Is Tesla service deteriorating as they scale??

[jeremymc7]

+1 all of the above posts.

Waiting to see when other makers offer comparable EV's and see what shakes out.

I love my Tesla but also wouldn't mind going back to Audi if they had something comparable.

FYI Audi for me is walking distance, almost never had the car more than overnight unless parts needed to be air expressed, and always had a loaner for me which was usually a brand new car and higher model.

 

[Petrocelli]

If Tesla could get its service and build quality under control, it would be the only logical choice for an EV given its Supercharger network and brand recognition.

A year ago, I was about 90% certain I was going to buy a Model 3. But the service horror stories (many on this forum) scared me away. So I ended up getting a Mercedes.

True story: a month after I got the car, the driver's side window would not roll up, so I took it to Mercedes. They fixed it under warranty, and gave me a brand new car as a loaner. What would have happened if I had a Tesla.

In any event, I am going to get a PHEV or an EV for my next car. It will probably be either a Kona or a Mercedes a250e.

 

[Dzsink]

I'm assuming this is satire, right? You realize that a one day old forum post on a tiny site with only 2500 accounts is not the same as polling all of the users, right? In fact if you adjusted the "complainers" ratio relative to 2500 people, that means percentage wise more like 2% of people are unhappy. Even that is a pretty poor stat though. If you are serious, please do some research on how statistics work. But I assume this was a joke

I fully agree. I think first time success rate for service is probably around 30%.

 

[travellerva]

I'm assuming this is satire, right? You realize that a one day old forum post on a tiny site with only 2500 accounts is not the same as polling all of the users, right? In fact if you adjusted the "complainers" ratio relative to 2500 people, that means percentage wise more like 2% of people are unhappy. Even that is a pretty poor stat though. If you are serious, please do some research on how statistics work. But I assume this was a joke


You pick your denominator; I'll pick mine; Musk will pick his!

 

[BlindPass]

OMG so adorable.

You remember your Tesla honeymoon? My PDA was arguably worse

 

[David.85D]

Hmmm. All very interesting. Think I'll try a few stats.

Tesla has built about 350,000 cars to date. Let's say 15% no longer exist - through crashes, tired batteries or something else. That leaves about 300,000 still around. Some people own more than 1; let's say that's 20% of the vehicles left. That implies about 240,000 current owners of Tesla vehicles.

There are about 50 posters on this thread about poor service (and a few deniers who we'll ignore). There have been other threads in the past about the same complaint. Let's quadruple the complainers.

That leaves 200 owners out of 240,000 who are mad enough to spend time here writing about it.

Sounds like a 99.92% success rate to me...

Elon, is that you? Is that what you tell the Board when they ask how service is going?

 

[captanzuelo]

Hmmm. All very interesting. Think I'll try a few stats.

Tesla has built about 350,000 cars to date. Let's say 15% no longer exist - through crashes, tired batteries or something else. That leaves about 300,000 still around. Some people own more than 1; let's say that's 20% of the vehicles left. That implies about 240,000 current owners of Tesla vehicles.

There are about 50 posters on this thread about poor service (and a few deniers who we'll ignore). There have been other threads in the past about the same complaint. Let's quadruple the complainers.

That leaves 200 owners out of 240,000 who are mad enough to spend time here writing about it.

Sounds like a 99.92% success rate to me...

Hey, I can make up stats too!

Say, 1 out of 1000 Tesla owners are on this forum. Thats 200 out of 240 owners who are mad enough to spend time here writing about it. Of the 40 remaining, perhaps 50% of them are having issues but just don't have the time of day to complain about it. Thats 220 out of 240 owners who aren't happy with the poor service.

Sounds like a 8.3% success rate to me!

