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Please don't rely on tesla road assistance

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When we talk about roadside assistance what do we really mean? When I had to ring I ended up speaking to somebody in Holland, had a chat, remote diagnosis, needed recovery, etc. The recovery truck wasn't Tesla or branded in any way Tesla, it was one of those companies that I think the police use to scrape cars off motorways after accidents and they seemed to offer nothing more than a lift and shift service, there was certainly no attempt to fix the car.

Other makes of car have a contract with the AA or RAC and they do it. There's zero excuse however small or large Tesla is or was not to have a decent contract with a third party recovery service to deal with this. That said, you do have to make allowances for the weather, like many things in the UK we don't gear ourselves for the 3 snowy days a year and I imagine the weather made both travel difficult and a greater call out rate with cars having minor shunts all over the place. The trick is communication, if you know you're not forgotten and that it might take 4 hours at least you can prepare yourself for that. Not knowing is a horrible feeling when you're stranded.

It would be impressive if Tesla had their very own worldwide fleet of private branded breakdown trucks, lol. I’m guessing they just use local contractors for recovery, like the one who delivered our new M3 to home during lockdown. Or the one who towed my dead Porsche to the nearest Porsche centre a few times.

I agree a deal with the AA/RAC would be better. I think that’s what my Nissan had. Anyway the solution is to have your own breakdown cover. It’s not exactly a major cost.
 
Even RAC (and presumably AA etc) contract out to local guys in rural areas or when very busy. Back when i worked in South London I had to wait 2 hrs for RAC assist once and out here in Wales it took them some 4-5 hrs, so i have no complaints about Tesla taking time to organise stuff - they are very good at keeping in touch (roadside that is, service is another matter)
 
It would be impressive if Tesla had their very own worldwide fleet of private branded breakdown trucks, lol. I’m guessing they just use local contractors for recovery, like the one who delivered our new M3 to home during lockdown. Or the one who towed my dead Porsche to the nearest Porsche centre a few times.

I agree a deal with the AA/RAC would be better. I think that’s what my Nissan had. Anyway the solution is to have your own breakdown cover. It’s not exactly a major cost.
This.
£75 for a year of RAC breakdown cover.
 
This.
£75 for a year of RAC breakdown cover.

How much would it cost Tesla to do that as part of warranty? £20 per car as part of a much larger agreement?

When I had a blow out the help line said if its a flat from hitting a pothole its not covered as its accident damage! I decided the pot holw I'd hit wasn;'t a pot hole and I had no idea what caused it. That's not the way other makes of car work. I've never needed to pay for roadside on any car thats still under warranty before, seems to me its just Tesla cutting corners.

At the moment it feels like support from the end of the phone or recovery, nothing in the middle. Surely there must be an intermediate option where an AA/RAC/Greenflag person would sort out a 12V issue and a host of other minor gremlins that can leave you stranded? . And IF Tesla commissioned it for all the cars under warranty in the UK, the mechanics would have more training and be able to do more things to get you going than they do now.
 
How much would it cost Tesla to do that as part of warranty? £20 per car as part of a much larger agreement?

When I had a blow out the help line said if its a flat from hitting a pothole its not covered as its accident damage! I decided the pot holw I'd hit wasn;'t a pot hole and I had no idea what caused it. That's not the way other makes of car work. I've never needed to pay for roadside on any car thats still under warranty before, seems to me its just Tesla cutting corners.

At the moment it feels like support from the end of the phone or recovery, nothing in the middle. Surely there must be an intermediate option where an AA/RAC/Greenflag person would sort out a 12V issue and a host of other minor gremlins that can leave you stranded? . And IF Tesla commissioned it for all the cars under warranty in the UK, the mechanics would have more training and be able to do more things to get you going than they do now.

The RAC weren’t even allowed to replace a dead battery on my Porsche at roadside. Porsche warranty insisted on towing it to the garage so they could fit a (crap) OEM battery. So I very much doubt Tesla would want third party recovery guys getting involved in repairs either.
 
How much would it cost Tesla to do that as part of warranty? £20 per car as part of a much larger agreement?

When I had a blow out the help line said if its a flat from hitting a pothole its not covered as its accident damage! I decided the pot holw I'd hit wasn;'t a pot hole and I had no idea what caused it. That's not the way other makes of car work. I've never needed to pay for roadside on any car thats still under warranty before, seems to me its just Tesla cutting corners.

