Worried about service centers

[Curious George]

Yeah tried that this evening, no go. Customer service is closed. I'll call tomorrow and wait for my mobile service to show up. From what I've read a dash pad replacement takes a few days to complete, and mobile service can't handle this complex of a repair from what I can see on the forum posts about it. If it takes another month or two I might run out of warranty service (and highly likely due to how much I drive the thing) due to high mileage, guess it's what's necessary to complete the transition to sustainable transport. Too bad I'm not a billionaire like Elon Musk. I'm sure Tesla knows this fact.

Seems like you drive a lot. Is there no extended warranty agreement for Model 3? if you are driving so much, you will run out of warranty pretty soon. As only Tesla can service its cars, it can become quite expensive. This is true for all EVs. But I have heard, other EV repair costs aren't as outrageous as Tesla's out of warranty costs.
Extended warranty can be worth it for Tesla cars.


But come on folks, take a chill pill! 2-3 of you are making this thread hard to read

 

[pscarroll]

Seems like you drive a lot. Is there no extended warranty agreement for Model 3? if you are driving so much, you will run out of warranty pretty soon. As only Tesla can service its cars, it can become quite expensive. This is true for all EVs. But I have heard, other EV repair costs aren't as outrageous as Tesla's out of warranty costs.
Extended warranty can be worth it for Tesla cars.

There is no extended Warranty from Tesla for the Model 3.

 

[r1200gs4ok]

There is no extended Warranty from Tesla for the Model 3.

what about third party

 

[pscarroll]

what about third party

There is no such thing. They can't provide complete support.

 

[Curious George]

There is no extended Warranty from Tesla for the Model 3.

You're right! I wasn't aware of this. Just looked it up and confirmed.
Model 3 Extended Warranty not offered | Tesla

As I have learnt from my own experience, third parties do not offer extended warranties on EVs! I get calls. But just as I mention electric, they go silent and hang up. How long is the battery and powertrain (motors etc.) warranty on the Model 3? 8 years or 4 years/50k miles?

I don't know your financial situation. But I think you could be in for a rough ride once warranty period expires. May be if you pay for it, Tesla service will work faster! i think it can get expensive though.

One option could be you just trade it in to Tesla and get a new one if they offer a good deal. But that's expensive too.

 

[pscarroll]

You're right! I wasn't aware of this. Just looked it up and confirmed.
Model 3 Extended Warranty not offered | Tesla

As I have learnt from my own experience, third parties do not offer extended warranties on EVs! I get calls. But just as I mention electric, they go silent and hang up. How long is the battery and powertrain (motors etc.) warranty on the Model 3? 8 years or 4 years/50k miles?

I don't know your financial situation. But I think you could be in for a rough ride once warranty period expires. May be if you pay for it, Tesla service will work faster! i think it can get expensive though.

I can pay for service, but it's basically a brand new car and I expect brand new car service at a minimum. Tesla needs to uphold it's new car warranty. Once it's out of warranty it's my problem. Everyone understands this, it's part of owning a car.

 

[Curious George]

I can pay for service, but it's basically a brand new car and I expect brand new car service at a minimum. Tesla needs to uphold it's new car warranty. Once it's out of warranty it's my problem. Everyone understands this, it's part of owning a car.

OK, I see. I think you should start keeping records, and if Tesla doesn't fix warranty items within warranty period, and later ask for money to fix these, you have some proof and could file claims etc. Good luck to you!

 

[David_Cary]

Sounds like you are having a tough time with getting service and thinking coming here and carpet bombing a thread is either going to help or make you feel better.
I am not a moderator but I would probably ban you. Not because of censorship - just because you are venting in a rather aggressive way. Posting your real name is a really bad idea - especially if you are a professional and can be easily searched. I get pretty angry at companies - Spectrum cable most recently - and the best option is to sever ties with that company. Life is too short. I am super frustrated because Spectrum has a monopoly for internet service to my rental house. So I don't have a great option. Things would be much easier if you lived closer to a SC.

My service experiences have been far and above any prior experience with a car. Mostly they are few and far between.
Our 3 is 5 months old with 5,000 miles - never had service.
Our S is 4.5 years old with 75,000 miles. Hasn't been to SC since 49,500 miles. 2 ranger visits - 12V battery and airbag recall in the last 25,000 miles.
That being said, I know they have problems with communication.

 

[Az_Rael]

Maybe we could reign this in for the OP and get back on topic. The OP lives in the Los Angeles area. Maybe folks can post their experiences with the various LA area service centers to give them some local advice.

Here are mine:

Burbank SC: Very busy and very difficult to get on the phone. They often forget to fix items all the items documented on the service ticket. On the positive side, they are currently running a night shift, so you can drop your car off until close to midnight during the week. I no longer try to get loaner cars, so I can not say what the loaner car availability is for them. They no longer wash or vacuum cars in service. I usually have to drive down several times each time the car is in service because they will post the car is finished in the app, when it actually is not (and I can’t get a human to verify the status). I live 1.5 hours away, so this is not trivial for me.

