I’ve been an F-body guy most of my life, and my last car was a 2011 Mustang, as I’ve needed those back seats for the kids until recently. My parents have owned six new Corvettes since 1992, when I was only 12 years old. So I’m familiar with how manufacturers like Chevy treat their owners.
I purchased my Roadster last August, partly based on how great I heard Tesla support was; I thought it would be nice to have a company that treats me better than your average GM dealer does. I work from home now so this car is more for having fun driving around town than as a daily commuter which I thought would help as well. I’m looking at around 3k miles per year of use; nothing heavy at all. Which also lets me baby it and avoid rain, snow, and salt. So far, I find myself longing for the days of dealing with Ford dealerships...
The first day I had it I noticed an error popping up in my OVMS app. When I called Tesla they said a cooling fan was shot and the car was running on reduced power, but I never received any warning about that from the car itself. If I didn't have OVMS I would have been driving around with that for who knows how long. It then took them two weeks to get my car in, and I had to drive 165 miles to drop the car off, though at least they flatbeded it to and from the SC from that point on. My Ford and Chevy dealers always had me in the same week, and they were just a few miles away.
When it was in I asked them to look at the stereo. I have the upgraded sound system but it sounds horrifying. It’s so screachy it hurts my ears even when turned down to volume 2-3, and I’ve had several others comment on it as well. I’ve never in my life owned a car with such a terrible (even painful) sounding system, so I figured something must be wrong. I played around with every setting imaginable to make it sound better until I could get it looked at but with little success.
I reported this and the SC said that they made some adjustments to fix it. When I got the car back I found that they just adjusted the bass and treble controls. This is something I could see a GM dealership doing, and then I would just stop going there and choose one of the hundreds of other dealerships/mechanics around here; not an option with this car.
After getting my car back I didn’t have much of a chance to enjoy it before putting it away for the winter. But I decided to upgrade my stereo while it was sitting in the garage and asked the SC for help. This is something I’ve done to just about every car I've ever owned, as have most people I know; stereo upgrades are extremely common. And in this case it was especially important given that the sound system was so bad I now actually drove around without my stereo on (that’s unthinkable if you know me...it made owning the car miserable).
I just went back and counted. I sent 67 emails and made countless phonecalls to two different people over a 3 month period, receiving almost no information, and being told they had to keep checking on it as if I were asking to add a second cockpit. In the end, despite being told in the beginning it was possible and I just needed to get some technical information from them, I was told if I made the slightest alteration it could void my warranty and likely cause damage to the electrical system, and could cause “as much as $20,000 in damage”.
They offered no other help in solving my problem other than suggesting I look online at what others have done. My research led me to some solutions that involved an external battery that needs separately charged, often in a sound system costing in the range of $6k – $10k. With everything I just spent on the car I could hardly afford $2k! In the end I did find a solution using an app on my cell phone with a 11-band equalizer and listen only to bluetooth music now, but it’s just barely passable in terms of quality. And I'm stuck with barely any bass response compared to what I'm used to.
I’ve had two separate speakers blown in the past, one in my Firehawk and one in a Mustang; both were replaced under warranty by the dealership within a week. I’ve added new speakers, subs, head units, amps, sound processors, etc to every car I’ve ever owned and the dealers were happy to answer any questions I had along the way within a day; not after chasing them for months. There is no comparison.
When I pulled the car out this spring I immediately received a “powertrain problem, service required” message each time I started driving. I contacted Tesla who put me in touch with a local tech who came to physically pull my logs requiring me to be available in the middle of the day (not a problem for me, but would be for most people). Again, I sent 72 emails between the two people I was working with, and my car wasn’t in until over 5 weeks after I reported the problem. This included one scheduled pickup, which I missed my daughter’s softball game to be home for, that never happened; I called the next day furious that the truck never showed and they blamed me, even though I have the email clearly verifying it.
The original tech said it would be fine to drive so I did during the first few weeks (but cautiously and unenthusiastically), and the second told me definitely don’t drive it making me worried about when I did. No one would ever tell me what the logs said or what the problem was. They supposedly fixed it, and the error is gone, but I still don’t know what the original cause was.
Starting about two weeks before that repair work I began asking about extending my warranty, which would expire three months later. I asked over 15 times in email and on the phone and the question was ignored or brushed off each time. I was eventually told I had to do it through My Tesla, but when I logged in I found no cars under my account. Several more emails and over a week later I was told this is because I didn’t buy it as a CPO. Finally, a few days ago, less than a month before my warranty is up, I was told that extensions are only available to original owners. From what I hear they are so expensive as to be useless anyway ($12k).
I've certainly had warranties expire through GM, but I've never had a problem finding extended warranty providers, even if I didn't usually use them. I’ve contacted seven different extended warranty providers so far. None cover Teslas. Next I’m going to check in with Progressive who insures the car and see if they offer any sort of extended protection, but I’m not hopeful. And, of course, though Corvette repairs aren't cheap, they aren't in the same ballpark as the numbers you've seen in other posts in this thread.
I understand where you’re coming from. I spent 8 years dreaming and saving, hoping to one day finally afford this car. I took that plunge partly because I always heard about how good Tesla support was to deal with. Now, after my experience owning it, I’m just left terrified of what’s going to happen after the warranty ends. Sure, it seems like my problem were mostly minor things, but the sheer volume of work and focus required to get anything done, and the thought of what happens if a major thing follows suite with the minor things, and the fact I’ve owned it for all of 4 driving months and 2k miles, makes me very nervous.
According to 2015 salary statistics I’m in the 96th percentile, but if something goes wrong and I’m stuck with a $7500 repair bill I’m going to be left with a very shiny paperweight. This has biased my experience of driving the car at all, and it no longer feels nearly as exciting as when I first decided to buy one. At this point I'm seriously considering trading to a Corvette; yes I'd hate to go back to burning fuel, but electric may just not be economically feasible for me at this point. And given the treatment I've received, I'm not sure how I feel about buying another Tesla car even when they do drop into my price range (Model III).
So a word of caution before trading in that Corvette; if you’re not a one-percenter you’re taking a very big risk, and may not find driving the car so much fun once you experience the fragility of your financial situation in owning one. On the other hand, if you are a one-percenter, go for it; without the hassle and worry of maintenance costs it's a blast to own and drive!
