized text message for me, which I liked.

I said 3 days just because that was the number of days during which our beautiful new MS was unavailable to us for driving. But I guess more accurately it would have been 2.5 days since we missed half a day on Wed. and almost the whole day on Fri. It felt like longer! But you're right, in exact hours we didn't have the car it would have been 49.5 hours (excluding drive time to and from the service center).

That's the other thing I was curious about. I've seen mention of other owners getting updates via text message. They never gave me that option. In fact, I've never received a text from anyone at Tesla. Do you have to opt-in or something?

 

[roblab]

I suggest you watch this video.

Thank you so much. I have had a picture of "what's under the frunk" on my Tesla board for years. All of this equipment, as in ALL, needs no "service". It's good to know it's there, I guess, but they don't look at it. Now, if your car is in for REPAIR, because your power steering isn't working or the AC is weak, they pull the frunk liner and access those parts. Several years ago, I believe, it was Elon himself that said, "There is no service." As people couldn't believe it, they added "service".

Sorry, my internet connection is flaky today, so I can't look it up.

I maintain that there is still no service. Tesla accommodates fearful owners and does a service. They will fill up your windshield wiper fluid reservoir, check your tire pressure, wiper blades, and probably wash the car. Fearful owners are so used to having to maintain a gas car that they cannot understand that there is no service on an electric.

 

[BlueRocket]

They did when I asked. It was a pre-refresh MS 85 with no autopilot.

Your lucky you got a Tesla... I got a gas guzzling ICE for three days. VROOM... VROOM!

 

[unbelievable]

Thank you so much. I have had a picture of "what's under the frunk" on my Tesla board for years. All of this equipment, as in ALL, needs no "service". It's good to know it's there, I guess, but they don't look at it. Now, if your car is in for REPAIR, because your power steering isn't working or the AC is weak, they pull the frunk liner and access those parts. Several years ago, I believe, it was Elon himself that said, "There is no service." As people couldn't believe it, they added "service".

Sorry, my internet connection is flaky today, so I can't look it up.

I maintain that there is still no service. Tesla accommodates fearful owners and does a service. They will fill up your windshield wiper fluid reservoir, check your tire pressure, wiper blades, and probably wash the car. Fearful owners are so used to having to maintain a gas car that they cannot understand that there is no service on an electric.

Well, I live and learn. I guess I'm just getting ripped off then, having to pay for service in order to guarantee the buy back price on my lease. I assumed at least they looked at some of that stuff as part of the 'multi point check'.

 

[pelargir]

Well, I live and learn. I guess I'm just getting ripped off then, having to pay for service in order to guarantee the buy back price on my lease. I assumed at least they looked at some of that stuff as part of the 'multi point check'.

When I picked up our vehicle they said they did a "multi-point check." I dug up the paper they emailed to me and it actually says it was a "courtesy inspection." This is what's listed underneath:

- Checked for active faults: No active faults found.
- Checked firmware version: Updated to latest version
- Inspected the 12V positive jump post.
- Topped off washer fluid.
- Tested and inspected customer s charge cable: Good, no issue. Vehicle charged normally @40amps.
- Adjusted tire pressure to: PSI front, 45 PSI rear. 45
- Measured tire tread depth at:
(Outer) (Center) (Inner)
LF: 9/32 RF: 9/32 LR: 9/32 RR: 9/32
9/32 9/32 9/32 9/32 9/32 9/32
9/32 9/32

So they did check a few things. Not sure what checking for "active faults" entails, though.