I Enjoy the Car, I Really Dislike Tesla the Car Company

[Zythryn]

I don't "whine" to my neighbors..

I just speak honestly about my Tesla experience on TMC.

I hope balance the "fanboys" who are online about Tesla... and give an honest assessment of the vehicle and the company.

But you are not balancing, you are giving a false impression.
I am sorry you have had a poor experience with service in LA.
When I went to Van Nuys the service was phenomenal. But this was 3 years ago?

But in your post, you gave a list off poor treatment and service that you told the reader they will have. This is simply not true.
I've had a wonderful experience with every one of our deliveries (5) and have found almost every one of your statements to be the opposite of my experiences.

 

[SocalMS]

But you are not balancing, you are giving a false impression.
I am sorry you have had a poor experience with service in LA.
When I went to Van Nuys the service was phenomenal. But this was 3 years ago?

But in your post, you gave a list off poor treatment and service that you told the reader they will have. This is simply not true.
I've had a wonderful experience with every one of our deliveries (5) and have found almost every one of your statements to be the opposite of my experiences.

.

I'm providing TMC the only thing I can..

"MY HONEST EXPERIENCE".

Unfortunately, I'm currently unable to tap into every Tesla owner's mind and provide the "perfectly balanced" impression...

I can only give you MY OWNERSHIP EXPERIENCE WITH TESLA.

** "you are giving a false impression". --- I'm giving TMC my reality. I'ved lived it.
** "you gave a list off poor treatment and service that you told the reader they will have" -- I'm telling the reader that their experience may mirror mine... I'm not predicting anything. And I'm not denying your good experience. You can tuck that away into your memory drawer and enjoy it.

Every bullet list, I've experienced.... and I'm forewarning others that they may also experience the same.

I do not guarantee the same experience. Yours may be better or worse.

Hopefully, it'll improve in the future... I do plan on owning my car for many many years...

.

 

[Electroman]

42.

Used to be something like 49, but the new mods cut it down to 42.

OP - you go ahead and create a few more as you are still in the low 20s.

 

[oktane]

Tesla is a car company in infancy so there are problems on multiple levels.

1. Poor fit and finish
2. Defects at delivery that they refuse to fix
3. Inferior build quality - bad seals, creased leather, panels don't fit properly
4. Awful headlights (LED refresh)
5. Blatant lies by corporate about autopilot to spur sales
6. Ridiculously expensive repair costs
7. Don't care about customers

The only reason most of us own a Tesla is because they were first to market with an EV similar to higher-end performance cars and the only ones with a nationwide charging network, and the only ones with a supposedly functioning autopilot. For me it was mainly the last point.

Fast forward 2 years when the "big boys" figure out how to make a similar EV, add autopilot, and come out with a better charging network, and none of us will be driving a Tesla unless we are masochists. Tesla has a sizable advantage being first to market, but that advantage won't last forever.

Right now they are sadly still the only real EV game in town, nothing else is even close in mimicking ICE driveability.

 

[eye.surgeon]

Thanks for sharing your vast experience with Tesla based on less than 1,000 miles of ownership.

 

[oktane]

Thanks for helping everyone "see the light".

 

[Mark Z]

Reasons why I prefer my car over a loaner...

This is one area where my Tesla service center shines. They offer free Uber or service advisor driven transport to and from my home. That way I get to drive my other vehicle and skip the loaner vehicle. It is convenient to own a spare car, especially these days when auto body repair can take months.

 

[Zythryn]

..

Every bullet list, I've experienced.... and I'm forewarning others that they may also experience the same.

I do not guarantee the same experience. Yours may be better or worse.

Hopefully, it'll improve in the future... I do plan on owning my car for many many years...

.

But you are telling everyone that they will get that same treatment.

...

But in comparison....I DON'T like Tesla the car company.

Their service, behind the smiles and politeness, is poorly executed.

1. You'll be lucky to get a perfectly delivered car...
2. If you have issues on your car.. you'll likely not have your car for weeks..
3. You https://www.apple.com/mac-mini/may or may not even get a Tesla loaner vehicle
4. You may or may not even get a clean loaner vehicle.
5. You may get a Tesla that's all beat up and several years old.
6. Once you get your car back, likely, there will be other problems w/ the car, that wasn't there when you first left it.
7. Good luck getting a service appointment, it's weeks away, if they even bother to call you back, or schedule you!
8. More or less likely, you have to push and DEMAND a service appointment.
....

