Wow - When you buy tires from Tesla, you get no coverage?

[brandonc85]

In March, I bought all new tires from the Tesla Shop. Today my wife was driving and one of them fully exploded and she drove on the rim into a parking lot for safety.

Put in a service request and they force me to agree to pay to fix (impossible, see pictures) or buy a new one. So if I went to a Discount Tire, I'd have been better off?

WTF - that's insane.

From the looks of it - this is an installation failure. I've never seen anything like this.

 

[Kairide]

You’d have to prove it was an installation error if you want Tesla to cover the costs. If it was a puncture, it wouldn’t be on Tesla, or any other shop to replace unless you bought a road hazard warranty. If it’s a manufacturing defect, you’d have to take it up with the tire manufacturer.

 

[ucmndd]

Ask your wife what she hit again and remind her it’s not what she did that gets her in trouble, it’s the lie.

And yeah, if you wanted road hazard warranty you should have bought from discount tire and gotten the optional certificates.

This isn’t a Tesla problem unless you can prove somehow they installed the tire incorrectly (good luck with that).

 

[brandonc85]

Ask your wife what she hit again and remind her it’s not what she did that gets her in trouble, it’s the lie.

And yeah, if you wanted road hazard warranty you should have bought from discount tire and gotten the optional certificates.

This isn’t a Tesla problem unless you can prove somehow they installed the tire incorrectly (good luck with that).

But I didn’t buy them from Discount Tire. I bought them from Tesla direct.

 

[ucmndd]

But I didn’t buy them from Discount Tire. I bought them from Tesla direct.

Exactly. Tesla doesn’t sell optional road hazard warranties like Discount Tire does. So you have no coverage from road hazards, which this failure is almost certainly the result of.

Or possibly a manufacturing defect in the tire - but if that’s the case you need to take it up with the tire manufacturer, not Tesla.

 

[brandonc85]

Exactly. Tesla doesn’t sell optional road hazard warranties like Discount Tire does. So you have no coverage from road hazards, which this failure is almost certainly the result of.

Or possibly a manufacturing defect in the tire - but if that’s the case you need to take it up with the tire manufacturer, not Tesla.

It feels like Tesla should mention that they don’t offer that when spending two grand on tires. So the lesson learned is don’t buy tires at Tesla, which seems backwards to me.

 

[ucmndd]

It feels like Tesla should mention that they don’t offer that when spending two grand on tires. So the lesson learned is don’t buy tires at Tesla, which seems backwards to me.

I guess our experiences and expectations are somewhat different.

I can’t imagine why a shop should proactively let you know that they choose not to offer an optional and additional cost service that some other shops do. When you get the road hazard warranty at Discount Tire, it’s a completely separate and optional charge on top of the price of the tires that you opt into if you want.

If you declined that optional charge and coverage at Discount Tire, you’d be in exactly the same place you are now.

FWIW, as far as it seeming “backwards” - I’ve almost never utilized first party dealerships or service centers for tires. The prices are typically way above that of a competent independent tire shop, and the service is rarely if ever better enough to make up for it. And as you’ve seen, if you’re the type to want optional coverage like road hazard warranties, you’re usually not gonna find it.

 

[brandonc85]

I guess our experiences and expectations are somewhat different.

I can’t imagine why a shop should proactively let you know that they choose not to offer an optional and additional cost service that some other shops do. When you get the road hazard warranty at Discount Tire, it’s a completely separate and optional charge on top of the price of the tires that you opt into if you want.

If you declined that optional charge and coverage at Discount Tire, you’d be in exactly the same place you are now.

FWIW, as far as it seeming “backwards” - I’ve almost never utilized first party dealerships or service centers for tires. The prices are typically way above that of a competent independent tire shop, and the service is rarely if ever better enough to make up for it. And as you’ve seen, if you’re the type to want optional coverage like road hazard warranties, you’re usually not gonna find it.

I normally wouldn’t go first party, but Tesla stuff is so different because you can’t go anywhere for service. So I decided to keep it in house (I was in for unrelated service when they sold me on new tires. It was already in the shop)

 

[ucmndd]

I normally wouldn’t go first party, but Tesla stuff is so different because you can’t go anywhere for service.

I’ve put 200,000 miles on Teslas in the last 7 years, and like 8 sets of tires. Any tire shop can put tires on a Tesla. You really can go literally anywhere.

So I decided to keep it in house (I was in for unrelated service when they sold me on new tires. It was already in the shop)

I’ve noticed this trick too - the whole “oh while you’re here, you need new tires” thing. They’ve told me that at literally EVERY service appointment I’ve had in recent memory. I’ve gotten pretty adept at telling them to get bent.

