IMO, the $150 hourly rate is high. What is crazy is that it took them a little over two and a half hours ($380) to put on new tires and do an alignment. Anyone else think it took them longer than it should or is that pretty standard? When my wife's 2010 Mustang GT got new tires and an alignment it took only an hour and 15 minutes.280 for the alignment alone, the rest was for the tires/install.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Horribly Disappointed in Tesla Service (Alignment Issue)
- Thread starter Swack
- Start date
Historically, I get this for all my cars but the quality really depends on the shop/location and how seasoned the techs are. Firestone uses Hunter alignment machines and I would expect a profile with Model 3 specs should be available. That being said, if the tech has never worked on a Tesla, your results may vary and who knows if they will be able to do it correctly.
FYI, my local BMW dealership uses the same Hunter alignment machine except it uses a BMW specific hub adapter that mounts onto BMW factory wheels and the techs obviously know how to align the cars to BMW specs and they charge $300 for an alignment (my personal friend is a BMW tech).
That being said, I did have an issue one time when the Firestone guy had no F'ing clue how to work on my 2017 M3 and could not get it to align to specs (no accidents on this car). I had to take it to Daren and Chris at West End Alignment to get it back to spec. If they weren't a bit aways, I would just use them all the time, but if you live in LA and haven't heard of West End Alignment, just look it up and you'll see what I'm talking about. These guys are the real deal. Nobody does better work than these guys and they do it the old school way, no need for a computer to tell them how to align your car.
My Model 3 experience is also extreme tire wear. Less than 30,000 km and I need all new tires. Reading the other posts it looks like I faired better than some and should be happy but I am not. "Spirited driving?" guilty but 30k km? I won't know if it can be blamed on alignment until I get the new tires.
Any thoughts on best winter tires for the Model 3. I'm looking for value as in kms and performance for the money.
Any thoughts on best winter tires for the Model 3. I'm looking for value as in kms and performance for the money.
My Guess is that most of the Teslas are align close to their spec's when they leave the factory . What most new owners do not see , is the ride they get on the railroad shipping cage. for their long haul across our nation. They are either Strapped or chained down tight! to minimize their movement within the cage. And most of the time they are bottomed out , while traveled with their suspension in a binding out position. Have you rode on a Train lately !! LOL. It aint a smooth ride like your Tesla. Your new car is getting beat up. It can be just as bad on a Truck with a car hauler trailer. Even with air ride suspension. They have a tough time hold their own , against our US highway system that has badly deteriorated road surface.. So Fan boys ! Tesla Knows this . They played the odds against the Customers , not knowing this and making them feel responsible for even complaining about tire wear being excessive for an automobile with less than 6000 mile in it. Higher or more miles than that the ownness is on the customer . That being said. Tesla does have some responsibility here . _PTE_
tstolze
Member
As someone who is going planning on purchasing 1 or maybe 2 M3's or MY's for early next year.
Has anyone requested an alignment check at delivery?
Hate to be on the hook for new tires due to a factory issue that will not be identified until it's too late...... Thanks!
Has anyone requested an alignment check at delivery?
Hate to be on the hook for new tires due to a factory issue that will not be identified until it's too late...... Thanks!
You have no idea how wrong you are. On any car, you can have too much positive or negative toe on the front or rear wheels and the car will still drive straight. On a Tesla, the car learns from you how to center itself as you drive, so it will really hide extreme alignment issues.
I have been saying it for months on this forum: You are completely used to Tesla messing up the alignments of body panels, doors, windows, taillights, headlights, charge doors, etc. (and leaving loose bolts, etc) Why in the world would you think they aren't messing up wheel alignments on new cars??
If you buy a Tesla, your first point of business should be to get the alignment checked by someone other than Tesla. They stink at it.
I bought my own $100 laser tool so I can check front and rear toe on all my cars, 6 of them. The Tesla was way off, and the SC couldn't be bothered to do it right, so I did it myself. After getting the alignment right, the road noise from my tires went WAY down.
