Tesla Service - Travellers beware!

[canukus]

Since there is no way to upgrade my service complaint to Tesla, I offer this rant as a cautionary tale to those who travel distances on vacation.

Our 2017/8 Model S powered off completely on November 27th in Albuquerque NM. I was unable to open doors, so I manually opened the frunk using the pull tabs in the front fender well and attached a charger to the 12v battery. The car still would not power up. I contacted Tesla Service through the app and followed their suggestions; I was told that I needed to have it towed to the nearest Service Center (Santa Fe) at my own expense (the car is no longer under warranty for this). I was finally able to arrange a flatbed tow service to Santa Fe on December 1 (for a fee of $750, cash). On December 7th, the Service Centre called to say the car was ready for pickup. They had replaced the 12v battery, cleared the codes and said it was all set to go. December 9, we continued on our vacation and departed for San Antonio.

December 15, in San Antonio TX, the car died again- this time giving me a number of alerts, most relating to electrical issues. I was able to get the car towed to the Dominion Service Center on December 19th. The repair process was painfully slow. I requested updates practically daily and, after a frustrating wait for parts and service, I was finally able to pick up the car on January 27. I left for Canada on January 29th and the car has been working properly since.

Our complaint:

• The problem that was finally resolved in San Antonio could well have been detected and repaired by the Santa Fe Service Center had they not simply installed the 12V battery, cleared the codes and sent me on my way. It could have saved us a lot of time and another tow fee.
• The time it took to repair our car (from December 19 to January 27th) was inordinately long. I know that Christmas, New Year, increasing auto sales and the underlying Covid problems have made things difficult, but forcing a traveling customer to wait over a month for repair is unconscionable.

We are passionate about Tesla. We have been an investor and vocal supporter of the company and its aims since its inception. This demoralizing experience has made it harder for us to recommend purchasing this wonderful car to others when the service can be so poor and the delays so expensive.

Perhaps now is the time for Tesla to place a higher priority on service - especially to travelers stranded away from home.

 

[glide]

We are passionate about Tesla. We have been an investor and vocal supporter of the company and its aims since its inception. This demoralizing experience has made it harder for us to recommend purchasing this wonderful car to others when the service can be so poor and the delays so expensive.

I love how people can be so passionate about Tesla to the point where they just ignore all the lying, safety recalls, broken promises, poor QC, abysmal service…until it happens to them.

 

[Unclepaul]

Believe that stories about imperfect diagnosis for issues is not just a Tesla thing, but happens from time to time on many 6 year old cars.

While not uncommon in the industry, it becomes very irritating when it happens to You.

This is why so many vehicle owners tend to trade in their complicated vehicles when the warranty is finished.

 

[karkrazy]

I empathize with OP… but as prior posts say, it happens to older vehicles and it’s no different than other vehicle manufacturers
Would you get better service from Porsche or MB? Maybe, maybe not. Will also depend entirely on the dealership location and how good the tech that worked on it is.

 

[GoVols!]

I empathize with OP… but as prior posts say, it happens to older vehicles and it’s no different than other vehicle manufacturers
Would you get better service from Porsche or MB? Maybe, maybe not. Will also depend entirely on the dealership location and how good the tech that worked on it is.

Having owned both Mercs and Porsches, I can hands down tell you the difference with owning these brands is the service department is miles better then Tesla even out of warranty. For one thing, I have always received a Porsche or Merc loaner whether my car was in or out of warranty at no charge. Never once in my 25yrs of owning these brands have I ever been stranded on the side of the road without having immediate service support. Also, all my doors open even when the battery is dead. Tesla really needs to up their game even more so as with potential new EV owners who care just as much about great service as they do about the car. It’s the whole experience that sets companies like Merc. and Porsche apart from Tesla. Tesla is still new to the game in manufacturing years but it’s not like Elon or other Tesla executives haven’t driven other brands before to understand how important customer service is to the ownership of the car.

 

[karkrazy]

Having owned both Mercs and Porsches, I can hands down tell you the difference with owning these brands is the service department is miles better then Tesla even out of warranty. For one thing, I have always received a Porsche or Merc loaner whether my car was in or out of warranty at no charge. Never once in my 25yrs of owning these brands have I ever been stranded on the side of the road without having immediate service support. Also, all my doors open even when the battery is dead. Tesla really needs to up their game even more so as with potential new EV owners who care just as much about great service as they do about the car. It’s the whole experience that sets companies like Merc. and Porsche apart from Tesla. Tesla is still new to the game in manufacturing years but it’s not like Elon or other Tesla executives haven’t driven other brands before to understand how important customer service is to the ownership of the car.

The level of after-sales support… true, miles better. I was just relating to my experience my a Cayenne GTS… it developed an oil leak while under warranty. Took it to the same dealer we’ve been going to for years. First time, they had it a week. Came back still leaking. Second time, they had it 3 weeks and gave us a Macan S… said they had to drop the engine and transmission. Came back… still leaked! Called to advise the service dept, and the best the service advisor could say was, “bring it back in again… and what’s a few drops of oil on the garage floor, eh?”
I dumped it as soon as I could
But yes, I’d agree that the service experience is better overall, though not without fault

 

[GoVols!]

The level of after-sales support… true, miles better. I was just relating to my experience my a Cayenne GTS… it developed an oil leak while under warranty. Took it to the same dealer we’ve been going to for years. First time, they had it a week. Came back still leaking. Second time, they had it 3 weeks and gave us a Macan S… said they had to drop the engine and transmission. Came back… still leaked! Called to advise the service dept, and the best the service advisor could say was, “bring it back in again… and what’s a few drops of oil on the garage floor, eh?”
I dumped it as soon as I could
But yes, I’d agree that the service experience is better overall, though not without fault

Yikes! Was your service center in a 3rd world country? I’m surprised you had such crappy repair service. Somebody should be fired or re-trained after the second time. We had a Macan S and I know those are not built on the same level as the Cayenne. They are known to leak oil after 50k miles if not sooner. What really erks me about Tesla, is how much cash and profit margin they make, that they can’t or don’t care to make service an outstanding experience.

 

[karkrazy]

Yikes! Was your service center in a 3rd world country? I’m surprised you had such crappy repair service. Somebody should be fired or re-trained after the second time. We had a Macan S and I know those are not built on the same level as the Cayenne. They are known to leak oil after 50k miles if not sooner. What really erks me about Tesla, is how much cash and profit margin they make, that they can’t or don’t care to make service an outstanding experience.

Livermore, CA
I took it in stride. They were good to me for years, but I just didn’t have the energy or time to chase down an oil leak.

And yes agreed with the Tesla experience part. The fact that a million plus vehicles a year are hitting the road and a support/service network that is struggling to meet expectations is not good CX.

 

[GoVols!]

Livermore, CA
I took it in stride. They were good to me for years, but I just didn’t have the energy or time to chase down an oil leak.

And yes agreed with the Tesla experience part. The fact that a million plus vehicles a year are hitting the road and a support/service network that is struggling to meet expectations is not good CX.

Isn’t Livermore the step child of Pleasanton? I lived in Green Valley not far from you. If taxes weren’t murdering us, we’d probably have moved to old Pleasanton as we have a lot of friends in the area, instead of moving out of the state. Hopefully Tesla holds up better for you.