1. The sales guys have no power
2. The service personnel have no power
3. Good luck working w/ the service manager.. if you can even reach him, or if he chooses to return your emails and/or phone calls
4. Good luck contacting Tesla corporate, all they do is route your messages to a local center, and now you're back at #2
5. Good luck calling Tesla corporate, all they do is contact the local service center, and you're back at #2 again...
...

You complaints are stated in such a way to indicate other people would experience this and that this is company wide.
Most other people DON'T experience this and these issues are not company wide.
I really feel for anyone experiencing this type of issue and hope everything gets straightened out for you.

But please choose your words more carefully.
Rather than "Their service...", "The service I experienced..." would have been accurate.
Every line where you use "you" indicates to the reader that they will experience this. If you instead said "I experienced..." then that is more truthful.

I appreciate you posting your complaints and hope that you will contact Tesla corporate again.
I would recommend talking with the regional manager. Tell them specifically that you want to hear from the regional manager as the local one is running you in circles.

 

[BestRadar]

Tesla needs to do a better job screening buyers.

Maybe Tesla should offer a reasonable buy back program if it does not want to deal with customers that have complaints with their product.

 

[BestRadar]

This is one area where my Tesla service center shines. They offer free Uber or service advisor driven transport to and from my home. That way I get to drive my other vehicle and skip the loaner vehicle. It is convenient to own a spare car, especially these days when auto body repair can take months.

I dont know if this is something to be proud of. On my delivery day they sent an Uber to pick me up and a guy in a beat up Honda came to pick me up and when I got in the car and told him I was going to PA (I live in NJ) he said sorry I am not going there and he refused to take me and threw me out. I was shocked.

 

[hsctiger93]

Read through the first 3 pages of this thread and completely appreciate an opposing perspective from an owner. You've been cordial about it, which I think goes a long way. I know when I had my Audi A4 I was anything BUT cordial with anyone who had anything to do with the worst car I ever owned. 18 months of ownership, 21 visits to the repair shop, culminating in a letter from Audi that said (verbatim), "Your experience is no different than any other Audi owner." Wow.

That said, you should expect counters to your experience. A lot of us have had great experiences with ownership. I know I have. If someone gets upset at your contrarian POV, yeah, that's probably crossing a line but it's the internet where everyone can hide behind a keyboard.

I do believe the concentration of Tesla ownership in California is a problem the company needs to solve. It's only going to get more challenging when Model 3 production ramps up.

In VA, I've had nothing but positive experiences in my 4 annual services plus warranty work. Always got Tesla loaners and they finished the work when they said they would. My local roaming tech actually did additional warranty work that I didn't even know was a problem.

I hope things get better for you as an owner and you come to like the company too. I think it's doing incredible work to wrench an outdated and to some extent corrupt industry into a more efficient and innovative one.

 

[Ace007]

There are a lot of really good car companies selling cars in the US. In the past few years I've bought a new Ford and a new Toyota. My neighbor bought a BMW and said the experience was amazing. The service I get is always really good. I enjoy going to the car dealership. You can have coffee and a doughnut while you wait. The girls who greet me when I go there are really pretty. I never have trouble scheduling a service, even when I don't need any servicing. I've never needed a loaner because my cars were perfect, but I know people who have and they got clean, new cars - always, every time. Also the salesmen who give me their business cards out on the lot are really powerful. They can make decisions - like giving me a free car wash - all by themselves. And the salesmen inside who I sometimes sit down with to talk about buying a car are like super powerful. We're talking an extra $500 on my trade-in, decided all by themselves. Tesla could learn a lot from some of the other car companies.

I wish Mercedes or the VW group would buy Tesla. Then I could buy an Audi that drives like a Tesla. Salesmen at those German car dealerships are so classy. I love when they shake my hand. And they would never deliver a car with so much as a hairline scratch. I wish I could afford a German automobile (well not like a Seat or a Skoda - a real one). But honestly, I've never had a bad experience buying a car in my whole life. I think Tesla should stop trying to innovate (thereby ****ing everything up in the process) and also try to emulate the proven car companies a little bit more.

I have a 2015 Ford F-150 that has been in the shop many more times than my wife's 2015 Tesla. Cooled seats that got so hot it could burn you. Wrinkled and loose leather after one year. Paint drips up on the roof. Badges coming off. Gas pedal vibrates from the engine. Weird noise in the brake booster. Brakes lights not coming on after they fixed the previous issue unless you really stomped on them. Had to fight each time to get a loaner car and argued with them to give me a free oil change in compensation after they had it for almost a week on the brake issue. Now I'm having an issue with the trailer brake controller. Just saying that all cars have issues and service can vary depending on the dealer and company. Tesla does need to improve their customer service and I think they are really trying to but it is certainly work in progress.

