Is Tesla service deteriorating as they scale??

[hotgrips]

I hope Lucid Air EVs have a club as thorough as the TeslaMotorsClub. I'd buy a 2021 Model S Plaid if it had the new battery technology and the HW4.0 Otherwise I am looking at the Lucid Air, the service problems are really difficult to live with, although there is no question Tesla makes the best and safest EV.

 

[cookie99]

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.

yea but Mercedes AMG and jaguar are famous for electrical issues and insanely expensive replacement parts. Are you trying to say that we should EXPECT Tesla to be as bad as Mercedes AMG and Jaguar? I would rather Tesla be known to be maintenance like a Toyota. If someone asks me hows owning a Tesla and I tell them just expect it to be a Jaguar that would most likely be a hard pass from them.

 

[BlindPass]

yea but Mercedes AMG and jaguar are famous for electrical issues and insanely expensive replacement parts. Are you trying to say that we should EXPECT Tesla to be as bad as Mercedes AMG and Jaguar? I would rather Tesla be known to be maintenance like a Toyota. If someone asks me hows owning a Tesla and I tell them just expect it to be a Jaguar that would most likely be a hard pass from them.

Mercedes-AMG and Jaguar? I’d settle for Tesla being as good as Alfa Romeo.

I’ve been disappointed by JLR before, but their customer service ethos were still way better than Tesla.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Agreed, but perhaps this is the basis for the complaints. Tesla buyers perhaps have the highest expectation of perfection of any buyers. They expect Toyota dependability with Ferrari performance.

Tesla makes fantastic cars, but they are not perfect. They have glitches and items that need service. Especially problematic is the poor quality paint that can sneak through inspections, and lax panel fittment.

Some owners will see a 1/4" panel mis alignment and that becomes the center of his ownership experience. They will totally ignore the amazing performance, tremendous eco benefits, the fuel savings, the far superior ordering experience, bypassing the entire stealership bull *sugar*. They do not focus on the never shifting, always torquey, excellent throttle response, but focus only on that tiny scratch thaf for some reason make their car horrible.

Most everybody understands that the paint shop in Fremont did not work out well, and that the employees turn out some poor assembly as well. GM/Toyota closed down that same plant for the same reason. They also could not get great quality due to California environmental restrictions and a lack of quality focused employees.

Elon thought that he could fix all this with Robotic assembly and technology. It was a great idea that did not turn out as well as he had hoped. Fall back strategy is to reduce the number of Robots and increase the number of hourly workers.

Still a struggle getting quality out of Fremont.

Latest solution seems to be to reduce the complexity of their cars. Use fewer components, less bits and pieces and move to large single castings instead of hundreds of welded together pieces. Reduce the complexity of heating/cooling and wiring. Will see how this works out...but that challenged paint shop seem to be staying the course

 

[aerodyne]

I recently had a terrible experience with Tesla Customer Service trying to get supercharging "privileges" restored for my wife's Model 3 after her credit card was improperly declined by Tesla for a $5.68 charge because Tesla had failed to update their Visa vendor charge processing software after Visa recently did an "AVS update", so the Tesla charge was declined by bu my wife's bank due to "address verification mismatch". This is the same Visa card we have been using for the last two years with many vendors (including Tesla) and this is the only time it declined payment. It took me three days and five hours on the phone to straighten this out with Tesla Customer Service. I have attached a long (but hopefully enlightening) email that I wrote to one of Tesla's customer leadership team members. All I got in response was a 1 minute phone call thanking me for sharing my detailed encounter with her department, and a "we know we have to do better and are working on it."

"we know we have to do better"

It's a start at least.

You have the patience of a saint, BTW...Tesla service does not deserve customers like you...

 

[ohmman]

I bought my Model S P85 in March of 2014. The service situation was the absolute best I'd ever experienced. They used to contact us based on questions we asked here on this forum, as they read it regularly. For example, they once called me and said, "We understand you heard something in the motor? Can we come pick it up and drop off a loaner?" And that was without me calling them.

