UK Service centre experiences - the good and bad

[FN1973]

Have a Tesla 3, the car 12V battery died after an update of software. There are no more mobile service appts and only service centre operational is near Heathrow and that closes at 4:00 instead on 6:00 pm as advertised. The person they sent out to retrieve car came back after hours and did not know anything about Teslas. He kept calling their support which responded after 2 hours and asked him to use skids to drag car onto truck which took another 2 hours. Whole day gone. Tesla inspected the car and found out there was an AC compressor issue draining battery took them 2 days to fix. Was advised to come and collect car on Wednesday before 6:00. Went there at 5:00 to find they are closed and gone had to come back again next day. Got the car back on Thursday, drove back and parked at home. Next day same issue. Again spent whole Friday trying to get car retrieved had a clinic so had to go and was given a ticket in process as car was on road outside house. Now it’s Monday morning and just got a message from Tesla that actually this time a rodent magically got into car damaged wiring so not covered by warranty. I have a Tesla 3 less than 2 years old. Ongoing saga, have spoken to friends and family members and almost everyone had had a bad time and looking to get rid of their Teslas.
Just a warning to anyone planning to buy a Tesla in London . Do not until they reverse the cost cuts to after sales here, no mechanic other than Tesla touches the car so you are almost a hostage.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

I'm seeing people talk about service centre experiences and thought a thread to combine them might be worthwhile going forward as individual threads soon disappear into the history books after a week of no posts. There's also one post waiting to be approved which I'll move in, albeit a negative one which will probably appear above this one.

My personal experience has been mixed. I've had good and bad. I'd say the people are generally good, I'd say the systems often fail them and us. If something fits into a nove category then it ends well, it's slightly unusual then it goes off the rails. Broad generalisation, maybe others have worked out the magic forumala?

 

[Beady3647]

On Thursday Sept. 1st my boot refused to close fully. After trying to open it with a view to instigating the closure process a few times, I realised that I needed either SC or ranger assistance. I went into my phone app and explained my predicament and was given a provisional SC booking at Stratford Upon Avon for Friday Sept 2nd at 12:15 which was a pleasant surprise. This was later changed to 13:30. I arrived at the SC a few minutes early and my car was driven into the workshop virtually immediately. The fault was diagnosed and new parts fitted and the car ready for me to drive away at 14:30 free of charge. What amazing service - was my thought. The reception guy (sorry I didn't get your name) and I had a chat between him speaking with new visitors, for probably 40 minutes and it was very reassuring that he had quite an in depth knowledge of Tesla going back to before the MS came to the UK. We also discussed openly our thoughts concerning the future of EV's in the UK and Tesla specifically.

I have to say that having driven mostly MB and BMW for the 20 years prior to my first Tesla purchase in 2016 I found his knowledge of product and openess to mild criticism of Tesla an absolute revelation, particularly when contrasted to other brand experiences.

In short, based upon my experience, I can and will recommend the Stratford SC without hesitation.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

Must be different to Chester. When I took mine in for work there was no one to talk to. A key safe on the wall for the loan car and a text message later to say it was done. Only person I saw was a sales advisor who was engrossed in their laptop and didn’t look up.

I thought the idea was we all got the same as there are no franchises, it seems there’s more and not less variability?

 

[Beady3647]

Must be different to Chester. When I took mine in for work there was no one to talk to. A key safe on the wall for the loan car and a text message later to say it was done. Only person I saw was a sales advisor who was engrossed in their laptop and didn’t look up.

I thought the idea was we all got the same as there are no franchises, it seems there’s more and not less variability?

I have to say, that I can sympathise with you having visited Birmingham Digbeth over a few matters. Having said that, I suspect that Digbeth is far busier than Stratford. I just felt that credit should be given when due.

 

[Sparky750]

Must be different to Chester. When I took mine in for work there was no one to talk to. A key safe on the wall for the loan car and a text message later to say it was done. Only person I saw was a sales advisor who was engrossed in their laptop and didn’t look up.

