So I took my 6 month old P3D to Tesla service for the very first time this morning to get some minor things checked out. First, and the one I cared the most about, was a very noticeable rattle in the front dash that developed over time. Also the infotainment screen randomly reboots and there's a defect in the passenger A-pillar trim that looks like a small bubble in the fabric that I was too lazy to report when I took delivery.
Trim: "Sorry but if you did not report the cosmetic defect to the trim at the time of delivery, we would have to charge you to have the trim replaced." (Fair enough, I'll own my laziness here.)
Screen Reboot: "We are aware of the reboot issue, its software, we're working on it." (Expected that.)
Dash Rattle: "I'm sorry to inform you that noise and vibration issues are not covered under the warranty. You will have to pay $97 to have a technician ride with you and diagnose the issue." (A 6 month old car has what sounds like a loose clip in the dash and that's not a build quality issue that's covered by warranty?!) "I'm sorry but unfortunately, noise and vibration are not covered in the warranty."
And that was it. I grabbed a Kurig coffee to make it worth my time and left in 10 minutes; a fitting capstone to roughly the first 6 months of ownership. I say fitting because everything leading up to this service visit was nothing short of the most surreal car ownership experience I've ever had.
In the end, I'm just sad rather than upset about this experience. I have a soft spot for this company and want to see them succeed but I can't help but feel Tesla is getting lazy with their lead in the EV space. Only today can they get away with selling a $70k car without the spoiler (which I still haven't gotten) and claim obvious build quality issues are not covered under warranty. There will come a day when the Hondas and Fords of the world will put out $20k EVs that's comparable in performance to my 3. Hopefully Tesla gets their house in order before then.
Trim: "Sorry but if you did not report the cosmetic defect to the trim at the time of delivery, we would have to charge you to have the trim replaced." (Fair enough, I'll own my laziness here.)
Screen Reboot: "We are aware of the reboot issue, its software, we're working on it." (Expected that.)
Dash Rattle: "I'm sorry to inform you that noise and vibration issues are not covered under the warranty. You will have to pay $97 to have a technician ride with you and diagnose the issue." (A 6 month old car has what sounds like a loose clip in the dash and that's not a build quality issue that's covered by warranty?!) "I'm sorry but unfortunately, noise and vibration are not covered in the warranty."
And that was it. I grabbed a Kurig coffee to make it worth my time and left in 10 minutes; a fitting capstone to roughly the first 6 months of ownership. I say fitting because everything leading up to this service visit was nothing short of the most surreal car ownership experience I've ever had.
In the end, I'm just sad rather than upset about this experience. I have a soft spot for this company and want to see them succeed but I can't help but feel Tesla is getting lazy with their lead in the EV space. Only today can they get away with selling a $70k car without the spoiler (which I still haven't gotten) and claim obvious build quality issues are not covered under warranty. There will come a day when the Hondas and Fords of the world will put out $20k EVs that's comparable in performance to my 3. Hopefully Tesla gets their house in order before then.