 

[brandonc85]

I’ve put 200,000 miles on Teslas in the last 7 years, and like 8 sets of tires. Any tire shop can put tires on a Tesla. You really can go literally anywhere.

I’ve noticed this trick too - the whole “oh while you’re here, you need new tires” thing. They’ve told me that at literally EVERY service appointment I’ve had in recent memory. I’ve gotten pretty adept at telling them to get bent.

Well...now I know.

 

[stopcrazypp]

You’d have to prove it was an installation error if you want Tesla to cover the costs. If it was a puncture, it wouldn’t be on Tesla, or any other shop to replace unless you bought a road hazard warranty. If it’s a manufacturing defect, you’d have to take it up with the tire manufacturer.

There is one exception: if the tires were from Pirelli and has noise cancelling foam, Pirelli provided a road hazard warranty because they didn't allow repairs of the tires. However it's pro-rated.
Great news for Tesla Model 3 owners with Pirelli PZEROs!

For the OP @brandonc85, I would say the likelihood this was an installation error is extremely unlikely. It's not like the tire was just installed, it's been 7 months already. If the tire was not seated properly on the rim, it's highly unlikely for it not to have lost pressure already. You don't mention what size wheels and brand/model the tire was, but I would check the tire manufacturer warranty to see if there is any coverage applicable to your case.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

There isn't any "erroneous" way to install a tire. There was probably just a nail in it and she ignored the flat tire beeps and screen warnings until it went flat enough to peel off and the rim started scraping.

 

[fholbert]

In March, I bought all new tires from the Tesla Shop. Today my wife was driving and one of them fully exploded and she drove on the rim into a parking lot for safety.

Put in a service request and they force me to agree to pay to fix (impossible, see pictures) or buy a new one. So if I went to a Discount Tire, I'd have been better off?

WTF - that's insane.

From the looks of it - this is an installation failure. I've never seen anything like this.

View attachment 983380

View attachment 983381

Sorry, but that’s driver error. The sidewall was destroyed by driving on a flat tire, I’d guess the tire was too hot to touch by the time the driver stopped. I’ve never had this happen in a Tesla, but assume an audio and visual alarm in the cockpit started miles earlier.

In the future suggest you buy tires at a business that specializes in tires.

• The same brand and model of tires are going to be a lot cheaper.
• The install will be a lot faster.
• The balance will be better.
• Tire stores stand behind their products. Even if you didn’t have road hazard Americas Tire / Discount Tire would have given you some credit for the tire.

 

[fholbert]

If you declined that optional charge and coverage at Discount Tire, you’d be in exactly the same place you are now.

Discount Tire would pro-rate the tire and give you some credit. The optional coverage is for free replacement including mounting and balancing.

 

[ucmndd]

Discount Tire would pro-rate the tire and give you some credit.

Only if they determined this was a warranty issue…

 

[nicksp]

Next time try Walmart. They sell all levels of tires and for an extra 10 or 15 bucks you can buy an additional warranty.

 

[fholbert]

Only if they determined this was a warranty issue…

I’ve had them pro rate a run flat when it was in the expected wear period, at least twice.

A third time the tire was less than 500 miles old and they replaced it for free without the extended warranty.

Americas/Discount Tire is the ONLY place I buy tires. Another plus, apply or use their credit card and you get an additional discount.

 

[unhyphy]

I've had a Continental tire replaced free under warranty at Discount Tire before. Continental will replace unrepairable tires at no cost up to a certain amount of wear. I didn't buy the optional coverage.

 

[brandonc85]

Just to update...

Sounds like it was a normal flat, and the pulling into the parking lot shredded it in that way. The rim is damaged as well so it's $1300 or so to fix. Fine - it sucks a lot. This particular tire issue aside, what I'm dealing with now is that they're saying that my tires are all nearly bald and in need of replacing. Which seems insane to me as they've been on for 13K miles. My first ones lasted a solid 35K+ miles, which I know is long because of the weight and torque of Teslas.

But isn't 13K miles not a lot of time for tires? My driving style hasn't changed at all. Either way, terrible experience and Tesla customer service has been unbelievably terrible. Zero empathy for a shitty situation, just talking over me on the phone and not letting me talk. I feel like I'm talking to Walmart, not Tesla.

 

[brandonc85]

Next time try Walmart. They sell all levels of tires and for an extra 10 or 15 bucks you can buy an additional warranty.

Sadly that is probably the best course of action for Tesla owners...which is a disappointing realization for me.