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Service issues finally caught up to me
- Thread starter lennieorr
- Start date
Hard to impossible to contact a person.So your waiting for the perfect dealership?
Slow to no response via the Internet.
Musk bullshitted about wanting to be primarily via Internet, as cover for their cost-cutting during the Model 3 ramp, and ultomately in advance of the release of the SR and they haven't yet recovered.
I have a likely car purchase coming this summer, and I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place because Tesla is terrible at anything off the happy path.
BrokerDon
Active Member
Yes our local Tesla Service Center doesn't always have free loaners available sometimes, especially if we don't have an appointment.
OTOH the Mercedes dealerships we've used DO give us free loaner cars... but their "Service A" (oil & filter change) is $500 and their "Service B" (oil & air filters, brake fluid change) can be $1,200 with another $600 for a "transmission flush" on our Mercedes Sprinter. Oh and the Mercedes Blutec diesel and Sprinter chassis have notorious reliability issues with their Blutec emissions system ($2,400 for a DEF heater or sensor), wheel speed sensors ($300 each and they fail randomly ~ 5,000 to 30,000 miles), glow plugs ($400 each)... all OBSCENE repair costs but HEY WE GET A "FREE" LOANER VEHICLE.
IMHO I'd rather have a Tesla and rent my own loaner than PAY for the "free" loaner at Mercedes, Audi, BMW, etc. "stealerships". Consider the TOTAL COST of ownership including service. Service on our 2015 P85D costs a LOT less than service on our Mercedes.
OTOH the Mercedes dealerships we've used DO give us free loaner cars... but their "Service A" (oil & filter change) is $500 and their "Service B" (oil & air filters, brake fluid change) can be $1,200 with another $600 for a "transmission flush" on our Mercedes Sprinter. Oh and the Mercedes Blutec diesel and Sprinter chassis have notorious reliability issues with their Blutec emissions system ($2,400 for a DEF heater or sensor), wheel speed sensors ($300 each and they fail randomly ~ 5,000 to 30,000 miles), glow plugs ($400 each)... all OBSCENE repair costs but HEY WE GET A "FREE" LOANER VEHICLE.
IMHO I'd rather have a Tesla and rent my own loaner than PAY for the "free" loaner at Mercedes, Audi, BMW, etc. "stealerships". Consider the TOTAL COST of ownership including service. Service on our 2015 P85D costs a LOT less than service on our Mercedes.
BrokerDon
Active Member
OK but if you're choosing your "luxury" car depending on whether they give you a "free" loaner but charge exorbitant amounts for mandatory basic services then you missed the point. There is "no such thing as free lunch"... nor IMHO "free loaner cars"... and getting Mercedes STEALERships to cover CLEAR emissions systems issues under Mercedes federal /CARB warrantIes is a battle. The STEALERships will tell you it is NOT covered so they can gouge you with their excessive "standard" service charges and marked up parts costs which they should actually inform you it is 100% covered under Mercedes emissions systems warranty. Been there, done that.
Fortunately our Mercedes Sprinter can be serviced by independent Mercedes Certified Sprinter service centers like Hoekstra Transportion in Michigan. Their "Service B" was less than HALF what the Mercedes STEALERships quoted... and Hoekstra Transportation performed our service in ~ 2 hours eliminating the need for the Mercedes STEALERship's "free" loaner.
Again, there is NO SUCH THING AS FREE LUNCH... Unless you're a legislator who is a part of THE SWAMP who is soliciting "campaign contributions". LOL
The issue here is that Tesla Service has become terrible--no humans to talk to, and, for us, an app that was an unmitigated disaster for weeks with no way to change appointment dates or details. Nice.
Yes, Mobile Service is great--but how many times do they have to come out and NOT have the right parts?!? Geesh.
Overall, very much a work in progress and Elon has really dropped the ball here.
Yes, Mobile Service is great--but how many times do they have to come out and NOT have the right parts?!? Geesh.
Overall, very much a work in progress and Elon has really dropped the ball here.
PWlakewood
Active Member
Agreed but the service issues are not at all of the Tesla service centers as pointed out by several members of this forum. There does however seem to be more issues coming out of California. They do have the highest concentrations of teslas and service centers so its only natural to hear about those compared to smaller less densely populated areas. And as I have said in the past not all Tesla owners are on this forum so we only get a small sample of owners who have positive or negative experiences.
Lasttoy
Active Member
Strange thing just happened. My owners manual is BLANK. Nothing, zero.
I called 877. Oh sorry, we trouble with that on old cars. Will try to send it to car.
Ready.
I asked for fuse layout. "I cant tell u that, only service can check your fuses" . He went to say I was not qualified to check my fuses.
Needless to explain I was , and asked him to repeat that. Then he said said we can send Ranger to check fuses.
After that I exploded. He said it again. ONLY SC should check fuses.
He was in Montreal, Canada.
This has become insane. They are pushing us to SC for any and everything.
I called 877. Oh sorry, we trouble with that on old cars. Will try to send it to car.
Ready.
I asked for fuse layout. "I cant tell u that, only service can check your fuses" . He went to say I was not qualified to check my fuses.
Needless to explain I was , and asked him to repeat that. Then he said said we can send Ranger to check fuses.
After that I exploded. He said it again. ONLY SC should check fuses.
He was in Montreal, Canada.
This has become insane. They are pushing us to SC for any and everything.
