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Model S Service Experience

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I wanted start a discussion about service experience with S owners.

I have a Model S Plaid that I received towards the end of last year and my service experience has been abysmal at best.

I’ve had issues noted from delivery day, (scheduled appointment in November) that still haven’t been resolved. My appointment has been rescheduled for 6 months. Often I get a message the day before the scheduled appointment stating that they need to address the issues altogether and need to reschedule.
I’ve had this happen no less than 10 times and we’re in April now.

On top of that, no guarantees for a loaner vehicle, especially considering I live over 30 miles from the closest service center. $100 a day in Uber won’t even get me home and back to the service center.

Regardless, I understand shortages of loaners, time, etc, but what I don’t understand is the lack of consideration and care for an owner. Seems like no one is concerned that I’ve been waiting 6 months for an appointment. I haven’t even gotten a decent explanation and Tesla hasn’t stated they’re waiting on parts.

I’m a very easy going person, but considering my experience, I expect at least a show of concern and desire to make things right.

I’m located in Houston btw.

I’m wondering how your service experience has been. Is anyone having a similar experience?
 
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As a 2017 S buyer the service experience has been in decline since I bought the car. The actual quality of the work for me has been good, it's the in between that gets me and most people I think.

Went from pickups in my driveway on a flatbed with a loaner left. Now it's lobbies and Uber vouchers. I am all for the mission however, but at some point it has to give. Yes at some point people will say it is not the latest Iphone or a cult. It is a car. I can get it someplace else and they love me more people move.

1. I like a consistent repeatable service experience. Tell me what it is. Sometimes it varies greatly.
2. Working on car on the date I show up. Sometimes the cars sits for days and days. Once even weeks. Why have an appointment?
3. Be able to converse with someone. Typing up some description vs a conversation is what needs to happen for most. Even if less than productive. People like the warm feeling of caring. Give me a point person on my car for each service visit.

Tesla needs to work on 1 through 3. My signature says it all. I will be buying two more EV's in the next two years. Rightnow Tesla is in the running, but service where I move next will be an issue. Going from 50 miles to a service center to more than 200.
 
I wanted start a discussion about service experience with S owners.

I have a Model S Plaid that I received towards the end of last year and my service experience has been abysmal at best.

I’ve had issues noted from delivery day, (scheduled appointment in November) that still haven’t been resolved. My appointment has been rescheduled for 6 months. Often I get a message the day before the scheduled appointment stating that they need to address the issues altogether and need to reschedule.
I’ve had this happen no less than 10 times and we’re in April now.

On top of that, no guarantees for a loaner vehicle, especially considering I live over 30 miles from the closest service center. $100 a day in Uber won’t even get me home and back to the service center.

Regardless, I understand shortages of loaners, time, etc, but what I don’t understand is the lack of consideration and care for an owner. Seems like no one is concerned that I’ve been waiting 6 months for an appointment. I haven’t even gotten a decent explanation and Tesla hasn’t stated they’re waiting on parts.

I’m a very easy going person, but considering my experience, I expect at least a show of concern and desire to make things right.

I’m located in Houston btw.

I’m wondering how your service experience has been. Is anyone having a similar experience?
In the early stages of ownership I also thought service was horrible, but I’ve since learned that the issue is expecting a high level of service especially if you’ve had any experience with any luxury ICE car manufacturer..

I’m also an easy going guy, I’d make excuses for them to justify my wait and or my dissatisfaction.

The fix I’ve learned is to be very forward with your expectations.. “squeaky wheel get the oil”

A good example to help you with loaners, in the first 2 years I’ve never gotten a loaner, period. I would always ask when I got there for service and the answer was always “we don’t have” or better yet “we don’t do loaners we use Uber credits”

Now it could just be a coincidence and maybe they’ve gotten more loaners over the years.. but these days I haven’t had a service appointment that didn’t include a loaner.. my work commute can’t even be scratched by Uber credits.

After adding all my service concerns in the app I add a “something else” item and I write..

Cust Requests Loaner, due to commute that Uber credits will not cover one way.

And on Service day, I send another message to “please assign an available loaner to my appointment” with my Driver’s License number and exp. Date , and my Insurance Carriers name..

If I have an issue that requires parts, I always ask to check if all parts are in and if not to please reschedule.

The issue you may running into is the actual availability of new refresh parts..
 
