5 ms·

Is this a regional issue? Haven't had this problem at all in Texas. Scheduled maintenance and my car was returned in only a couple days.

by chomp 7y ago

chrisseaton 7y ago
> in only a couple days Is taking days normal or reasonable for car maintenance? I've never had my conventional car in for maintenance for more than about six hours.
- cptskippy 7y ago
  That really depends on the type of maintenance. I've had situations where Honda kept my car for 24-48 hours because they needed to source a part and I'd scheduled the maintenance for a Saturday. I've also had situations where an issue was discovered during regular maintenance and Honda again asked to keep the car and rectify the problem under warranty. In that case it was a cracked engine block and they said "that's not suppose to happen". It took a few days to fix.
  - stcredzero 7y ago
    I've had situations where Honda kept my car for 24-48 hours because they needed to source a part I've had this as well with Honda and Mercedes cars. When it comes to utilitarian cars, one thing you want to look for is the parts being as much a commodity as possible. Mercedes used to stock all the parts for what seemed like all of their models. Then they stopped. I should have taken that as a sign!
    - close04 7y ago
      In Europe most garages that service multiple brands don't really keep too many parts in stock. But they can order and have them available in a matter of hours. So when I went with my car for regular maintenance and they discovered I had 2 broken springs they got the parts and finished the work in about 6 hours. Which means I can very conveniently drive it there in the morning and pick it up after work. While I'd like a Model 3 (although not at the 45.000E pricetag for the cheapest model like it is today) I will wait until they can also offer good service after they make the sale.
    - cptskippy 7y ago
      I would love to hear how most garages operate. It seems like most don't stock more than basic commodity parts anymore (e.g. oil filters, belts, pads, filters) but have means to get parts within hours worst case.
      - bdavis__ 7y ago
        parts stores deliver to mechanics and garages many times a day. no app needed, they use the phone. so, when you need a starter for a 1992 honda, they call the closest parts store and a 'parts runner' delivers it.
  - cardiffspaceman 7y ago
    I think this is close to standard. The local BMW dealer doesn't really do anything on Saturday except accept/enroll cars for work that will happen during the work week. They have loaners, I'd guess a fair number of them. So if you get a Saturday appointment, unless it's something like a bulb swap, you'll be getting the car back Monday, but you'll have loaner. The loaners are mostly 3-series. The local Honda dealer told me they don't have loaners, but it's in a cluster of dealers that has an Enterprise agency.
    - cptskippy 7y ago
      Our Honda dealer has performed jobs up to and including timing belt changes on Saturday. For the unenlightened, a timing belt change on a Honda involves swinging the engine up 45 degrees. It's so labor intensive they advise changing out the water pump, and a few other parts during the same operation because labor is so expensive. My "loaners" have all been rentals from their Hendricks Collision center.
  - chrisseaton 7y ago
    My car maintenance people just seem to keep every possible part they could need for my car in stock on site. I've had quite a lot done and it's always on the shelf ready to go. There's only three models of Tesla! Can't they keep a stock?
- houqp 7y ago
  Yes, my volt was kept in the shop for more than 2 days due to part issues. As a bonus, dealership refused to give rental for me so it was a PITA.
  - moomin 7y ago
    According to another poster on this thread, the same situation on a Tesla would be 5, not 2.
- rconti 7y ago
  I've only had 2 new cars. My Golf R was in the shop for a few days waiting for them to source a lower control arm to fix a creak I was getting from the front end. Our Model 3 was in the shop for a couple of days over new year's weekend while they did a few small repairs, including replacing the entire rear glass (which was actually in stock). Also, had the rear quarter window smashed in and it took me a few days to find a glass shop that had the part in stock. Most shops said they could get it, but they have to drive to the Tesla service center to get an answer on ETA, due to issues manning the phones.
cptskippy 7y ago
This is more like exception handling than scheduled maintenance. Owners were in accidents and needed urgent repairs. They took the vehicles to Tesla Authorized (but not Tesla) repair centers. Those repair centers had issues getting parts. The experience is totally different than scheduled maintenance. We had an issue with the dash panel on ours and scheduled an appointment with Tesla for work under warranty. They asked for pictures and made sure the part was on hand when we showed up. They swapped it out in under an hour and offered us a loaner or Lyft ride in the mean time.
bdcravens 7y ago
Are you in one of the major metro areas are you in a smaller city, and are you being serviced by Tesla directly or an authorized mechanic? Also I think scheduled maintenance would be things you could prepare for, whereas this article is talking about repairs for presumably unanticipated events. Also, scheduled maintenance took a couple of days? I get antsy when I have to wait more than a couple of hours.
LandR 7y ago
A couple of days is a really long time! When I had a car I wouldn't expect it to be away for more than a day unless it was having extensive work done. Most things like regular servicing, fixing niggles it's a case of drop it off in the morning and pick it up later in the day.
- goshx 7y ago
  I had to get the break pads replaced in my previous car, a BMW, and it took two days because they didn’t have the parts.
  - blattimwind 7y ago
    That seems... odd.
    - goshx 7y ago
      Why?
      - LandR 7y ago
        Brake pads are pretty common consumables, for a dealership to have no brake pads is a bit odd.
- FireBeyond 7y ago
  Pretty much. I have a Jaguar. My dealership said, "Well, you should have it back tomorrow, unless we have to get the part from England (I live in Seattle), then it will be day after tomorrow".
pkaye 7y ago
What does the scheduled maintenance involve?
twblalock 7y ago
I suspect wait times are lower in areas with fewer Tesla owners who need service. I live in Silicon Valley and Teslas are everywhere. I know quite a few people who own them, and they all complain about reliability -- primarily software problems. If all of the Teslas on the road are as unreliable as the ones my friends own, there is probably a long line of owners waiting for service.

