Hey guys, was hoping to get some impartial advise. Most UK members would know of, and swear by Cleevley, but this is just my experience as it is.
A bit of a long one.....
So, I have a Model S 2014 p85. In September I took the car to Cleevley Motors to get the drive shaft replaced. The car was making loud clicking and thumping noises. The drive shafts were replaced by Cleevley for £780. Straight away I realised, although the thumping o had gone away and a lot of the clicking had gone, there was still clicking coming from the rear at low speeds. Furthermore, now there was also a new issue of some judder/vibration when accelerating at higher speeds. I questioned this with Cleevley whom said that it was likely brake pads being loose, although it sounded a lot louder, I let it be for the time being as I was tied up with work. A few days later I get a warning “DI_w172 Powertrain Requires Service - OK to drive ”. This relates to a backlash between the wheels and the Drive Unit. I take this up with Cleevley whom at first were dismissive to say that it was the Drive Unit, but I pointed out the only component between the Drive Unit and wheels that could cause this backlash was the recently replaced drive shafts, along with the noise and judder, suggest driveshaft issue. Cleevley then agreed to look at it at their next availability around 3 weeks later in October. During this time I had to make extensive EU trips which the car had no issues doing other than the clicking and judder at speed. Cleevley then looked at the car at drained to oil and said that there were no components of the driveshaft, therefore it is a Drive Unit issue, and they charged £150 for this diagnosis.
I then took the car to Tesla, who discovered that the wrong driveshaft was installed on the car. I was told that the correct driveshaft would be 36mm and the ones fitted are 28mm. Although Model S’s did use 28mm shafts, performance cars only used 36mm, and soon after all shafts were standardised to only using 36mm as they were superior. They advised me that the incorrect shaft on a performance car is what is causing the issues, and either the splines on the shaft are worn or the splines on the drive unit are worn (as a result of the incorrect driveshaft (if this was worn earlier Cleevley would of picked up when replacing the shaft). This diagnostic cost me an hour or so in labour.
I took this back to Cleevley who said that this is the first they are hearing if this, and after a few days they got back to me acknowledging the fact that the incorrect shaft was in fact used, but stood by their initial diagnosis of faulty Drive Unit. Two weeks later I chased this up for a solution. Cleevley agreed that it was the incorrect part used and the options I have are to pay for the difference in price between their aftermarket shaft and original Tesla shaft, or wait until their supplier manufacturers the new 36mm shaft (no timescale). Their aftermarket shaft was £188 + vat a side, and they said they could offer me Tesla’s shaft for £431 + vat a side. I mentioned to them that considering that I’ve spent £150 with them, and £100 with Tesla to identify their mistake, can this be taken into consideration. Cleevley stated their warranty doesn’t cover diagnostics, only parts, and the £150 that was spent with them, as they still stand by their claim that although incorrect shaft was used this has nothing to do with the issues I’m facing and the car needs a new Drive Unit, they wouldn’t be taking that into consideration. But, they could offer a discount on the shaft at £391 + Vat a side.
Having checked with Tesla, the part costs £383 + Vat a side, meaning with Cleevley’s initial £431 + Vat, they were still making a profit over their mistake. Up until this point, I was reasonable and understood, mistakes happen and it is what it is. I again told them my dissatisfaction with how they have not only shown no compassion for money I’ve spent towards identifying their mistake, but the fact that they are still looking to profit from this is disgusting, considering it is their mistake I am asking for them to put right (whether that solves my issues or not is secondary, they agree incorrect parts were used, so all I’m asking for is correct parts to be installed). I let Cleevley know that this wasn’t even about the money as such, just that I would of thought a company who have made a mistake and acknowledge the mistake, would take at least some of the onus upon themselves to rectify the issue and at the very least share the cost with the customer, not in fact leave them out of pocket (diagnosis costs and mark up on shaft). Cleevley once again replied to this saying that the initial price up of £431 + Vat was provided in error as they automatically mark up their prices to cover costs (not sure how this was a mistake considering it was a human typing the email to me, and on the second email I was offered the shaft at a lower price as a “offer” rather than being told there was a mix up on initial pricing…). They went onto reiterate diagnostics are not covered by their warranty, and their time to fix their mistake would be their contribution. I questioned refund options, considering I was somewhat losing faith in the company, I was told to get the work carried out elsewhere and send the parts back for a refund of the shaft and labour… no doubt they will probably not offer to refund the oil cost as they would say the oil was correct.
FYI - Cars Drive Unit is quiet as a mouse, and has driven about 3k miles with the warning and clicking no issues whatsoever.
My initial thoughts are to take the car to Tesla for shafts (£1700ish I believe) and claim the whole invoice from Cleevley considering this is money spent putting right their wrong. Furthermore, if Tesla point at worn splines inside the drive unit, Claim this also from Cleevley, but if it turns out it is indeed my Drive Unit and nothing to do with the shafts, I’ll accept that, and only claim for the shafts.
