Motley Fool story - Tesla Replacement Part Delays

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

Yes I jinxed myself. Three days after I posted that, I was hit by a 16yr old girl backing up in a parking lot. It was kind of a douchebag post so maybe it serves me right. She was insured and her insurance is going to cover the full cost of repair and car rental. The estimate was $4,600 to replace the driver's side rear door. One month to get parts and 8 days to make repair. The other body shop said three months before they could start on it. Luckily the car is still drivable. If she would have hit me 12" further in either direction probably would have doubled the cost.
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I told Precision Body & Paint on March 21st that I wanted them to make the repairs and to go ahead and order the parts. Got an email from them this morning on March 31st that the parts have arrived and they can start as early as April 17th. Not too bad.

 

[RFBrost]

Evan Niu posted his story on his 7-month (and counting) delay getting his MS fixed. Not good press for Tesla... shouldn't be surprising to many of us on this forum.

Repairing My Tesla Model S Has Been an Utter Nightmare -- and It's Mostly Tesla's Fault -- The Motley Fool

I read this story and was disappointed that this problem has remained unsolved for 4 years. I got my Model S on January 6, 2013, the first one to be delivered in Spokane, WA. Two weeks later on a cold winter morning, my air suspension settled down on top of a concrete tire stop which had a steel rebar poking through its top. This rebar held on to my bumper while I backed out pulling the bumper loose from the front of the car. Basically a half dozen plastic fasteners "popped" that held the bumper on to the front of the car. I was able to duct tape things together and drive the car home. "Pioneers die with arrows in their back", and I did not expect to have an easy time repairing the vehicle. After two weeks of arguing about where to take the car for repair, I paid to flat bed it to the Seattle service center. It took until Mid March to get the vehicle back. The greatest delay was getting a new bumper. After waiting a month, for it to arrive, It took the intervention of a Vice President to free up a part from the factory. Tesla, it turns out, did not have a separate inventory for service center parts. Pulling a bumper out of the factory to repair my car could result in one less car coming off the assembly line. This inconvenient fact is probably why most car manufacturers stock a dedicated service inventory. I would have thought that 4 years later, Tesla would have taken this necessary step toward creating a superior customer experience for their service customers. As long as the service department has to compete with the production line, these kinds of issues will exist.

 

[RAW84]

Things to consider when reading these posts...only complaints get posted here. So to judge Tesla on these posts are very short-sighted. Don't get me wrong, I think the stories here are real and legitimate. But are not representative of the 100,000's of vehicles that have been just fine. If you want to know the issues that can happen and is possible no matter the percentage to good builds, then this is the right place for you. For the posters that said they should have bought a Mercedes or other. Please!!!!!!!! go by one. Innovation is not for you.

Most of the fleet doesn't get in accidents, but I think the wait for parts for those that do is pretty consistently long across the board and not something a affected by the "only those with bad experiences complain" bias. This is a real issue, one that Tesla has not yet shown they can handle. Makes me concerned for when they start delivering model 3's.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

I don't think ten days to get a new door is a very long time to wait. Maybe the complaints of extreme wait times are just isolated incidents and not the norm?

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

I don't think ten days to get a new door is a very long time to wait. Maybe the complaints of extreme wait times are just isolated incidents and not the norm?

Or the reverse? Don't forget tesla may finally be addressing these isssues

 

[shonline]

I don't think ten days to get a new door is a very long time to wait. Maybe the complaints of extreme wait times are just isolated incidents and not the norm?

It is not bad at all. My wife waited 3 weeks to get a door replaced on her MB GL350...

 

[TrevTremaine]

Jon,

Thanks for handling this very well. It is indeed a huge concern and could possibly be something that pulls Tesla down in the months and years ahead if its not well thought through.

I am one of the early Model S owners having reserved mine in 2012 ( ( P11040) and probably the only one with 4 accidents to date and last one being last Tuesday.

It is exactly as you say - Every time the folks at TSC ( especially here at Raleigh TSC - Trevor, Gwenen and the team are family to us ! ) have been so so so quick in their turn around it is unbelievable - it is always the body shop and the delay in the parts ordering processes where it gets delayed. Let me detail my various experiences reverse chronologically FYI :

1. Accident 7 Mar 2017 : ( BTW both my wife's and my life's saved only because it was a Tesla - we opened the doors and walked away even though there were 10 ways we could have died that day ! But that another story )

1. 7 Mar : Car towed to Body Shop ( Caliber Collision )
2. 9 Mar : initial inspection done only then because they have 14 Tesla's in line and 1 trained person to handle them ! Insurance agent visits but they decide it needs to be taken to TSC to check suspension and wheel damage as well as possible impact on motor.
3. 13 Mar : I call and push and prod
4. 14 Mar : Again call push and prod and car finally towed to TSC
5. 15 Mar : TSC inspects it, finds damage to suspension and one wheel and fix it immediately
6. 16 Mar : they have the car driving again to test alignment and end of day it will be ready to go back to Body shop ( TSC turnaround in 24 hours )
7. However the body shop will be able to strip it down for final estimate only next week as they have 14 Teslas ahead of me
8. So somewhere toward the mid or end of next week alone will they be able to order the parts - i.e 2 weeks + already gone by !
9. Then comes the parts ordering nightmare which in my past experiences have taken anywhere between 3 weeks to 3 months !

