Tesla Repair Nightmare
Discussion
Afternoon all.
I wonder if anyone has any advice for a bit of a nightmare I'm experiencing right now.
I was the happy driver of a Tesla M3 SR until last November when I got hit in the side and had to take my car in for repair (it was still driveable). The other guy admitted responsibility, so this isn't costing me anything as such but....
I took my car into the garage in mid-December. The current eta on the final replacement part (I needed two new doors) is now a back-order date of 30/04/2022 - and this is the 2nd delay on the original expected date - original date was December, then the start of March. Unsurprisingly, I have zero confidence that the parts will turn up on this new date.
Don't get me wrong, the car was wonderful but it seems that Tesla just don't do spare parts??
I have been provided with a courtesy car but a VW Polo isn't what I want to be driving. I would be content with a couple of weeks in it... but five months?
I don't know if anyone else has had the same problem. Any advice as to how I can get the repair process speeded up would be most grateful.
Alternatively, could I potentially get a refund on the car on the basis that I have been sold something that is inherently unrepairable? Yes, that sounds extreme but I wouldn't have bought a car from a company that doesn't supply replacement parts.
I purchased it under a PCP arrangement which is still ongoing.
Thanks
Richard
I wonder if anyone has any advice for a bit of a nightmare I'm experiencing right now.
I was the happy driver of a Tesla M3 SR until last November when I got hit in the side and had to take my car in for repair (it was still driveable). The other guy admitted responsibility, so this isn't costing me anything as such but....
I took my car into the garage in mid-December. The current eta on the final replacement part (I needed two new doors) is now a back-order date of 30/04/2022 - and this is the 2nd delay on the original expected date - original date was December, then the start of March. Unsurprisingly, I have zero confidence that the parts will turn up on this new date.
Don't get me wrong, the car was wonderful but it seems that Tesla just don't do spare parts??
I have been provided with a courtesy car but a VW Polo isn't what I want to be driving. I would be content with a couple of weeks in it... but five months?
I don't know if anyone else has had the same problem. Any advice as to how I can get the repair process speeded up would be most grateful.
Alternatively, could I potentially get a refund on the car on the basis that I have been sold something that is inherently unrepairable? Yes, that sounds extreme but I wouldn't have bought a car from a company that doesn't supply replacement parts.
I purchased it under a PCP arrangement which is still ongoing.
Thanks
Richard
Somebody will shortly come along and blame Covid, global chip shortages, Brexit, probably the Russians, but your problem has been a Tesla issue since they started making cars.
There is little you can do sadly. You can join the official Tesla owners group on Facebook, they will tell you they have connections, nothing will come of that, and in parallel lots of people will tell you they’ve not had an issue because they’ve never had an accident. So I would save your time going down that route.
There is a formal escalation channel, it involves writing to the European head office (details in the warranty documentation) if you felt like any action is better than waiting.
Little consolation I’m afraid but I feel your pain.
There is little you can do sadly. You can join the official Tesla owners group on Facebook, they will tell you they have connections, nothing will come of that, and in parallel lots of people will tell you they’ve not had an issue because they’ve never had an accident. So I would save your time going down that route.
There is a formal escalation channel, it involves writing to the European head office (details in the warranty documentation) if you felt like any action is better than waiting.
Little consolation I’m afraid but I feel your pain.
If it makes you feel any better, BMW have had my 440i since October. Was meant to be trading it in against my Model 3 (collecting tomorrow), but they still have no ETA on parts. So whilst it is relatively more common for this situation to affect Tesla, it can affect the big legacy automakers also.
I was at my local Porsche dealer for a few hours last week waiting for a service to be complete. They had a bunch of cars waiting for parts and their parking lot was pretty much full with cars that needed repair. Had a chat with the service techs and they were frustrated with parts delivery - so much so, they spend a few hours a day sourcing parts to get things done - other dealers, distributors and even third party vendors (for official parts of course). Deliveries are still impacted and a few days extra on delivery of parts causes chaos on scheduling! It seems that Tesla isnt alone in this.
However, if this happened a few times, you could write it off. But its not. Tesla owners here in California (remember, where they make the damn things still) suffer months of delay for even simple repairs. Its not unheard of simple repairs such as doors or panels taking 2-3 months to get the parts - and this isnt a chip supply issue. This is a fundamental problem with the availability of parts, and this has been going on for years. There are examples of some owners waiting 11 months for a front seat!
A quick search for 'tesla repair delay' and I get pages of irate customers who have had massive issues in getting their cars fixed. Its disappointing that they havent invested in after sales support and while I understand they have boosted the teams that support the service process, its still no where near where it should be.
However, if this happened a few times, you could write it off. But its not. Tesla owners here in California (remember, where they make the damn things still) suffer months of delay for even simple repairs. Its not unheard of simple repairs such as doors or panels taking 2-3 months to get the parts - and this isnt a chip supply issue. This is a fundamental problem with the availability of parts, and this has been going on for years. There are examples of some owners waiting 11 months for a front seat!