What would you guys do?
A bit of a long one.....
So, I have a Model S 2014 p85. In September I took the car to Cleevley Motors to get the drive shaft replaced. The car was making loud clicking and thumping noises. The drive shafts were replaced by Cleevley for £780. Straight away I realised, although the thumping o had gone away and a lot of the clicking had gone, there was still clicking coming from the rear at low speeds. Furthermore, now there was also a new issue of some judder/vibration when accelerating at higher speeds. I questioned this with Cleevley whom said that it was likely brake pads being loose, although it sounded a lot louder, I let it be for the time being as I was tied up with work. A few days later I get a warning “DI_w172 Powertrain Requires Service - OK to drive ”. This relates to a backlash between the wheels and the Drive Unit. I take this up with Cleevley whom at first were dismissive to say that it was the Drive Unit, but I pointed out the only component between the Drive Unit and wheels that could cause this backlash was the recently replaced drive shafts, along with the noise and judder, suggest driveshaft issue. Cleevley then agreed to look at it at their next availability around 3 weeks later in October. During this time I had to make extensive EU trips which the car had no issues doing other than the clicking and judder at speed. Cleevley then looked at the car at drained to oil and said that there were no components of the driveshaft, therefore it is a Drive Unit issue, and they charged £150 for this diagnosis.
I then took the car to Tesla, who discovered that the wrong driveshaft was installed on the car. I was told that the correct driveshaft would be 36mm and the ones fitted are 28mm. Although Model S’s did use 28mm shafts, performance cars only used 36mm, and soon after all shafts were standardised to only using 36mm as they were superior. They advised me that the incorrect shaft on a performance car is what is causing the issues, and either the splines on the shaft are worn or the splines on the drive unit are worn (as a result of the incorrect driveshaft (if this was worn earlier Cleevley would of picked up when replacing the shaft). This diagnostic cost me an hour or so in labour.
I took this back to Cleevley who said that this is the first they are hearing if this, and after a few days they got back to me acknowledging the fact that the incorrect shaft was in fact used, but stood by their initial diagnosis of faulty Drive Unit. Two weeks later I chased this up for a solution. Cleevley agreed that it was the incorrect part used and the options I have are to pay for the difference in price between their aftermarket shaft and original Tesla shaft, or wait until their supplier manufacturers the new 36mm shaft (no timescale). Their aftermarket shaft was £188 + vat a side, and they said they could offer me Tesla’s shaft for £431 + vat a side. I mentioned to them that considering that I’ve spent £150 with them, and £100 with Tesla to identify their mistake, can this be taken into consideration. Cleevley stated their warranty doesn’t cover diagnostics, only parts, and the £150 that was spent with them, as they still stand by their claim that although incorrect shaft was used this has nothing to do with the issues I’m facing and the car needs a new Drive Unit, they wouldn’t be taking that into consideration. But, they could offer a discount on the shaft at £391 + Vat a side.
Having checked with Tesla, the part costs £383 + Vat a side, meaning with Cleevley’s initial £431 + Vat, they were still making a profit over their mistake. Up until this point, I was reasonable and understood, mistakes happen and it is what it is. I again told them my dissatisfaction with how they have not only shown no compassion for money I’ve spent towards identifying their mistake, but the fact that they are still looking to profit from this is disgusting, considering it is their mistake I am asking for them to put right (whether that solves my issues or not is secondary, they agree incorrect parts were used, so all I’m asking for is correct parts to be installed). I let Cleevley know that this wasn’t even about the money as such, just that I would of thought a company who have made a mistake and acknowledge the mistake, would take at least some of the onus upon themselves to rectify the issue and at the very least share the cost with the customer, not in fact leave them out of pocket (diagnosis costs and mark up on shaft). Cleevley once again replied to this saying that the initial price up of £431 + Vat was provided in error as they automatically mark up their prices to cover costs (not sure how this was a mistake considering it was a human typing the email to me, and on the second email I was offered the shaft at a lower price as a “offer” rather than being told there was a mix up on initial pricing…). They went onto reiterate diagnostics are not covered by their warranty, and their time to fix their mistake would be their contribution. I questioned refund options, considering I was somewhat losing faith in the company, I was told to get the work carried out elsewhere and send the parts back for a refund of the shaft and labour… no doubt they will probably not offer to refund the oil cost as they would say the oil was correct.
FYI - Cars Drive Unit is quiet as a mouse, and has driven about 3k miles with the warning and clicking no issues whatsoever.
My initial thoughts are to take the car to Tesla for shafts (£1700ish I believe) and claim the whole invoice from Cleevley considering this is money spent putting right their wrong. Furthermore, if Tesla point at worn splines inside the drive unit, Claim this also from Cleevley, but if it turns out it is indeed my Drive Unit and nothing to do with the shafts, I’ll accept that, and only claim for the shafts.
What would you guys do?
