Apologies for the long post but I I wanted to share my recent experience with Tesla and the Dallas Service Center.
First I understand that there is and inherent risk buying a used car and that was my decision. I own that and much of my post is based out of pure frustration and disappointment.
But after reading countless forum articles and car reviews testifying the Model S reliability I was convinced that Tesla makes a solid and reliable product and that generally owners are well cared for, hence I shouldn’t be to concerned. After finally getting the service records It was clear that this was not a problematic car.
My experience has been quite the opposite and what I came find out is that if you don’t purchase a new or CPO vehicle from them and something goes wrong, they will make you pay for it. In every sense of the word.
One month after ownership my worst fear happened. After firmware update the MCU started giving me technical issues. Ultimately it failed leaving me with a $3,500 bill and an inoperable car. oh and they’re charging me $20 to tell the AC is working fine. The Service managers response,” most of the technical parts on the car like the MCU have a shelf life of 4-6 years so this is actually pretty typical.”
Are kidding me? A six figure car that has been marketed as a ultra reliable game changer precisely because of “less moving parts” has imminent failures by design. I would love to see a salesperson make that pitch to a potential buyer.
I have read and shared with the Service Center various accounts were the MCU had been replaced under good will and given that I have only one had the car one month the idea of spending nearly 3k in repairs is absolutely ludicrous.
On another note my DU needs to be replaced under warranty but incredibly it turns out that hubs needs to be greased. Grinding/milling, droning, clunk sounds and present but no need to replace the DU apparently. So Tesla is more than happy to charge a huge bill on a non warranty item but will not address a major fault under warranty. Let me guess, that issue ha a “longer shelf life”. Unbelievable.
Do I like the car. Absolutely. It’s safe, amazing to drive, gorgeous and a technical marvel.
Has Tesla lost my trust a customer and a brand advocate over petty nickel and dimming? Absolutely.
They had the opportunity out of “goodwill” to make this an exceptional experience but decided to make sure that if you don’t buy from them it’s going to hurt. You’ve made your point Tesla and after working in marketing for over 25 years I have learned that once you’ve lost a customer it’s very difficult to gain they’re business again.
First I understand that there is and inherent risk buying a used car and that was my decision. I own that and much of my post is based out of pure frustration and disappointment.
But after reading countless forum articles and car reviews testifying the Model S reliability I was convinced that Tesla makes a solid and reliable product and that generally owners are well cared for, hence I shouldn’t be to concerned. After finally getting the service records It was clear that this was not a problematic car.
My experience has been quite the opposite and what I came find out is that if you don’t purchase a new or CPO vehicle from them and something goes wrong, they will make you pay for it. In every sense of the word.
One month after ownership my worst fear happened. After firmware update the MCU started giving me technical issues. Ultimately it failed leaving me with a $3,500 bill and an inoperable car. oh and they’re charging me $20 to tell the AC is working fine. The Service managers response,” most of the technical parts on the car like the MCU have a shelf life of 4-6 years so this is actually pretty typical.”
Are kidding me? A six figure car that has been marketed as a ultra reliable game changer precisely because of “less moving parts” has imminent failures by design. I would love to see a salesperson make that pitch to a potential buyer.
I have read and shared with the Service Center various accounts were the MCU had been replaced under good will and given that I have only one had the car one month the idea of spending nearly 3k in repairs is absolutely ludicrous.
On another note my DU needs to be replaced under warranty but incredibly it turns out that hubs needs to be greased. Grinding/milling, droning, clunk sounds and present but no need to replace the DU apparently. So Tesla is more than happy to charge a huge bill on a non warranty item but will not address a major fault under warranty. Let me guess, that issue ha a “longer shelf life”. Unbelievable.
Do I like the car. Absolutely. It’s safe, amazing to drive, gorgeous and a technical marvel.
Has Tesla lost my trust a customer and a brand advocate over petty nickel and dimming? Absolutely.
They had the opportunity out of “goodwill” to make this an exceptional experience but decided to make sure that if you don’t buy from them it’s going to hurt. You’ve made your point Tesla and after working in marketing for over 25 years I have learned that once you’ve lost a customer it’s very difficult to gain they’re business again.
