Sorry to hear you need to do this to get a satisfactory service. This example alone tells Tesla (if they indeed care) how bad their service experience has come to.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
MCU is dead, car is bricked, Tesla is being unforgivably terrible
- Thread starter ILLCOMM
- Start date
Sorry to hear you need to do this to get a satisfactory service. This example alone tells Tesla (if they indeed care) how bad their service experience has come to.
tinm
2020 Model S LR+ Owner
I feel conflicted about sharing the SC. 1) Coincidence or not, shortly after this post they got their act together and I am getting daily updates and 2) even though I hated to call anyone out, a Company is one thing but a few (potentially overworked, under resourced) individuals is another. On the later point, it's hard for me to know if this is a problem with idiosyncratic or systemic root cause. I suspect systemic and would rather Tesla fix this problem with process and not finger point at individuals. As Bezos says, "good intentions are worth sh*t."
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
To be fair, doing something even slightly mediocre is quite “unpresidented” these days.
Arizona Willie
Member
=============
I love the car and HATE the company.
There are clearly some service centers that at unacceptable. At least two that I know of have been recently “rebooted” and there are many that do an excellent job. I think one of the issues is that Tesla had been hiring a slew of veterans with military management experience and little customer service experience. They definitely need to get better at this overall.
Without minimizing your frustration, I will mention that one thing you can do to verify your car was delivered is to use the mobile app and check where your car is, using the "Location" feature. I recently had my car fail so it had to be trucked to the service center, also. It went there on a Saturday. I did not hear from the SC for a few days, but I checked every day on the app to see where the car was. I could see that it was parked outside the shop. (The resolution is surprisingly good, and you can turn on the satellite view so that the buildings show up.) Then one day, it was shown as inside the shop, so I knew they were working on it. Then it went back outside for a few days while they waited for parts. (By that time, the SC had texted me as well, so I know there would be a delay.)
Apparently the SC did not disable remote access immediately upon the car's arrival at the lot -- otherwise I suppose this trick would not work, at least while it was actually inside the shop.
My SC activates the "Service Mode" immediately upon the arrival of the car (the IC shows the "Service" Mode" in red). This also disables the app's remote access, only showing "the car is in service". I believe all SC's are required to disable the owners's app access during the time the car is being serviced.
Mine did not disable the remote access, but it would make sense for them to do so because owner's could trigger the horn, open and close the trunks/chargeport door/sunroof/door handles, trigger the HVAC, etc which could create problems during servicing the car.
I guess I was lucky! Presumably the SC was so busy that they had no time for that detail.
So, I've had my model S85D for four years. In that time I have had only exceptional service experiences. I have always been able to connect with my local service centre (sometimes that is in Oakville Ontario Canada, some times that is in West Palm Beach Florida, by choosing the option "to check the status of a current service incident" on the phone. They also communicate with me by text and give me a direct line to my service advisor, a text only line, and an email address. I have also had mobile service, and that too has been very efficient and responsive. Roadside service on the phone with the ability to see the functions of the car is far beyond anything I have experienced with my previous cars (Mercedes). I judge my service providers by what happens when things go wrong. Here are a couple of examples: doing the airbag recall (mobile service), the technician cracked my windshield--Instant loaner and windshield swap; worst scenario, leaving West Palm for the drive home to Canada, got alerts, pulled into service centre, told car not safe to drive, immediate loaner but stuck in Florida waiting for parts. Turns out misdiagnosed because West Palm had never seen corrosion...ground stud needed replacing. They swapped out whole battery cooling system, all took 6 days, probably unnecessary. Drove off, next day alerts resumed, found a tech in Raleigh, NC who knew what the real problem was, but didn't have tools to fix, drove home, got car fixed in an hour in Oakville. Everyone at all times communicated like crazy and were doing everything they could to help. In spite of lost time, I bear no grudge...how many people drive a Tesla old enough to have a corrosion issue to Florida from Canada, how would West Palm Beach ever have seen that problem. No doubt there is a service bulletin about it by now. I have had nothing but wonderful service and free loaners from day one, when I needed a new front motor in the very first month. Very surprised to hear these bad stories from other owners. For my part, still evangelising.