 

[Sawyer8888]

I have less than 1K miles on my car. Its a 2017.

The car isn't bad.. it's a nice car.

Yes there are some "things" they could've done a whole lot better...

There are some poorly executed features on the car.

My auto steer/cruise control/ tacc etc.. etc... doesn't work...

The car isn't perfect by any means.

But in comparison....I DON'T like Tesla the car company.

Their service, behind the smiles and politeness, is poorly executed.

1. You'll be lucky to get a perfectly delivered car...
2. If you have issues on your car.. you'll likely not have your car for weeks..
3. You may or may not even get a Tesla loaner vehicle
4. You may or may not even get a clean loaner vehicle.
5. You may get a Tesla that's all beat up and several years old.
6. Once you get your car back, likely, there will be other problems w/ the car, that wasn't there when you first left it.
7. Good luck getting a service appointment, it's weeks away, if they even bother to call you back, or schedule you!
8. More or less likely, you have to push and DEMAND a service appointment.

I'm still on #8.. unable to get a service appointment!

The car is fine.. but the company is really something (@#$#@) ...

1. The sales guys have no power
2. The service personnel have no power
3. Good luck working w/ the service manager.. if you can even reach him, or if he chooses to return your emails and/or phone calls
4. Good luck contacting Tesla corporate, all they do is route your messages to a local center, and now you're back at #2
5. Good luck calling Tesla corporate, all they do is contact the local service center, and you're back at #2 again...


I seriously think I should've bought a different "car company"...



.
.

Spot on, except the Tesla service associates and the manager at my location are exceptional. I wont even begin to describe my saga, but it isn't far off from yours.

 

[spooky981]

I think Tesla is fortunate it doesn't have any competition. Because you can't get away with the service experience they're currently delivering, the explosive overnight depreciation that comes without model years, and Elon hyping up capabilities that aren't even on the drawing board yet.

I love my S and look forward to five years down the line when competition creates a better ownership experience.

 

[NerdUno]

Here's my view after reading a number of your posts: You like to stir the pot and complain -- not just once but as much as possible. Then when others say "enough already" you use others who say good things about Tesla as justification for your repetitive negative posts.

Here's my view of why you are misguided: Before Tesla emerged, experts said it was impossible to start a new car company in the US, let alone one that in a few short years would outsell Mercedes, BMW, Audi, And Porsche In the US. Yet according to you:



Tesla has done the impossible but the press shouldn't report on that - that's skewing the press! The press and even customers should contantly bash Tesla like you do. There's no room for growing pains in your perfect world. Also, it's not good enough for you to once point out your problems, you must hammer and hammer away at them. The fact that Tesla is alive and thriving, beyond expectations, when Tesla was in fact expected to fail, so bothers you that you can't bring yourself to post once about a problem, you must do so multiple times because: How dare the press and customers sing Tesla's praises when you have lists you keep repeatedly posting here to balance out all that!

The thing about it is that there is merit in what you say but you seem to relish so much in bashing Tesla that if I did not own one, you might have possibly turned me off from buying one. If anyone is on the fence, your constant negative posts might serve to push them back over so they won't buy one.

However, I bet if someone asked you to simply answer "yes" or "no" as to whether they should buy a Tesla... you would say "yes". You'd have to bite your lip not being able to tell them all of your complaints, but all of those complaints still do not bring you to the conclusion that you regret buying your Tesla. That's my view at least. And if you don't regret buying a product, how can you be so dead set at repeatedly bashing the product?

Notice how complaints about Tesla's always turn into personal attacks against the buyers. Pretty sad. Lighten up, fan boys.

 

[stefan.bc]

I know when I had my Audi A4 I was anything BUT cordial with anyone who had anything to do with the worst car I ever owned.

I have a 2015 Ford F-150 that has been in the shop many more times than my wife's 2015 Tesla.

Isn't this one of reasons we went with Tesla, to avoid dealing with (bad) dealerships. Since when Tesla is becoming worse than most dealerships? I remember reading lots of positive posts and articles about the whole Tesla experience. I saw almost none of that.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

I couldn't disagree with you more. My experience with Tesla since 2013 has been exemplary. I get a clean and detailed Model S loaner vehicle every time, once I even turned down a loaner because the appointment was only going to take an hour and I was willing to wait. Once Tesla sent a Ranger to my house to rotate my tires, free of charge, even though I did not have a Ranger plan. They did it in order to keep me from waiting too long for my appointment. While here, he swapped out my tail light at no charge because there was a cricket inside and did not charge me the $200 deductible on my extended warranty.

