Finally got my M3 in after a 2.5 week wait for an issue I was having with excessive tire squealing, poor rain performance and a bit of floatiness staying in a lane. The rear tires were gone, 0/16 on the inside, 3/16 on the outside. They did an alignment, replaced the 2 tires and told me I owe $1000. I argued with them for a bit, and basically they're saying that if it were just a bad alignment, the outside tread would be higher, so something else happened, insinuating that I did something to cause it.
Did you notice that the tires were bold, or did the service center bring it to your attention?
Did the service center call you to pre-authorize all this work? Did you agree?
If not, demand to put your original tires back on, and $0.00 final bill. Then tell the car to a reputable tires shop.
If yes, your only recourse is to argue about the root cause of the misalignment, and who is responsible for it. This will be an uphill battle.
One funny thing is going on - if it was just regular rear tire wear, why did Tesla Service Center (SC) volunteer to do an alignment? What were the before/after recorded settings?
You don't automatically perform an alignment when replacing tires. Not unless there is something else going on!
If they thought alignment was off, then they all but concede that it was goofed up from the factory.
You could have effected alignment by going off-road or bouncing rear wheels off curbs, but the damage to the wheels or suspension components would be the clear witness of the root cause. If there is no damage to either wheels or suspension, tell them to shove their insinuations where the sun doesn't shine.
I had it in 2 months ago to get a wheel replaced that was scuffed on delivery, and they noted the rear tires at 7/16. I told him nothing has happened to it
Do you have pictures of the wheel damage as delivered?
If delivery driver had bounced the rear wheel off a curb (causing deep scratches), it would have effected rear alignment and caused accelerated rear tier wear.
If it's not normal for a bad alignment to have the outer tread at 3/16, then what caused that? And will it happen again? I'm venting a bit, but does anyone have any suggestions, do I have any recourse?
Excessive inner tire wear is 100% correlated with bad alignment (too much negative camber, or toe OUT).
Will it happen again - depends on the results of the "after" alignment settings.
If the Tesla SC is telling you bad alignment can't cause this wear - they are taking you for a ride!
I bought it 6/15/21 with 1000 miles, I've had it 3 months and it currently has 3950 miles. I'm feeling pretty soured on Tesla after this, if this is how they treat customers, not sure I want to continue to deal with them.
Did you buy a USED car from Tesla, or from a private party?
If the former, you have a prayer of a claim that they sold you a mis-aligned car.
If the latter, your claim is against whomever sold you the car. And it's all but un-enforceable.
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