Van Nuys SC: Very busy and unorganized. Haven’t used them in a little bit, but they used to be better with the text system while my car was in service than Burbank (Burbank often forgets to text me at all and you can’t text them until they text you). Stopped going here because of a notable experience where they had our S for a couple weeks and then would call and say the car was ready. While we were on the way to pick the car up, they would call back and say “oh, car is not ready, can you come tomorrow?” They did that for a solid week before we got fed up with trying to shift work schedules and told them “Do NOT call until the car is actually done”. They kept the car another week and called and said it was ready. One hour into the drive down there, they called back yet again and said, “oh, the car is not ready, can you come tomorrow?” Told them, that was completely unacceptable based on the prior history and we were picking the car up tonight period. They scrambled and finished the car so we could pick it up that night. Haven’t been back since.


Overall, we currently use Burbank despite the (many) issues because they at least have the extended hours. That way I am not missing work on top of having to drive down there multiple times every time the car is in service. I do miss the wash and vacuum service they used to provide.

 

[Stanwood Steve]

I may be among the minority here, but my experiences with Tesla Service have been great. I use the Bellevue, WA service location, and the lead times have been reasonable (as soon as three days), and parts availability have gotten considerably better over the past few month. The Service Center folks have been very responsive and I've even shown up without an appointment and they've addressed minor issues on the spot.

 

[OCR1]

I was very nervous about buying a Tesla after reading about the bad experiences at the service centers. But now we own two of them and have had zero issues so far. The Costa Mesa service center is very busy but with some patience you can get through to them if you need something.

The majority of Model 3 owners have had trouble free experiences and have never needed service. The first inspection is two years away and it’s just a brake fluid inspection, and very few people have actually owned a Model 3 for two years so I doubt many of these have been done.

Unfortunately the occasional lemon does exist, and when it does people get so frustrated that they go on and on complaining about it on forums like this one. But if you want to drive a car that is unlike anything else available the Model 3 is the way to go. You won’t have the white glove service that Mercedes can offer, but you go to a service center once a year and you drive the car every day. Which one is more important to you?

 

[Petrocelli]

Maybe we could reign this in for the OP and get back on topic. The OP lives in the Loa Angeles area. Maybe folks can post their experiences with the various LA area service centers to give them some local advice.

Van Nuys SC: Very busy and unorganized. Haven’t used them in a little bit, but they used to be better with the text system while my car was in service than Burbank (Burbank often forgets to text me at all and you can’t text them until they text you). Stopped going here because of a notable experience where they had our S for a couple weeks and then would call and say the car was ready. While we were on the way to pick the car up, they would call back and say “oh, car is not ready, can you come tomorrow?” They did that for a solid week before we got fed up with trying to shift work schedules and told them “Do NOT call until the car is actually done”. They kept the car another week and called and said it was ready. One hour into the drive down there, they called back yet again and said, “oh, the car is not ready, can you come tomorrow?” Told them, that was completely unacceptable based on the prior history and we were picking the car up tonight period. They scrambled and finished the car so we could pick it up that night. Haven’t been back since.

Thanks for your response.

I absolutely fell in love with the M3 after a test drive, and was convinced I would get one. Now, as I continue to research service centers, I am leaning back towards getting another Mercedes, mostly because of the company's excellent service.

I have leased a Mercedes since 1997. In 22 years, I have had only one car in the shop overnight, and was given a loaner.

When I make an appointment, I get a text within minutes confirming it. I get a text when service is complete. If something more needs to be done to the car which will cost money, I get a phone call. The center is about 2 miles from my office. I get a free Uber to and from the service center. I always get a car wash.

I live closest to the West LA service center. I understand that place is presently a mess because every 20th person on the Westside appears to have bought a Model 3, and I assume the center is overwhelmed.

I live in the Palisades. As you know, driving to Van Nuys to service a vehicle is a multi hour ordeal. The 405 is not something I want to deal with as part of my car service.

I any event, thanks for helping me work through this decision. Your post is very helpful.

 

[Petrocelli]

Unfortunately the occasional lemon does exist, and when it does people get so frustrated that they go on and on complaining about it on forums like this one. But if you want to drive a car that is unlike anything else available the Model 3 is the way to go. You won’t have the white glove service that Mercedes can offer, but you go to a service center once a year and you drive the car every day. Which one is more important to you?

I understand that the service horror stories on this forum are not representative of all Teslas. But the fact that there is a very serious problem getting service in Los Angeles is a huge consideration.

 

[super20g]

I am in the mid east area. There are 2 service centers in my area. Both are 2 hours away. Both have about the same issues with availability, communication, and quality of repairs. If you don't need service, Tesla's are great cars. If you want delivery defects fixed for example, you're in for a terrible experience in my area based on 2 cars a year apart that have went down that rabbit hole. Best advice is look the car over closely and see if you can live with the quality of the fit and finish at delivery. If not, do not accept the car or return within 7 days and wait for the next match and repeat until you get a decent one. Service hell is in full swing. You can't crank out half a million cars of varying quality without beefing up service centers properly and expect otherwise.

