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No loaner cars? Really?

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Dropped car off at Fremont SC today: no Tesla loaner available, no Tesla from Hertz and no ICE rental either. They're out over 100 cars or something. Got Lyft vouchers. Damn, I miss my car already.


Well, I took my parent's MX75D last wednesday to get a broken tail light.. it's still there, lol. We got a Nissan Rogue loaner and the guy said.. "Don't worry about filling it back up with gas." I just had to bit my tongue knowing some people couldn't even get an ICE loaner.
 
I think CA owners are out of luck — too many Teslas for even Tesla to handle:)

Here in Maryland I’ve never that a problem getting a Model S loaner when my car is in for service. Never. In fact, as my car has been in for service since Wednesday, I’m driving a loaner now. Will pick up the real thing tonight.
 
I made an appointment for the annual maintenance on my P-100D in January. When I arrived at the Service Center, the told me they had no loaners and called an Uber to take me back to work. When the work was done, they had someone drive it to my workplace and deliver it to me. Yes, they paid for the Uber, and it saved me a round trip to pick up my car, but it would have been nice to know I would be without a car all morning.
 
I booked my appt a month in advanced, they cancelled the day prior stating they proactively ordered the part to have in stock by the time I drop off the car (I’m guessing a month wasn’t enough time??), 3 weeks later I get a call that the part arrived to take the car in, I asked for a loaner which they said they will have one for me.
Next day I drop off the car at 8:30am (they open at 8am) and they tell me they run out of loaners and offered me a Lyft... yup so here I’m questioning their policy and why wasn’t made aware to which they reply if I don’t have another car, as if it is my fault... I then tell them to cancel and send a ranger to my place, the tech replies the screen cannot be replaced by a ranger so I told him to triple check as it has been done before... the very next week the ranger stops by my place and replaces the main screen.
All in all very disappointed about the experience.

Here is my loaner car experience today. I took the car in July because the car lowered itself after I parked it and when I backed it our, the lower bumper was ripped off (I posted this on a separate thread). That was the day when I was told no loaner which is understandable because I don't know how long it took to get the part. The service guy spent 2 minutes after I waiting 20 minutes for him to take the paint code and said it would take a couple days to order part and a week to paint. Long story short, no news about the part for over a month and I escalated the issue to corporate. Two weeks ago, Costa Mesa called me and said bring the car in "today" and a loaner car will be for me while the part is being installed. I was in NY so I told her I had an presumptuous appointment made for today (9/11) and I would bring it in and I requested a LOANER.
Today at 0900, while sitting in the front of center waiting for the Service Guy, a message again saying sorry, no loaner. Same Service guy greeted me, reviewed the order, looked at my car and said the order was for a lower valance and I needed a bumper. I said you wrote up the order and took the paint code, why the correct part was not ordered. He said he would check the part store. 15 minutes later, he said no part. I was furious and asked to speak with the manager.
Manager came and I explained to him what had happened. The story changed that the correct part was there when they called me and it is not there anymore.
At that point, I told them I am not driving the car with the dangling bumper anymore. Give me a loaner and they can take their time finding the part. Guess what, they came up with a loaner car, old and dirty but it runs.
So, what is the true story. No loaner car or loaners are reserved for newer car owners? Mine is a 2014 Model S 85 but still under warranty. Or did I take some poor guy's loaner because they screwed up big time?
 
LOL !! back around post #38 - i'd mentioned herculean patience (for unfortunate folk like us that spend DOZENS of trips, & weeks & weeks in the shop) and that's for my better half's 18mo old mX. It's being flat bed'ed back to Costa Mesa ... air suspension fails to work. Not the 1st time ... and not the 1st time in either of our Teslas ... in fast the S didn't even make it home before it failed. We did get a rental S for the broken down S, but that was years ago.
Anyone wana put down odds?
;)

If it happens to YOU ... it'll sound like this ... only it just keeps going & going until your phone's chip runs out of memory, or the time out sensor finally kicks in.

Tesla loaner? ... or Toyota
:oops:
.
LOL. Did you get the bumper replaced? May be you took mine what was supposed to be ordered for me since July. I just posted an update.
 
LOL. Did you get the bumper replaced? May be you took mine what was supposed to be ordered for me since July. I just posted an update.
IMG_Tesla.jpg
 
That is BS! Making me second guess my move to California being a 2 Tesla household. SMH!
Good luck. I was told this no loaner situation will spread to the rest of the country obviously the busiest SC first. It was called a growing pain except Tesla is growing and we feel the pain. I have all but given up trading mine for another one not because it is a bad car but because it is a bad company.
 
Old(ish) thread I know, but I wanted to see what everyone was getting in terms of Lyft credits?

I was mad that I wasn't getting a loaner, until they gave me a $400 Lyft credit for 2 days of work, with the option to add more if I use it all.

They should use Model 3s as loaners.

A lot cheaper for them than Lyft credits and driving a Model 3 would be better than most Lyft rides :)
 
My service center has apparently outsourced the entire loaner fleet to Enterprise. I got a model X I've been in for the last week. The enterprise guy told me they have a fleet of Teslas they rent exclusively to the SC. Said it was a recent change. I didn't think to ask how many cars they had.
 