A quick search for 'tesla repair delay' and I get pages of irate customers who have had massive issues in getting their cars fixed. Its disappointing that they havent invested in after sales support and while I understand they have boosted the teams that support the service process, its still no where near where it should be.
richardbastow said:
Alternatively, could I potentially get a refund on the car on the basis that I have been sold something that is inherently unrepairable? Yes, that sounds extreme but I wouldn't have bought a car from a company that doesn't supply replacement parts
Hello Richard!Had this been a mechanical breakdown which Tesla were unable to repair in a timely manner then you would have potential recourse.
However in this case, as the fault was not Tesla's - and as they have provided you with alternative transport - I don't think a refund is likely.
Wild card idea - crash the Polo too and perhaps they'll give you a Taycan as a courtesy car
Mikebentley said:
Is this why I have heard they are expensive to insure?
Yep. Partly. Tesla also prefer replace not repair at their approved body shops and of course cars that can hit 60 in 4 seconds have never been the cheapest to insure.In OPs case, if they’d insisted in an equivalent loan car and the timescales were known then the car may have been written off. Repair cost + loan car cost + salvage value could easily exceed car value. It might be worth having that conversation even now
You obviously can’t control the supply of parts, but you should not be wholly disadvantaged.
If you had courtesy car ticked on your insurance, then you should be provided with an equivalent, if indeed not exactly the same, class of car.
If it’s been confirmed as a no-fault accident, then you should again be provided with a same class car, only this time at the expense of the third party’s insurance.
If you had courtesy car ticked on your insurance, then you should be provided with an equivalent, if indeed not exactly the same, class of car.
If it’s been confirmed as a no-fault accident, then you should again be provided with a same class car, only this time at the expense of the third party’s insurance.
granada203028 said:
Can you not get 2nd hand doors off a stuffed one? Maybe just to keep you on the road while you wait for new ones.
Presumably your car is white like all the others so colour matching should not be a problem.
There’s loads of used M3 doors on eBay - that’d be my plan. Presumably your car is white like all the others so colour matching should not be a problem.
Thanks for all your responses.
Yes - I wish I had asked for a more appropriate courtesy car but at the time I was only expecting to spend two weeks in it. I've learnt a lesson here.
Seem like this is a common problem.
I'll update this thread if there are any new developments which are of interest to other Tesla drivers.
Thanks again.
Richard
Yes - I wish I had asked for a more appropriate courtesy car but at the time I was only expecting to spend two weeks in it. I've learnt a lesson here.
Seem like this is a common problem.
I'll update this thread if there are any new developments which are of interest to other Tesla drivers.
Thanks again.
Richard
Hi Richard - is it still looking like end of April for your parts?
I’m in a similar situation after a deer strike.
It’s been nearly 4 weeks and zero updates despite trying to expedite the matter with Tesla… My concern is getting this repaired in time for a trip to the continent at the end of May… I’m really not sure what we’re going to do if the car is not returned by then…
I’m in a similar situation after a deer strike.
It’s been nearly 4 weeks and zero updates despite trying to expedite the matter with Tesla… My concern is getting this repaired in time for a trip to the continent at the end of May… I’m really not sure what we’re going to do if the car is not returned by then…
OK - a quick update as I promised I would.
To my delight I finally got my M3 back at the start of April.
I had spoken to the chief engineer at LV insurance who then spoke to the garage. It seems that they had taken both doors off and "disposed of them" in anticipation of two new doors turning up. Only one did - hence why the repair was incomplete and the car was undrivable. To be fair to the garage, once the final door was delivered, they fitted it the same day and let me know.
So in summary, from taking the car in I had to wait just over 3 months for it to be repaired with the lack of replacement parts being the bottleneck.
Good luck to anyone else facing the same situation & thanks for the replies.
Richard
To my delight I finally got my M3 back at the start of April.
I had spoken to the chief engineer at LV insurance who then spoke to the garage. It seems that they had taken both doors off and "disposed of them" in anticipation of two new doors turning up. Only one did - hence why the repair was incomplete and the car was undrivable. To be fair to the garage, once the final door was delivered, they fitted it the same day and let me know.
So in summary, from taking the car in I had to wait just over 3 months for it to be repaired with the lack of replacement parts being the bottleneck.
Good luck to anyone else facing the same situation & thanks for the replies.
Richard
I'm waiting for delivery on an MY but this has got me thinking, I'm getting in on lease through my Ltd company, therefore will be paying 2% bik.
What happens if it needs a repair and is sat in a workshop for months and I'm given a petrol powered courtesy car, do I need to notify hmrc and pay tax? Would I still have to pay make payments on a car I don't have? Certainly wouldn't want to be paying £500 a month for a VW polo!
What happens if it needs a repair and is sat in a workshop for months and I'm given a petrol powered courtesy car, do I need to notify hmrc and pay tax? Would I still have to pay make payments on a car I don't have? Certainly wouldn't want to be paying £500 a month for a VW polo!
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