Columbus OH is still great, IMHO the 20+ little and bigger problems were all quickly forgotten, even living 100mi from the SC, with the rangers coming out and service always addressing all my issues. Nothing IMHO beats a Model S, car as tight and enjoyable as 7 years ago, just driveway swapped on the Bridgestone S-04 summer rubbers (inspected brake pads and control arms), detailed car in and out and she is back to yoga MILF equivalency status.
 
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My Bluetooth has never worked. Had mobile appt and they tore apart the dash and doors, only to make things worse. Console wasn’t reassembled properly (doors wouldn’t close). Told me I had to schedule a SC appt, so that was done, and have had the appt bumped to May 3rd. Not a good first impression.
 
My service experience has been all good. I live two hours from nearest service center so have used mobile as much as possible with my previous 3 and my 22 S. Car was delivered with a rattle. I tried to locate it unsuccessfully. Scheduled mobile service. They came to my house, found rattle, fixed it, also fixed one loose piece of weatherstripping. Service experience could not have been better.
 
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I wanted start a discussion about service experience with S owners.

I have a Model S Plaid that I received towards the end of last year and my service experience has been abysmal at best.

I’ve had issues noted from delivery day, (scheduled appointment in November) that still haven’t been resolved. My appointment has been rescheduled for 6 months. Often I get a message the day before the scheduled appointment stating that they need to address the issues altogether and need to reschedule.
I’ve had this happen no less than 10 times and we’re in April now.

On top of that, no guarantees for a loaner vehicle, especially considering I live over 30 miles from the closest service center. $100 a day in Uber won’t even get me home and back to the service center.

Regardless, I understand shortages of loaners, time, etc, but what I don’t understand is the lack of consideration and care for an owner. Seems like no one is concerned that I’ve been waiting 6 months for an appointment. I haven’t even gotten a decent explanation and Tesla hasn’t stated they’re waiting on parts.

I’m a very easy going person, but considering my experience, I expect at least a show of concern and desire to make things right.

I’m located in Houston btw.

I’m wondering how your service experience has been. Is anyone having a similar experience?
Get a lawyer
 
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if it is any consolation ( and it wont be) Tesla service is now uniformly bad. In northern VA i used to have very good service experiences Since 2017, loaner cars, they vacuumed and washed the cars before giving them back. like the " luxury brand" the used to proport to be . I just had to wait 5 weeks, for a rear upper control arm part that should be a standard stock part . but they have evolved the cars so much and spend more time selling cars than backing up stock that service is so slammed ( I counted 40 cars just sitting out side waiting for things). I do feel bad for the service tech they are probably being forced to burn and churn . When I got my car back it looked like a car that had been sitting out in the elements for 5 weeks, tires slapped back on and at least they charged it up so it didn't completely die in the 5 weeks sitting.
 
For the first 8 or so years my service was top-notch. Doesn't help that our Service Center was destroyed by a fire and is marginally open at this point more than a year later (with only 6am-7am appointments available). Now I'm stuck in a revolving door whereby every "repair" seems to result in yet a new unrelated problem. eMMC recall resulted in touchscreen replacement with a "rebuilt" unit which never worked correctly and completely failed (you guessed it -- out of 2 mth warranty). New touch screen for 6k, but power trunk liftgate no longer worked. Scheduled a repair and added radio upgrade to the visit. Liftgate now works, but radio periodically crackles, and now the USB port is dead. Car doesn't remember it's home location and resets charging limit back to 80A as soon as a charge is complete (I kept at 30A as a safety measure since I share a small EVSE with my Leaf ......). Really hate having to explain a problem and schedule a repair using the app. Tesla staff at the other "end" of the app no longer seem very proficient, with lots of back-and-forth (which could have been accomplished much more efficiently by a simple phone call).
 
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My SC experience has been kinda mixed. Now I've gotten a loaner car each time, once a model 3 and currently a model Y. They fixed my FSD, however, they said they fixed my frunk last time and was still broken. Now its back in there to be fixed a second time, we'll see if it gets fixed during this visit lol. I hate the fact that there's no one to speak to. It's so impersonal, not really a great experience
 
Owner since 2013. In the good ol' days they'd monitor this site and call you if you complained about an issue. Kinda creepy but they were itching to make things right. Loaners were a given. I still remember Elon tweeting that loaners will always be provided AND a nicer than what you currently drive (when pressed for more details IIRC he clarified a new Model S or X performance) LOL.

