jelloslug
Active Member
I have received MUCH worse service from both Honda and BMW than I have with Tesla. Everything in this thread (including this post) is anecdotal though.
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Looking at Norway which is what you can call a mature market it's definately not good. Wait times are often 4+ months for trivial/non-crippling issues. Communication is spotty, with parts ordering especially bad. And being in Europe parts delivery times are sometimes very long.
Having said that, the communication issues are getting better. I had a service appointment last week, they called me to inform me about something and I was in a meeting. Call back and to the basic service desk. I ask them to send an internal message to the same guy working on my car to call me back (yes this is a ridiculous system). But this time they actually did call back, and that has happened more the last year. So not every time they promise to call back, but maybe upto 50% from around 0-10% a few years ago.
They are chronically understaffed though, on the front end, technicians and back end. I guess finding good people in Norway willing to work for their probably crappy salary is hard.
So I do see Neroden's frustration, but at least here it is slooooowly getting better.
Cobos
Having said that, the communication issues are getting better. I had a service appointment last week, they called me to inform me about something and I was in a meeting. Call back and to the basic service desk. I ask them to send an internal message to the same guy working on my car to call me back (yes this is a ridiculous system). But this time they actually did call back, and that has happened more the last year. So not every time they promise to call back, but maybe upto 50% from around 0-10% a few years ago.
They are chronically understaffed though, on the front end, technicians and back end. I guess finding good people in Norway willing to work for their probably crappy salary is hard.
So I do see Neroden's frustration, but at least here it is slooooowly getting better.
Cobos
CuriousG
Active Member
All kidding aside, I too have had a latch issue ironically which would prevent me from opening it from inside and outside. This entail would prevent you from using all AutoPilot features, annoying beeping every time you get into the car for a couple of minutes. I called Tesla service and they were kind enough to look at my car at my local service center. What should have taken a short period of time, I was told 30 minutes so I decided to stay. Since they didn't have a Tesla loaner available to me, I ended up being there 4 hours from my time of arrival so they can order parts. I decided to take my car back with me until parts were to arrive. Dec 22, 2017.
Fast forward a week or so and I find out after washing my car that I noticed a new scratch on my car which was rather long right above the passenger taillight. I call to enquire about the status of the parts along with asking about the scratch since it is quite noticeable. I signed paperwork that detailed all the scratches they found when bringing the car in and since I knew there were scratches, I just signed it. I just asked if they could provide me with a copy of all the scratches when I brought in the car all the while not accusing them of actually creating it. It certainly could have happened on my watch. I was assured the paperwork was floating around in various places and someone would get back to me. I was never contacted.
The date here is foggy but I call after a weekend of noticing that car has been unlocked the whole time and kept outside due to the liftgate thinking it is open. I explained to the service person before handing my keyfob over that you have to lock the car through the CID. After explaining that it normally wouldn't be an issue since I removed anything else of value but I left my dashcam in there. Shortly after that, someone locked the door.
Jan 3, 2018 I receive a call and voicemail indicating I can take delivery of my Model 3 sooner than anticipated. Make arrangements to have it done Jan 5, 2018. At this point I was lucky enough to schedule an appointment online to take my car in that day and just swap cars. Once I'm back on the service side I ask again about the status of parts to which I'm told we have most parts but now they have to order more parts. I have yet to hear back about the paperwork I previously requested.
Jan 6, 2018 they receive parts and ready to proceed replacing liftgate latch but break trim pieces which they don't have in stock. So more parts need to be ordered.
Jan 10, 2018 I get a text approximately 10:30AM that my car is fixed and is currently being washed so I can pick it up in 2 hours. I arrive at Tesla approximately 4PM (5.5hrs from their text). I again ask about the paperwork and they were still unable to provide me what I needed to know. At this point I inspect the car and the first thing I see are all the smudges along the liftgate. I immediately go back inside and talk to a service person. I ask the person, "I was told the car was being washed by text message this morning, does this look like it is washed?" Person apologizes and asks if I wanted the car washed. I told him to forget it but I was clearly irate at this point. I then ask about the paperwork again after I notice the scratch is obviously still there. He leaves for a bit and comes back to tell me that Tesla will cover fixing the damage since they cannot confirm or deny my claims.
