I've had my MY for little over a month. I just took my first long road trip and found that the steering wheel is not centered. It's a few degrees off to the right. I never really noticed driving around town but on a 10 hour trip, it was obvious. I put in a service request with my "local" SC and they want to charge me $126 to do an alignment. Uhhh...not only is the car only a month old but I also just bought a M3LR in September so I would have hoped that my recent repeat business might help get this covered under warranty. I have a local mechanic that I trust very much who has serviced my cars for many years. Honest and a damn great mechanic. He is 10 minutes away from my house and would charge me $80 for an alignment. The Tesla SC is a 2 hour round trip and will charge me $126. I don't know if my mechanic has ever seen a Tesla in his shop. Is the MY steering system just a normal rack and pinion system like every other car or is it something exotic? If it is just a normal run of the mill steering system, I would rather just run down the street to a mechanic I trust than make a 75 mile/2 hour round trip to the Tesla SC.
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Is There Anything Odd About MY Front Suspension That My Normal Mechanic Can't Handle
- Thread starter scoobybri
- Start date
thesmokingman
Active Member
Alignments are not covered under warranty.
That said there's nothing special an alignment shops needs except their software should be current enough to get the specs for your car's alignment, ie. the printout with the default settings.
That said there's nothing special an alignment shops needs except their software should be current enough to get the specs for your car's alignment, ie. the printout with the default settings.
My mechanic says that he can't do an alignment on a Tesla because you need a special proprietary computer to release and then recenter the steering wheel. Not sure how if it is a Tesla service computer he is talking about or just being able to put the car into service mode. Regardless, he and another garage that he recommended can't do it. I did get a message from the SC saying they were doing the alignment under a goodwill waiver. Glad to hear that but this shows that, at least for now, Tesla is the only one they will allow to work on their vehicles. Reminds me of the John Deere situation where farmers are restricted from working on their tractors. Some states are passing legislation that will require manufacturers to allow people to have the option to repair their own equipment or take it to someone other than the manufacturer. Kind of is applicable in this situation with Tesla.
SabrToothSqrl
Active Member
My X had the wheel cocked since new. I told them at mile 12 of driving on the odometer. They also tried to tell me it wasn't under warranty. at least back then I had a week to return the whole damn car. Welcome to Tesla Service.
thesmokingman
Active Member
I doubt that. I brought in my kid's STI for an alignment, it's running coilovers. A trick on just about any strut style damper is the play in the bolt holes, essentially you can use up the "built-in" slack to dial in a lot more camber than the design on paper says. The alignment guru was telling me you can't get -3 degrees rear camber without camber plates, or any add-on. I knew right there this is a guy who knows what he knows and that's it. I laughed at him cuz after they checked the car it had -3.5 deg rear camber. I told the tech to not touch the rear, it's good the way it is. Just cuz they are mechanics, it doesn't mean they know everything or what they say is the end be all. Grain of salt...
Like I wrote in my first post, they only need an up to date computer to pull the stock alignment specs. The rest of the car is the same as any car for alignment.
Does the car track straight with your hands off the wheel? If so, it’s not the steering alignment, it’s the centering of the wheel. When I made that distinction clear to my SC they dropped the alignment charge and fixed the misaligned steering wheel for free.
To the OP on this thread - bring it to the Sterling, VA SC. I had the same issue and about a month into ownership, they re-aligned and centered the steering wheel (you have to ask for BOTH). They will always charge you the full fee up-front, and then zero-out the charge as "good will" at the end. I have about 19K on my 19" Vredstein Quatracs now and they are wearing evenly at all 4 corners, the car tracks perfectly straight, and the steering wheel is centered. I've had additional success with that SC, as they had to replace my windshield and entire roof glass under warranty, and it is much better than it was from the factory, with excellent gaps and little to zero wind noise. Professional and courteous each time, including my tire swap.
Its not really the same situation as Tesla sells service access. The service manual and tools are purchasable, similar to other manufacturers: Tesla Service
AFAIK, this isn't really needed to do an alignment anyway.
btownalset
Member
Fwiw - my 2019 model 3 (23k miles) is having the control arm ball joint creaking issue on the drivers side. Made an appointment via app. Without them asking more questions, got a zero dollar estimate for both driver and passenger side control arm replacement covered under warranty. I was pleasantly surprised to see it.
Took delivery of MYLR in late September 2021 and immediately noticed crooked steering wheel. Made a service center appointment on the app and had issue corrected under warranty with minimal hassle. Not any mechanic shop can align a Tesla. Aligner must be able to perform ADAS level alignments. Google that……(Recalibration of cameras, lane departure sensors etc.)
This alignment equipment is roughly double the cost of basic alignment systems but is NOT proprietary to Tesla service centers. The Hunter alignment system in my Tesla SC can be purchased by any shop. Starting at 45K, this equipment is cost prohibitive for most shops that do not see a lot of newer cars. That will change quickly however. (Along with the average cost of an alignment) The “guy down the street” that offers an $80 Dollar alignment is probably not servicing you correctly. Don’t do it! If you don’t want to go to SC one Pro tip is to look for an alignment mechanic that does a lot of business with Body shops. Those guys see a lot of newer vehicles with ADAS requirements.
This alignment equipment is roughly double the cost of basic alignment systems but is NOT proprietary to Tesla service centers. The Hunter alignment system in my Tesla SC can be purchased by any shop. Starting at 45K, this equipment is cost prohibitive for most shops that do not see a lot of newer cars. That will change quickly however. (Along with the average cost of an alignment) The “guy down the street” that offers an $80 Dollar alignment is probably not servicing you correctly. Don’t do it! If you don’t want to go to SC one Pro tip is to look for an alignment mechanic that does a lot of business with Body shops. Those guys see a lot of newer vehicles with ADAS requirements.
