Tesla Service...

[jeffro01]

Okay so I had an appointment yesterday to drop off my Model S to correct some things that need correcting, nothing major.

Yet, they've had the car over 24hours and haven't moved it an inch from where they parked it when they took it from me. What is the point of having a service appointment if you're just going to take the car and not do a thing with it? I'm stuck in a crappy ICE loaner, because my local service center seems to have a problem getting enough Model S loaners, while my car is literally just sitting there outside in a back lot not being worked on like I expected when I dropped it off for my appointment scheduled weeks in advance.

At what point would you call to complain? I know the moment I call and complain they'll just run back and turn off mobile access and then I really won't know whats going on... Either way I'm simply just frustrated with this and this isn't the first time I've had a bone to pick with the service center I'm closest to.

Thoughts?

Jeff

 

[jaguar36]

I wouldn't be concerned with where your car is, we had them do some work to ours out in the lot.

I would be more concerned with if they are going to finish with the car when they say they will. If they said it will take 24 hours and they aren't done by then, that's when I'd be upset. If they said it will take 3 days then give em a day or two and then ask how its going.

Think of it this way, you're not putting any miles on your Tesla while you've got the loaner.

 

[jeffro01]

Fair enough, wanted to ask the "community" as I tend to overreact in these types of situation so a bit of perspective from other people helps.

Jeff

 

[Gizmotoy]

We're in the same boat, I think. I dropped mine off yesterday morning for its annual service plus, admittedly, a whole host of other stuff. They said it might be ready on Friday. Maybe, because they're really far behind schedule.

I spent 45 minutes at Tesla dropping the car off, then another hour at Enterprise where I got stuck with a giant Chevy Traverse because it was the only non-subcompact they had that wasn't smelly (literally). I'd usually say it's hard to complain when you're not paying for it, but given I'm paying for the gas in this thing I kind of am (Tesla only covers gas for 1-day services, according to Enterprise - I haven't confirmed directly with Tesla). I complained about the lack of loaners and vehicles at Enterprise, and to their credit Tesla said they'd try to get me into a loaner if they could, but I never heard back.

I have VT set to notify me if the car gets unlocked. It's been two days and it hasn't moved or been unlocked since I dropped it off. It's hard for me to understand how this is a good use of anyone's time or money.

All this for an appointment I made over two months ago. I'm very, very worried about service as the Model X and especially Model 3 volumes pick up.

 

[InsaneDriver]

It sometimes seems to me that we have a different level of expectations for Tesla, across the board (service, performance, reliability, build quality etc.) but fail to take a step back and remember they are a brand new car company. They haven't perfected their model, they haven't been around as long as Mercedes Benz (1926), BMW (1916). They delivered their first Model S in 2012.

I always try to cut them some slack, give them the benefit of the doubt, I know they want to fix every car perfectly and as quickly as possible. They want you driving your Tesla not an ICE loaner, that's for sure. But, they don't know exactly what they are getting into with every car coming in for service. Some take longer than expected, some faster than expected. To maximize their efficiency they have to have the next car sitting there waiting for them, they can't be waiting on the next car to get there. I'd personally rather drop off my car at a time scheduled well in advance and have it sit for an extra day or so vs. rescheduling the drop off time, too hard to rearrange my schedule (round trip to the service center for me is 2 hours plus depending upon traffic).

The tough thing is we can all view our cars, know where they are, if they have moved etc. I don't have that with my other cars. My s class won't display remotely outside a handful of miles. I drop it off and pick it up when they call and tell me it's done. I don't get a S class loaner, some C class or other enterprise rental when they run out of Mercedes loaners. Just happy to get a loaner and hope to have minimum trips to the service center over the life of ownership.

It's tough being without our Teslas, no other car compares. Never fun to have an ICE loaner when you are used to 'normally' getting another Tesla. But no car company out there comes even close to doing what Tesla has been able to do for its owners. We've been spoiled. In a few more years I bet all loaners will be a Model 3 variant, hope not but feel confident that will be the case. But hopefully the time will come where no one gets an ICE loaner.

My hope is that Tesla continues to work bugs out of their cars and processes, fewer bugs means fewer cars in the service centers. More service centers are on their way, but won't be here as quickly as we would all like.