I thought the idea was we all got the same as there are no franchises, it seems there’s more and not less variability?

Was that around covid etc? Or is that just how it's always been, I'm hoping I never need to visit but hearing others experiences definitely helps set expectations

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

Was that around covid etc? Or is that just how it's always been, I'm hoping I never need to visit but hearing others experiences definitely helps set expectations

No, about 6 weeks ago. It first went in about 12 weeks ago, no loan car, saw nobody, had a phone call to say they needed to order some parts and the mechanic was fine on the phone, but he was essentially telling me all they’d been able to do is confirm it was a fault. Went in again when the part was available and it was as detached and remote an experience as you can possibly get. One fault was fixed, whereas the headliner squeaking fault was written up as ‘can’t reproduce’ yet oddly has now all but disappeared. Sometimes you just want to talk to someone as I don’t know whether it’s linked to temperature (my suspicion) or they had a poke about, couldn’t find anything as such but can’t reproduce (which I’d accept are the hardest to fix). I just don’t know.

Are people saying service centres actually still have service desks elsewhere? Birmingham used to have one and Hayley was great but I thought people like her had been let go.

 

[Tonybvi]

Never had a problem with Edinburgh Newbridge SC but only used them for vehicle handover when new and replacing a broken wing mirror. However I’ve had no dealings with them for 2 years now (since the dramatic increase in the number of Teslas on the road) so not sure what they’re like today. Back in the “good old days” when I bought my MX it was very much personal service but I suspect that may have gone by the wayside now!

 

[Ticked]

Where we live we have the option of Dartford or Gatwick SCs. Earlier this year we had the control arms replaced and the electrical harness replaced at Gatwick. The work was completed in less than the estimated time (which has always been our experience whether Gatwick or Dartford). The only reason we don’t tend to book Dartford is the tendency of the M25 to get blocked. We have also had the mobile service out for smaller jobs. I am quite content not having to deal with receptionists and engineers face to face, as if they need to they contact us by phone. Our M3 goes in for its first MOT next week and the only thing we have ever paid for has been a pair of new tyres.

 

[yessuz]

Got very recent one in Notts

Car was pulling right from new. Visited once, reseated steering wheel. Still same. So 6 months from new, all time pulling right... SC said 4 wheel alignment needed. Initially fre of charge but since car is 12k miles in - cost me 300 gbp ....

Apparently you need to report this within first 200 miles. Otherwise it can be a pothole or kerb which may have caused it. Obviously you "cannot see the pothole or kerb damage on wheels or tyres"...

Other that waiting 2 months for appointment with loaner, it's all good. Offered Uber vouchers, but since one way trip for me is like 70 gbp, I think they found it not optional ))

Oh, and I with SC would charge your car while it is being serviced or waiting to be picked up.

 

[Jason71]

Mine went in due to handbrake failure. They fixed it pretty quickly but when I got it home I discovered the glovebox would not open. They had accidently disconnected it when working on the car. I ranted about it that evening on here. Its a 50mile round trip for me so I was not best pleased. The Service centre (Birmingham) saw the post phoned me in the morning to apologise and sent someone round that morning to fix it. He even brought me an umbrella, cup and water bottle as an apology.
So a pretty silly error but 10 out of 10 for the recovery.

 

[RedMod3]

My off-side rear light unit became opaque with the high level of condensation in it. I booked a service call and the engineer came to our property and quickly replaced it. There was a lot of water inside. He was pleasant and efficient and the process worked very well for me.