I had my local service manager's cell phone number and used it a few times. I never had any issues getting hold of anyone at the service center, the manager personally welcomed me every time I came and most of the front desk staff know me by name. I am also very flexible and easy going, I live by the rule that you reap what you sow. Tesla Service has always acted as an advocate for me when issues had to be escalated up the chain once or twice, and other local owners have said the same.

Best service experience ever. Best car ever. I certainly have my issues with how Tesla releases products and conducts its communications, but other than that I love my car as well as the incredibly attentive, experienced, and highly qualified service people who take great care of me when something goes wrong.

 

[3Victoria]

Its a lot to do with the tone of the complaints. Poor tone equals bigger push-back. Also generalizing the experience isn't valid, whether good or bad. There will always be exceptions, whether exceptionally good or bad. All companies produce lemons ... and if one lands on you, the experience is hell.

 

[Economite]

I had alignment issues with 2 doors and another door that was very difficult to close. I walked up to my car at delivery and was unable to shut the driver front door. They were very apologetic and worked hard to make me whole. I was upset at the time (it should have been a joyous event) and even a week later, but they flatbedded a Model S loaner to my house and will be dropping my (now perfect) Model S at my house tomorrow morning. The service advisor called me every day I was without my car and updated me. I am actually very happy with the service and the car. True, the alignment issues should have been caught prior to delivery, but I suppose if mistakes happen, it speaks volumes for how Tesla handles the problem to make the customer satisfied.

This sort of thing is the downside to the customer of Tesla's no sales lots/no dealers/build-to-order strategy. A manufacturer operating under the usual sales model would have much more incentive to make sure that this sort of defective car never reached a customer. After all, no customer is going to buy a car with obvious serious defects when they can simply choose another car off the lot or can choose to visit another dealer. With Tesla's sales model, you commit to a specific vehicle sight unseen. Tesla essentially gets to sell you a defective car (because you really have little choice but to accept-- they already have your money), and then try to fix the defects while you own it. They get the money up front. You get the inconvenience and own a car that might never be 100% right.

Tesla's build-to-order business model incentivizes this behavior on their part. And their no-dealerships model incentivizes them to underbuild their service infrastructure. After all, service-under-warranty is just a cost to Tesla-- and the longer you have to wait, the longer they can delay these costs (and possibly even discourage customers from bothering to get things fixed). By contrast, warranty service is a profit center for dealers, since it is work that the dealer gets to bill to the manufacturer. The dealers are incentivized to provide warranty service and to build sufficient service capacity to do so. If one dealer falls behind, customers can go to a competing dealer.

This isn't to say that dealers are "good guys." Of course, they will rip off a customer whenever there's an opportunity. But they are out to make a buck, and the sales/service model incentivizes them to fix defects before the car goes on the lot and then to make it relatively easy to get warranty service on whatever is missed.

 

[3Victoria]

This sort of thing is the downside to the customer of Tesla's no sales lots/no dealers/build-to-order strategy. A manufacturer operating under the usual sales model would have much more incentive to make sure that this sort of defective car never reached a customer. After all, no customer is going to buy a car with obvious serious defects when they can simply choose another car off the lot or can choose to visit another dealer. With Tesla's sales model, you commit to a specific vehicle sight unseen. Tesla essentially gets to sell you a defective car (because you really have little choice but to accept-- they already have your money), and then try to fix the defects while you own it. They get the money up front. You get the inconvenience and own a car that might never be 100% right.

Tesla's build-to-order business model incentivizes this behavior on their part. And their no-dealerships model incentivizes them to underbuild their service infrastructure. After all, service-under-warranty is just a cost to Tesla-- and the longer you have to wait, the longer they can delay these costs (and possibly even discourage customers from bothering to get things fixed). By contrast, warranty service is a profit center for dealers, since it is work that the dealer gets to bill to the manufacturer. The dealers are incentivized to provide warranty service and to build sufficient service capacity to do so. If one dealer falls behind, customers can go to a competing dealer.

This isn't to say that dealers are "good guys." Of course, they will rip off a customer whenever there's an opportunity. But they are out to make a buck, and the sales/service model incentivizes them to fix defects before the car goes on the lot and then to make it relatively easy to get warranty service on whatever is missed.

Wow, what a skewed viewpoint: Tesla is out to take advantage of you. Not buying it.