Hi everyone.
Just wanted to start a discussion with folks about how Tesla has changed their policy on their Ranger Service. I know that this service probably does not impact the majority of owners out there but it is an important issue to those of us who bought a car and live far away from any Tesla service centre.
"For those who do not what to read the whole story below": We are dissatisfied and disappointed that Tesla is no longer offering $100 Tesla Ranger visits no matter where you live even though we were told by Tesla before buying the car that we would always have that option.
I know there are others in the same boat as us but I will give our background.
About a year ago we were looking to buy a model s. We live in St. John's, NL Canada so we flew up to Toronto to test drive and fell in love with the car. A few months later we had worked everything out to purchase one and there was only one question left relating to servicing the vehicle. We had heard that the Tesla ranger service was going to be $100 per visit. Even back then we knew this was a crazy thing for Tesla to offer as they would be loosing a lot of money overtime as the fleet increased in size. Perhaps back then we believed that there was such a small number of people living so far away that the lose would not be that great to Tesla and maybe they could sustain it. At least for the next several years or until the Model 3 comes out.
During our correspondence with the Tesla rep in Toronto where we decided to purchase the car from we had many emails back and fourth about this details of the Tesla Ranger service. I have severals emails from Tesla stating that all issues relating to warranty work will be fixed through the ranger service and it would be $100 per visit. I asked them why there is nothing written in any documentation about the Ranger service and how can I be guaranteed the Ranger service would remain $100 per visit for the duration of the warranty. They respond again saying they have contacted Tesla service in California to get clarification on the issue. I even asked them about what happens if the car is not able to be fixed through a ranger visit. Again they came back, and told me in black and white, that should any work be needed to be done at a service centre Tesla would ship the car to the nearest centre (Montreal - over 2000 kms away) and that THEY would cover the cost. We found it hard to believe they would do this but again, they told us it would happen and I guessed we convinced ourselves that because we are such a small number of people in our situation Tesla could just eat the cost. Anyways, we told Tesla that "THE TESLA RANGER SERVICE" is the reason we are able to justify purchasing the car being so far away from a service centre. They assured us we would not have a problem. Car was purchased and delivered 3 months later.
Received the car in perfect condition with no issues. Absolute joy to drive and couldn't be happier. After about 3 weeks we noticed continuous build up of moisture in the reverse lights after washing or heavy rain. It was not a huge issue to us so we just left it. Another 2 weeks go by and we started having problems with the driver side wiper causing streaks across the window. This was more of a pain so we decided to reach out to Tesla to tell them about the wiper blade and the moisture problem. We did not tell them to come to fix anything, just notified them of the issues. They replied back that they were sending a replacement wiper blade as well as a replacement part for the reverse head lights and that a Tesla Ranger would be coming to replace the part. We didn't ask them to come fix the moisture problem and we would just wait until we drive up to Montreal next year for our annual service but said oh well at least we'll see how the ranger service works out.
The Tesla ranger arrived a few weeks later after doing some other jobs in the Maritime provinces. The guy was super friendly, took the car to a local a garage, replaced the reverse tail light part and brought the car back within about 5 hours. We expected to get some paper work describing what was completed but did not receive anything until we asked the Service centre about it. They send us a report outlining what they did which included several other minor things they fixed without telling us. Also that there was ZERO cost to us for anything! Not even a $100 charge for the ranger visit. We thought this was strange and inconsistent with what we were told but was not going to complain about something that was free.
Fast forward about 6 months we had zero issues with the car! Awesome! Even through a harsh Newfoundland winter we had essentially zero issues.
Then last week, out of nowhere, the passenger side door handle would not open the door. It would present but not open the door when pulled on. The inside latch was still abel to open the door. We called Tesla right away and told them the situation and they said they would look into it. Over the next couple of days the handle would randomly start working again and then stop working. As of right now it hasn't worked at all for 5 days. Unfortunately this was not just a minor issue where we could wait until July when we go for a annual service in Montreal so we required a Tesl ranger visit.
Tesla (Montreal Service Centre) replied saying no problem to fix the door handle and that a ranger could be there as early as two weeks. Only thing is that we will be charged $800 to cover the cost of his transportation! Could not believe what we were hearing! This is exactly the same thing we were told WOULD NOT HAPPEN. We replied back that with copies of emails showing our correspondence with Tesla about the $100 fee. We did not hear anything for four days! Just let hanging there without any word of what was going to happen. Finally they replied saying they would come to fix the door handle and the Ranger service for this one time and one time only would be $100. Thanks for cutting us some slack but what about going forward! Believe it or not another Tesla here in the province had an issue with a pano roof clip breaking. They called Montreal service centre and was told the same thing - $800 for a Tesla ranger to come fix a sun roof clip are you kidding me!
