Service center experience bad (damaged wheel)

[Hitmanblood]

So, new model 3 performance. I live in michigan roads suck. Get a flat tire on my model 3. Closest service center is 50 miles away in Clarkston. They tow my car, I was told Tesla doesn't replace tires on the road and won't send a mobile service guy. OK.

Wait 90 minutes for tow truck. Service center closes at 5pm and its 4pm now. So I call the next day and ask about my tire. How did it go flat. Guy on the phone said they didn't find anything but some cracks in the tire and the sidewall having damage.

Tesla messages through chat later tell me they found a nail that created a hole.

I get my invoice and it's almost 500$ for one tire. I'm shocked it's that expensive but what can I do. I tell the rep on the phone that I get off work at 11pm and to have my car ready for after hours pickup.

I get a message from Tesla telling me, btw they couldn't get the tire off easily and damaged my wheel. Damaged it! They said they will replace my wheel and that they don't have any 20 inch wheels in stock and don't know when they are getting more.

And the kicker? I drive a hour their after work at 11pm and my car is behind a locked gate. Wtf is going on. 2 hours of my time wasted. Now in the morning I have to drive another 2 hours to go pick up my car.

Not great first impressions..

 

[pnwadventures]

That sucks. I started carrying a patch kit and a pump, just in case.

Are there no other tire shops closer? There is nothing special about the tires/wheels; anyone with a tire machine should be able to swap new tread and/or possibly repair it.

Hope they make amends for you.

 

[Willy’sEV]

I thought I read these were special tires, putting some deadening foam inside to quiet tire road noise.
I stand corrected if I am wrong.

 

[Hitmanblood]

Update. 4 hours of driving. Them wasting my time. Sorry for the inconvenience is all I got.

 

[UncertainTimes]

A few thoughts:
You know the roads around you suck. 20” wheels probably weren’t the best choice so you need to be ready to deal with flats. Some regions do have mobile service that replaces tires. You could carry a patch kit with you and patch it in a pinch and keep yourself on the road while you wait for places to open. You don’t need to go to Tesla for tires. In fact you should avoid having to go to a SC unless it’s a Tesla specific problem. In a non emergency situation, buy the tires on TireRack and get it installed by a good tire shop. Some places won’t touch the foam tires but you can also mount the non-foam PS4s just fine.
Owning a Tesla isn’t like owning a car from the major brands. You can’t expect fast turn around service and you need contingency plans for when stuff breaks.

 

[pnwadventures]

I thought I read these were special tires, putting some deadening foam inside to quiet tire road noise.
I stand corrected if I am wrong.

The OEM tires have acoustic foam. But they’re still just tires; you can put those tires on any car, or any tire on this car. Repairing a tire with acoustic foam is more of a pain (though you can still plug it or keep pumping it up). But replacing it is no more difficult than replacing any other tire. You don’t have to go to Tesla to replace a tire.

I can’t edit my original post, but I meant to say is that I carry a pump and a plug kit.