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Killing the brand with poor service

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I'm always floored when people think this is a surprise. TESLA IS A BABY compared to the other auto companies that have been doing this for 100 years. They are also the only manufacturer who direct sells and services their cars... all the other companies have 3rd party dealerships to take on that burden. Don't forget... Tesla has only been mass producing cars for 3 YEARS. Get some perspective... we're all early adopters. Let's have this conversation again in 50 years and then it might be fair to compare Tesla to the German companies.

It used to be 1000% better than where it is today before the 3 rolled out.. Now its like trying to talk to a internet only company without chat or email or phone with very few physical locations that cannot help.
 
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I'm always floored when people think this is a surprise. TESLA IS A BABY compared to the other auto companies that have been doing this for 100 years. They are also the only manufacturer who direct sells and services their cars... all the other companies have 3rd party dealerships to take on that burden. Don't forget... Tesla has only been mass producing cars for 3 YEARS. Get some perspective... we're all early adopters. Let's have this conversation again in 50 years and then it might be fair to compare Tesla to the German companies.
It’s not as much as being surprised as it is saying it’s unacceptable and they have far less than 50 years to improve.

Service is more about helping customers with their car issues and less about elimination of issues from decades of mass production. Tesla needs 50 years to prioritize that somewhat as much as new car sales? Service is a major way the other EVs can compete with Tesla. If it doesn’t improve, we’ll switch to some of the new offerings.
 
I'm always floored when people think this is a surprise. TESLA IS A BABY compared to the other auto companies that have been doing this for 100 years. They are also the only manufacturer who direct sells and services their cars... all the other companies have 3rd party dealerships to take on that burden. Don't forget... Tesla has only been mass producing cars for 3 YEARS. Get some perspective... we're all early adopters. Let's have this conversation again in 50 years and then it might be fair to compare Tesla to the German companies.

"Customer service" has been around for quite some time, and there is nothing to re-invent. It merely takes the correct phone calls and some payroll, and it's 2020 again.
 
In that Driven movie about DeLorean:

Johnny Carson is one of his bigger and earliest inverters.

There's a scene where Carson calls yelling his car broke down. DeLorean says don't worry about it Johnny we're get a new one to you in the morning. To which Johnny says you already did that, and that one broke down too. Then Johhny goes off on him.

Just popped into my head right now.
 
I'm always floored when people think this is a surprise. TESLA IS A BABY compared to the other auto companies that have been doing this for 100 years. They are also the only manufacturer who direct sells and services their cars... all the other companies have 3rd party dealerships to take on that burden. Don't forget... Tesla has only been mass producing cars for 3 YEARS. Get some perspective... we're all early adopters. Let's have this conversation again in 50 years and then it might be fair to compare Tesla to the German companies.


Can’t believe this is still being used as an excuse....especially after all this claims about how dealers are evil and direct sales is the way to go. That line made sense back when Tesla was giving service that was better than your average dealer. Now? Not so much; instead we’re left with excuses like this.
 
When the competition gets a half decent EV alternative (and they are close, even with fast charging network deployments), their marketing can just focus on service. Heck they could do whole advert campaign on how comprehensive their warranty is, for example advertise how yellowing of LCD screens is covered under warranty, "unlike the other brand". "Compare our 350 mile range guaranteed for the duration of warranty against the other brand with 400 mile range claim but only warranty for 280 miles of it". "When you need a quick service you can just schedule an appointment and get it done while you wait, unlike the other brand service which needs your car for up to 4 days for all services". "Our parts are available for overnight shipping, unlike the other brand which has lead times measured in weeks or even months".

Heck, how about a simple "We have a senior executive and a team focused on customer service, unlike the other brand which doesn't see the need".
 
