I took delivery of my Model S on December 29, 2016. Sometime around mid-February, I noticed a severe vibration at speeds above 70 miles an hour that would become more pronounced the faster I went. You could feel this vibration through the steering wheel and even through the seats of the car.
When I brought the car in for service, the technical staff had no idea what the problem was. When I told the service advisor I had read in the forums that other owners were experiencing the same issue and that the cause appeared to be related to radiator ducting the service advisor dismissed the idea immediately says he doesn't believe any of whats written in the forums.
We road tested the car at which point the vibration occurred. They made a recording of the vibration and agreed it was a real issue. I wass told they'd send the recording off to corporate for analysis and get back to me.
Fast forward to the middle of July, and all I've heard from Tesla is crickets. I finally call the service center and ask to speak to my advisor. They tell me he's busy but will call me call me back. Two days go by and I my call still hasn't been returned, so I call in again.
This time I get the service advisor on the phone. I explain I've been waiting for months to hear back from him on the recording analysis and for them to come up with a plan to address the problem. He says he vaguely remembers me coming in and that if there's a problem I should schedule a service appointment.
I'm normally a pretty calm guy, but at this point, I'm ready to blow a gasket. I told the service advisor; you've already inspected the car. You've made a recording of the vibration. You supposedly sent the recording off to your corporate engineering gurus for analysis but now after I've waited months to hear from you on a course of action the best thing you can come up with is to bring the car back in again and start the process over? Are you kidding me?
I told him we're not going to do that. I told him you're going to reach out to corporate and find out what they've done with the recording and get back to me with a plan of action to fix this car. He apologized, acknowledged they dropped the ball on this issue and indicated he would reach out to corporate and contact me back in a couple of days with a plan to have the issue addressed.
Well, guess what… I never hear back from the service advisor. Big surprise right? After another two weeks goes by I called the service center and asked to speak to the service manager. Of course, he's in a meeting but does call me back within a few hours.
I explain the situation to him from beginning to end and expressed my frustration. He was very apologetic and indicates he will look into the matter immediately and get back to me. Within a couple of hours, he calls me back and tells me this is a known problem and they have a permanent fix.
We schedule my service appointment for two days later, July 10th. I finally got the car back yesterday after 10 days. The vibration appears to be gone and I'm happy about that.
I am, however, disappointed with how Tesla service handled this issue. If a permanent solution had to be created this should've been communicated to me months ago rather than just leaving me hanging. I wouldn't be writing this now if there had been interactive communication. You guys have got to do better especially with the model 3 about to ramp up production.
One last thing. While at the service center dropping off my car the same service advisor I had such a disappointing experience with had the balls to look me in the face and tell me he'd figured out what was causing the vibration. Before he could say anything more I cut him off and said "you mean the radiator ducting that I told you about back in February but you ignored?" He just stood there with a confused look on his face.
When I brought the car in for service, the technical staff had no idea what the problem was. When I told the service advisor I had read in the forums that other owners were experiencing the same issue and that the cause appeared to be related to radiator ducting the service advisor dismissed the idea immediately says he doesn't believe any of whats written in the forums.
We road tested the car at which point the vibration occurred. They made a recording of the vibration and agreed it was a real issue. I wass told they'd send the recording off to corporate for analysis and get back to me.
Fast forward to the middle of July, and all I've heard from Tesla is crickets. I finally call the service center and ask to speak to my advisor. They tell me he's busy but will call me call me back. Two days go by and I my call still hasn't been returned, so I call in again.
This time I get the service advisor on the phone. I explain I've been waiting for months to hear back from him on the recording analysis and for them to come up with a plan to address the problem. He says he vaguely remembers me coming in and that if there's a problem I should schedule a service appointment.
I'm normally a pretty calm guy, but at this point, I'm ready to blow a gasket. I told the service advisor; you've already inspected the car. You've made a recording of the vibration. You supposedly sent the recording off to your corporate engineering gurus for analysis but now after I've waited months to hear from you on a course of action the best thing you can come up with is to bring the car back in again and start the process over? Are you kidding me?
I told him we're not going to do that. I told him you're going to reach out to corporate and find out what they've done with the recording and get back to me with a plan of action to fix this car. He apologized, acknowledged they dropped the ball on this issue and indicated he would reach out to corporate and contact me back in a couple of days with a plan to have the issue addressed.
Well, guess what… I never hear back from the service advisor. Big surprise right? After another two weeks goes by I called the service center and asked to speak to the service manager. Of course, he's in a meeting but does call me back within a few hours.
I explain the situation to him from beginning to end and expressed my frustration. He was very apologetic and indicates he will look into the matter immediately and get back to me. Within a couple of hours, he calls me back and tells me this is a known problem and they have a permanent fix.
We schedule my service appointment for two days later, July 10th. I finally got the car back yesterday after 10 days. The vibration appears to be gone and I'm happy about that.
I am, however, disappointed with how Tesla service handled this issue. If a permanent solution had to be created this should've been communicated to me months ago rather than just leaving me hanging. I wouldn't be writing this now if there had been interactive communication. You guys have got to do better especially with the model 3 about to ramp up production.
One last thing. While at the service center dropping off my car the same service advisor I had such a disappointing experience with had the balls to look me in the face and tell me he'd figured out what was causing the vibration. Before he could say anything more I cut him off and said "you mean the radiator ducting that I told you about back in February but you ignored?" He just stood there with a confused look on his face.
