So I took delivery of a performance model S 100 about three weeks ago. I really enjoyed driving the car 150 miles or so from the closest dealership to my home. A week later, with about 400 miles on the car, my Tire Rack authorized installer mounted a set of snow tires, and was sad to inform me that the drivers front inner tire was ruined as was the rim quite scratched up. He indicated that this appeared to him to be from a car carrier or rail car. He found a “automotive body finishing screw“ in the front passenger wheel. Needless to say I’m disappointed, I have a brand new $109,000 car with two bad tires and a scratched up rim. I believe that these were present on the vehicle at the time of delivery, I am not accustomed to jacking up a brand new luxury vehicle and inspecting every inch of it at the time of delivery. Tesla is indicating that any damage noted after 100 miles is my responsibility. I’m asking the local Tesla repair facility to try to escalate this to their supervisors but have been promised that this is unlikely to lead to anything. Any advice? I totally love the car otherwise! And by the way, I did not hit anything, I am meticulous about my rims, and have a good track record of not hitting curbs.
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Sad delivery wheel and tire story......
- Thread starter ElectricBoo
- Start date
HankLloydRight
No Roads
I totally agree about the rims, but he's still going to need at least one, if not two, new tires.
I definitely need one new tire, per my tire installer. Not sure if the other one can be patched. I guess I can live with the rim as well, especially since on the inside of the wheel. I’m just not happy about it, and I feel like my local Mercedes or Porsche dealer, the owners of the franchises of which I have a relationship with, would take care of this immediately, no questions asked.
I'm a bit confused. Your second photo shows a gaping hole in the tire that would make it impossible for it to hold any air. However, you say you drove 400 miles on these tires before taking the car in to get snows put on. This does not add up, is there any chance that the tire installer did the damage and is trying to get out of paying for it?
dhrivnak
Active Member
Sorry to hear this but the low profile tires are horrible on most streets. The tire looks like you hit a good pothole.
Zishan
Member
They *should* replace the wheel and both tires. Sounds like Tesla won't though.
They used to do stuff to keep customers happy. Seems like a shame to take a happy customer and make them unhappy over this. 2 tires (the rim really shouldn't be a big deal) and you'd solve this issue. Worth it for the profit they make on each S sale but they are chasing volume on the lean and manpower is a real issue in customer facing roles.
They used to do stuff to keep customers happy. Seems like a shame to take a happy customer and make them unhappy over this. 2 tires (the rim really shouldn't be a big deal) and you'd solve this issue. Worth it for the profit they make on each S sale but they are chasing volume on the lean and manpower is a real issue in customer facing roles.
KingBozo
Member
You know the sad thing is that those of us outside the 150 mile mark and no Service Center in the state (yet) have to take delivery from some third party delivery guy who's not waiting around for you to do a complete detail inspection. My M3 LR AWD NP was delivered with a cracked windshield and a damaged rim form the carrier just to mention a few other things, living in New Mexico I had to drive to Phoenix to replace windshield and damaged rim. Luckily I had photos with date stamped to prove that all items listed was upon delivery.
Not that it helps, but based on the straightness of the scrape mark, it looks like a lift or jack did it as opposed to the tire rolling over an obstruction.
That may be "policy" but that is not the law nor the warranty. My delivery center that I will be picking up my new X at is 88 miles away. It would not be reasonable to expect someone to notice any and all defects basically by the drive home.
I took delivery of my "not-cpo" used tesla from tesla and after 45 minutes came back and told them that it had a leaking tire; they due-billed it and got me a new wheel/tire that week for free. Not exactly the same but certainly they could have said pound sand and I'd have been SOL since I had already given them money and driven off the lot.
As they say, it doesn't hurt to ask. You should ask them about it and see if it works. They have some discretion and may try to make you whole. Smile, be polite, blah blah...
As they say, it doesn't hurt to ask. You should ask them about it and see if it works. They have some discretion and may try to make you whole. Smile, be polite, blah blah...