2. Accident on 19 Aug 2015 - side swiped - could drive car - however ordering and body shop work took 1 month + to fix . Parts Ordered 31 Aug - arrived Sep 10 - Car fixed Oct 1 week.
3. Accident 0n 10 Mar 2015 - Rear ended - couldn't drive car - took 1 month + got it on 16 April just to replace bumper and rear incidentals . TSC Service Manager Trevor was very helpful in calling up Tesla CA to get a last remaining part in time for us to got the MD Tesla meetup
4. Accident on 6 Dec 2016 - Rear ended - got it back after almost 3 Months ! - 26 Feb - At that time there were huge delays in getting parts and at the end of 2 months of waiting TSC Raleigh was good enough to acknowledge Tesla delay and give me a loaner.

So bottom line Jon, things have come a long way from those days. Tesla Service Centers are awesome ! However as long as Tesla doesn't have control over the entire process Tesla will not be able to deliver the same impeccably outstanding level of service that we owners are so used to and even spoilt with now !

So hope with the Model 3 coming out ( 2 of which I am waiting for as well ) the stress will be all the more ( or less with autonomous driving ) but either way thing these body shop work also needs to be brought in house to ensure that level of quality and customer experience !

On a personal note hope yu will have someone assigned to the case for my P11040 and deal directly with Caliber Collision ( Raleigh, NC ) so that the parts are delivered in time and someone from Tesla is at the very least managing the process and not making me have to call them every day !

Thanks
Thomas

Sorry to hear that your car has been in so many accidents - mine was written off recently and now waiting for a replacement to be built. CDN$88,000 was the initial estimate to repair, and probably months to repair which was a bit of a mercy call.

I'm beginning to think that there's got to be some kind of invisible target on Teslas - one invisible to the owners, but blinking-neon-sign-like to other drivers. It's that, or there's slew of people that need to pay greater attention,to calm down and take less risk while driving and go back to driving school, and just perhaps, fail to pass. I'd prefer the latter.

 

[hybridbear]

I told Precision Body & Paint on March 21st that I wanted them to make the repairs and to go ahead and order the parts. Got an email from them this morning on March 31st that the parts have arrived and they can start as early as April 17th. Not too bad.

That seems pretty bad to me. I've been rear-ended 5 times in the short 11 years I've been old enough to drive and I've never had a repair take more than one week start to finish. I've been rear-ended in a Chrysler 300M, Saab 9-3, Toyota Prius, and Ford Focus Electric (twice). Many of those repairs took only 3 business days, including time to assess damage & order parts.

I'm beginning to think that there's got to be some kind of invisible target on Teslas - one invisible to the owners, but blinking-neon-sign-like to other drivers. It's that, or there's slew of people that need to pay greater attention,to calm down and take less risk while driving and go back to driving school, and just perhaps, fail to pass. I'd prefer the latter.

I am concerned about how rarely the brake lights illuminate. I rarely brake hard enough to illuminate the brake lights until the car gets down to about 7-8 MPH & I have to step on the brake pedal to complete the stop. I consistently see other vehicles closing really quickly on my rear bumper until they realize I'm slowing down. I'd be interested to know the statistics on Teslas being rear-ended compared to the entire vehicle population. My hypothesis would be that Teslas get rear-ended with more frequency due to this design choice by Tesla. I think the accelerometer that determines when to illuminate the brake lights is way to slow to turn them on.

 

[Barry]

I am concerned about how rarely the brake lights illuminate. I rarely brake hard enough to illuminate the brake lights until the car gets down to about 7-8 MPH & I have to step on the brake pedal to complete the stop.

My experience is the brake lights come on MORE frequently than other cars, as every time you take your foot off the gas, the brake lights come on when regen is set to normal. I think people get close is to check out the car.

 

[hybridbear]

My experience is the brake lights come on MORE frequently than other cars, as every time you take your foot off the gas, the brake lights come on when regen is set to normal. I think people get close is to check out the car.

But how often do you take your foot fully off the accelerator? I usually do not take my foot all the way off the accelerator when slowing down until I get down to a very low speed. I brake very gently, that's how my lifetime Wh/mi over 16,000+ miles is under 270.

 

[SocalMS]

But how often do you take your foot fully off the accelerator? I usually do not take my foot all the way off the accelerator when slowing down until I get down to a very low speed. I brake very gently, that's how my lifetime Wh/mi over 16,000+ miles is under 270.

270? That sounds like fun....hm...

 

[Barry]

But how often do you take your foot fully off the accelerator? I usually do not take my foot all the way off the accelerator when slowing down until I get down to a very low speed. I brake very gently, that's how my lifetime Wh/mi over 16,000+ miles is under 270.