Also one more thing on the Montreal service centre. We had a small accident and scratched some paint off the rear bumper. We brought it to a highly regarded body shop near by and they said no problem we will take care of it. Got the car back two days later and you could never tell what happened. What was interesting though is the body shop manager called the Tesla service centre in Montreal before starting any work on the car. He simply ask if he broke any clips or needed some replacement parts could they buy the parts and have them shipped to Newfoundland. I heard it second hand from the body shop manager but he said Tesla Montreal service centre's reply was "Absolutely not would they send any parts to a non-Tesla authorized body shop! All work on Telsa's must be done here at the service centre or a body shop that we tell them they can use." What is up with the Montreal service centre! They are just not very accommodating at all!
Anyways we have been discussing what is going to happen going forward. How can this be made right. We understand from both sides. Tesla would be loosing money on all these long ranger trips and can not sustain something like this. The issue is that before we purchased the car we were promised we would always have the $100 ranger service. Its not cool to go back on your word. A change of policy is fine to all new customers as long as they are made aware of the situation before purchasing. However, for those few people (I would guess that there is probably less than a couple of hundred of us who are far away from service centres and purchased the car before the policy was changed) who were promised this service before they bought the car and before the policy was changed, Tesla's commitment should be honoured.
I would love to hear folks from TMC on this issue. What do you think is fair? Have you had an experience like this? What would you do if you were in our position? Thoughts on the Montreal Service centre? Would we have better luck with the Toronto service centre? Possible options for Tesla? Any thoughts on Tesla authorizing repair shops to fix their cars? Hard to think about how Tesla can service hundreds of thousands of vehicles in a few years with limited service centres and authorizing a repair shop would be a lot easier than building their own if every major city in the world.
It's sad to say but 8 months had passed since we purchased our car and not a single day went by that we regretted the purchase... until this day
. Huge supporter of Tesla and every day we are trying to sell their cars to friends, family, random people we meet coming up to us. Service is the number one question we get asked about and before now we always had a response. Now we can honestly not recommend buying a Tesla here in NL or anywhere not near a service centre.
Just wanted to start a discussion with folks about how Tesla has changed their policy on their Ranger Service. I know that this service probably does not impact the majority of owners out there but it is an important issue to those of us who bought a car and live far away from any Tesla service centre.
"For those who do not what to read the whole story below": We are dissatisfied and disappointed that Tesla is no longer offering $100 Tesla Ranger visits no matter where you live even though we were told by Tesla before buying the car that we would always have that option.
I know there are others in the same boat as us but I will give our background.
About a year ago we were looking to buy a model s. We live in St. John's, NL Canada so we flew up to Toronto to test drive and fell in love with the car. A few months later we had worked everything out to purchase one and there was only one question left relating to servicing the vehicle. We had heard that the Tesla ranger service was going to be $100 per visit. Even back then we knew this was a crazy thing for Tesla to offer as they would be loosing a lot of money overtime as the fleet increased in size. Perhaps back then we believed that there was such a small number of people living so far away that the lose would not be that great to Tesla and maybe they could sustain it. At least for the next several years or until the Model 3 comes out.
During our correspondence with the Tesla rep in Toronto where we decided to purchase the car from we had many emails back and fourth about this details of the Tesla Ranger service. I have severals emails from Tesla stating that all issues relating to warranty work will be fixed through the ranger service and it would be $100 per visit. I asked them why there is nothing written in any documentation about the Ranger service and how can I be guaranteed the Ranger service would remain $100 per visit for the duration of the warranty. They respond again saying they have contacted Tesla service in California to get clarification on the issue. I even asked them about what happens if the car is not able to be fixed through a ranger visit. Again they came back, and told me in black and white, that should any work be needed to be done at a service centre Tesla would ship the car to the nearest centre (Montreal - over 2000 kms away) and that THEY would cover the cost. We found it hard to believe they would do this but again, they told us it would happen and I guessed we convinced ourselves that because we are such a small number of people in our situation Tesla could just eat the cost. Anyways, we told Tesla that "THE TESLA RANGER SERVICE" is the reason we are able to justify purchasing the car being so far away from a service centre. They assured us we would not have a problem. Car was purchased and delivered 3 months later.