At the moment it feels like support from the end of the phone or recovery, nothing in the middle. Surely there must be an intermediate option where an AA/RAC/Greenflag person would sort out a 12V issue and a host of other minor gremlins that can leave you stranded? . And IF Tesla commissioned it for all the cars under warranty in the UK, the mechanics would have more training and be able to do more things to get you going than they do now.
Why would I expect Tesla to provide that service?
VW did on my new Golf R for just the one year and that was it...
 
Hi all and thanks for your comments so far.
During my phone conversation with the Tesla roadside assistance it was quite obvious that what they do is that they subcontract to local companies. This is understandable. What mostly bothered me was the vagueness. It will be there soon and after a while maybe in a couple of hours and then next day. Under the circumstances I was at that point it only contributed to my anxiety.
Getting RAC/AA cover makes sense now; although being more calm now I don't really know if they would be more helpful under the circumstances.
I also doubt if they would be in any position to fix anything with the car. I mean I get it for a flat tyre or anything like that but I very much doubt if they would touch the battery/electrical systems on a Tesla.

Btw feedback from Tesla today; we haven't touch it yet; we don't know when we will be able to do so. At least I can go there on Friday swap the diesel loaner with a Tesla one and pick up the kids seats. Who knows; I may have it back by spring when weather is better and more suitable for a California car o_O
 
Why would I expect Tesla to provide that service?
VW did on my new Golf R for just the one year and that was it...

Depends on the model in VWs case, some models get 3 years, but read what you got in comparison to Tesla, there's plenty there that Tesla don't offer at all
Volkswagen Roadside Assistance | Volkswagen UK

The RAC weren’t even allowed to replace a dead battery on my Porsche at roadside. Porsche warranty insisted on towing it to the garage so they could fit a (crap) OEM battery. So I very much doubt Tesla would want third party recovery guys getting involved in repairs either.

Doesn't need to be just for replacement. Say your 12v battery goes flat, you're stuck as you can't even charge the car. AA turn up, provides a 12v boost to the battery, gets you charging, car sorts itself out. That's just one example and could be very useful for some.

These cars are a shift from what people are used to. In the good old days of ICE, your neighbour might give you a jump start if you accidently drained your battery, a 5l petrol can could top up you and get you to a petrol station, EV's have their own challenges and so a roadside service is arguably even more useful to get you out of those stupid issues which might leave you stranded.
 
Hi all,

RAC/AA will be shorted out the moment car is back. I am not going to trust their joke of road assistance for a minute more.
I get having a survival pack and I have started already preparing one. One wouldn't think it would be needed for daily commute but live and learn I guess.
What I don't get is why the car is so sensitive to water. I did not notice any one being broken down while I was driving around and trust me I was being very careful with the water puddles going very slowly through them etc.
I am curious to see how long it will take them to get it fixed now..
Two repairs due to electrical issues in a year does not sound good to me though.
I was hoping to keep it for a decade since that is how often I change cars but I just cant see the car being that reliable.
It’s not sensitive to water. I’ve driven my Model 3 through high water and some insane monsoon-like storms over the last 2.5 years. Never had a problem. You have some defective part, not necessarily a design failure. The same could have happened with any vehicle. All of their roadside is contracted out, and everyone was busy helping other stranded drivers when you called. Again, this situation is not unique to Tesla.
 
It’s not sensitive to water. I’ve driven my Model 3 through high water and some insane monsoon-like storms over the last 2.5 years. Never had a problem. You have some defective part, not necessarily a design failure. The same could have happened with any vehicle. All of their roadside is contracted out, and everyone was busy helping other stranded drivers when you called. Again, this situation is not unique to Tesla.

I get your point. But the fact that various issues have been reported with Model 3s all related to water (bumpers flying off, water ingress in the steering column killing the car, under carriage covers getting shredded by water) I believe point out that there is an issue with it.
Also the fact that during November when I was at the service center for another electrical issue maintenance was done on the steering column for the water ingress issue pre-emptively and I believe that happens now for all cars going to SCs enhances the fact that Model 3 has a design issue with water.
 
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I get your point. But the fact that various issues have been reported with Model 3s all related to water (bumpers flying off, water ingress in the steering column killing the car, under carriage covers getting shredded by water) I believe point out that there is an issue with it.
Also the fact that during November when I was at the service center for another electrical issue maintenance was done on the steering column for the water ingress issue pre-emptively and I believe that happens now for all cars going to SCs enhances the fact that Model 3 has a design issue with water.
Having spent many years on TMC, I would be surprised if there was some widespread issue with water leaking into steering columns given I have never seen a thread on the subject. There could very well be a few examples that resulted from a defective part batch, but it certainly isn’t a design failure. Tesla usually publishes service bulletins for this situation and takes care of it during SC visits. The initial design of the underbody cover was suspect, but it has since been fixed based on what I’ve read here. The Model 3 design is solid at this point. I don’t recommend people buy Teslas the first year after an introduction or major refresh because it takes them that long to find and fix issues. We are long past that point with the Model 3.
 