Jan 11, 2018 so now I have to make another service appointment to have their Tesla approved shop fix the issue. I was asked to call a certain person to have this done and relayed the message to the person answering the phone. I was told at this point this person would call back by the end of the day or the next day. That call never came. I got a call back from my DS regarding the 3 and my satisfaction. We talked briefly. On top of that I get a text that day that my Tesla is ready for pickup which I picked up the day before.
Jan 12, 2018 I e-mailed back my Model 3 DS my dissatisfaction with my Model S followup (not her fault). I never did get a reply by e-mail but I did get a call back from that person to bring my car in on Jan 15th (MLK).
Jan 15, 2018 I got 8am service appointment which would get me better odds in procuring a Tesla loaner. I arrive ahead of schedule with one person ahead of me before they even had their doors open. I get my paperwork done to leave my car and ask if they have a Tesla loaner for me. Nope. Keep in mind that nearby Enterprise in December bought a fleet of inventory Teslas and my early appointment time still wasn't able to secure a Tesla loaner. So instead I was stuck with a Jaguar. I made the best of my time that day and went to Grass Valley (Verizon cell signal is finally good!) from Rocklin. I get back home sometime around noon only to get a text approximately 1:30PM that my Tesla was ready for pickup. WTF?!? I call them to ask why was it fixed so fast? Turns out that scratch wasn't a scratch and that they detailer was able to get rid of the white residue. So it's back to Tesla again. So that day consisted of driving 230 miles for a scratch they may have caught if the detailer would have washed the car in the first place which by the way, they did wash this time. However, there were still bits in the liftgate area (broken pieces of green pry tool) where they worked and that wasn't vacuumed from the original service.
So now it comes to this, I hand washed my Model 3 on Jan 19, 2018 (first time) in preparation of window tinting. I notice that there are several areas on the rear quarter where it curves with the trunk, there are multiple marring or hazy areas in the paint (hologram?). In every one of those marks you can see a little dot there. I suspect they may have touched up the paint there and the detailer may have done a rushed job with the polisher. I picked up my car Jan 5th and it rained that day so there wasn't much sun to notice something like that.
Awaiting tl;dr in 3..2..1..
We've owned a couple dozen. No significant problems that were surprises. With the way I push the envelope, you'd think I'd have busted every last one. We have 6 currently being driven from 2002-2017.
Perhaps you don't beat on them hard enough and they die of boredom? Dunno.
What is really odd, is that the Killer Key cars never had ignition switch issues (3, one with 200k), and none of the Silverados burst into flames. Guess they were all Wednesday cars.
Worst brand IMO? Nissan.
So much has to do with the luck of the draw I think. We have only had our Leaf for a couple years so can’t really say either way. Literally hasn’t been in for anything other than a complimentary tire rotate. Same with our smart although it has been in the shop zero times after almost three years. I changed my own desiccant filter. Time will tell with these brands but our GM experience was awful. Never again. And then my tax dollars had to bail them out. Geesh.
Sorry just venting.
While Tesla may at times be hampered by middle management failings, I think they are generally trying to do right by their customers.
Nissan, on the other hand, is a company that I never wish to do business with again. They sold us a brand new LEAF back in 2011, the battery degradation (at least 30% loss) and loss of most of our regenerative braking has been totally unacceptable, Nissan won't do a thing for us under warranty, and the car is good only as a local beater. All I hear is excuses. I suppose I could push harder for a remedy, perhaps through the courts, but it's just not worth my time and energy for a 2011 car.
FWIW, we're not crazy about Subaru, either, but that's old history now...
Nissan, on the other hand, is a company that I never wish to do business with again. They sold us a brand new LEAF back in 2011, the battery degradation (at least 30% loss) and loss of most of our regenerative braking has been totally unacceptable, Nissan won't do a thing for us under warranty, and the car is good only as a local beater. All I hear is excuses. I suppose I could push harder for a remedy, perhaps through the courts, but it's just not worth my time and energy for a 2011 car.
FWIW, we're not crazy about Subaru, either, but that's old history now...
Curious. What was the warranty on the 2011’s. I think now it’s 8 years for four bars.