 

[AdamMacDon]

I'm assuming this is satire, right? You realize that a one day old forum post on a tiny site with only 2500 accounts is not the same as polling all of the users, right? In fact if you adjusted the "complainers" ratio relative to 2500 people, that means percentage wise more like 2% of people are unhappy. Even that is a pretty poor stat though. If you are serious, please do some research on how statistics work. But I assume this was a joke


You pick your denominator; I'll pick mine; Musk will pick his!

That's not how statistics work, LOL. You don't "pick" statistics that fit your narrative, that is called cherry picking. I know it is very common these days, but it doesn't really help Tesla as a company. Believe me, as a shareholder and owner of their cars I want to see them do well. The way to do well is to listen to your users and address their problems. Trying to downplay them as some minority that is worth ignoring is a very arrogant and dangerous mindset for a company. Just because Elon Musk is a genius does not mean he is always correct, believe it or not.

You can read this one small thread on a tiny forum and see several people who didn't buy a Tesla because of the bad customer service. The short term Tesla fan would tell fellow Tesla supporters to just "shut up and be quiet about the problems". However, this is not a long term fix, or a fix at all. A smart Tesla supporter would admit "yes this company has problems and they need to be pressured to resolve them".

 

[Darren Donovan]

I’ve had a lot of service visits where they kind of know my name by now. My most recent service saga was to replace a loose seat. It finally got done two weeks ago after waiting about 6 months. The seat memory no longer worked after the seat replacement so I scheduled a new appointment. Mobile service came out today (earliest appointment available) just for him to verify the issue and tell me that only the service center can fix it. Now I have to schedule another appointment which is two weeks out.

Lol. Many people were told by Elon that Tesla vehicles are very maintenance free and cost of ownership is excellent, since there are a lot less parts to break.

 

[drtimhill]

Lies, damn lies, and statistics...

ok, let's say there are indeed 240,000 Tesla owners. And 1 in 1,000 are on this forum. Neither are particularly good assumptions, but whatever.

But are the people on this forum a representative sample? Why do people join forums? Some, no doubt, for curiosity or the community. But many (perhaps even most) join for help with a problem. Such as issues with Tesla service. So the members here so not represent a randomly distributed sample of Tesla owners. Thus any math based on this community is bound to be skewed.

Personally, I think the issue with Tesla service is the lack of consistency. Some report excellent service, others downright shoddy service. At the end of the day, this variability is the real root of the problem, and is an indication that Tesla corporate does not have service quality under control, leaving it up to the standards of local SC managers.

 

[AdamMacDon]

Lies, damn lies, and statistics...

ok, let's say there are indeed 240,000 Tesla owners. And 1 in 1,000 are on this forum. Neither are particularly good assumptions, but whatever.

But are the people on this forum a representative sample? Why do people join forums? Some, no doubt, for curiosity or the community. But many (perhaps even most) join for help with a problem. Such as issues with Tesla service. So the members here so not represent a randomly distributed sample of Tesla owners. Thus any math based on this community is bound to be skewed.

Personally, I think the issue with Tesla service is the lack of consistency. Some report excellent service, others downright shoddy service. At the end of the day, this variability is the real root of the problem, and is an indication that Tesla corporate does not have service quality under control, leaving it up to the standards of local SC managers.

Yeah saying this sample is biased seems like a massive understatement.

 

[Juiced Robot]

When someone asks me if I like my Tesla I always hesitate and typically tell them the truth. The cars fun but unreliable. The whole drivers side of my model x has issues. Window on driver door glitchy, fwd sensor causing phantom obstruction, clicking when I turn, etc. I am afraid to take it to service.

 

[stadia]

I felt the service deterioration too. I think the high volume of warranty services was a major reason.

