Hi from new member here who hopes to soon be a new owner. Being from West Texas the nearest stores are 250+ miles away in Dallas or Austin. I’ve been doing tons of reading and am planning a test drive in about two weeks while in Plano for business. I was hoping there might be an owner here in Lubbock willing to talk with me to answer some newbie questions before my test drive. I just feel like I will get more out of the test drive if I can first talk with a current owner. Thanks in advance.
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reddy
Active Member
Mike,
Is Amarillo close enough?
My 2013 MS will be 5 years old soon, and I can tell you what the service process is like living out here.
Lubbock needs more chargers, but that being said I do 98% of my charging in my garage.
Message me if you want to talk on the phone.
Reddy
Is Amarillo close enough?
My 2013 MS will be 5 years old soon, and I can tell you what the service process is like living out here.
Lubbock needs more chargers, but that being said I do 98% of my charging in my garage.
Message me if you want to talk on the phone.
Reddy
TexasTeslaRacing
Member
Thanks to all for your replies. My biggest concern is service being so far from any service center. Reddy, what has been your experience in that area?
I'm actually curious about this myself. When Reddy bought 5 years ago (and even when I did 3 years ago back when I was the first Lubbock Tesla as far as I know) they still had a platinum level version of the Ranger program. But isn't their current version nothing like that anymore? Is it even still called Ranger service?
For what it's worth, in the 2 years I lived in Lubbock I never had any issues so didn't need service. I prepaid for the service plan (which I wouldn't do again; I'd pay more and do them every 2 years, just get tires rotated and aligned locally more often) so I would simply schedule my annual checkup for Austin on my way home to Corpus-area for the holidays.
I've been into the SA service center several times over the last few months for little things, but everything has been warranty stuff. (Except the side mirror I had to replace b/c my apartment garage is so narrow and I wasn't paying close enough attention!)
You're definitely not alone. Right before I moved people kept telling me they "saw my car" places I hadn't been so there was at least one other Model S. Then some former co-workers of mine bought an X right after I left.
reddy
Active Member
As fate would have it, I just had a Ranger visit TODAY.
My 12v battery has been giving me a 'replace soon' message. It has been changed at the 1 and 2 year service visits, but not in the last 2 1/2 years.
The process was VERY simple. I called Tesla. The person arranging Ranger visits in Texas called me back to tell ask when was a good day to come the next day, and where would my car be during working hours. He had the Ranger going to another customer in Amarillo today, so I told come today.
The ranger is driving a little van, stuffed with parts. He was actually from El Paso, and had come up today after a call in Odessa. Tomorrow he is working in Albuquerque.
Before he arrived, I got a message on my iPhone app that my car had a firmware update pending. I found out later he had pushed that to me from his van.
Since I was working, he came to my office, and I took him out to my car. It took him about an hour to replace the battery and finish the firmware update. He spent the time to explain that Tesla was using a new micrographite carbon battery , and my old one was the older version so this one should last longer.
Best of all, there was no charge. I'm not sure what happened, perhaps they were supposed to have changed out the battery earlier, but they said it was free today.
This is the second time I had a Ranger. The first visit was in 2014, at my 1 year service call. They did the entire procedure in my garage, changed the 12v battery, retrofitted a titanium shield under the battery, and did numerous other items. It took 4 - 5 hours. For that call, they didn't have a van. They drop shipped a pallet of tools and parts, and the ranger flew here from Dallas on Southwest, rented a car, picked up his tools at FedEx, and came to my house. Now that there are many Teslas out here in NM and West Texas, there are full time rangers here.
A few months ago, I had a TPMS sensor go out. They were willing to send a Ranger out , but at a cost of about $100 plus the sensor cost. Apparently they even have the tools in the van to do tires. At the end of the day, we determined it should have been covered under warranty, and they replaced all 4 TPMS sensors and upgraded me to the latest version so I could see all the individual pressures. This involved upgrading the TPMS receiver as well. I ended up getting that in Dallas since I was going there anyway, to save the $100.
The service is stellar, even out here. How many places will come to do repairs on your car at your office as a routine, covered, call?
FWIW, I travel a lot, and I've had annual service done in Dallas, Austin, and San Diego, CA. All were super. I got a loaner each time. The last time in Dallas (for the TPMS upgrade) the loaner was a 100D with about 500 miles on it.
With the Rangers out here, service couldn't be any easier.
My 12v battery has been giving me a 'replace soon' message. It has been changed at the 1 and 2 year service visits, but not in the last 2 1/2 years.
The process was VERY simple. I called Tesla. The person arranging Ranger visits in Texas called me back to tell ask when was a good day to come the next day, and where would my car be during working hours. He had the Ranger going to another customer in Amarillo today, so I told come today.
The ranger is driving a little van, stuffed with parts. He was actually from El Paso, and had come up today after a call in Odessa. Tomorrow he is working in Albuquerque.
Before he arrived, I got a message on my iPhone app that my car had a firmware update pending. I found out later he had pushed that to me from his van.
Since I was working, he came to my office, and I took him out to my car. It took him about an hour to replace the battery and finish the firmware update. He spent the time to explain that Tesla was using a new micrographite carbon battery , and my old one was the older version so this one should last longer.
Best of all, there was no charge. I'm not sure what happened, perhaps they were supposed to have changed out the battery earlier, but they said it was free today.
This is the second time I had a Ranger. The first visit was in 2014, at my 1 year service call. They did the entire procedure in my garage, changed the 12v battery, retrofitted a titanium shield under the battery, and did numerous other items. It took 4 - 5 hours. For that call, they didn't have a van. They drop shipped a pallet of tools and parts, and the ranger flew here from Dallas on Southwest, rented a car, picked up his tools at FedEx, and came to my house. Now that there are many Teslas out here in NM and West Texas, there are full time rangers here.