Yep, I had an issue with a door handle breaking, the motor to push it out ran constantly and the light stayed on. I called them and set up an appointment to get it fixed, they told me 2 weeks or so. I asked where I could find the fuse layout so I could get the motor and light to shut off and I was told they couldn't tell me, I'd have to schedule an appointment with a service center to have my fuses checked. After explaining the obvious that I didn't need a fuse checked, I needed to shut the motor and light off they again told me they can't tell me where the fuses are and I'd have to schedule an appointment. I lost it over the phone and drove all the way to the service center, they initially told me I needed an appointment and I nearly lost it again in person. Then they said they'd have to charge me because it's not a warranty item, i told them fine, leave it alone and I'll let the battery die from drain and they could then pay to have the car towed and work on a dead 12v and possible damage to the high voltage pack. The tech just looked at me then said they'd just go unplug the power to the handle real quick.
PWlakewood
Active Member
Yes, you are right, nothing is free. But simply can't ignore that people who can afford a $100K car are likely staying in better hotels and might even have a $13K watch. You think they are gonna just suck it up because there is an app on their phone once alternatives are available? As I stated previously, the US car makers learned a very hard lesson about the product they put in front of customers, and the never-ending repair experiences that followed.
So your waiting for the perfect dealership?
lol. no. I currently have a Jeep so I am very familiar with service issues. I have had a lot of recalls and warranty issues over the years; however, I have a few dealerships close by. So while I had to bring my vehicle in numerous time, it was only a small inconvenience for me.
Now that I am out of warranty I can bring it to a mechanic that I know and trust. I get great service and its super convenient anytime I have to bring it in.
My concern is if I do have any issues, then I will have to drive 1.5 hours each way to bring my car in and possibly go without a car for a length of time. Not to mention the nearest Store is over 4 hrs away each way. Some may call me lazy but I do value convenience, which ironically is one of the ideas I like about owning an EV...the convenience to charge at home and avoid gas stations.
It's interesting to bring in the "hidden costs" considering a lot of us bought cars back when those hidden costs included things like always getting the latest top of the line car as a loaner yet now we can't even get a loaner. If we paid those hidden costs, aren't we due hidden refunds?
Realistically, Tesla should just put it in writing like they did with the P100D loaners lie - "no loaners" Then when they make that statement a lie it's a good thing, maybe you will get an uber, maybe a real loaner, but at the worst you get what they promised.
linux-works
Active Member
today, I took my 3 in for service (clicking sound up front on one of the wheels). car is a few months old and hoping this is a warranty fix (the tech said that sometimes some dirt can get between the rotor and wheel and that could account for the clicking as the wheel rotates).
dropped the car off at 11.30am. was fully expecting an uber to be offered since they won't have the car done today and it will likely take tomorrow, hopefully not longer. thing is: the service guy was trying to tell me that they don't even offer ubers anymore for 'situations like mine' (not sure what they meant by that; warranty work? not sure). I told him that I was stranded there and unless I get at least an uber back to my house, I'm kind of stuck. at that point, he finally offered an uber - but why did I have to 'fight' about it? clearly the car wasn't going to be done today and what did he expect? I wasn't there with a friend, so there was no one to drive me back.
it seems that they now try to deny even offering an uber, unless you make a point of it.
wow. have to fight to get a ride back. didn't expect that.
dropped the car off at 11.30am. was fully expecting an uber to be offered since they won't have the car done today and it will likely take tomorrow, hopefully not longer. thing is: the service guy was trying to tell me that they don't even offer ubers anymore for 'situations like mine' (not sure what they meant by that; warranty work? not sure). I told him that I was stranded there and unless I get at least an uber back to my house, I'm kind of stuck. at that point, he finally offered an uber - but why did I have to 'fight' about it? clearly the car wasn't going to be done today and what did he expect? I wasn't there with a friend, so there was no one to drive me back.
it seems that they now try to deny even offering an uber, unless you make a point of it.
wow. have to fight to get a ride back. didn't expect that.
The service can vary wildly depending on who you get.
I took my 2016 MS in for the 50K service (at 48K miles), a burnt daytime running light, sticking window, and an error message stating to get the battery checked. The first available appointment was a month later on a Sunday (which is really unsat).
I arrive on the Sunday, guy quotes me 3-days and ~$2,000, no loaners, and no mention of Uber credits. (incredibly unsat for $2K of service plus lots of warranty work).
Since I hadn’t gotten the error message in a month and not wanting to deal with finding a rental on a Sunday afternoon, I rebooked for a Friday (another 4-week wait).
I arrive on the Friday, a different guy quotes me 2-days and ~$300, and provides $200 dollars in Uber credits.
WTF? Glad I didn’t keep my original appointment and hoping BMW/MB/Audi step up their EV game.
I took my 2016 MS in for the 50K service (at 48K miles), a burnt daytime running light, sticking window, and an error message stating to get the battery checked. The first available appointment was a month later on a Sunday (which is really unsat).
I arrive on the Sunday, guy quotes me 3-days and ~$2,000, no loaners, and no mention of Uber credits. (incredibly unsat for $2K of service plus lots of warranty work).
Since I hadn’t gotten the error message in a month and not wanting to deal with finding a rental on a Sunday afternoon, I rebooked for a Friday (another 4-week wait).
I arrive on the Friday, a different guy quotes me 2-days and ~$300, and provides $200 dollars in Uber credits.
WTF? Glad I didn’t keep my original appointment and hoping BMW/MB/Audi step up their EV game.
PWlakewood
Active Member
That's great but why do people keep bringing in their cars if they could just have mobile service take care of it? Sounds like there is a greater than zero chance they I would be forced to bring my car into a service center at some point.
linux-works
Active Member
when I used the app to schedule service, there was never a choice for SC or rangers.
how do you end up with a ranger visit? is that based on the SC reading your report and then suggesting it?
I would have been fine with a ranger, but then again, suspension stuff sounds like it needs a real lift.
how do you end up with a ranger visit? is that based on the SC reading your report and then suggesting it?
I would have been fine with a ranger, but then again, suspension stuff sounds like it needs a real lift.