 

[pgkevet]

Ranger visits are always easier but depend on the issue being a simple one. I’ve had three of those.
SC visits used to be straightforward, particularly at Digbeth and the wonderful Hayley who one could get to speak to directly and who kept one informed. I only had one poor experience there when I rocked up, waited around for an hour to be told that they wouldn't be starting on mine until the afternoon and they had no loaner. It's a 2 hour journey with b'ham traffic and to get me sorted out for getting there at 8.15am had meant getting up before 5 am. I colected up a heap of seat cushions and bunked down in a corner of the waiting room for a kip. A loaner magically appeared an hour later.
Digbeth loaners were variably crap. Usually old models with non-critical bits not working such as door handles and dodgy tyre pressures. Only once (out of 4 visits) did my car get returned unwashed.
There is no home mobile signal to my landline is the primary Tesla contact
My experience at Chester was OK. I turned up to find the place all locked. I found some chappy in a portacabin who was doing building works for them and he let me in and alerted a tech. They were able to diagnose that car was going to need a long pull-apart and wanted to send me home by Uber.... apparently now it’s a 3 week lead time to book a loaner. I declined since the issue wasn't critical and a new appt was made. This time I rocked up and due to phone issues the key-box details weren't sent. At least the place wasn't locked up but no receptionist. The cleaning lady went to find someone for the fob swap. After tracking down where the loaner was I then discovered no-one had sent me the PIN so had to go dig out another tech. Loan car only had enough juice to get me home with a worrying low level. Going back to collect mine several days later was less of an issue - a salesman was in his office so i could dig him out to get things moving. I was offered the choice of waiting since my car was in the 'to be cleaned' queue or having it back as is... I elected to wait and an hour later got a very nicely cleaned car back - done well enough to complement the guy that did it. Of course they'd changed the PIN so I had to do a PIN reset via my phone app to get moving. At least Chester is only an hour and a bit away.
The greatest annoyance is the hassle involved via the centralised phone system to actually get to speak to anyone at a SC re what's going on and any sort of update.

 

[GRiLLA]

I'm in the Reading SC now, since Thursday. Only took a couple of weeks to get a slot with a loan car. Perfectly normal experience dropping off, went to the desk and spoke to the folks there, signed the online loan agreement and was given the card for a loaner of the same spec as mine. Easy.

Now getting updates through the App, they are still not sure of the root cause of the issue but it's no big deal. I like that you are talking to the actual engineers.

Another time it went in I was given a taxi ride home with GoZero, electric Tesla taxis.

 

[Durzel]

My experiences with Bristol have been 95% good, but that 5% unfortunately resulted in damage to my car that only fully revealed to me when I noticed that water was beading off it differently (my car is ceramic coated). Further inspection revealed a scratch that had been touched up rather sloppily.

When I spoke to them about it it was suggested to me that "we strive to repair any minor damage we notice when we take cars in as a courtesy to our customers", which irritated me more than the original damage to be honest (accidents happen), as the suggestion I felt was that I had brought the car in with damage and was attempting to con them into fixing it for free. Obviously for the damage to have happened outside of Tesla - e.g. a door ding in a supermarket car park or whatever - it would have had to have meant that Ms MIggins who damaged it just happened to have a touch up kit in her purse that matched my car.

This had all happened maybe 6 months into ownership, so it was safe to say at that point (and still is) that I knew every inch of my car so knew the damage hadn't happened before I took it in.

Apart from that, other than one instance of me turning up after an hour drive to be told that they had ordered the wrong rear light part to replace the one that had condensation in, everything has been ok.

Another time I was standing in the car park area talking to the lady booking me in, and I witnessed a tech driving the nearside front wheel of someone's Model S into and over a high kerb. Not at speed, but not something I would do with my own car let alone someone elses. I could sense that she realised I wasn't impressed with what I saw because she looked a bit uncomfortable after that.

One other time dropping the car off I pressed the lady booking my car in about whether they put seat covers on the seats before driving them into the workshop, as I had white seats and had never worn jeans in the car (sad I know). She reassured that they always do that, and shortly afterwards while I was still waiting I spotted a tech just getting into my car - no seat cover - and driving it in. I just chalked that up to me having to accept that I'm far more anal about my car than anyone just being paid to work on it ever would be.

Most recently I have dealt with three techs there who were amazing at trying to get the heated steering wheel on my car working. I can't praise them enough for their determination, and it has seriously elevated my opinion of the SC (assuming they stick around of course).

