Warranty repair

[Dbscal]

Hey all,

So based in LA and I want a second opinion on whether or not this is acceptable for a repair situation from a service centre. I have a late 2018 Model3 LR delivered in Dec 2018 with 6k+ miles. Everything was awesome with delivery and in my opinion perfect when I got my hands on the car.

So beginning of April I experienced the dreaded crack in the rear pano roof, just above the trunk lid. Booked in a service appointment waited two weeks and took the car in. Everyone was super helpful and the managed to replace the glass in 24 hours. I was very impressed and pleased with the service. A few days after i started noticing a clicking sound coming from the rear of the car which was becoming annoying on journeys and was not apparent before the repair. I decided to book an appointment in the app and waited another 3 weeks for my appointment to come around.

I took the car in that day and did a drive with the tech who immediately heard the issue. 24 hours later i got a call saying they think they repaired the noise and indicated it was coming from the central roof strut (spanning left to right of the car, inbetween the two glass roof sections) and that they replaced some clips and packed some sound deadening material in there. They told me that if it came up again dont worry about booking the car via the app and bring it straight in. It just so happens that I had to drive there the next day as the noise was still apparent and subsequently did another drive with the tech.

That was two weeks ago now, they have given me a weekly call to let me know they were waiting for parts. What I am mostly concerned about is that they said they will have to send the vehicle to a body shop to repair it. From what i can gather they have ordered a new centre cross strut and it will need to be welded into position! Now, i have no idea where i stand on welding parts considering the car has never been in an accident and it is making me feel a little uneasy. I would appreciate some reassurance on allowing this to happen considering.

Thanks if you managed to read though this!

 

[Avid]

Well, you could go and have them visually show you the suspect area, that might make you feel better about the part they need to replace. My guess is that the part is welded in place and not screwed or glued. Welded is pretty sturdy.

 

[Dbscal]

Yep good idea. I have texted the service manager to see if they will send me some pictures. Not sure if anyone else has experienced a similar issue.

 

[Dbscal]

Well, no pictures and still no car. As it's been nearly a month and supposedly that car is still at the bodyshop, i'm now starting to feel a little aggrieved with the situation. Whats the longest anyone has waited for a 'warranty repair'?

 

[Bill Foster]

Well, no pictures and still no car. As it's been nearly a month and supposedly that car is still at the bodyshop, i'm now starting to feel a little aggrieved with the situation. Whats the longest anyone has waited for a 'warranty repair'?

You can't use other peoples repair to judge your repair time. Body shop work takes time. Just be in contact with that service manager and check in from time to time.

And no, I wouldn't be concerned about a part that needs to be welded to the car.

( I worked in auto service for 15 years before getting out)

 

[Federico]

If you have your car in service for more than 30 days (the sum of all repairs), you can request to get a replacement or refund under Lemon Law.

 

[Dbscal]

I hope i'm not coming across as impatient or moany. I love this car, i really do. Hell if they offered to replace it I would take it, if i had a refund i would buy another one! Thats how much I believe in what Tesla has created. I'm purely cataloguing what is happening to me and opening a discussion for others to know how things can go down.

Thanks to all who have provided responses

 

[Bill Foster]

I hope i'm not coming across as impatient or moany. I love this car, i really do. Hell if they offered to replace it I would take it, if i had a refund i would buy another one! Thats how much I believe in what Tesla has created. I'm purely cataloguing what is happening to me and opening a discussion for others to know how things can go down.

Thanks to all who have provided responses

Bodyshops (at least the ones I dealt with) are notoriously 2-3 weeks out on work. They are just that busy. Also (not saying this is the case with Tesla) Warranty work on a car probably doesnt pay as much as they can charge for customer pay work, so they don't have as much desire to push the car through.

 

[Dbscal]

Yep I totally understand regarding bodyshops although I would say it's a bit different to require a bodyshop for an accident as opposed to warranty repair. I think the delay though has been around waiting for fremont to fabricate a replacement part. I was told that what needed changing was not in the parts bin and something that had never been required before.

 

[Dbscal]

Picked up Saturday.... and dropped back off today. There is some very questionable work going on here. Certainly not what I would expect from any manufacturer. Cannot get to speak with the SM either, he's either overwhelmed or evading my calls. Issues outstanding now.

Original noise has been replaced with another unpleasant/annoying noise
Headliner trims greased up due to dirty handling, especially prevalent due to the light color
Scratches in plastic trim pieces that have been removed around headliner/rear door/trunk
rear trunk grill/mesh (behind rear seats) bent/dented (to be fair this is a very delicate metal)

Perhaps the moral of this story is never get a stress fracture glass replacement.