Reading these stories is what gives me pause over purchasing one, I just don't think Tesla is ready to fully compete at the so-called luxury level. Have I had issues as a BMW owner under warranty? Sure, but those have been "we can't duplicate the issue" type scenarios, not "We still don't have the part" a month later. Really, their only saving grace has been the slow adoption from other lux makes to get ANY true EV to market, but my gut tells me that once they are in full swing Tesla is going to struggle simply because they won't have the financial means to compete against Porsche, Audi, Benz and BMW and will find themselves having talent poached left and right. Charging infrastructure will be the last tentpole and it is simply a matter of time before they are prolific nationwide, probably within 3 to 5 years.

Let's be honest, Tesla holds all of the cards and knows that current owners are simply beta testers so they can afford to be arrogant because there simply is no competition right now. You think if the above makers all had competing products you guys would be tolerating their inefficiency and broken promises?

Nope.
 
Reading these stories is what gives me pause over purchasing one, I just don't think Tesla is ready to fully compete at the so-called luxury level. Have I had issues as a BMW owner under warranty? Sure, but those have been "we can't duplicate the issue" type scenarios, not "We still don't have the part" a month later. Really, their only saving grace has been the slow adoption from other lux makes to get ANY true EV to market, but my gut tells me that once they are in full swing Tesla is going to struggle simply because they won't have the financial means to compete against Porsche, Audi, Benz and BMW and will find themselves having talent poached left and right. Charging infrastructure will be the last tentpole and it is simply a matter of time before they are prolific nationwide, probably within 3 to 5 years.

Let's be honest, Tesla holds all of the cards and knows that current owners are simply beta testers so they can afford to be arrogant because there simply is no competition right now. You think if the above makers all had competing products you guys would be tolerating their inefficiency and broken promises?

Nope.

I don't think they've ever come out and claimed to be competing with "luxury brands". The truth is they can't. Yet. If that is not your cup of tea then DO NOT buy a Tesla. Elon has also been clear that his ultimate mission is that he has to compete with everyone. That is what he wants even if it results in Tesla's demise. If other manufacturers follow Tesla's lead and make something better than Tesla that puts them out of business then even with failure Elon was successful (with his mission - not his business).

Tesla must be doing something right because every luxury and performance brand out there has electric cars currently in production or concept cars that are close to going production. There is no way they would be doing this if they didn't think Tesla was direct competition.

Tesla is far from perfect but given their extremely limited time at doing this I am fine with where they are. Do I get frustrated at times and wish they were better? Sure. But there isn't a week that goes by where I don't see recalls on 10s or 100s of thousands of GMs, Fords, or Chryslers and they've been doing this forever. For some reason, when Tesla has a slip it's headline news but when the big 3 has an issue it's just a blurb in my local paper.

Having said that, I just logged into my Tesla acct and booked a service appointment for next Monday and will have a loaner provided. Couldn't have been any simpler.

Jason
 
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I don't think they've ever come out and claimed to be competing with "luxury brands". The truth is they can't. Yet. If that is not your cup of tea then DO NOT buy a Tesla. Elon has also been clear that his ultimate mission is that he has to compete with everyone. That is what he wants even if it results in Tesla's demise. If other manufacturers follow Tesla's lead and make something better than Tesla that puts them out of business then even with failure Elon was successful (with his mission - not his business).

Tesla must be doing something right because every luxury and performance brand out there has electric cars currently in production or concept cars that are close to going production. There is no way they would be doing this if they didn't think Tesla was direct competition.

Tesla is far from perfect but given their extremely limited time at doing this I am fine with where they are. Do I get frustrated at times and wish they were better? Sure. But there isn't a week that goes by where I don't see recalls on 10s or 100s of thousands of GMs, Fords, or Chryslers and they've been doing this forever. For some reason, when Tesla has a slip it's headline news but when the big 3 has an issue it's just a blurb in my local paper.

Having said that, I just logged into my Tesla acct and booked a service appointment for next Monday and will have a loaner provided. Couldn't have been any simpler.

Jason
While somewhat true, they are priced as luxury vehicles, i.e their base model starts at $35k (although they have chosen to delay that seeing that buyers are willing to pay twice that for now), their 'flagship' starts in the mid 60s and their SUV at $70k...those are def. luxury pricepoints, esp. when you consider that the biggest knock as of now has been interior overall quality compared to competition at those sizes/prices (I know much of the price is in the tech though). I'm not knocking Tesla for what they have accomplished but I read one too many stories here and on other forums about the elitist attitude people are receiving when asking for simply warranty work or repairs to shoddy craftsmanship. Think about it, what other company has a CPO program where they abruptly discontinue the Certified part, tell you to take it somewhere and PAY to have it "presentable", much force you to put money down sight unseen for vehicles you can't even sit in or inquire about work done? I'd love to get a CPO but even when they send pics they are of subpar quality tbh. Not to mention their staff isn't all on the same page, sometimes a vehicle can be uncorked, sometimes they don't even know what 'uncorked' means. Sometimes a ranger can do something, sometimes they are adamant it isn't even possible. Again, I understand growing pains but when you put down over $75k for a USED car it shouldn't be like pulling teeth, I'm not saying that's always but I see this same theme time and again being played out on forums.