Is this a regional issue? Haven't had this problem at all in Texas. Scheduled maintenance and my car was returned in only a couple days.

by chomp 7y ago

Is this a regional issue? Haven't had this problem at all in Texas. Scheduled maintenance and my car was returned in only a couple days.

chrisseaton 7y ago

> in only a couple days Is taking days normal or reasonable for car maintenance? I've never had my conventional car in for maintenance for more than about six hours.

cptskippy 7y ago
That really depends on the type of maintenance. I've had situations where Honda kept my car for 24-48 hours because they needed to source a part and I'd scheduled the maintenance for a Saturday. I've also had situations where an issue was discovered during regular maintenance and Honda again asked to keep the car and rectify the problem under warranty. In that case it was a cracked engine block and they said "that's not suppose to happen". It took a few days to fix.
- stcredzero 7y ago
  I've had situations where Honda kept my car for 24-48 hours because they needed to source a part I've had this as well with Honda and Mercedes cars. When it comes to utilitarian cars, one thing you want to look for is the parts being as much a commodity as possible. Mercedes used to stock all the parts for what seemed like all of their models. Then they stopped. I should have taken that as a sign!
  - close04 7y ago
    In Europe most garages that service multiple brands don't really keep too many parts in stock. But they can order and have them available in a matter of hours. So when I went with my car for regular maintenance and they discovered I had 2 broken springs they got the parts and finished the work in about 6 hours. Which means I can very conveniently drive it there in the morning and pick it up after work. While I'd like a Model 3 (although not at the 45.000E pricetag for the cheapest model like it is today) I will wait until they can also offer good service after they make the sale.
  - cptskippy 7y ago
    I would love to hear how most garages operate. It seems like most don't stock more than basic commodity parts anymore (e.g. oil filters, belts, pads, filters) but have means to get parts within hours worst case.
    - bdavis__ 7y ago
      parts stores deliver to mechanics and garages many times a day. no app needed, they use the phone. so, when you need a starter for a 1992 honda, they call the closest parts store and a 'parts runner' delivers it.
- cardiffspaceman 7y ago
  I think this is close to standard. The local BMW dealer doesn't really do anything on Saturday except accept/enroll cars for work that will happen during the work week. They have loaners, I'd guess a fair number of them. So if you get a Saturday appointment, unless it's something like a bulb swap, you'll be getting the car back Monday, but you'll have loaner. The loaners are mostly 3-series. The local Honda dealer told me they don't have loaners, but it's in a cluster of dealers that has an Enterprise agency.
  - cptskippy 7y ago
    Our Honda dealer has performed jobs up to and including timing belt changes on Saturday. For the unenlightened, a timing belt change on a Honda involves swinging the engine up 45 degrees. It's so labor intensive they advise changing out the water pump, and a few other parts during the same operation because labor is so expensive. My "loaners" have all been rentals from their Hendricks Collision center.