A few months ago, I had a TPMS sensor go out. They were willing to send a Ranger out , but at a cost of about $100 plus the sensor cost. Apparently they even have the tools in the van to do tires. At the end of the day, we determined it should have been covered under warranty, and they replaced all 4 TPMS sensors and upgraded me to the latest version so I could see all the individual pressures. This involved upgrading the TPMS receiver as well. I ended up getting that in Dallas since I was going there anyway, to save the $100.
The service is stellar, even out here. How many places will come to do repairs on your car at your office as a routine, covered, call?
FWIW, I travel a lot, and I've had annual service done in Dallas, Austin, and San Diego, CA. All were super. I got a loaner each time. The last time in Dallas (for the TPMS upgrade) the loaner was a 100D with about 500 miles on it.
With the Rangers out here, service couldn't be any easier.
All very good information and very glad to hear it. I am scheduled for my first test drive day after tomorrow in Dallas. Service is my number one concern so you report is comforting to hear. Thanks.
Hoping I can hijack this thread for a moment. I live in Denver and will likely have a work trip to Lubbock and Muleshoe in the next month or two. I'm hoping to take my Model 3, however the current state of the Supercharger network combined with Lubbock's dearth of L2 chargers is making this a little more dicey than I'd like.
Superchargers will get me to Lubbock via Amarillo without issue. However, Lubbock is 125 miles from Amarillo, meaning 250 miles round-trip. Since I will also have to visit Muleshoe once or twice on this trip (70 miles from Lubbock, 100 miles from Amarillo), that makes it necessary for me to have some form of overnight charging in Lubbock.
I see via Plugshare that there's a Nissan dealer off 289 that allows Teslas (not ideal since it's not at a destination for me), and a Best Western with a single J-1772 station. I've called that hotel and verified that the station is there for use by patrons, but I'm a little wary as it has zero PlugShare check-ins (so the hotel may think it's working, but it's not obvious to me that they'd know if there's a problem). I'm wondering whether an enterprising Lubbock Tesla owner might live nearby the Best Western and be willing to go plug in and report back on the state of the charger.
This trip may realistically have me heading from Amarillo to Lubbock and then on to Muleshoe and back to Lubbock a couple of times, so things would be far less complicated if I can rely on that hotel's charger.
Many thanks in advance to anyone who can assist!
Superchargers will get me to Lubbock via Amarillo without issue. However, Lubbock is 125 miles from Amarillo, meaning 250 miles round-trip. Since I will also have to visit Muleshoe once or twice on this trip (70 miles from Lubbock, 100 miles from Amarillo), that makes it necessary for me to have some form of overnight charging in Lubbock.
I see via Plugshare that there's a Nissan dealer off 289 that allows Teslas (not ideal since it's not at a destination for me), and a Best Western with a single J-1772 station. I've called that hotel and verified that the station is there for use by patrons, but I'm a little wary as it has zero PlugShare check-ins (so the hotel may think it's working, but it's not obvious to me that they'd know if there's a problem). I'm wondering whether an enterprising Lubbock Tesla owner might live nearby the Best Western and be willing to go plug in and report back on the state of the charger.
This trip may realistically have me heading from Amarillo to Lubbock and then on to Muleshoe and back to Lubbock a couple of times, so things would be far less complicated if I can rely on that hotel's charger.
Many thanks in advance to anyone who can assist!
Having trekked that area in high risk fashion twice.... I probably wouldn't worry about the charging, but drive conservatively on the way there and then bring a really long extension cord... and charge like MacGuyver next to some janitorial closet within a thousand feet of a hotel entrance.
If you like these types of thrills...
reddy
Active Member
FWIW, I check with Lubbock a couple times a week, and no permit issued yet on a supercharger.
You are correct that your options in Lubbock are much more limited than you would expect for a university town.
I have charged at the Nissan dealer, and their 2 spaces there are usually occupied by their own cars. They were nice enough to move one for me, but I was also a customer who had previously bought a Leaf from them. If you go after hours, the odds are that there will be 2 new Nissans blocking the space.
There is a free RV park in Muleshoe. There is a good chance that you could charge there.
You are correct that your options in Lubbock are much more limited than you would expect for a university town.
I have charged at the Nissan dealer, and their 2 spaces there are usually occupied by their own cars. They were nice enough to move one for me, but I was also a customer who had previously bought a Leaf from them. If you go after hours, the odds are that there will be 2 new Nissans blocking the space.
There is a free RV park in Muleshoe. There is a good chance that you could charge there.
There are a couple of Tesla owners in Lubbock offering their charging on Plugshare. Perhaps you don't have the filter set to see Residential sites?
FWIW, I completed this trip yesterday. The Best Western J1772 came through in the end, although the implementation at that hotel left a lot to be desired:
-They installed a single station rather than 2+
-They put it in primo parking, with no marking of EV-only (in fact no markings at all--the EVSE is in the grass off to the side)
-No one at the hotel knew how to reset its power, which became a thing when it started showing internal faults. I think this was due to the J1772 adapter not fitting snugly because the EVSE's plug was well-worn and somewhat dirty. I had 2 instances where it faulted, the Tesla charge port went red, and the EVSE shut down. Thankfully these Sun Country units auto-reset after 15 minutes. In both cases I was able to try again after that and successfully charge.
I suggested they put some signage up. Who knows whether they will or not.
The trip worked out pretty well overall. I used the Trinidad, CO and Amarillo, TX Superchargers on the way down and up, and the Best Western for my charges in Lubbock. Total trip was 1400+ miles in 3.5 days, and I spent maybe 20 minutes total waiting for charges.
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