I traded in my P85D for a P100D a few days ago, and there were a few minor items that Tesla service is going to take care of during an appointment in late Jan.
Generally I schedule my service appointments for when a Tesla loaner is available, even if that means waiting a few additional weeks. I've been driving a model S since early 2013, and we now only own electric cars powered in part by solar. I can't stand ICE cars anymore. I'll go way out of my way to stay electric.
So I was quite dismayed to be told by my service center that Tesla will no longer be offering Tesla loaners starting in January; only cars via enterprise. I told them I was disappointed by this change, and they said they were too, but the decision came from above.
My guess is Tesla is looking ahead to model 3, with smaller margins on the sale of the car, combined with their goal of not making any money on service and needing to reduce costs. They're making the change now to reset customer expectations and to make this a company wide change vs a model 3 change later.
I considered the option Tesla has to continue to provide tesla loaners to Model S/X owners only, but that creates an atmosphere of a class system, something I think Tesla is well advised to avoid or at least discourage if possible.
The only solution I've come up with is if Tesla offers Tesla loaners with a daily fee that is subsidized by whatever the amount Tesla would otherwise pay enterprise. I'm disappointed by this decision, even though I understand it. All of the other high end manufacturers provide brand loaners, or more accurately, the dealers of those brands do. I'd hate to see NADA use this as an example on the benefits of a franchised dealer in between the customer and the manufacturer.
Has anyone else been told this by their service center (yet)?
What are your thoughts?
Does anyone else have any other ideas?
Andrew
[Moderator Note: See Jon McNeill's response here: Tesla service loaner policy ]
Generally I schedule my service appointments for when a Tesla loaner is available, even if that means waiting a few additional weeks. I've been driving a model S since early 2013, and we now only own electric cars powered in part by solar. I can't stand ICE cars anymore. I'll go way out of my way to stay electric.
So I was quite dismayed to be told by my service center that Tesla will no longer be offering Tesla loaners starting in January; only cars via enterprise. I told them I was disappointed by this change, and they said they were too, but the decision came from above.
My guess is Tesla is looking ahead to model 3, with smaller margins on the sale of the car, combined with their goal of not making any money on service and needing to reduce costs. They're making the change now to reset customer expectations and to make this a company wide change vs a model 3 change later.
I considered the option Tesla has to continue to provide tesla loaners to Model S/X owners only, but that creates an atmosphere of a class system, something I think Tesla is well advised to avoid or at least discourage if possible.
The only solution I've come up with is if Tesla offers Tesla loaners with a daily fee that is subsidized by whatever the amount Tesla would otherwise pay enterprise. I'm disappointed by this decision, even though I understand it. All of the other high end manufacturers provide brand loaners, or more accurately, the dealers of those brands do. I'd hate to see NADA use this as an example on the benefits of a franchised dealer in between the customer and the manufacturer.
Has anyone else been told this by their service center (yet)?
What are your thoughts?
Does anyone else have any other ideas?
Andrew
[Moderator Note: See Jon McNeill's response here: Tesla service loaner policy ]
Last edited by a moderator:
