What should I expect from the Tesla Service Center?

[SheriffMoose]

First, apologies if this is the wrong location to post this - I didn't see a location specific to Tesla service.

Alright! So I took delivery of my new Model 3 SR+ on December 15th of last year. As much as I love the car, I have noticed a number of fit and finish issues. Some of them are minor (and yes I am being particular about some of it), and other items are more substantial. I'm curious, based on the communities experience, what I should expect from the Service Center in terms of a loaner vehicle, and the likelihood of finding resolutions to the issues I have. Here's the list of what is going on with the car, roughly in order of highest priority:

-Trunk lid rubbing against bumper, damaging paint
-Excessive wind noise from A pillar/window triangle trim
-Squeaking steering wheel at low speeds
-Thumping sound heard during supercharging (particularly at high charging speeds; ~90Kw+). Thumping also occurred (though less often) at 17Kw, 86% SoC, 38 degrees.
-Wheel well fasteners coming loose
-Creek/rattle in center console and near the windshield forward of the steering wheel
-Carpet fasteners keep coming loose at the center console
-3/4 door handles sit proud of door (minor, but still noticed)
-Front driver and passenger window triangle trim is proud of door trim (may be impacting wind noise issue)

Here are my two biggest concerns:
1. The service center is a 45m-1h drive from my house. I'm hoping they'll offer me a loaner Tesla due to the distance from my house and the amount of time I'd expect them to have the car to evaluate and remediate all of these issues. However, I'd seen on a YouTube video that they typically only offer Uber credits.
2. The paint damage on the bumper -- I'd expect them to fix the paint on the car, but I'm concerned they'll make up some excuse not to fix it. If they are willing to fix it, what's the likelihood that I'm going to end up with a poor paint correction job?

Thanks for taking the time to read over this, along with any feedback! If it's of any relevance, I'll be taking it to the Virginia Beach, VA Service Center.

 

[ewoodrick]

Probably won't get a loaner. May get Uber credits if they have to keep the car overnight.
You will probably have to sign a "at least $100 you must pay" for rattles
Are wheel well fasteners coming loose or just missing? They don't use them all anymore.
Wind noise may not get resolved
Thumping sound is normal

And if any of the fit and finishes was not recorded when purchased, you may have a hard time with them.

You must make a service appointment

 

[Garlan Garner]

First, apologies if this is the wrong location to post this - I didn't see a location specific to Tesla service.

Alright! So I took delivery of my new Model 3 SR+ on December 15th of last year. As much as I love the car, I have noticed a number of fit and finish issues. Some of them are minor (and yes I am being particular about some of it), and other items are more substantial. I'm curious, based on the communities experience, what I should expect from the Service Center in terms of a loaner vehicle, and the likelihood of finding resolutions to the issues I have. Here's the list of what is going on with the car, roughly in order of highest priority:

-Trunk lid rubbing against bumper, damaging paint
-Excessive wind noise from A pillar/window triangle trim
-Squeaking steering wheel at low speeds
-Thumping sound heard during supercharging (particularly at high charging speeds; ~90Kw+). Thumping also occurred (though less often) at 17Kw, 86% SoC, 38 degrees.
-Wheel well fasteners coming loose
-Creek/rattle in center console and near the windshield forward of the steering wheel
-Carpet fasteners keep coming loose at the center console
-3/4 door handles sit proud of door (minor, but still noticed)
-Front driver and passenger window triangle trim is proud of door trim (may be impacting wind noise issue)

Here are my two biggest concerns:
1. The service center is a 45m-1h drive from my house. I'm hoping they'll offer me a loaner Tesla due to the distance from my house and the amount of time I'd expect them to have the car to evaluate and remediate all of these issues. However, I'd seen on a YouTube video that they typically only offer Uber credits.
2. The paint damage on the bumper -- I'd expect them to fix the paint on the car, but I'm concerned they'll make up some excuse not to fix it. If they are willing to fix it, what's the likelihood that I'm going to end up with a poor paint correction job?

Thanks for taking the time to read over this, along with any feedback! If it's of any relevance, I'll be taking it to the Virginia Beach, VA Service Center.

The service center's response is a coin toss.

 

[M109Rider]

The service center's response is a coin toss.

Well, that answer is not accurate for all service centre’s. May be for yours.

My service centre has been nothing short of excellent on all fronts when I’ve had to go in.

 

[Joshan]

Strange part is I live in the same city as the guy who said its a coin flip. They have given "Service as expected" in every interaction with me.