To be honest though apart from the scratch I would say that I am very fussy with my car to the point of ridiculousness (i.e. never having driven it wearing jeans even though I wear jeans pretty much all of the time casually) so the SC is probably decent all things considered.

 

[Beady3647]

My prime reason for my original post was to give credit where it's due. I've been a Tesla owner for 6 years now and have gone from seeing two a month to 20 a day such has been the take up on M3 and MY. My opinion is that the SC's struggled to cope at first with the huge volume when the M3 was released but are, slowly but surely, improving in most areas.

I would be very interested to see views of other 'longer' term owners.

 

[Rooster6655]

Ranger visits have been fine but usually delayed by months due to parts. Service centre visits generally average, either taking in for a fix to be told to come back days/weeks later, ordering of wrong parts (seems common), I am glad that I haven't had anything that was critical fail and a reason I upgraded to the Y.

If you can get a loaners then its great but if you get Uber credit outside of the big cities then coverage can be little to non existent, had to wait about 40m for an Uber from one visit, so worth considering if you go to a smaller city

 

[Adopado]

My prime reason for my original post was to give credit where it's due. I've been a Tesla owner for 6 years now and have gone from seeing two a month to 20 a day such has been the take up on M3 and MY. My opinion is that the SC's struggled to cope at first with the huge volume when the M3 was released but are, slowly but surely, improving in most areas.

I would be very interested to see views of other 'longer' term owners.

Edinburgh Newbridge was a sight to see when the Model 3 came on stream in 2019! Presumably up until then they had only been dealing with a few Model S and X. Edinburgh was supplying cars not just for the whole of Scotland but for the north east of England and for Northern Ireland. It was an extraordinary sight with new cars being brought in on multiple transporters and stacked in every space possible. It made it very clear to me that this was a hugely different approach to conventional dealerships which have time to tie a ribbon around a freshly detailed car and put a bouquet of flowers in the boot. But, the surprising thing was ... they got the job done. And picking up the car was quick and easy ... the best new car buying experience ever. No upselling, no need for an introduction to the Service Manager to peruse expensive servicing plans "for peace of mind" (feels like having your trousers pulled down). Get your new car and go ... just what I wanted!

Within a few weeks of getting my car I had read on this forum of an issue relating to a section of the wiring loom that was different from the previous LHD cars ... it would make it vulnerable to water ingress and consequent multiple screen warnings and even failure of the power steering. The very next day the fault appeared in my car! Pre-warned and armed with information about the fault I didn't head home but drove directly (fighting with power steering cutting out) to Newbridge arriving about 4pm. I spoke to the woman on the desk and said I was leaving the car and that I knew it was a manufacturing fault. She arranged a replacement (Model S) on the spot. The car was repaired the next day. I was impressed!

The only other interaction was in May this year when I decided to get the brakes serviced (after 3 salty winters ... and also got them to swap the cabin filters) so made the booking via the app. I included photos of surface corrosion on the discs and asked for an opinion. I received a phone call from a mechanic before the car actually went in. We were able to discuss the brake situation and whether or not a straightforward service/lube would be sufficient. I suspected that I was being prepared for an out-of-warranty charge beyond the basic brake service after I told him the pad retaining pins were well seized ... but he said he would do his best. The work was done on the planned day with no extras beyond the standard brake service and parts/labour for the filters. This recent visit was a "no contact" arrangement but having had a telephone conversation about it this wasn't an issue. (My car passed its first MOT last week ... done by a small town garage which never questioned dealing with a Model 3 as against any other car.)

I read of some mixed experiences on the forum but, touch wood, mine have been good so far.

 

[NewbieT]

Visited Chester SC to have brakes cleaned and greased. Couldn’t have been more helpful. Thank you Sylvester.

 

[thewishy]

Visited Chester SC to have brakes cleaned and greased. Couldn’t have been more helpful. Thank you Sylvester.

Out of interest, how much did they charge?