Received the car in perfect condition with no issues. Absolute joy to drive and couldn't be happier. After about 3 weeks we noticed continuous build up of moisture in the reverse lights after washing or heavy rain. It was not a huge issue to us so we just left it. Another 2 weeks go by and we started having problems with the driver side wiper causing streaks across the window. This was more of a pain so we decided to reach out to Tesla to tell them about the wiper blade and the moisture problem. We did not tell them to come to fix anything, just notified them of the issues. They replied back that they were sending a replacement wiper blade as well as a replacement part for the reverse head lights and that a Tesla Ranger would be coming to replace the part. We didn't ask them to come fix the moisture problem and we would just wait until we drive up to Montreal next year for our annual service but said oh well at least we'll see how the ranger service works out.
The Tesla ranger arrived a few weeks later after doing some other jobs in the Maritime provinces. The guy was super friendly, took the car to a local a garage, replaced the reverse tail light part and brought the car back within about 5 hours. We expected to get some paper work describing what was completed but did not receive anything until we asked the Service centre about it. They send us a report outlining what they did which included several other minor things they fixed without telling us. Also that there was ZERO cost to us for anything! Not even a $100 charge for the ranger visit. We thought this was strange and inconsistent with what we were told but was not going to complain about something that was free.
Fast forward about 6 months we had zero issues with the car! Awesome! Even through a harsh Newfoundland winter we had essentially zero issues.
Then last week, out of nowhere, the passenger side door handle would not open the door. It would present but not open the door when pulled on. The inside latch was still abel to open the door. We called Tesla right away and told them the situation and they said they would look into it. Over the next couple of days the handle would randomly start working again and then stop working. As of right now it hasn't worked at all for 5 days. Unfortunately this was not just a minor issue where we could wait until July when we go for a annual service in Montreal so we required a Tesl ranger visit.
Tesla (Montreal Service Centre) replied saying no problem to fix the door handle and that a ranger could be there as early as two weeks. Only thing is that we will be charged $800 to cover the cost of his transportation! Could not believe what we were hearing! This is exactly the same thing we were told WOULD NOT HAPPEN. We replied back that with copies of emails showing our correspondence with Tesla about the $100 fee. We did not hear anything for four days! Just let hanging there without any word of what was going to happen. Finally they replied saying they would come to fix the door handle and the Ranger service for this one time and one time only would be $100. Thanks for cutting us some slack but what about going forward! Believe it or not another Tesla here in the province had an issue with a pano roof clip breaking. They called Montreal service centre and was told the same thing - $800 for a Tesla ranger to come fix a sun roof clip are you kidding me!
Also one more thing on the Montreal service centre. We had a small accident and scratched some paint off the rear bumper. We brought it to a highly regarded body shop near by and they said no problem we will take care of it. Got the car back two days later and you could never tell what happened. What was interesting though is the body shop manager called the Tesla service centre in Montreal before starting any work on the car. He simply ask if he broke any clips or needed some replacement parts could they buy the parts and have them shipped to Newfoundland. I heard it second hand from the body shop manager but he said Tesla Montreal service centre's reply was "Absolutely not would they send any parts to a non-Tesla authorized body shop! All work on Telsa's must be done here at the service centre or a body shop that we tell them they can use." What is up with the Montreal service centre! They are just not very accommodating at all!
Anyways we have been discussing what is going to happen going forward. How can this be made right. We understand from both sides. Tesla would be loosing money on all these long ranger trips and can not sustain something like this. The issue is that before we purchased the car we were promised we would always have the $100 ranger service. Its not cool to go back on your word. A change of policy is fine to all new customers as long as they are made aware of the situation before purchasing. However, for those few people (I would guess that there is probably less than a couple of hundred of us who are far away from service centres and purchased the car before the policy was changed) who were promised this service before they bought the car and before the policy was changed, Tesla's commitment should be honoured.
I would love to hear folks from TMC on this issue. What do you think is fair? Have you had an experience like this? What would you do if you were in our position? Thoughts on the Montreal Service centre? Would we have better luck with the Toronto service centre? Possible options for Tesla? Any thoughts on Tesla authorizing repair shops to fix their cars? Hard to think about how Tesla can service hundreds of thousands of vehicles in a few years with limited service centres and authorizing a repair shop would be a lot easier than building their own if every major city in the world.
It's sad to say but 8 months had passed since we purchased our car and not a single day went by that we regretted the purchase... until this day
. Huge supporter of Tesla and every day we are trying to sell their cars to friends, family, random people we meet coming up to us. Service is the number one question we get asked about and before now we always had a response. Now we can honestly not recommend buying a Tesla here in NL or anywhere not near a service centre.
