Horribly Disappointed in Tesla Service (Alignment Issue)

[Swack]

I have a AWD Model 3, almost exactly 6 months old, with just under 6,000 miles on it.
I was planning on getting the tires rotated within a couple weeks, so I inspected the front tiress and this is what I found:

Driver Side

Passenger Side:

All the service manager kept saying was that "anything can happen in 6000 miles" which is why they weren't covering the tires. I understand that tesla's are rough on tires, instant torque and all, but this is absurd. IMO the alignment was clearly out of whack upon delivery (it was delivered NOV 30th) but since no reasonable person gets a brand new vehicle aligned I have no way of proving it.

Everyone boasts how minimal maintenance is on these machines, but over $1,000 in alignment and 2 tires within the first 6 months is not very encouraging and FAR more than I was paying in maintenance with my Mercedes-Benz E350.

What are your thoughts? Am I the crazy one here?

 

[ACA Man]

I think you can easily check the alignment by driving on a flat and straight road then remove your hands from the steering wheel to see if it pulls on either side, left or right, or keep going straight.

If it keeps going straight then the alignment is just fine.

 

[derekmw]

I think you can easily check the alignment by driving on a flat and straight road then remove your hands from the steering wheel to see if it pulls on either side, left or right, or keep going straight.

If it keeps going straight then the alignment is just fine.

Alignment can also be camber and in this case, it looks like he has negative camber (inside of both front wheels are worn). I wouldn't say you're crazy and to me it is not something that they could try to explain you did somehow. If one wheel was toe in or something, then they could say you hit a curb or pot hole or something similar. But for both wheels to have negative camber just looks like it was not aligned properly. But I'm not expert so what do I know...

 

[SoManyM3s]

No manufacturer will cover alignment as they go off alignment so easily. What I did not know is that a tesla is so expensive to align as you claim, if that is the case, they should include that as part of the warranty. I will keep an eye on my tires.

 

[Big Earl]

Same with my car - alignment out of spec from the factory. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice it until 12,000 miles. Tesla gave us a free alignment but nothing for the tire wear. At 26,000 miles now and all seems well. Will replace the two worn tires before the big trip to Custer, SD in two weeks.

Don’t be horribly disappointed... just get the alignment fixed and go on with your life.

 

[Swack]

No manufacturer will cover alignment as they go off alignment so easily. What I did not know is that a tesla is so expensive to align as you claim, if that is the case, they should include that as part of the warranty. I will keep an eye on my tires.

280 for the alignment alone, the rest was for the tires/install.

 

[Swack]

Same with my car - alignment out of spec from the factory. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice it until 12,000 miles. Tesla gave us a free alignment but nothing for the tire wear. At 26,000 miles now and all seems well. Will replace the two worn tires before the big trip to Custer, SD in two weeks.

Don’t be horribly disappointed... just get the alignment fixed and go on with your life.

Are you still on the original tires? I know its hard to see from the photos, but both of the tires are >1/32 on the inside.

 

[Jigglypuff]

Yeah, tires are wear items.

 

[TT97]

280 for the alignment alone, the rest was for the tires/install.

$280 for alignment is insane (unless Pittsburgh prices are higher than SoCal). My MB dealer used to charge $150 which I later found out they would send the cars to my tire place which charges me $80 for alignment.

With all the potholes on L.A. streets, I ended up needing alignments more than once a year. I now keep a close eye on wear in case the alignment issues are not noticeable.

 

[rickdogg82]

So was it out of alignment? How much and what aspect?

 

[tracksyde]

Any car can get out of alignment due to a variety of reasons. Was your car not properly aligned from the factory? Sure, its a definite possibility. Its also equally likely the car just went out of alignment if you tapped a curb or hit a pothole.

I wouldnt say this is indicative of a Tesla being more maintenance than a Mercedes. You can probably find similar posts like this on any manufacturer's car forum. I wouldnt even characterize this as poor service. Could they have done more? Sure.. but for every bad service center experience there are also plenty of good ones (where they show some goodwill, like with Bigearl above).

$280 for an alignment though.. ouch. I had my car aligned for about $100 at an alignment shop. Nothing magical about wheel alignment.

$290 per tire is also excessive, but most car dealers do charge much more for tires. And $50 to mount and balance a tire is on the high side.. I wouldnt expect to pay more than $25 per tire for mount and balance.

 

[TORQU3]

That's an outrageous alignment price. You can have some camber and still have minimal tire wear, you have to have near zero toe. It's the combination of toe (even within spec) and camber that really scrubs the tires.

 

[richyrich]

Isn't there also labour in there to remove and fit the two new tires? Sure that's relatively quick but it still takes time.

