Replaced 2 tires at Tesla for >$1000?!?!?

[mmcmonster]

Just went to my local Tesla service center. Told them that my rear 2 tires need to be replaced, and asked that they check the front two tires.

Got the final bill and was a little upset.
2 tires @ $350 = $700
2 tire disposal @ $5 = $10
Correction Tires Rear Set $97.50
4 Wheel Alignment Check and adjust $275

Total $1082.51

They put the Correction Tires Rear Set and Alignment under labor cost.

Does this sound reasonable? It seems excessive for me.

 

[Unclepaul]

Might just be me, but it seems like everything is more expensive than I would have thought. Not just Tesla...but everything

 

[ATPMSD]

Just went to my local Tesla service center. Told them that my rear 2 tires need to be replaced, and asked that they check the front two tires.

Got the final bill and was a little upset.
2 tires @ $350 = $700
2 tire disposal @ $5 = $10
Correction Tires Rear Set $97.50
4 Wheel Alignment Check and adjust $275

Total $1082.51

They put the Correction Tires Rear Set and Alignment under labor cost.

Does this sound reasonable? It seems excessive for me.

No idea what “correction tires rear set“ is. Tesla seems to be more expensive than everyone else for everything. For example $275 for an alignment is nuts, that should run you $100-150. You should have gone to a tire store like Discount Tire.

Golden rule: never take your car to a Tesla Service Center unless you have no other options.

 

[Black306]

Doesn't sound too crazy. Didn't state what kind of Tesla we're talking bout, so tires are probably reasonable. Only thing questionable to me is the alignment charge; I'd expect it to be ~$100 less.

EDIT: Just had tires installed on another vehicle over the weekend and checked the receipt. I'm assuming "Correction Tires Rear Set" is the tire installation fee. For my truck, it was $22/ea for installation and $1.75/ea for environmental fee at America's Tire; $47.50/pair. So the "Correction Tires Rear Set" charge is a bit high.

 

[ATPMSD]

Assuming the “correction tires rear” set fee is for mounting and balancing, consider:

“As a USA-based tire and wheel retailer, the quote provided by Discount Tire for the wheel and tire package you bought from them already includes services… This installation price covers mounting, lifetime balancing and rotating, new valve stems, flat repairs, airchecks, and inspections.”

If you bought tires elsewhere, and had Discount Tire mount and balance them, they would charge you something like $30 / tire, and you would have still gotten lifetime balancing and rotating, new valve stems, flat repairs, airchecks, and inspections.

 

[ucmndd]

Got the final bill and was a little upset.

Surely you approved an estimate before they performed the work, yes?

 

[mmcmonster]

Surely you approved an estimate before they performed the work, yes?

I did! But when I initially asked for service, I asked them to check all four wheels and also my shock absorbers. So the initial estimate was several thousand dollars.

When I got to the service center, there was no sitting down with one of their people to go over everything in detail or a breakdown of what things would cost. It was just the person telling me they would check all the tires and the shocks.

After an hour, the same person came up to me and told me they just had to replace the rear wheels and asked if they should do alignment, so I said yes.

When the car was ready, they told me that the shocks didn't need to be changed, and asked if they should charge the card they had on file or if I wanted to do it on the Tesla app. (This was in the waiting area, not at their service desk.) I told them to wait a minute and let me take a look at the bill on my phone (because they didn't have a paper copy on them and we were literally just standing in the waiting area). I looked and saw they were about to charge me several thousand dollars! I then made a fuss and asked them to figure out what was going on. They came back and said they updated the bill. At that point I saw that it was down to the $1082 and just paid to get the heck out of there.

On the ratings request the next day, I wrote that it would be nice if they sat us down in front of a computer and told us what was going to happen before they started, and then sat us down again at the end and show us on the screen what was done and how much it did cost us. That's what they do at Lexus and BMW. They could do that here as well. (Or at least give us the option. I can understand some people don't like talking to people in person and really like the app.)

 

[richyrich]

You don’t need to go to Tesla for tire work and they’re unlikely to be competitive with tire places that specialize in it. Not a Tesla thing - same getting tires from dealers - often a rip off.

 

[todd_fuller]

Why did you need an alignment for worn tires? Did you observe the tires? Was there uneven wear or something to suggest an alignment was necessary? Typically, you don't need an alignment unless there's been some work on the suspension or you've hit something. Something is missing from this story.

 

[DCGOO]

Just went to my local Tesla service center. Told them that my rear 2 tires need to be replaced, and asked that they check the front two tires.

Got the final bill and was a little upset.
2 tires @ $350 = $700
2 tire disposal @ $5 = $10
Correction Tires Rear Set $97.50
4 Wheel Alignment Check and adjust $275

Total $1082.51

They put the Correction Tires Rear Set and Alignment under labor cost.

Does this sound reasonable? It seems excessive for me.

Sounds about right to me. $350/tire plus alignment. Alignment for $275 is actually not that bad. I think I paid around 375 for an alignment by itself last year. I believe their hourly rate is $185, might depend on the market though. I also have no idea what "Correction Tires Rear Set" is about.

 

[bro1999]

Sounds about right to me. $350/tire plus alignment. Alignment for $275 is actually not that bad. I think I paid around 375 for an alignment by itself last year. I believe their hourly rate is $185, might depend on the market though. I also have no idea what "Correction Tires Rear Set" is about.

$375 for a single alignment is highway robbery.

 

[K.I.T.T.23]

Yeah, your situation was unique, and it almost sounds like a dealership taking advantage of the situation or you were not paying attention. Had you known that all they were going to do was replace two tires you could have easily taken it to your local tire shop and saved about 50% of that cost.

Like @richyrich said: always take your car to specialists. They do a better job (most of the time) and are cheaper due to the volume they work with.