Tesla charged me $70 to screw on lug nuts

[skboston]

Service is inconsistent so a very simple reason - people working at Tesla SC are coming from other dealerships and simply carry over the policy to gauge customers and that's normal practice to charge for the smallest thing.

I remember on one of my trucks couple years ago I was charged $285 for a light bulb replacement in the rear stoplight, the bulb itself costs $3-5 depending where you buy it, the rest was unknown to me, obviously the dealership came up with an excuse for the labor charge.

 

[yobigd20]

Service is inconsistent so a very simple reason - people working at Tesla SC are coming from other dealerships and simply carry over the policy to gauge customers and that's normal practice to charge for the smallest thing.

I remember on one of my trucks couple years ago I was charged $285 for a light bulb replacement in the rear stoplight, the bulb itself costs $3-5 depending where you buy it, the rest was unknown to me, obviously the dealership came up with an excuse for the labor charge.

heh, Chevy tried to charge me $145 to replace a $9 front headlight on a camaro once.

 

[KidDoc]

The last time I got my tires rotated at the local Discount Tire they said all the nuts on my right side were warped and replaced them. Cost me about $35.

 

[AWDtsla]

It's extremely difficult to strip 20 lug nuts unless the lug nuts were made of bad metal.

No it's actually quite easy for a shop monkey to do with a impact wrench.

 

[Gizmotoy]

No it's actually quite easy for a shop monkey to do with a impact wrench.

I asked Tesla about this, because I'm now in the habit of asking anyone who touches the wheels on any of my cars to use a torque wrench. They said they "always" use torque wrenches. I suppose they could do removals with a impact wrench, though.

 

[KidDoc]

Eh I'm fine with just new stronger lug nuts.

 

[brkaus]

I had my M3 into BMW dealer for over $2k worth of brake work.

Asked about replacing the broken center cup holder. The one that simply snaps in with a slight squeeze on the side.

They wanted $80 labor (30 minutes) plus the $30 for the part.

The service rep wouldn't even just leave it on the seat. Had to wait in a second line picking up the car for parts.

 

[Lloyd]

To remove 20 lug nuts and replace and retorque to specs should take about 1/2 hour. Their labor rate is high but this seems billed correctly.

 

[Cyclone]

It wouldn't be the first time. I've received at least 2 (maybe 3) calls from Tesla about something I posted here. On at least one occasion I'm pretty sure I got special treatment because of it ("Corporate says to take care of this, whatever it takes.").

I'm careful what I say now, especially if something that is corporate's fault can be construed as me having a complaint with my SC. Don't want to get my SC in trouble for something that's not their fault.

Me too, and I agree with the sentiment. I've always received outstanding, over the top local service myself and I hope my comments are not seen as "negative" but rather as "constructive criticism" of overall corporate policies.

I also do not want to get my SvC in trouble for stuff like this as, personally at least, it feels to me as bad "policies" given to the SvC rather than the SvC itself. That said, I do not have the impression they get told "Corporate says to take care of this, whatever it takes", b/c then I'd be a happy camper at this point!

 

[apacheguy]

$105 is what I was charged for new lug nuts. $70 labor should be deducted as this is included in annual service.

 

[davidc18]

why were the control arms not covered under warranty?

$105 is what I was charged for new lug nuts. $70 labor should be deducted as this is included in annual service.

 

[Cyclone]

why were the control arms not covered under warranty?

The Op is a high-mileage driver and is out of warranty.

 

[ProSkeptic]

The Op is a high-mileage driver and is out of warranty.

Super... that still doesn't explain being charged $70 for literally three minutes of labor.

 

[Cyclone]

Super... that still doesn't explain being charged $70 for literally three minutes of labor.

Mistake in all likelihood. If they weren't also removing the tires for the other service work, he would have been charged 24 minutes @ $175/hr (= $70) for that work. But he has since been refunded the $70.

 

[Max*]

Super... that still doesn't explain being charged $70 for literally three minutes of labor.

He was refunded the labor cost, not the parts cost.

 

[yobigd20]

I set an alarm for 5:07p. Better not be late!

Pretty crazy they charged labor for that. Presumably this lug nut issue was discovered because they had the wheels off anyway. Were they not planning to put your wheels back on?

That's 0.4hr (24 mins) at our SC's $175/hr rate. That's a stupid long amount of time to install lug nuts in the first place, even if the labor charge itself was warranted (and it wasn't, IMO).

 

[Cyclone]

I concur with you yobigd. If I know that was the "damage", I wouldn't have bothered replacing them.

 

[skboston]

heh, Chevy tried to charge me $145 to replace a $9 front headlight on a camaro once.

Chevy was the one that did it to me

These look absolutely fine nuts to me...

 

[Gizmotoy]

pictures

Hey, you were late! But you delivered, so you get a pass. :biggrin:

Wow, those are in much better shape than I was picturing. Some of the corners are slightly rounded, but I'd be pretty surprised if those slipped much in a socket. Kind of looks like someone used a 12 point socket on them and just rounded the edges a bit.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

are those the new lugs?
wow, my old lugs are TRASHED compared to that!
they work fine but the black rubberized coating is all chewed up and it takes a bit of tapping to get my socket on...use a hex and not a star that 'almost' fits

are those in the picture the old style or newer that has caps?