We’ve had our Tesla model X for six months now, and I want to share my bittersweet experience with you all. We bought the car in June, 2016. My wife and I loved driving it, and the kids were very excited— good design, smart technology, and very fun and smooth to drive. We were very happy, until a lot of small problems surfaced. The falcon doors could not close all the way down. There was leaking after the rain, windshield double vision, noise rolling window up and down, etc.. Luckily, their service center is close by, but still, we spent a lot of time going back and forth with those issues.
Worse still, we had a car accident in October. Our tesla was rear-ended on 101, and it was towed to Tesla certified bodyshop-Chilton in San Carlos. (Yes, tesla doesn’t have its own repair center!) The accident was not too bad. We were thankful that tesla kept our family safe. The right rear side of the car was hit by the vehicle behind us, and the suspension, bumper were damaged. The repair was a total nightmare! It took TWO MONTHS before we got our car back! For the first month, there was not much progress at all. Yes, Chilton gave us weekly updates, but it’s the same message every week “We’re still waiting for parts from tesla. There is nothing much we can do right now. Sorry, we don’t know when the parts will arrive, and can’t give you an estimated time for the repair.” It was not helping. So I started to contact Tesla, the service manager, adviser and technician, trying to track down on the order of parts and move things forward. The parts are made right here. It doesn’t make sense for customers to wait months for the parts to arrive. Obviously, there were a lot of things going on between the parts distribution center and body shop, among them is insufficient communication. We felt Chilton did not care about the business from Tesla, while tesla was not providing enough support. We had family came over for Thanksgiving, and we had to cancel the road trip because our tesla was gone. On top of that, tesla said they couldn't provide us with a loaner car because our car was at Chilton, not tesla service center. Unbelievable! The repair was taking forever, and I had no idea when my car would be fixed. I became so upset that I talked to Tesla again, and they agreed to provide me with a rental car. On top of that, tesla said they couldn't provide a loaner car for us since our car was at Chilton, not tesla service center. Later on, I was very upset that the repair took so long that tesla finally agreed to provide me with a rental car. Finally, the repair was done before Christmas. However, it was not the end of the story. When we went to pick up the car, I noticed several scratches on the leather panel. I pointed them out, but one of the staff was very unprofessional and unfriendly. He didn’t care about us or our car, and he thought we were picking on him. “Don’t be mad at me. Look, every car has it. We didn’t touch that part at all. “ Utterly rude! Then the front desk manager and repair manager came out to apologize and took care of it. Still, it was very disappointing. Later on, we found more problems related to the repair. The falcon door was leaking after the rain, and has noise closing. Several parts were not put together in the right order and manner. Enough is enough. I’m not going back to Chilton! So I have them shipped the parts to tesla service center and have them fixed there. Up till today, I’m still dealing with those repairs. After talking with some friends, I found that they also had similar experiences with tesla repair. In my opinion, tesla should slow down the sales and take care of its current owners. Tesla should have its own repair center, with well trained technicians, not some certified bodyshop who don’t know how to repair tesla properly.
Worse still, we had a car accident in October. Our tesla was rear-ended on 101, and it was towed to Tesla certified bodyshop-Chilton in San Carlos. (Yes, tesla doesn’t have its own repair center!) The accident was not too bad. We were thankful that tesla kept our family safe. The right rear side of the car was hit by the vehicle behind us, and the suspension, bumper were damaged. The repair was a total nightmare! It took TWO MONTHS before we got our car back! For the first month, there was not much progress at all. Yes, Chilton gave us weekly updates, but it’s the same message every week “We’re still waiting for parts from tesla. There is nothing much we can do right now. Sorry, we don’t know when the parts will arrive, and can’t give you an estimated time for the repair.” It was not helping. So I started to contact Tesla, the service manager, adviser and technician, trying to track down on the order of parts and move things forward. The parts are made right here. It doesn’t make sense for customers to wait months for the parts to arrive. Obviously, there were a lot of things going on between the parts distribution center and body shop, among them is insufficient communication. We felt Chilton did not care about the business from Tesla, while tesla was not providing enough support. We had family came over for Thanksgiving, and we had to cancel the road trip because our tesla was gone. On top of that, tesla said they couldn't provide us with a loaner car because our car was at Chilton, not tesla service center. Unbelievable! The repair was taking forever, and I had no idea when my car would be fixed. I became so upset that I talked to Tesla again, and they agreed to provide me with a rental car. On top of that, tesla said they couldn't provide a loaner car for us since our car was at Chilton, not tesla service center. Later on, I was very upset that the repair took so long that tesla finally agreed to provide me with a rental car. Finally, the repair was done before Christmas. However, it was not the end of the story. When we went to pick up the car, I noticed several scratches on the leather panel. I pointed them out, but one of the staff was very unprofessional and unfriendly. He didn’t care about us or our car, and he thought we were picking on him. “Don’t be mad at me. Look, every car has it. We didn’t touch that part at all. “ Utterly rude! Then the front desk manager and repair manager came out to apologize and took care of it. Still, it was very disappointing. Later on, we found more problems related to the repair. The falcon door was leaking after the rain, and has noise closing. Several parts were not put together in the right order and manner. Enough is enough. I’m not going back to Chilton! So I have them shipped the parts to tesla service center and have them fixed there. Up till today, I’m still dealing with those repairs. After talking with some friends, I found that they also had similar experiences with tesla repair. In my opinion, tesla should slow down the sales and take care of its current owners. Tesla should have its own repair center, with well trained technicians, not some certified bodyshop who don’t know how to repair tesla properly.