 

[super20g]

It's funny how one service center can be great and another abysmal... Both of mine within my reach (2+ hrs) straight out lie to me and pull shady stuff almost every single visit. I'd be much much much happier as a Tesla customer with an upright service center... Wish there was a good one within reach.

My advice is to always document everything thoroughly with dates and times, pictures, videos, descriptions, emails to your service center, the service manager, etc. You just never know when someone is going to try and pull one over on you. I am saddened that I have to offer that advice, but it is what it is.

 

[SheriffMoose]

Probably won't get a loaner. May get Uber credits if they have to keep the car overnight.
You will probably have to sign a "at least $100 you must pay" for rattles
Are wheel well fasteners coming loose or just missing? They don't use them all anymore.
Wind noise may not get resolved
Thumping sound is normal

And if any of the fit and finishes was not recorded when purchased, you may have a hard time with them.

You must make a service appointment

So the wheel fasteners are coming loose. I did see a hole above the shock absorber that was empty that I assume is either used for something else or no longer used to fasten. However, almost every since one of them I've had to push back up against the wheel well cover manually to prevent them from coming off.

Hopefully these rattles and stuff aren't things they're going to try and charge for, especially since its just a month old and under bumper to bumper warranty. The wind noise is excessive enough that I'll make a bit of a fuss if they're just like 'sorry, nothing to be done'. But all in all, I'm hoping for a positive experience. like some others have suggested. I have a service appointment scheduled for Monday the 27th.

 

[SheriffMoose]

It's funny how one service center can be great and another abysmal... Both of mine within my reach (2+ hrs) straight out lie to me and pull shady stuff almost every single visit. I'd be much much much happier as a Tesla customer with an upright service center... Wish there was a good one within reach.

I have a second service center that's about 90 minutes away from me. I'm thinking if I get a subpar experience at this service center, that I may try and go to the other service center to see if I can get a better experience - its just further away, so its more of a hassle.

 

[m3supra]

The service center's response is a coin toss.

Here in the Bay Area, it's more of a roll of a single die. 1/6 is a good service center. roll it again 1/6 they will actually fix issues and not leave more issues because they're busy.

 

[Shiftdelete]

I’m at a service center right now. Took my model 3 in for panel gap alignment on the driver door and trunk, as well as new front roof glass— as there was a tiny bubble in the tint.

Came to pick up the car— and results: the driver door panel gap is now worse.. and they chipped the rear roof glass fairly bad and I found a bunch of glass shards in the channel between the 2 roof glass panels.

Lesson: Should have left EVERYTHING alone and just lived with it. Now it will require a rear roof glass replacement.... which hopefully will not break other components or damage the rest of the car.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Well, that answer is not accurate for all service centre’s. May be for yours.

My service centre has been nothing short of excellent on all fronts when I’ve had to go in.

Some are good...others are bad.....

What does that mean?

Might come up heads....Might come up tails. <------- depends on where you go. That's a coin toss looking at all of Tesla's service centers


We have 5 service centers here in the Chicagoland area. <------- some good......some bad

I don't own a service center that I would say is "mine".


Now.....lets answer the OP's original question. What should they expect from the Virginia Beach Tesla Service Center? Do you know anything about the Virginia Beach Tesla Service Center?

I say.....some are good and some are bad. What's the problem with that? Especially since its true.


Example: Try to contact the Westmont IL service center.....you will NEVER get through ON PURPOSE. They will admit it. The Tesla customer service 800 number support people can't even contact them.

Now- try to contact the Highland Park Il service center.....you will get through every time.

It depends on where you go....its a coin toss.

 

[SDKoala]

I’m at a service center right now. Took my model 3 in for panel gap alignment on the driver door and trunk, as well as new front roof glass— as there was a tiny bubble in the tint.

Came to pick up the car— and results: the driver door panel gap is now worse.. and they chipped the rear roof glass fairly bad and I found a bunch of glass shards in the channel between the 2 roof glass panels.

Lesson: Should have left EVERYTHING alone and just lived with it. Now it will require a rear roof glass replacement.... which hopefully will not break other components or damage the rest of the car.

"Perfect is the enemy of good."

I have an early Model 3 (March 2018). There are exterior panel gaps, there are occasional rattles, there is wind noise, some of the interior panels aren't completely aligned, one of the headlights sat out a little farther out than the other (which has since been fixed because of an actual problem that required headlight replacement on both sides). It all bugged me for a few weeks after taking delivery until I realized how much better this car is compared to anything I've ever driven. I didn't want to take the chance of making something worse when these types of problems are aesthetic and minor in the long run. Now I don't even notice or care about those things and neither does anyone else.