Many of service needs came from the poor manufacturing quality. I got my new X in 2018. I found several issues at delivery. I finally accepted it only after they put my nearby service center manager on the phone and he promised me to fix all of them. Some of problems were fixed quickly, some were barely fixed after repeated services and one I basically accepted (a mystery squeaking sound, hard to reproduce, but I could hear it in almost every drive). Those manufacture issues led many service visits. Model X had been in production for 4-5 years before my purchase. The manufacture was supposed to be mature. Almost none of my issues was "high-tech". A Tesla is already drastically simplified and supposedly less problem-prone compared to an ICE car. But I still think Tesla's build quality is far below Lexus. I wish that I didn't have to endure the troubles of getting those warranty services and they didn't have to spend money doing them.

The other issue I found that the turnover rate of their service advisers was very high. Almost every time I went there the old faces were replaced with someone new and I was told my old adviser no longer with Tesla. It's an indicator something not right.

 

[Type 5]

I love the car, thank you Tesla!
I have had 4 interactions among 2 Service Centers. Every encounter has been negative.
So, again, thank you for a great car, but...

 

[More Cowbell]

There are many prior posts on poor service so that's the current consensus. But the competition is coming (think Mustang E electric; Ford already has in place a broad international network of service centers) and Tesla will HAVE to improve service in order to compete. Most of us agree that Tesla is a great car and I am actually optimistic that it's going to get better soon so I'm willing to wait it out. Elon will not let this company sink over poor service issues.

 

[Uncle Paul]

While it does not justify Tesla making anything but perfect cars, most other auto enthusiastic forums also have continous litany's of owners complaints. Believe it is just the nature of the internet.

 

[cookie99]

While it does not justify Tesla making anything but perfect cars, most other auto enthusiastic forums also have continous litany's of owners complaints. Believe it is just the nature of the internet.

i disagree with a passion. I am an auto enthusiast and all the cars ive ever owned (15?) i would always join the forums. I've never seen the levels as high as tesla in the recent years.

 

[cookie99]

Lies, damn lies, and statistics...

ok, let's say there are indeed 240,000 Tesla owners. And 1 in 1,000 are on this forum. Neither are particularly good assumptions, but whatever.

But are the people on this forum a representative sample? Why do people join forums? Some, no doubt, for curiosity or the community. But many (perhaps even most) join for help with a problem. Such as issues with Tesla service. So the members here so not represent a randomly distributed sample of Tesla owners. Thus any math based on this community is bound to be skewed.

Personally, I think the issue with Tesla service is the lack of consistency. Some report excellent service, others downright shoddy service. At the end of the day, this variability is the real root of the problem, and is an indication that Tesla corporate does not have service quality under control, leaving it up to the standards of local SC managers.

while you are correct that the response from this forum is only but a sliver of the market, it works both ways bud. not all of those that have issues with their car is on this forum either. many don't belong here and are ALSO experiencing issues. their first instinct isn't to join a forum and complain either. i live in california so i have DOZENS of friends with teslas.. none of them except 2 are on this forum, but yet even the ones not on this forum are also experiencing issues, so yea.. like i said, it works both ways.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Try the Corvette or Jaguar forums. Check with Mercedes AMG about plunging resale values and uber expensive after warranty costs. Hear the complaints about owners waiting months for specific unavailable repair parts. Learn how they complain about overpriced oil changes and wiper blades.
Hear the complaints that their premium metallic paint jobs cannot be matched by their dealerships, how their cars are never quite the same after collision damage.
Also hear complaints that they have run out of loaners and need to be shuttled to a nearby
Hear them complain about overpriced OEM wheels and exhaust systems.

Believe it is just the normal course of things with high expectation consumers.

 

[drtimhill]

while you are correct that the response from this forum is only but a sliver of the market, it works both ways bud. not all of those that have issues with their car is on this forum either. many don't belong here and are ALSO experiencing issues. their first instinct isn't to join a forum and complain either. i live in california so i have DOZENS of friends with teslas.. none of them except 2 are on this forum, but yet even the ones not on this forum are also experiencing issues, so yea.. like i said, it works both ways.

My point was that the forum isnt representative. I'm not taking a position on if that means it under or over emphasizes Tesla reliability issues. I don't think anyone actually knows.