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  My car maintenance people just seem to keep every possible part they could need for my car in stock on site. I've had quite a lot done and it's always on the shelf ready to go. There's only three models of Tesla! Can't they keep a stock?
houqp 7y ago
Yes, my volt was kept in the shop for more than 2 days due to part issues. As a bonus, dealership refused to give rental for me so it was a PITA.
- moomin 7y ago
  According to another poster on this thread, the same situation on a Tesla would be 5, not 2.
rconti 7y ago
I've only had 2 new cars. My Golf R was in the shop for a few days waiting for them to source a lower control arm to fix a creak I was getting from the front end. Our Model 3 was in the shop for a couple of days over new year's weekend while they did a few small repairs, including replacing the entire rear glass (which was actually in stock). Also, had the rear quarter window smashed in and it took me a few days to find a glass shop that had the part in stock. Most shops said they could get it, but they have to drive to the Tesla service center to get an answer on ETA, due to issues manning the phones.

cptskippy 7y ago

This is more like exception handling than scheduled maintenance. Owners were in accidents and needed urgent repairs. They took the vehicles to Tesla Authorized (but not Tesla) repair centers. Those repair centers had issues getting parts. The experience is totally different than scheduled maintenance. We had an issue with the dash panel on ours and scheduled an appointment with Tesla for work under warranty. They asked for pictures and made sure the part was on hand when we showed up. They swapped it out in under an hour and offered us a loaner or Lyft ride in the mean time.

bdcravens 7y ago

Are you in one of the major metro areas are you in a smaller city, and are you being serviced by Tesla directly or an authorized mechanic? Also I think scheduled maintenance would be things you could prepare for, whereas this article is talking about repairs for presumably unanticipated events. Also, scheduled maintenance took a couple of days? I get antsy when I have to wait more than a couple of hours.

LandR 7y ago

A couple of days is a really long time! When I had a car I wouldn't expect it to be away for more than a day unless it was having extensive work done. Most things like regular servicing, fixing niggles it's a case of drop it off in the morning and pick it up later in the day.

goshx 7y ago
I had to get the break pads replaced in my previous car, a BMW, and it took two days because they didn’t have the parts.
- blattimwind 7y ago
  That seems... odd.
  - goshx 7y ago
    Why?
    - LandR 7y ago
      Brake pads are pretty common consumables, for a dealership to have no brake pads is a bit odd.
FireBeyond 7y ago
Pretty much. I have a Jaguar. My dealership said, "Well, you should have it back tomorrow, unless we have to get the part from England (I live in Seattle), then it will be day after tomorrow".

pkaye 7y ago

What does the scheduled maintenance involve?

twblalock 7y ago

I suspect wait times are lower in areas with fewer Tesla owners who need service. I live in Silicon Valley and Teslas are everywhere. I know quite a few people who own them, and they all complain about reliability -- primarily software problems. If all of the Teslas on the road are as unreliable as the ones my friends own, there is probably a long line of owners waiting for service.