Tesla charging to investigate issues on a new car

[elecTED]

Anyone else seen a message from Tesla advising there will be a charge for investigating an issue that they determine to be outside warranty?

Got this from Tesla after reporting loud squeaky brakes issue (day one issue, still happens, hold mode helps but does not eliminate squeaks):

“Thanks for contacting Tesla. For us to investigate the noise, we require authorisation for 30 minutes diagnosis at £72.50 + vat. Should the concern be covered by warranty, this charge will be waived. Please confirm whether you are happy for us to go ahead with this.
NB: All warranty concerns are subject to onsite inspection to determine validity”

I can understand charging for issues that develop over time but something like loud squeaky brakes that existed on day one in a brand new car it seems a bit harsh. I know others have been fobbed off with squeaky brakes and I’m in two minds about risking £87 plus personal time.

It would be easy for Tesla to say the squeaks are ‘within tolerance’:
- squeaks within the X hours of driving
- squeaks less than X decibels
- reversing with a downhill incline more than X %
- etc

Tesla probably think some of the issues people are reporting are petty and waste their time and perhaps this is a way to deter people from having certain issues investigated.

 

[TheEVadvisor]

yup its a stupid policy and think something is being done about it to get it reworded. Basically its for people who have after market equipment and those things could cause the noise and vibration...

 

[Mr Miserable]

I had the same message and agree it's a bit off however their advice to set regen to low and do some harsh braking seemed to clear the issue.

 

[TheEVadvisor]

try reversing at high speed and braking too. It could be a stone in between the rotor.

 

[Rooster6655]

Tesla probably think some of the issues people are reporting are petty and waste their time and perhaps this is a way to deter people from having certain issues investigated.

Yes well they kinda have to with the amount of people complain about everything, they can of course explain things by email if the appointment isn't necessary.

 

[JCremonini]

That’s standard garage practise and I’ve seen almost the same wording elsewhere.

Garages cost money to run so expecting time out of their day, which could be recharged elsewhere, for free when the issue may well be chargeable anyway ( not in warranty ) is expecting a little too much.

They are not suggesting they won’t stump up the cost , they’ve just sent you the same response to an enquiry they send everyone else. I wouldn’t be too concerned by it if you are confident you can argue it’s not a fault post delivery and not something which is reasonable or tolerable. My question to the mechanic, should they baulk, would be “so, if this was your car, you wouldn’t mind then ?”

 

[MelT3]

A key point will be when you raised the issue with them. If you notified them on the day of collection then it was clearly present at the time. It is reasonable to expect a brand new car not to have this issue. If you didn’t, it may be harder to prove.

Like jcromonini said, it’s standard wording and practice. I even had it with Bosch when our dishwasher was faulty on the day we received it - they sent out an engineer but said we would have to pay a call-out if it was a problem with the installation (it wasn’t thankfully!). Either way, you probably want and need it sorted, just be prepared to argue your case if necessary.

 

[Darmie]

let us know what it was if you do get it repaired.

 

[Adopado]

try reversing at high speed and braking too. It could be a stone in between the rotor.

Ah, that takes me back! It was in a Mini (old type 1275) ..the most apalling, scary, expensive noise you could wish to hear coming from the front of the car .. I didn't have much money and was doing most of my own repairs ... sooo delighted to find a piece of gravel between the disc and backplate! I think it only ever happened once again and that's in many years of driving. I'm sure that in most Tesla cases it's just lack of hard brake use ... just go out and give it some "therapy"... !! Pick your spot and keep it safe but the worst you can do is discover that it's a real problem that needs SC attention... and then you are not likely to be unnecessarily charged.

 

[navt]

Tesla probably think some of the issues people are reporting are petty and waste their time and perhaps this is a way to deter people from having certain issues investigated.

Which customers wouldn't have to do if Tesla bothered to do a proper PDI on their vehicles before handover. I have a list as long as my arm of petty issues like wiper hose detached, frunk trim not clipped in, door seals not seated properly, etc. I could probably do all this myself but do not want to create any further damage.

 

[elecTED]

Thanks for the advice guys.

It’s defo not a stone as a number of folks have/are experiencing brake squeaks from day one. I did once have a small stone lodged in the brake disks in another car. It made the most horrendous grinding noise when the car was in motion.

Anyways, I took the car for a spin around lunchtime, regen set to low and did more harsh braking in 30 mins than I’ve done in the previous 3 months of ownership - poor car. Also did some hard braking in reverse. Noticed less squeaking in reverse after all that but some quieter squeaks still there.

Will continue to monitor situation over next few weeks as service appointment scheduled for mid jan.

 

[elecTED]

..the most apalling, scary, expensive noise you could wish to hear coming from the front of the car .. I didn't have much money and was doing most of my own repairs ... sooo delighted to find a piece of gravel between the disc and backplate!

We experienced the exact same issue in our Audi A3 approx 1 year ago. As you say, the sound from the pesky small stone was horrendous. I was bracing for a repair into the hundreds. Luckily the garage was honest and just charged £30 for their time.

 

[Adopado]

Thanks for the advice guys.

It’s defo not a stone as a number of folks have/are experiencing brake squeaks from day one. I did once have a small stone lodged in the brake disks in another car. It made the most horrendous grinding noise when the car was in motion.

Anyways, I took the car for a spin around lunchtime, regen set to low and did more harsh braking in 30 mins than I’ve done in the previous 3 months of ownership - poor car. Also did some hard braking in reverse. Noticed less squeaking in reverse after all that but some quieter squeaks still there.

Will continue to monitor situation over next few weeks as service appointment scheduled for mid jan.

Did you see the Youtube of someone doing a brake service on the M3? I recall them referring to the brake squeaking issue. Anyway, a very conventional brake service looks in order. Try a search on youtube it's useful information for anyone.

 

[navt]

Did you see the Youtube of someone doing a brake service on the M3? I recall them referring to the brake squeaking issue. Anyway, a very conventional brake service looks in order. Try a search on youtube it's useful information for anyone.

Did you mean this?

 

[Glan gluaisne]

FWIW, Toyota do the same. I had a warranty issue on my last Prius PHEV, where part of the under tray broke off. It was a well-known fault, caused by the original design of tray cracking along the line of a hinged flap. Toyota wanted me to give an undertaking to pay something like £150 if the problem was found not to be a warranty issue.

In my case, the problem had been reported many times by other Prius owners, and I obtained a TSB (Toyota Service Bulletin) that detailed the problem and said that the fix was for dealers to replace the under tray with a new one, of a different design. When I gave the dealer the TSB they just waived the requirement for any payment.

 

[Jason71]

Did you mean this?

I assumed he meant this one which gives a pretty comprehensive guide to servicing the brakes

 

[elecTED]

Did you mean this?

Doesn’t look they’ve done a huge amount during the brake service. Took it apart, some very light sanding around the disk pads, possibly a bit of wiping here and there and applied some brake grease and put it all back. I would have done a through cleanup of the brakes, callipers and disks if I went to the trouble of dismantling it all.

 

[rotor2k]

Doesn’t look they’ve done a huge amount during the brake service. Took it apart, some very light sanding around the disk pads, possibly a bit of wiping here and there and applied some brake grease and put it all back. I would have done a through cleanup of the brakes, callipers and disks if I went to the trouble of dismantling it all.

I agree, that was rubbish. The way he left the callipers hanging I felt was particularly obnoxious.