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Lets not forget Tesla used to be the best in customer service.
When the competition gets a half decent EV alternative (and they are close, even with fast charging network deployments), their marketing can just focus on service. Heck they could do whole advert campaign on how comprehensive their warranty is, for example advertise how yellowing of LCD screens is covered under warranty, "unlike the other brand". "Compare our 350 mile range guaranteed for the duration of warranty against the other brand with 400 mile range claim but only warranty for 280 miles of it". "When you need a quick service you can just schedule an appointment and get it done while you wait, unlike the other brand service which needs your car for up to 4 days for all services". "Our parts are available for overnight shipping, unlike the other brand which has lead times measured in weeks or even months".

Heck, how about a simple "We have a senior executive and a team focused on customer service, unlike the other brand which hasn't had one for years now".
Genius
 
Wow, I must be the unluckiest Tesla customer ever, bought 4 Model S so far and every one of them required service in the first weeks of ownership, and some later too.
...
You can insist till you're blue in the face, it doesn't get you a loaner if they don't have any - I tried last couple of times, the answer is "we don't have any loaners available, you can have up to $100 uber credit". I think you have a better chance to just play the lottery and hope you win enough to buy yourself a second Tesla to drive while your first one is in service.
Keep in mind that roblab has had to go in for service a bunch, including "about once a month" in the very early days. See 2017 Model 3 Reliability.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if he got good service in the early days, since that seemed to be the norm until the Model 3 began shipping in volume and JonMC left...
 
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I’m watching for changes at the executive level. If that position remains empty (VP Service or some such) and unloved I don’t expect any significant changes and we won’t buy another.

the threat from other EV makers is starting to be real. The efforts at the Nurburgring and lawsuit against Rivian illustrates that Tesla feels the pressure.
 
I'm always floored when people think this is a surprise. TESLA IS A BABY compared to the other auto companies that have been doing this for 100 years. They are also the only manufacturer who direct sells and services their cars... all the other companies have 3rd party dealerships to take on that burden. Don't forget... Tesla has only been mass producing cars for 3 YEARS. Get some perspective... we're all early adopters. Let's have this conversation again in 50 years and then it might be fair to compare Tesla to the German companies.

And this is why Tesla doesn't care to improve QC and CS.
Free get out of jail cards readily given to the company.
 
Tesla autopilot and supercharger network is what is giving them the lead right now. Electrify america will change the supercharger network but no one is even close to teslas autopilot system. Really a shame that their support has gone to crap. I was pretty brand loyal until this past year.

I unfortunately feel service will continue to get even worse until they have any real competition. They just don't seem to care. I'm genuinely afraid to take my car in for service given how last time they did not even work on my car for 5 days with no loaner given and not even the courtesy of an honest update on the ETA. Even the dreaded MVA answers phone calls.

Service is something they can fix if they wanted to but given we are years into declining service with no effort made to address the service issues, we are screwed until they have real competition. They will address service when poor service begins to affect sales.

How I wish they made a batch of Model 3s for use as service loaners and hired a human to answer calls at each service center. These two things will likely solve 95% of all their service issues.
 
I unfortunately feel service will continue to get even worse until they have any real competition. They just don't seem to care. I'm genuinely afraid to take my car in for service given how last time they did not even work on my car for 5 days with no loaner given and not even the courtesy of an honest update on the ETA. Even the dreaded MVA answers phone calls.

Agree. I love my cars. You really can't get the same thing with anyone else. But when they do have real competition I'm likely to switch back to a legacy brand.

The level of service I had with a Toyota for 8 years was substantially better. And the level of service I had with Audi for 8 years was MILES ahead. Not to mention Audi corporate customer service is brain dead easy to get hold of and more than happy to work with you or get involved with the dealer if need be. Audi replaced or repaired thousands of dollars of goodwill service at request and would keep working on something until it was 100%.
 
Sorry to hear about the OP's poor service experience(s). I just came back from SC visit for an AC issue blowing warm air after accelerating to merge into highway, and return of shudder.

Well, they said AC behavior is normal like that, and the shudder is due to overinflated tires, which are no longer recommended to be 45 PSI on our S. Instead, it should be 42 PSI for Summer months. I explained the shudder returned with 45 PSI during March too but I cnacelled that appt due to the start of COVID stay-at-home orders. Anyway, I accepted their explanations and it didn't bother me. I told them I'm sure the shudder isn't PSI-related and that I'll make another appt when it crops up again.