And that is the point I'm making that you referred to, yes Tesla is doing something right hence why other lux makers are forced to respond but my point is what will Tesla do once they catch up within the next few years? Where will their advantage be, because their competition will have the capital to undercut them price-wise and they will already have an established customer service base AND a plethora of readily avail. ICE loaners. I'd be surprised if battery tech wasn't inevitably on par, because you know a Mercedes Benz will throw money at some reputable maker for like units. I mean, nothing Tesla is currently known for inventing can't be replicated by these companies at some point, they'll simply do tear-downs and copy.

Again, I completely agree with all of your points and I LOVE Tesla and what they're doing, I'm just so hesitant because I don't want to run into the issues others appear to be having because of Tesla's "youth". Like, I don't want to trade in my X5 that has been pretty overall reliable for a CPO Model X and regret it based on what I read here, so it's a daily struggle not to pull the trigger HAHA!
 
I mean, nothing Tesla is currently known for inventing can't be replicated by these companies at some point, they'll simply do tear-downs and copy.

Then why haven't they done it? I think you've underestimated the tech side of where Tesla is.

You do make valid points with regards to service pitfalls. I have yet to experience them personally but I do read about them. In fairness, I've also owned Range Rover and Mercedes and when reading their forums I've also read horror stories. I've learned owner forums are not the best gauge of a company or product. I had all the same reservations you have when I pulled the trigger in Nov 2014 on my wife's Model S. I read countless complaints about production quality, dead 12v batteries, constant error messages, water in tailights, defective door handles, etc..... I experienced none of those issues and have zero regrets.

Then I read all the complaints about the Model X before I pulled the trigger. While some have come true Tesla has always addressed them right away and provided me with a loaner Tesla.

And regarding your price point argument... The selling price does not put a car in a category. There are pickup trucks that cost nearly $100k and they are far from luxurious. Sports cars that are over $100k and not luxurious. Tesla doesn't really fit into an established category. It created a category and currently everyone is trying to catch up.

I'm enjoying the show. I would love to own a Mercedes that does everything my Tesla does and hopefully more. I hope one day that is an option. For now, nobody makes a car that does what Tesla does.

For instance, tomorrow night I am going to the track to drag race a Lamborghini Urus. Who would've though a battery powered 6 passenger SUV that has been out for a couple of years had to wait all this time for (of all manufacturers) Lamborghini to make something that might beat it??
 
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Then why haven't they done it? I think you've underestimated the tech side of where Tesla is.

You do make valid points with regards to service pitfalls. I have yet to experience them personally but I do read about them. In fairness, I've also owned Range Rover and Mercedes and when reading their forums I've also read horror stories. I've learned owner forums are not the best gauge of a company or product. I had all the same reservations you have when I pulled the trigger in Nov 2014 on my wife's Model S. I read countless complaints about production quality, dead 12v batteries, constant error messages, water in tailights, defective door handles, etc..... I experienced none of those issues and have zero regrets.

Then I read all the complaints about the Model X before I pulled the trigger. While some have come true Tesla has always addressed them right away and provided me with a loaner Tesla.

And regarding your price point argument... The selling price does not put a car in a category. There are pickup trucks that cost nearly $100k and they are far from luxurious. Sports cars that are over $100k and not luxurious. Tesla doesn't really fit into an established category. It created a category and currently everyone is trying to catch up.

I'm enjoying the show. I would love to own a Mercedes that does everything my Tesla does and hopefully more. I hope one day that is an option. For now, nobody makes a car that does what Tesla does.

For instance, tomorrow night I am going to the track to drag race a Lamborghini Urus. Who would've though a battery powered 6 passenger SUV that has been out for a couple of years had to wait all this time for (of all manufacturers) Lamborghini to make something that might beat it??
But selling price does somewhat establish category, all of those numbers I listed are their BASE pricepoint not loaded with options which is what that $100k truck would be (Ford Raptor), much like you can either buy Model X P75d fr $70k or the Ludicrous mode for more than double that. That $100k vehicle's base model would cost on avg. $28k to start (F150) not to mention that most other cars in a Ford dealership are sub-$27k. I don't think Tesla truly cares about Leaf and Bolt numbers, but they will about a BMW 3er EV or Benz E-class EV inevitably because that is where the real money is, hence why they are in no rush to offer that $35k Model 3 and will only do so when current sales dry up IMO.

The reason that no one has done that is because they were simply waiting to see if people truly bought in to EVs as a viable alternative. There are already ICE cars that offer remote start, cruise control, suspension adjustment, self-park, etc. The point is that we both know that all new EVs from these lux brands will offer everything Tesla does just to compete. I mean, even Tesla is hesitant about complete self-driving so it wouldn't surprise me that other makes are taking a wait and see approach from a legal standpoint.