Depends how quickly I need to stop

If I'm on a local road with speed limit 30-40 mph and see a red light up ahead, I've gotten pretty good at estimating when to take my foot off the go pedal to regen brake to 5 mph very near where I need to stop.

The car has an accelerometer to determine when to turn on the brakes, based on deceleration. If you make a habit of decelerating very slowly, the brake light won't come on and you'll have a car up your butt. Your choice.

 

[Electroman]

I told Precision Body & Paint on March 21st that I wanted them to make the repairs and to go ahead and order the parts. Got an email from them this morning on March 31st that the parts have arrived and they can start as early as April 17th. Not too bad.

Why 17 days to start work after receiving parts?

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

Why 17 days to start work after receiving parts?

It was one of the worst winters in memory for adverse driving conditions. I'm guessing there is still a huge backlog from all of the fender benders. I've never seen so many messed up cars. The other Tesla certified body shop in Portland said it would probably be three months before they could start on it.

 

[Electroman]

Hmm I am in the wrong line of business.

 

[drklain]

But how often do you take your foot fully off the accelerator? I usually do not take my foot all the way off the accelerator when slowing down until I get down to a very low speed. I brake very gently, that's how my lifetime Wh/mi over 16,000+ miles is under 270.

Nothing wrong with that driving style, but it is the Tesla equivalent of a hypermiler in a manual transmission pulling the car out of gear and letting it coast (without braking). Result is that your car is coasting, not braking and the brake lights don't turn on to let people behind you know that you are decelerating (albeit slowly). I agree with @Barry, that the brake lights do come on quite well and often, even without pulling the foot completely off the accelerator (normal regen enabled). When slowing I let the pedal up to almost all the way to get some mile braking/decelerating/regen action, the lights come on and all is well. I certainly wouldn't call Tesla's implementation of brake lights anything other than very good and accurately mimicking behavior of normal cars.

 

[RAW84]

I don't think there's a problem with Tesla's implementation of brake light illumination as a function deceleration, nor is there a problem with someone mastering the one pedal driving to the point that brake light rarely comes on. If there was a problem here, Teslas would be rear ended at a higher rate than other cars. I'm not even convinced that Tesla's get in more accidents than other cars, but most of the accident reports I read on here are not being hit from behind.

 

[hybridbear]

The car has an accelerometer to determine when to turn on the brakes, based on deceleration. If you make a habit of decelerating very slowly, the brake light won't come on and you'll have a car up your butt. Your choice.

In automatic transmission cars you can't slow down at these rates without engaging the brake lights. Since most drivers on the road don't know anything other than automatics, they don't realize that Teslas can slow down very aggressively without activating any brake lights.

Nothing wrong with that driving style, but it is the Tesla equivalent of a hypermiler in a manual transmission pulling the car out of gear and letting it coast (without braking). Result is that your car is coasting, not braking and the brake lights don't turn on to let people behind you know that you are decelerating (albeit slowly). I agree with @Barry, that the brake lights do come on quite well and often, even without pulling the foot completely off the accelerator (normal regen enabled). When slowing I let the pedal up to almost all the way to get some mile braking/decelerating/regen action, the lights come on and all is well. I certainly wouldn't call Tesla's implementation of brake lights anything other than very good and accurately mimicking behavior of normal cars.

That's incorrect, it is not like a manual car coasting. The equivalent of that would be putting the Tesla in Neutral. I am braking with maybe only 10-15 kW of regen power. My Focus Electric would illuminate the brake lights when braking with that much regen power. In it you only got about 5-7 kW of regen power by lifting your foot off the accelerator. To slow down more quickly than that you had to depress the brake pedal to engage more regen which activated the brake lights.

And I'm not a hypermiler, I'm just a smooth driver that doesn't make people carsick. A number of my friends that struggle with carsickness are happy to ride with me because I don't make them carsick and they can even do things like read or use their phones while in the backseat because my driving is so smooth. I do drive for efficiency though, accelerating & decelerating gently, but taking corners quickly. I didn't buy a Tesla for performance. My Focus Electric with it's 110 kW max power level was more than enough power for me. I bought a Tesla because I wanted to be 100% gas free, including for road trips. In 8 months with my Tesla I've done almost 11,000 miles of Supercharger road trips. Before the Tesla I would've had to use fossil fuels for those trips (gas to drive or jet fuel to fly).

 

[MP3Mike]

In automatic transmission cars you can't slow down at these rates without engaging the brake lights. Since most drivers on the road don't know anything other than automatics, they don't realize that Teslas can slow down very aggressively without activating any brake lights.

Not true, you can downshift in an automatic and slow down quickly without triggering the brake lights.

 

[hybridbear]

Not true, you can downshift in an automatic and slow down quickly without triggering the brake lights.

It's possible, but not done regularly. If you polled people on the street I bet a lot wouldn't know this.