I still considered this a positive visit because the employees are always polite, cordial, and professional at our local Rocklin, CA SC. They're just following company policies and doing their job. It didn't feel they were trying to avoid warranty work in this case, just going through checklists. I've always had good experiences at this SC and didn't want to use Uber to go home, only to be called back an hour later if parts needed to be ordered, so I brought my tent for shade and a chair to wait fpr diagnostic to complete. They now only provide loaners for work requiring 72 hours or more. The good thing is they waived what would have been a $284 diagnostic fee since the tech deemed it too excessive to justify them letting air out of my tires.
 
Sorry to hear about the OP's poor service experience(s). I just came back from SC visit for an AC issue blowing warm air after accelerating to merge into highway, and return of shudder.

Well, they said AC behavior is normal like that, and the shudder is due to overinflated tires, which are no longer recommended to be 45 PSI on our S. Instead, it should be 42 PSI for Summer months. I explained the shudder returned with 45 PSI during March too but I cnacelled that appt due to the start of COVID stay-at-home orders. Anyway, I accepted their explanations and it didn't bother me. I told them I'm sure the shudder isn't PSI-related and that I'll make another appt when it crops up again.

I still considered this a positive visit because the employees are always polite, cordial, and professional at our local Rocklin, CA SC. They're just following company policies and doing their job. It didn't feel they were trying to avoid warranty work in this case, just going through checklists. I've always had good experiences at this SC and didn't want to use Uber to go home, only to be called back an hour later if parts needed to be ordered, so I brought my tent for shade and a chair to wait fpr diagnostic to complete. They now only provide loaners for work requiring 72 hours or more. The good thing is they waived what would have been a $284 diagnostic fee since the tech deemed it too excessive to justify them letting air out of my tires.


That’s pretty funny. I reduced my tire pressure to 42 as I like the feel better, but the service center always increases it to 45. And my cars has been in service six times since October. So I’ve done this almost monthly.

My shudder went away after new axles. Not bunny fussiness.
 
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I am in the midst of a service horror story, and I’ve seen enough in other places to know that this is not an isolated incidence. As best I can tell, the vast majority of these cases occur because Tesla has substantially cut back on personnel and resources to their service centers. This is a deliberate corporate choice and it is rapidly killing the brand. Hence the subject line.

In my case, I made an appointment several weeks out to install FSD, which I paid for 2.5 years ago, in my 2017 MS 75D. The appointment also included an upgrade of MCU1 to MCU2, at my expense. I received emails on the status of the parts ordered, one of which had not arrived as of 5 days before the appointment. I tried desperately to reach the service center (Dedham, MA), which is more than an hour away from me, by phone, phone messages, and texts, to no avail. That, in itself, is unacceptable. Finally late in the day before the appointment, the SC texted me and said that they would put me me in a loaner until the work was complete, so I made the drive to the appointment and returned home with the loaner. BUT, the next day, they called to say that the wrong MCU part had arrived, that the right part would take 3 weeks to arrive, and that they needed the loaner back. They refused to send somebody here with my car to get the loaner. They want me to essentially make two two-hour drives due to someone’s mistake at Tesla. This is not acceptable under any circumstances. A mistake in a parts order can happen, but not having enough people to deal with it is a corporate problem.

It seems to me that Tesla is being penny-wise and pound-foolish with its service. Word is getting around about how poor the service is, and, being active on social media, I intend to help spread it, unless something drastic happens immediately. I certainly would not recommend buying a Tesla right now.

Seems Tesla's service continues its downward spiral since your post. My Model X MCU failed, rendering car pretty much un-drivable. I have just had 4 weeks of being put on hold for 30 min at a time, having appointments cancelled, calls not returned, no loaner vehicle made available. Ultimately had to pay $800 for a rental car which Tesla refused to cover / discuss / assist. Paid my expensive lease for July for a car I could not drive and was unable to service. Have had way better service on my wife's Toyota Prius. I think I'm done.