My closest service center is a 35-40 minute drive. Not bad, but not convenient. They would almost always do a car exchange at my home. This continued all the way until I received my X in April of 2016. It seemed they became suddenly overwhelmed with having two different vehicles. My X sat at the Service Center for two of the first four months I owned it. I figured they were coming to terms with the first X deliveries and it would normalize, but it never did. It only continued to get worse.

I don't blame the employees at the Service Centers. I truly think they're doing the best they can, and they're getting slammed. I blame the overall management structure and the lack of attention service has been given, from the top. They're happy to sell us new cars - every sale should reflect an investment in servicing that vehicle.

Look, I have over 9000 posts on this forum. I volunteer as a moderator. I clearly have had an interest in and respect for Tesla for the last 6+ years. You'd think I'd be standing up to defend them, but I'm not. Tesla is currently the 8th largest company in the world by market capitalization - at the time of this post, their market cap is over $400 billion. It's time to act like it.

 

[Zythryn]

...
But I am glad there are people out there making excuses for poor service.

Please remember to draw a distinction between 'making excuses' and 'still experiencing good service'.
In my experience, Tesla service has been as good as it ever has (back to a roadster when the only service was mobile service).

I am not saying people experiencing bad service aren't experiencing bad service.
I am saying that there are some of us experiencing wonderful service.

 

[Darren Donovan]

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.

So Tesla's poor QC and CS can be justified if other makes have probems also? That's an odd way to looking at it. Tesla aims to be a disruptor, correct? Not to copycat legacy manufacturers , whose QC and CS have exceeded Tesla.

 

[Julie119]

Tesla service is absolutely miserable and has been for a while. I'd rather go to the dentist than take my car in for service. It's that bad.

I know whatever BS they can come up with to not cover a warranty repair, they will happily tell me how everything is within spec, not a defect at all, or a defect that is not covered by the warranty. I can also count on them to not provide a loaner, keep my car for days, barely provide any updates, ignore whatever text messages they don't feel like replying to, ignore voicemails and emails, and generally treat me like worthless garbage.

I love my car and Tesla the company and their mission but they have created the worst service experience I have ever endured from a car dealer. The worst part is what can you do? If you receive poor service at a dealer you can go to another dealer or contact the manufacturer but what do you do when they are all the same and there is no competition.

Granted there seems to be a few service centers where they treat customers well.

The rest of us *&%F$@&@ed.

I'm sorry with what you are enduring after you paid for the ESA warranty.

Service should not suck this badly. I honestly also do feel bad for the service center employees. I don't think they are providing bad service because that's what they want to do but they are following orders and doing the best they can with the limited resources they have (or don't have).

For our next EV, if we buy a vehicle that is not a Tesla, it would be only because of poor service.

You all are mostly long time Tesla owners. I bought my first one, a Model X long range in March just before quarantine. I didn’t have a huge chance to drive it until end of June when we drove to NC. The problems we had, including no air conditioning for most of our drive back from NC to Miami, have been brushed off and ignored.

But most aggravating is that you can’t reach a human by phone. Everything refers you to the app or website. I’m very tech savvy. If I’m calling, I’ve already tried everything the support site offers. While we were on the road, I even resorted to calling roadside emergency assistance several times, feeling that having no AC was an emergency. You can’t even reach them unless you’re dying.

I’m happy we didn’t have a flat. I shudder to think of how many hours we would have had to wait for them to come replace it. I was reluctant to leave Lexus because of their superior service, but sadly, their cars have all gone downhill in recent years.

So — I love this Tesla,, it I’m about to put in a complaint through the Lemon Law.

 

[Teefal]

Like anywhere, it depends on the center. Big difference is that Tesla skips the dealship model, which has a financial incentive to keep you happy so you'll buy a new car there (as they overcharge you for service).

I've heard nothing but good things about our SC. Lucky me. Should Tesla manage their SCs for more consistent service? Probably (not sure how independent they are). But the reality is the demand greatly outstrips the supply, for both cars aome turkey SCs are kinda necessary as they scale. You can always drive to another rone that is better.