I just had a DU replaced due to noise. I waited 3 days to get parts. Service was Fantastic!!
I'm going through this now. Someone dented a door while my S was parked in a lot. Small dent. Resolution, wait for a couple of months for parts and replace the entire door.
Regarding the scarcity of the parts and the owners waiting for months, does anyone know what the real issue is with the Tesla parts? Are these parts manufactured per order because Tesla does not have them in their inventory or is it simply a problem with the distribution/logistics of the available parts? I'm so curious.
Service must vary widely. I bought an out-of-warranty MS in '17 and the only serious problem I experienced was that it started warning me that the Tire Pressure Sensors weren't working and that the 12V battery was dying. 6 months later I drove an hour to the Cincinnati SC and they loaned me a 100D and threw in the battery when I agreed to upgrade the tire sensors [~$600]. Then about a year ago software updates started failing and when the roving tech came to do the PS bolt recall he worked for ~4 hours to fix the problem and when he couldn't I made another trip to Cincinnati last week and you guessed it - another loaner (this time a P85) and after 2 days working on it it's accepting updates again. The charge? $0.00 for an out-of-warranty 2013. That's what I call Customer Service!
Yeah, service has to vary widely. I'm on my second tesla now and haven't really had any terrible service experiences.
My experiences over about 3 years :
Model S :
MCU replacement- a week and a half in the shop, was given Model S loaner nearly identical to my car (minus AP)
Panoramic Roof had to be replaced - a couple days in shop, same loaner.
Door handles - they couldn't reproduce so nothing done, still they kept it a full day, same loaner. Was annoyed about this one since it would happen 5 or 6 times a week, they just couldn't ever reproduce the issue so never got solved.
Model X :
Acceleration Shudder, replaced half shafts - less than a week in shop, Model X loaner
Enable tow package (not installing hardware) - same day, same model X loaner.
I will say that they don't always communicate well, especially over email before your appointment.
Only the MCU replacement was an urgent issue though, so I usually take it in after the parts arrive.
I could see where an emergency issue where the car isn't drive-able and you have to wait on parts could take a long time and be super frustrating...
My experiences over about 3 years :
Model S :
MCU replacement- a week and a half in the shop, was given Model S loaner nearly identical to my car (minus AP)
Panoramic Roof had to be replaced - a couple days in shop, same loaner.
Door handles - they couldn't reproduce so nothing done, still they kept it a full day, same loaner. Was annoyed about this one since it would happen 5 or 6 times a week, they just couldn't ever reproduce the issue so never got solved.
Model X :
Acceleration Shudder, replaced half shafts - less than a week in shop, Model X loaner
Enable tow package (not installing hardware) - same day, same model X loaner.
I will say that they don't always communicate well, especially over email before your appointment.
Only the MCU replacement was an urgent issue though, so I usually take it in after the parts arrive.
I could see where an emergency issue where the car isn't drive-able and you have to wait on parts could take a long time and be super frustrating...
gnuarm
Model X 100 with 72 amp chargers
I haven't read the whole thread, but service problems at Tesla have been around since the beginning. When you get good service you get really good service. When you get bad service you get really bad service. Nothing new here.
Likely the problem will continue to get worse as the company hits rough spots financially. Also with the proliferation of model 3s the service network will be more stressed.
My opinion is that to change this will require significant feedback from prospective buyers saying they are concerned about Tesla's service reputation. Tesla is very concerned about sales and feedback through this channel is most important.
Likely the problem will continue to get worse as the company hits rough spots financially. Also with the proliferation of model 3s the service network will be more stressed.
My opinion is that to change this will require significant feedback from prospective buyers saying they are concerned about Tesla's service reputation. Tesla is very concerned about sales and feedback through this channel is most important.
Similar threads