In my first year of ownership every service appointment with Tesla has been better than anything I've experienced with any other car I've owned. I will continue to expect a lot out of Tesla but always be reasonable and understanding about it.

Yes I know, I'm going to get flamed by a lot folks on this forum for my stance, but I think they do a gret job for their owners and have always gone the extra mile in my experience for me.

Here's to fewer days in an ICE and more in your Teslas.

 

[RMG007]

@InsaneDriver - No flame, actually a +1

@jeffro01 - Tesla San Diego pays for all gas consumed by an Enterprise loaner ICE. They have Enterprise deliver the ICE to the SC with a full tank. When I've used more than that, they've reimbursed me for gas. Of course, YMMV (pun intended).

 

[Krugerrand]

When people have access to too much information. Put your phone down jeffro01 and enjoy, hopefully, the last time you put your butt in an archaic ICE. Think of the awesome story you'll have for your great grandchildren....

 

[davidc18]

I've been disappointed with the service fro mechanics at the Dania SC. The service manager is great but something is going wrong behind the doors with the mechanics and their quality control. We had our front DU replaced (4 days at the SC) along with the rear camera (thank you) but thats where the good news stops. After picking up the car, I noticed that the chrome strip above the camera was deeply scratched and there was black glue/tar all over the back hatch. The next day, I noticed a slight clicking/clunking sound when moving the steering wheel. After several emails and phone calls, the car goes back to the SC for 5 days while they troubleshoot the steering noise. They replaced the chrome (thank you) and discovered that the bolts on the DU and mounting plate were loose. So my question is who is in charge of quality control back there. This is the second time that the car has had to go back to the SC to either finish work that was "signed off" as complete or work that was done incorrectly. My patience with Tesla and their supposed "stellar" service is gone and I would suggest that you not wait patiently for them to live up to their promises. Tesla is a long way from being a "new" company and delivering service correctly is a pretty basic function of any car company, new or old. Yes, I have provided feedback to Tesla via email on all of these issues each time they arise.

 

[steve841]

I've been disappointed with the service fro mechanics at the Dania SC. The service manager is great but something is going wrong behind the doors with the mechanics and their quality control. We had our front DU replaced (4 days at the SC) along with the rear camera (thank you) but thats where the good news stops. After picking up the car, I noticed that the chrome strip above the camera was deeply scratched and there was black glue/tar all over the back hatch.

This I second ....

In 4 service visits over a year or so, 2 scratched wheels (one was a dime sized chunk), 1 good scratch on a quarter panel.

 

[Lerxt]

Perspective. I've been waiting for 2 months to get my drive unit replaced and it won't be done till April, meanwhile the milling sound is getting worse and worse...

 

[Gizmotoy]

Perspective. I've been waiting for 2 months to get my drive unit replaced and it won't be done till April, meanwhile the milling sound is getting worse and worse...

You say that like one thing is worse than the other, but as someone who waited just under four months for his drivetrain replacement, I think they're really two aspects of the same problem.

Any luck with yours, jeffro? Mine hasn't been unlocked for more than 5 minutes, driven more than 1mph, or moved since I dropped it off on Monday. Three business days with no activity at all. Starting to think even their Friday estimate was hopelessly optimistic. I wish they'd have just let me drop it off later in the week instead. That would have been better for everyone, I suspect.

 

[Spidy]

Creating the World’s Best Service and Warranty Program

 

[rfmurphy81]

I had a pretty great experience at the Costa Mesa service center today even though they are apparently extremely high volume.

The 877 number sent my trouble ticket to them last night. They called me in the morning to pick a date/time to bring the car in. I brought it straight away as my schedule happened to be clear at that moment. They had a loaner available (though it made me miss mine after driving it). They called me mid-afternoon saying everything is addressed and asked me to come by just before closing so they could wash it. I picked it up in the last half hour and was happily on my way.

I hope any future appointments go as smoothly.

 

[jeffro01]

Any luck with yours, jeffro? Mine hasn't been unlocked for more than 5 minutes, driven more than 1mph, or moved since I dropped it off on Monday. Three business days with no activity at all. Starting to think even their Friday estimate was hopelessly optimistic. I wish they'd have just let me drop it off later in the week instead. That would have been better for everyone, I suspect.