Anyway, through 2013-2014ish (maybe even into 2015 my memory is fuzzy) my service tech would even drive the loaner to me because he lived near me, and we would swap cars (he would drive mine home and then into the SC the next morning to work on it). Car was returned cleanly detailed and they would even vacuum a Tesla "T" into the trunk carpet. I was amazed and thought I will never buy another car ever.

There also was a time when they would let me drop off my car and valet me to work so they could work on it. They would also valet me from work back to the SvC. We did this a few times and it was nice.

Fast forward to now. Loaners are extremely hard to get. Ask for one and you even get an attitude from the SC manager. When I do get a loaner, it's often disgustingly dirty/grungy and there are multiple things wrong with the car. The last loaner I got (a Model S) must have been damaged on the driver's side because the paint on the rear door and rear fender didn't match. The charge port wouldn't lock and threw and error (charging slowly because of shock risk), the light ring around the charge port was only half way working and the half that was working was a pinkish color.. The hood looked like someone had driven it through a sand blaster. There was raw metal showing ALL over from rocks and chips - it was really a sight to behold. Someone's hat was in the back trunk too... Hope they don't miss it.

The loaner I got before that was a M3 and it had a disgusting smell inside it and had really gross Q-tips and just a general grime inside the cubbies that looked like someone was feeding a small child baby food and let it fall everywhere...

Now that I work remote, I live far enough away where a loaner is almost a must. My method to make sure I get a loaner:
1. Make the earliest appointment possible. Loaners seem to be given out almost on a first come first serve basis. Once they're out you're not getting one.
2. Group multiple problems into a single appointment. This is to ensure they will have the car overnight which I think increases your chances of getting a loaner. This has a downside though as multiple issues seems to overwhelm them sometimes and leads to some issues not getting any attention. I usually try prioritize/rank the issues in the chat for service so the most important issues don't get overlooked..
3. While ranking importance of issues, I generally try to remind the SC manager how far away I live and that with the number of issues they will likely need the car overnight so I would prefer a loaner. This usually elicits some sort of passive aggressive canned response about loaners aren't guaranteed but at least I tried to get my situation on their radar. Not everyone lives
"in the city" 15mins from the service center OR wants to put up with uber. Keep in mind the uber credits are ONLY for to and from your home and service center. So sorry if you needed a vehicle for anything else - like getting to work, groceries, running errands, picking up or dropping off kids... LOL. If you're single and/or don't have a 2nd vehicle for the family this must be really fun. I imagine extra fun for realtors and other people who REALLY need a vehicle to make money.


TLDR: Service is probably the main reason why I haven't upgraded to a performance Model Y even though I'd really like one. Tesla service has gone downhill so much that I'm not sure I will own another Tesla even though there's no other car I'd like to drive. If I had the money I might do a porche or mercedes, esp if Tesla continues to open the SpC network
 
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My service experience at Austin St Elmo's has been top notch on muy 2020 Model S P. Austin Pond Springs has been great as well. Granted, have not had anything major wrong with the car which is a start. Mainly wheels and tires (I am a magnet for potholes and random punctures on 21"s). The team in the front desk has been great and the techs have been great. They communicate with me via text and sometimes even call. They have provided me with their cellphone # to call them directly if needed. Mobile service has been excellent as well. Come to the house and are done in short order (bad AC sensor). I have owned Audis and BMWs and their service was top notch as well (loaners etc). However, I had to wait at least 4-6 weeks to be able to get an appointment even if it was a scheduled service. Tesla has always seen my car within a week.
 
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3. While ranking importance of issues, I generally try to remind the SC manager how far away I live and that with the number of issues they will likely need the car overnight so I would prefer a loaner.

That no longer works in at least the Houston SC. They told me they only give loaners if it's going to take more than 24 hours, not just overnight. So what they do is automatically say it's going to be just a little less than 24 hours and then extend it after you are already not there to get a loaner.

Gotta love these goons!
 
That no longer works in at least the Houston SC. They told me they only give loaners if it's going to take more than 24 hours, not just overnight. So what they do is automatically say it's going to be just a little less than 24 hours and then extend it after you are already not there to get a loaner.

Gotta love these goons!
I'm not surprised. The Tesla service situation is abysmal. I do everything I can to try and avoid using them. My car is out of warranty now so if I need anything I'll likely try the "electrified garage" next.
 
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