Got the car back. Their diagnosis: "A USB drive in the displays was corrupted and thus the displays crashed and couldn't reboot. This is a known firmware problem and will be addressed in a future update". Other than the eMMC I know of no "USB drive in the displays". Anyone?
me: "so this could happen to any Tesla and might happen to mine again as well?"
them: "yes"
That was the verbal comms with service reception. I asked to speak to the tech and the senior service reception person told me the techs are not allowed to interface customers.
I am so not liking this experience. Made me feel dumb for having spent that kind of money on a car I now can't trust.
Here's what I would have expected to happen:
1. "Sorry your $200k ride dropped dead on you. We've organised the tow, do you need a loaner? We'll have it delivered to you within the hour."
What actually happened: I had a tow in under an hour. That was OK. The tow dude threw his business card at me, looked at the car, said "oh, dual motor, that's a nice one", rode it onto the back of the tow truck (because "driving" would require a softer touch), fastened the front wheels, and rushed off - with the car still on (as can be seen in the picture above). Not Tesla's fault per se. But felt very careless and distinctly not "first class" (the name of the towing company).
2. As soon as the towing service delivers the vehicle I expect a phone call. "We have received your vehicle and will be in contact as soon as we know more. Here's a direct number for you to call for inquires."
What actually happened: Dead silence. I didn't hear back from Tesla until I called them via the generic call center number an hour before they closed for the day (4 hours after they had the vehicle). I told them I needed a car the next day for work, could I please have a loaner. "ooh... we don't have any" they said, but they "might be able to work some magic" to make a loaner work but no promises. They called back shortly after and had organised a loaner - but should that be down to magic, really? I don't think so, that should be the default offer, made by them. Even Mercedes offered me a loaner while having my Smart car serviced by them (and they were the most unpleasant self entitled bunch I had ever dealt with). With Tesla it seemed more a case of them being a bit forlorn ("do people get loaners when our car breaks down on them?") or helplessness, rather than self entitlement, but that's no excuse either really.
The loaner then in itself was an interesting experience because I found out first hand how poorly I can expect my S to age. The loaner was an older HW2.5 model with 98000 km on it, and it drove like a dog. Suspension shot to hell. Driver seat swivelling (not a feature...). And it was dirty and banged up with paint blisters on the hood, probably one of their employee's cars who was kind enough to give it up for the day (I'm guessing here - kudos to the employee if that was the case - but again, that shouldn't be the modus operandi). And of course it was locked down so I couldn't even change it out of creep mode. That's how trusting they are of their customers. Might as well have put it in valet mode.
If they had any business sense, they'd keep a few recent and clean models and let those of us unfortunate enough to experience a breakdown experience a different car. I'd have enjoyed an X or a 3 for a day. Might even have considered buying one for my wife.
So, watch for black screens out there... it could happen to you any day.