Yeah I got mine back on Wednesday as originally expected. They sat on it a bit but in the end everything was addressed. I'm still not quite sure I'm fully happy with the wind noise coming from my passenger B pillar (much better than it was before) but everything else was addressed. Time will tell with the dash rattles... Those are tricky to fix and I fully understand that. Hopefully Tesla will get to a point where they improve production to eliminate the dash rattle issues from the start.

Jeff

 

[Gizmotoy]

Lucky. 5 days with no progress at all on mine. My car still hasn't moved. I called to inquire about status and they thought, maybe, the firmware had been updated, but that no other work had been done.

Seems like a giant waste of resources. A whole week paying Enterprise for a rental, a customer wishing he had his car instead of said rental, and for what? So my car could sit for 5 days in the parking lot?

I wish they'd just called and told me to bring the car in a week later.

 

[ohmman]

San Rafael has always been wonderful. I did get an ICE (hybrid Mercedes) rental last time and didn't realize until I was about 10 miles away that I nearly had run out of gas. They had turned it over so fast from one customer to the next that it hadn't been refilled. It was an unfortunate thing only psychologically, because I'd been keeping track of how long it had been since I'd been to a gas station. 9 months! Total fluff, but as far as actual service goes, they've been great. If I factor in how incredibly busy they are (the place is always packed), I'm even more impressed.

I'm sorry to those who have had issues. Bring them up and be clear without being accusatory. Accidents happen, it's what the SC does about them that matters.

 

[supratachophobia]

I wouldn't be concerned with where your car is, we had them do some work to ours out in the lot.

I would be more concerned with if they are going to finish with the car when they say they will. If they said it will take 24 hours and they aren't done by then, that's when I'd be upset. If they said it will take 3 days then give em a day or two and then ask how its going.

Think of it this way, you're not putting any miles on your Tesla while you've got the loaner.

Correct, this is all about your expectations. If you expected 24hr turn around and this is the result, then by all means, call them. If they have you a time frame of 24hrs and this is what they've done with it, then call them directly to express your disappointment. But if you dropped the car off, didn't ask how long it would take or didn't say "I need the car back by tomorrow", then take a half a chill pill.

What probably happened was something else with a higher priority came up, possibly an owner stranded with a non functioning car, and that bumped yours down the list.

Now the ICE loaner, I totally get the frustration there. And those tradeins can't be rolled into the loaner fleet quick enough to fix this problem.

 

[PeteP]

I've had many cars over the years and can share many horror stories about poor service experiences. Generally, I've had pretty positive experiences with Tesla in the last 2 1/2 years. My bigger issue with Tesla now is that they seem to be ridiculously overwhelmed and unable to keep up. I just called to make an appointment and they told me that the first available date was over a month away. That's crazy. I know that the company is growing, but the growth is planned. There really is no excuse to plan for manufacturing growth without a corresponding expansion of your service capabilities.

 

[msnow]

I've had many cars over the years and can share many horror stories about poor service experiences. Generally, I've had pretty positive experiences with Tesla in the last 2 1/2 years. My bigger issue with Tesla now is that they seem to be ridiculously overwhelmed and unable to keep up. I just called to make an appointment and they told me that the first available date was over a month away. That's crazy. I know that the company is growing, but the growth is planned. There really is no excuse to plan for manufacturing growth without a corresponding expansion of your service capabilities.

The only reason I can think of is more problems than expected repairing S's and X's.

 

[Gizmotoy]

I've had many cars over the years and can share many horror stories about poor service experiences. Generally, I've had pretty positive experiences with Tesla in the last 2 1/2 years. My bigger issue with Tesla now is that they seem to be ridiculously overwhelmed and unable to keep up. I just called to make an appointment and they told me that the first available date was over a month away. That's crazy. I know that the company is growing, but the growth is planned. There really is no excuse to plan for manufacturing growth without a corresponding expansion of your service capabilities.

You're actually pretty lucky it was only a month. The appointment my car's been in for this week was made just after the first of the year (so ~2 to 2.5 month wait). And it appears my SC is running about 1 week behind on their appointments.

Meanwhile, the prior week I called on a Monday for service for my ICE and had it completed on Wednesday.

I really hope they sort out the service situation.