If you return to the SC for an alignment , Be specific about getting a Print out , with your Vin # and a Time & date stamp. If they can not provide this simple request , My guess is that theTech doing the job , can not fill in the simple info & blanks . Leave quickly !! Don't pay the bill. I'll attach an old print out for my 05 ML-500 Mercedes. It too had tire wear issues. .I was told that tire wear at 13,000 mile was very expectable and this ML met the MB specs. So I pulled every suspension component off & inspected them I found nothing worn or bent at 70,000 miles. So I took the ML down to Stalh Motorsports in West Palm Bch. Their tech asked about my driving habits and most used road types. IE ( Crowned country type or super highway ) I explained a mix of both & leaned toward Hi speed hwy Route 81 through the mountains . I got 70,000 miles on the MB spec Continentals and now the new owner of this ML is closing in on the second set. . I got to believe that if your Tesla is properly aligned & set up for your driving conditions and habits , it to should see a much improved tire life
What tool did you buy? I've been thinking about getting some home alignment tools.
I've had too many lazy techs do alignments where as long as it's green on the screen they leave it, but it's still significantly out of spec. I've had a ford dealer do an alignment after some front end warranty work only to have my rears cup like crazy shortly after. I immediately noticed the increased road noise on sweeping corners, they checked and "adjusted it" and it was within spec. 15k miles later I had crazy rear cupping which they insisted was just because I didn't rotate the tires every 5k miles. I told him that's BS, tires and alignment never had this issue in the past 80k miles with my previous maintenance interval. Once they put it back on the alignment rack again with me observing, the back was out just as much as it was after the first time they adjusted it, toe and camber way out. I'm guessing when I brought it in after my complaint, they just took a print out from another car to satisfy me...
UncleCreepy
Member
They are. When I got my current M3 in December 2019 I noticed that the steering wheel was a bit off. I made an appointment within one week after delivery and the SC confirmed the alignment was off. Of course they asked me if it had been like that from the day of delivery (obviously it could've been a curb) but when I said yes they did the alignment for free. And they went above and beyond to get it right at the Ottawa SC. I haven't had any issues since then.
I don't think this is a Tesla specific issue. As long as they fix it and don't give me sh*t (like Volkswagen did a long time ago) it's okay.
It's called Trackace and it's from the UK. You may be able to find a seller in the US:
Trackace Laser Wheel Alignment System Tracking Gauges Toe in / Out Tool Tracker | eBay
It is an amazing tool, and I wish I had it starting from many years ago.
Duh. But total toe is your biggest threat to tire wear and tire noise, and it's the one you really want to get 100% right.
For camber and caster, I use this tool, and it works great too:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PKI0VT2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
At this point, there have been many, many reports of Model 3s wearing out the tread on the inside edge of the front tires. I had this problem myself and didn't notice until I had about 12k miles on the car and the inside of the tires was nearly worn out. As expected, it was caused by too much toe out. The car drove just fine with the extra toe out; it didn't wander or follow the camber of the road or anything like that. It tracked nice and straight and felt fine.
The only part of the alignment that is adjustable on a stock Model 3 is the toe. My local Tesla Service Center wanted over $200 to adjust the alignment and was not willing to do it for free. I went to a local alignment shop that I've used before, and $68 later, the problem was resolved.
The only part of the alignment that is adjustable on a stock Model 3 is the toe. My local Tesla Service Center wanted over $200 to adjust the alignment and was not willing to do it for free. I went to a local alignment shop that I've used before, and $68 later, the problem was resolved.
There is some camber and caster adjustment in the front, and some camber in the back. Not enough for dropped suspensions, but enough adjustment to get any factory ride height Model 3 to within specs. If some alignment guy told you those adjustments don't exist on the Model 3, you know 100% they don't know what they're talking about. I posted pics in another thread from the Tesla Model 3 Shop Manual showing the adjustments.
I found your picture here. Hopefully that will help others who come across this thread.
Does the shop manual mention, or do you know, what the range of adjustment is?