 

[Redhot]

Tesla needs a viable competitor. Once that happens, their poor treatment of customers is going to bite them.

They have competition, competition doesn’t have to be only non ICE cars.

 

[volkerbradley]

I realize that these complaints are valid complaints. However I believe the picture that they paint about Tesla in general is not valid. Most Tesla owners experience excellent service at the Tesla service centers and with Mobile service. That certainly has been my experience.

 

[First EV]

I remember when service was awesome and I would tell anyone who would listen how great it was. Then it started to deteriate and that deteriation has only accelerated. Service was bad enough when my S was totaled a year ago that I bought a gas car instead. Something I previously claimed I would never do again. Guess what that gas car has been great. It has a warranty that Honda will honor and the fit and finish are good. I can buy parts for it if needed outside of warranty without a hassle. Oh and my cost per mile is less. So yes Tesla does have competition but many are stuck on electric only cars.

 

[BlindPass]

I remember when service was awesome and I would tell anyone who would listen how great it was. Then it started to deteriate and that deteriation has only accelerated. Service was bad enough when my S was totaled a year ago that I bought a gas car instead. Something I previously claimed I would never do again. Guess what that gas car has been great. It has a warranty that Honda will honor and the fit and finish are good. I can buy parts for it if needed outside of warranty without a hassle. Oh and my cost per mile is less. So yes Tesla does have competition but many are stuck on electric only cars.

Well said. I miss those days in which I felt so good about the company that would promote Tesla at every turn.

Now I just wait for the time we can get Tesla EV performance with Honda cost, quality, and service. Maybe now that Tesla is one of the world’s largest companies, they’ll invest in becoming that, but I don’t think it’s in the ethos of the company.

 

[CyberGus]

 

[AMPd]

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.

I love how your first line of defense for Tesla is to point out other car manufacturers are bad too.

 

[AMPd]

I realize that these complaints are valid complaints. However I believe the picture that they paint about Tesla in general is not valid. Most Tesla owners experience excellent service at the Tesla service centers and with Mobile service. That certainly has been my experience.

Uhhh what? Your experience = most owners experience? How do you figure that?

 

[CyberGus]

Uhhh what? Your experience = most owners experience? How do you figure that?

In psychology, the false consensus effect, also known as consensus bias, is a pervasive cognitive bias in social inferences, such that people tend to “see their own behavioral choices and judgments as relatively common and appropriate to existing circumstances”.[1] In other words, perceivers tend to assume that their personal qualities, characteristics, beliefs, and actions are relatively widespread through the general population for any given situation.
​

False consensus effect - Wikipedia

 

[Zinjan]

I recently had a terrible experience with Tesla Customer Service trying to get supercharging "privileges" restored for my wife's Model 3 after her credit card was improperly declined by Tesla for a $5.68 charge because Tesla had failed to update their Visa vendor charge processing software after Visa recently did an "AVS update", so the Tesla charge was declined by bu my wife's bank due to "address verification mismatch". This is the same Visa card we have been using for the last two years with many vendors (including Tesla) and this is the only time it declined payment. It took me three days and five hours on the phone to straighten this out with Tesla Customer Service. I have attached a long (but hopefully enlightening) email that I wrote to one of Tesla's customer leadership team members. All I got in response was a 1 minute phone call thanking me for sharing my detailed encounter with her department, and a "we know we have to do better and are working on it."

If enough people voice their concerns we stand a chance of correcting the problem

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.

hmmmmmm...good point

 

[CyberGus]

I love how your first line of defense for Tesla is to point out other car manufacturers are bad too.

Long before Tesla existed, most people rated the car-buying experience somewhere between root canal and colonoscopy. Lemon-laws have been on the books for decades. So I think it's fair to compare Tesla to other manufacturers, rather than some arbitrary scale of perfection.

That said, an online message board makes for a poor random sample. There are numerous studies of Tesla ongoing service and quality issues:

Tesla quality - Google Search