DurandalAI
Member
Yeah, I’m unhappy wit the battery on the Leaf as well 68% capacity remaining, but that wasn’t enough loss for warranty replacement, it has to get down to 66% to drop that 4th capacity bar, which will happen once temperatures are over 70F for 2 months, so probably in May or so, but I passed the 5 year mark in November. Other Nissan crap is the CVT in the Versa, replaced at 45,000 miles after it started acting wonky at 15,000 miles and it’s messing up again. I’ve sworn off Nissan as a result.
Nissan guaranteed that the LEAF would have less than "four bars" of capacity loss (roughly 66% remaining capacity) for the first five years or 60K miles (or 100K km outside the US, I think). In other words, Nissan considered it acceptable ("normal") for the LEAF to lose up to one third of its battery range in just five years. Even this minimal level of warranty support was provided reluctantly, as the settlement for a class action lawsuit after many owners in hot climates encountered very rapid capacity loss. And to top it off, a LEAF like ours with a degraded battery has very poor regenerative braking, thus worsening the meager driving range even further.
I'll take Tesla, warts and all, any day over any other EV manufacturer! As other posters have stated, it'll be years before other manufacturers catch up, and I wouldn't expect Tesla to do nothing if service complaints grow.
That said, I sympathize with those who've had Tesla service difficulties, particularly long-time owners like the OP. I hope they won't give up.
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Chickenlittle
Banned
Yes they will rue the day they did not snap to attention for you. How many service centers should they open in upstate New York? Perhaps enough so that nobody further than 10 miles away would be adequate. You knew where the nearest service center was before you bought your car. As you complain owner satisfaction surveys are tops for tesla perhaps you are the exception not the rule
You did read the part where he used to take his car TO the service center, right? Not asking for a new service center, wanting to keep using the same one he has been.
bdy0627
Active Member
To summarize this thread:
Service is hit or miss, not unlike other manufacturers. No moat there. Reliability ratings are pretty average from surveys. Perhaps no moat there currently, though the electric motors should ultimately prove to have higher reliability than ICE vehicles. Owner satisfaction is high, most likely because it takes an awful lot for a Tesla owner to get to the level of frustration that @neroden is at. Hopefully, Tesla is truly taking notice of customer's complaints regarding service. If not, as more and more Teslas hit the wild, this has the potential to affect the brand.
Service is hit or miss, not unlike other manufacturers. No moat there. Reliability ratings are pretty average from surveys. Perhaps no moat there currently, though the electric motors should ultimately prove to have higher reliability than ICE vehicles. Owner satisfaction is high, most likely because it takes an awful lot for a Tesla owner to get to the level of frustration that @neroden is at. Hopefully, Tesla is truly taking notice of customer's complaints regarding service. If not, as more and more Teslas hit the wild, this has the potential to affect the brand.
This is why I put my name on the list for a Mission E at my local dealer
Hugh Mannity
Mediocre Member
I had good experience there too, got a new fob and chatted with the folks there. Superchargers in the parking lot is awesome too.
jeffro01
Active Member
Service continues to be the weakest link in the Tesla chain... However, at least for me, that's not been enough to justify going back to ICE so to the OPs point, Tesla needs to do something before there is real competition.
Jeff
Jeff
bdy0627
Active Member
But you'll want a Tesla for those longer distance drives...
EV-lutioin
Active Member
bdy0627
Active Member
Totally agree. But I want to point out again just how awesome the ranger service has been. I just had a door handle fixed today while I was at work. Man they're cool but damn! The ranger texted me when he arrived, stating that he was at my car. I unlocked the car by phone and he fixed it. I went out and talked to him, especially because he was just out in California for his Model 3 training, but I didn't even have to go out to unlock the car for him. That's Tesla service.
dhanson865
Well-Known Member
There was no capacity warranty on the 2011 leaf. It took a class action lawsuit to add a capacity warranty after the fact several years later.
Nissan also does this lovely deception where you'd think 8 of 12 bars is 75% but the top of the 8th bar starts at 66.25% and the bottom of the 8th bar is 60%. So if you walk up to a used car with 8 bars left it has something like 10-15% less range than a layman would expect just comparing bars to normal fractions.