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Having spent many years on TMC, I would be surprised if there was some widespread issue with water leaking into steering columns given I have never seen a thread on the subject. There could very well be a few examples that resulted from a defective part batch, but it certainly isn’t a design failure. Tesla usually publishes service bulletins for this situation and takes care of it during SC visits. The initial design of the underbody cover was suspect, but it has since been fixed based on what I’ve read here. The Model 3 design is solid at this point. I don’t recommend people buy Teslas the first year after an introduction or major refresh because it takes them that long to find and fix issues. We are long past that point with the Model 3.

Its definitely a thing in the UK, maybe because we're RHD and some of the parts are different - and you have responded to a thread in the UK area so its relevant.

Multiple system failure / Wiring Harness Recall
 
Depends on the model in VWs case, some models get 3 years, but read what you got in comparison to Tesla, there's plenty there that Tesla don't offer at all
Volkswagen Roadside Assistance | Volkswagen UK



Doesn't need to be just for replacement. Say your 12v battery goes flat, you're stuck as you can't even charge the car. AA turn up, provides a 12v boost to the battery, gets you charging, car sorts itself out. That's just one example and could be very useful for some.

These cars are a shift from what people are used to. In the good old days of ICE, your neighbour might give you a jump start if you accidently drained your battery, a 5l petrol can could top up you and get you to a petrol station, EV's have their own challenges and so a roadside service is arguably even more useful to get you out of those stupid issues which might leave you stranded.

Sure, that's why I suggested to get AA/RAC membership with a Tesla. Maybe Tesla go wrong by providing roadside assistance without making it clear that it isn't supposed to be a substitute for full recovery. But otherwise it's a trivial expense. Of course Tesla could choose to provide "free" AA/RAC cover, but it would only be baked into the overall cost. Signing up for your own recovery service of choice is a 2 min job at minimal expense.
 
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Depends on the model in VWs case, some models get 3 years, but read what you got in comparison to Tesla, there's plenty there that Tesla don't offer at all
Volkswagen Roadside Assistance | Volkswagen UK



Doesn't need to be just for replacement. Say your 12v battery goes flat, you're stuck as you can't even charge the car. AA turn up, provides a 12v boost to the battery, gets you charging, car sorts itself out. That's just one example and could be very useful for some.

These cars are a shift from what people are used to. In the good old days of ICE, your neighbour might give you a jump start if you accidently drained your battery, a 5l petrol can could top up you and get you to a petrol station, EV's have their own challenges and so a roadside service is arguably even more useful to get you out of those stupid issues which might leave you stranded.
Interesting, thank you for that.
I seem to remember that their roadside assistance was contracted out to the AA when I had it. I suppose that would make more sense.
 
BMW have a ranger service, I suppose somewhat analogous to Tesla, but it runs on a recovery basis. It's run out of 5-Series Tourings. I've had good experience of it with a previous car. The service description is all on that page so it's easy to see what's different to the AA.
 
So what is this offering that AA/RAC does not? Serious question. I haven’t seen any BMW tow trucks.

That service has special provision for BMW and they understand the cars because of brand specific training.

Which of the 3 main breakdown services in the UK would you chose for a Tesla? Which have had extra training on the cars? Which one would give you the best service? We’ve no idea.

Of course we can pay extra and take out a 3rd party service to sort out our car in a more convenient way than rely on Tesla, but why should we?
 
That service has special provision for BMW and they understand the cars because of brand specific training.

1) Which of the 3 main breakdown services in the UK would you chose for a Tesla? Which have had extra training on the cars? Which one would give you the best service? We’ve no idea.

2) Of course we can pay extra and take out a 3rd party service to sort out our car in a more convenient way than rely on Tesla, but why should we?

1) I doubt it makes much difference. from personal experience (on non teslas) the RAC guys have always been competent mechanics and bright enough to figure out stuff. The manual (you should keep a copy on your phone in case the car's battery dies) shows emergency frunk opening, tow hitch fitting etc.

2) Several simple reasons: Tesla only deal with tyres and lockouts within 50 miles of a service centre according to the manual. RAC (I assume the otjhers) cover driver (you) for problems in any car not just the tesla (even as a passenger?) and realistically all you need is a towtruck to get you home or car to a service centre or a rapid charger. And for the relatively los cost of cover it anlt bad to have abackup in case Teslas own systems go down. In my case i have other cars and RAC covers them all in one fee.