 

[Daniel in SD]

That's a problem with toe (camber isn't adjustable on the Model 3). The issue is that Tesla has been known to deliver cars with bad alignment. Unfortunately there's no way to prove that it didn't happen after the car was delivered.

 

[TORQU3]

That's a problem with toe (camber isn't adjustable on the Model 3). The issue is that Tesla has been known to deliver cars with bad alignment. Unfortunately there's no way to prove that it didn't happen after the car was delivered.

This is why I haven't jumped on the lowering or coil over options yet. Once a good camber plate kit is available I'll probably grab a set of coilovers.

 

[David L]

Unfortunately, you brought up the issue too late. Tesla's response sounds very reasonable to me. I believe you would have gotten the same response from any other manufacturer.

 

[Msjulie]

I had my alignment done a couple months back because the car was slightly drifting left.. others are correct about no way to prove the lovely winter road conditions in Pittsburg didn't contribute

My particular type OCD has me checking tire pressures daily (with the dash monitoring FWIW, at least big changes can be caught) and general condition monthly or so.. those tires aren't cheap (I had to replace one with a nail in the sidewall so I'm painfully aware of that part)

Sorry to hear about what happened; any decent alignment shop can align them, no need to go to Tesla..

 

[afadeev]

I have a AWD Model 3, almost exactly 6 months old, with just under 6,000 miles on it.
[...]All the service manager kept saying was that "anything can happen in 6000 miles" which is why they weren't covering the tires. I understand that tesla's are rough on tires, instant torque and all, but this is absurd. IMO the alignment was clearly out of whack upon delivery (it was delivered NOV 30th) but since no reasonable person gets a brand new vehicle aligned I have no way of proving it.

Well, you are right, tires look worn more on the inside that you should have expected, but then again, they are really worn out for 6K miles on them!
Did you at all rotate them?

The pictures illustrate accelerated inside tire wear on the fronts.
That could have come from either toe OUT, too much negative camber, or just a car that wasn't driven very aggressively.

Toe OUT you would have felt with unsteady tracking while driving straight, and would have complained to someone about right away.
Negative camber on front wheels is very common and desired to provide additional grip during turn initiation, and usually compensates for extra outside shoulder wear that the turning (front) wheels tend to exhibit.

It is entirely possible that the front wheels weren't aligned properly at the factory.
You want to eliminate that possibility, and if necessary correct it, before you put on the next set of tires.
If Tesla service department is not cooperating, take the car to a competent tire/alignment shop, and have them measure front suspension geometry. Just measuring shouldn't cost more than $50.

If it's badly out of spec, you can use that data point and take it back to Tesla service department and ask them to re-align your car for free. Or just pay the alignment shop to do it right there and there, and cut your losses. I would do the latter, since I would trust a competent alignment shop more than Tesla service rookies to do a proper alignment!

Either way, I would DEFINITELY check the alignment before spending more money on a new set of tires.

Everyone boasts how minimal maintenance is on these machines, but over $1,000 in alignment and 2 tires within the first 6 months is not very encouraging and FAR more than I was paying in maintenance with my Mercedes-Benz E350.

"Minimal maintenance" claims are mostly BS.
Tesla requires regular maintenance as much as any other car.
You save a few $s on drivetrain maintenance (no oil changes), but those are minimal annual expenses anyway.

It shouldn't cost you $1K to fix the alignment.
If alignment is out of whack, it's usually ~$100/axle to re-align.

Your front tires appear to be down to ~4/32nds on the meety outside shoulder, and near wear bars (2/32nds) on the inside. Even if they wore more evenly, they will be done soon.
You might be able to rotate them front<-> back and get a few more months out of them, but otherwise, new 19" ProContact RX's are $270/each at TireRack.com, or $283 for Michelin MXM4's. Frankly, I would not re-order either tire for my TM3, but it's up to you what tire you want to ride on.

HTH,
a

 

[Silicon Desert]

Gee, that is a nasty unexpected problem. I know it is comparing apples to oranges by saying this, but my heavier MX original Continental tires had 26,000 miles with even wear when I replaced them recently. I guess I am just lucky not to have an alignment problem. I hope not to have this issue in the future. I do look closely and measure the depth on my tires about every 6 months.

 

[TheWalkingDad]

Had a similar thing happen they will not cover this unless you note it within 3 days of delivery. They have no proof it wasn’t caused by a pothole or curb you hit. Yes they will charge you an arm and a leg. Best thing to do is to take regular measurements and get alignment corrected asap.

While Tesla require hardly any maintenance this does not equal no maintenance. Still much easier to maintain than any ICE vehicle. Tire wear and tear will inevitably be greater on a tesla vehicle than others so be warned.