 

[SheriffMoose]

"Perfect is the enemy of good."

I have an early Model 3 (March 2018). There are exterior panel gaps, there are occasional rattles, there is wind noise, some of the interior panels aren't completely aligned, one of the headlights sat out a little farther out than the other (which has since been fixed because of an actual problem that required headlight replacement on both sides). It all bugged me for a few weeks after taking delivery until I realized how much better this car is compared to anything I've ever driven. I didn't want to take the chance of making something worse when these types of problems are aesthetic and minor in the long run. Now I don't even notice or care about those things and neither does anyone else.

Yes, I've thought about this, and that quote feels very relevant here. I'm to the point that I'm not even going to ask them to look at the door handles or maybe even the window triangle trim since its really minor (and didn't fit in my text on the Service Center appointment form in the app). However, the steering wheel squeaking and wind noise are both unacceptable from a QA standpoint to me. The trunk adjustment needs to happen since its rubbing the paint off. Will they repair the paint? I doubt it, and I've been nervous of this exact issue; if I ask them to fix the paint and they agree, are they going to make the paint worse for wear?

In short, I'll definitely keep this in mind, but I also want to be careful not to let Tesla get away with quality issues that should really not be an issue on vehicles of this caliber and cost.

 

[ElectricIAC]

I cut Tesla a lot of slack for being the new kid on the block but when your average car sells for as close to the average mean income as these it’s truly inexcusable to have such poor/hit or miss service experiences.

I feel like I’d be way more incensed if we’d had the misfortune of winding up with cars with more problems than average.

 

[OCR1]

Service centers will not always address cosmetic issues or rattles and squeaks after delivery. Some will do it as a customer goodwill gesture but it’s up to each local service center as to how they respond. It always helps to be nice to them.

 

[JamBiscuit]

My service center fixed a dash squeak and gave my wife a model S loaner for a day and a half while they did it. Also noted they did a courtesy inspection(on the 1500 car) for free. All with no charge. She said the techs were friendly and it was a great experience overall. The only negative is now my wife wants a model S after driving the loaner as she likes the larger size. She mentioned this to the tech and they said that they usually get the opposite response and most like their 3 better.

 

[SheriffMoose]

Yes, I definitely feel that going in with a positive and friendly attitude is the best way to have a positive experience with customer service in general, regardless of the industry. @JamBiscuit it sounds like you had an exceptional experience - that is the kind of above and beyond service I'm really hoping for

 

[super20g]

I’m at a service center right now. Took my model 3 in for panel gap alignment on the driver door and trunk, as well as new front roof glass— as there was a tiny bubble in the tint.

Came to pick up the car— and results: the driver door panel gap is now worse.. and they chipped the rear roof glass fairly bad and I found a bunch of glass shards in the channel between the 2 roof glass panels.

Lesson: Should have left EVERYTHING alone and just lived with it. Now it will require a rear roof glass replacement.... which hopefully will not break other components or damage the rest of the car.

That is the lesson they want you to learn... You bring your car in, you risk it coming back worse. And that is a sad sad thing if they are trying to compete with more established manufacturers.

My first 3 they screwed up so bad I had to force them to buy it back. And they promptly told me I wasn't welcome as a Tesla customer in the future. Stand up for your rights - when they royally screw up your car, they tell you to pack sand... 2nd 3 has suffered just about the same fate at the hands of neighboring service center, ran by the same mgmt time I found out. I guess tesla is not for me. Quality is not there for the price point and service is not there to help in my area. Nice features, just not polished enough or supported.

 

[MRGEDU]

I have a second service center that's about 90 minutes away from me. I'm thinking if I get a subpar experience at this service center, that I may try and go to the other service center to see if I can get a better experience - its just further away, so its more of a hassle.

Glen Allen isn't much better. The mobile unit did resolve all my fit and finish issues but the Glen Allen staff rarely return a phone call, so stay on the line until you actually are done.

 

[Uncle Paul]

When you take your car in for service, a person will be doing the repairs. Some are better and more experienced than others. Service centers seem customer centric. They do what they can to make the cars better. Sometimes customers bring in their cars for tiny things, as they want the car perfect. This sometimes end up with the car getting worse instead of better.

If you are taking your car in for major issues, it would be a good time to point out other items of concern and ask your service writer if they are items they are having good success correcting.

I have seen posts of people wanting the tinest of things addressed, no matter what. Others seem more accepting of typical production quality issues that they let slide.

Each customer needs to decide for themselves which items they want service to tackle.