 

[Daniel in SD]

I can pay for service, but it's basically a brand new car and I expect brand new car service at a minimum. Tesla needs to uphold it's new car warranty. Once it's out of warranty it's my problem. Everyone understands this, it's part of owning a car.

Issues reported before the car went out of warranty should still be covered. A manufacturer can't just run out the clock.

 

[woodisgood]

The two SC interactions I've had plus one mobile service have been decent. Not blow-me-out-of-the-water luxury service, just fine. The problems have been related to a lack of attention to detail/competence, which has wasted more of my time than necessary, but again, not enough for me to find Tesla service devastatingly bad (yet).

1. Mobile service to replace out daytime signature light. Showed up when he said he would, worked in my garage, super nice/professional. The downside was he didn't adjust the headlights after replacing the out one so the headlights appeared asymmetrically bright. This required a trip to the SC.

2. SC trip to adjust headlights and check software. I was having repeated failed installs. They checked out and resolved both issues. The first issue shouldn't have been an issue, but otherwise it was an easy SC visit. The annoyance here was that the SC tech thought the adjustment was something I could do myself while I believe the manual said to stay out of that service menu unless you know what you are doing (or something to that effect). They did it all while we waited (about 45 min). They also did the charge port locking pin repair/replacement at this time. As we discovered later, none of the work for this SC visit was logged or invoiced.

3. SC trip for new windshield due to rock impact. I think most dissatisfaction that could have occurred here was mitigated by research on this forum and others' experience with the topic. If I had just made an appt for any SC, I would have had the same experience others were having (e.g., not being notified that SC doesn't do windshields until appt., not being told which SCs do, etc.). Thanks to the information posted here, I just simply made an appointment at a local SC that was doing them. Two days before the appointment, I was emailed an estimate to e-sign. Showed up, done same-day without a hitch. Downside? The tech said he also attempted to perform the charge port service bulletin during which the charge port assembly somehow broke (because the repair had already been done?) and had to be replaced. Sounds like a waste of everyone's time and money. As for the windshield, the A-pillar trim inside is loose/appears to bulge a bit and the wires housed in the pillar are actually visible from outside the car. So now I have to make another appointment to go back and have them fix a sloppy job.

The reason I'm not more angry about these nuisances is that everyone we've interacted with has been clearly trying hard despite combating systemic problems and workload issues. Nobody has given any pushback or attitude (not that there would be any reason for them to). At no point have I felt like I was being upsold or worse (in contrast to EVERY dealer service encounter I've had in the past). At least in my cases above, a little bit of streamlining, improved training, and alleviation of workload/volume would probably prevent the type of snafus encountered.

 

[zyzz]

at this point its just a fact: tesla customer service is non-existent. You cant even call it terrible or the worst in the industry because it literally is so hard to get a hold of anyone.

When people ask me how i like the car, im brutally honest. I let it be known to any prospective buyers: "i love my model 3 but can not recommend it based on my service experience"

my brother is considering a used model x and i can only imagine what hell it would be like to purchase a used car from tesla

 

[Knightshade]

You're right! I wasn't aware of this. Just looked it up and confirmed.
Model 3 Extended Warranty not offered | Tesla

As I have learnt from my own experience, third parties do not offer extended warranties on EVs!

Yes they do.

X-Care - Xcelerate Auto

All service is via Tesla, the warranty just pays for it.

 

[super20g]

You're right! I wasn't aware of this. Just looked it up and confirmed.
Model 3 Extended Warranty not offered | Tesla

The regional service manager offered me a 2 yr 25k esa on one of my model 3's to shut up about reported problems... (I didn't take it) So guess they can unofficially offer one. Just not officially.

 

[Liagos]

My service experience has been terrible so far. Bought the car Sep2018 and found a paint chip (size of pencil eraser) shortly after. Body shop was backed up until Nov, I was in no hurry so I made the appointment. Nov arrives and I get a call explaining they'll need to keep the car for 5 weeks. They were also unable to provide a loaner.

Now a year later I've got some small issues with the car and they've changed their service protocols it seems because I cannot even speak with a human being about service. I tried calling the Owings Mills, MD Service Center directly but the recording just points you towards either the Tesla App or the "Chat" feature at tesla.com/support. Well there is no chat feature on the website, you enter in your question and the system just generates an automated search response with possible solutions, there's no chatting or human interaction involved. Now, I'm trying to schedule an appointment on the app but I cannot select the date I want, it's limiting me to the first week in Sep for some reason, even if I scroll forward to Oct and Nov.

It all just totally sucks ass, as I still have questions and no idea if I'll ever get to speak to a person. I imagine dropping the car off will involve me placing the key into a non descript slot in a blank wall while a prerecorded voice tells me, "Don't call us, we'll call you."