Suspension Problem on Model S

[Zybd1201]

Back to the issue at hand.

1. My warranty clearly says off-road operation voids the warranty.
2. The car in question was driven in off-road conditions and this is an admitted fact.
3. The car in question wasn't even under warranty and if it was it still would have been voided by off-road driving.
4. Tesla offered to cover part of the costs if the owner of the car in question agreed not to discuss that they covered part of the costs.
5. Tesla in no way, shape, or form had to do that.

Truthfully, it sounds to me as if Tesla handle the situation itself pretty well.

However, the snarky blog post (although awesome and entertaining) REALLY should have been accompanied by "any Tesla owner concerned about the condition of their suspension should come into the service center for a free evaluation to determine its condition and to be shown the quality part by our service team."

I'm with Tesla at this point. As the story has unfolded they seem to have actually been more generous than most manufacturers would have been. However, I stand by that they need to make some significant improvements in their customer relations and communication. Perception is reality.

This will all be cleared up but the damage will have been done and Tesla could have been more proactive and showed a bit more public concern for safety. They could have turned this negative story into a positive one and it seems to have been a missed opportunity. I hope they are reading this thread and will take today or tomorrow to craft a well worded official response which includes some comforting words for owners that Tesla is actually going above and beyond for them (which I do believe they are).

Chris

 

[omarsultan]

Funny!!

The agreement provides for "other compensation" in addition to repairs, so that would cover a something like: here is $10k, please don't say anything about exploding gas tanks or ignition failures or some other safety issue. Remember what Tesla admitted about the Roadster recently - wonder how many agreements they had to sign to keep that quiet.

This has NOTHING to do with customer satisfaction, since Tesla can provide whatever repairs they want without asking for this agreement.

Yeah, and it might mean I get a free pony with every agreement I sign, but I am not holding my breath, even though my wife would love a pony. So, beyond your warped interpretation, do you have any evidence that Tesla is doing this? (Not holding my breath on this one either)

 

[coolgj]

Back to the issue at hand.

1. My warranty clearly says off-road operation voids the warranty.
2. The car in question was driven in off-road conditions and this is an admitted fact.
3. The car in question wasn't even under warranty and if it was it still would have been voided by off-road driving.
4. Tesla offered to cover part of the costs if the owner of the car in question agreed not to discuss that they covered part of the costs.
5. Tesla in no way, shape, or form had to do that.

Truthfully, it sounds to me as if Tesla handle the situation itself pretty well.

However, the snarky blog post (although awesome and entertaining) REALLY should have been accompanied by "any Tesla owner concerned about the condition of their suspension should come into the service center for a free evaluation to determine its condition and to be shown the quality part by our service team."

I'm with Tesla at this point. As the story has unfolded they seem to have actually been more generous than most manufacturers would have been. However, I stand by that they need to make some significant improvements in their customer relations and communication. Perception is reality.

This will all be cleared up but the damage will have been done and Tesla could have been more proactive and showed a bit more public concern for safety. They could have turned this negative story into a positive one and it seems to have been a missed opportunity. I hope they are reading this thread and will take today or tomorrow to craft a well worded official response which includes some comforting words for owners that Tesla is actually going above and beyond for them (which I do believe they are).

Chris

Agreed

 

[FlatSix911]

Back on track - Tesla Model S suspension and NDA situation: here are the facts

 

[Jeff N]

Is the discussion of his ownership of a vehicle leasing company, that he has already admitted to, an okay topic of discussion? Since it could potentially directly impact the use case of the vehicle?

The OP already disclosed that he works at a catering company. In fact, it's a family business that is a regional food vending service with apparently some 140 delivery and/or other vehicles and he is one of the co-owners. I see no evidence that he is leasing out Teslas.

 

[techmaven]

So nothing the real issue... when was the ball joint boot last inspected? Since there is no Tesla Service Center in Pittsburgh, what did the OP ask of the Tesla Ranger and of Sears? Was the vehicle ever put on a lift or only on an alignment rack? Where does the OP get his annual inspection done, if ever?

 

[Stoneymonster]

Wow what a stupid mess. If this had been literally any other car company this would not have appeared anywhere in any form.

 

[Drivin]

The more BS the more likely we'll have to close the entire thread.

and unfortunately, that is the goal of some people. the sooner this gets closed and moved down the list to page 10, the better.

 

[WilliamZ]

oh wow. So people whos having those issues above should just keep quite. I see.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

The OP already disclosed that he works at a catering company. In fact, it's a family business that is a regional food vending machine service with apparently some 140 delivery and/or other vehicles and he is one of the co-owners. I see no evidence that he is leasing out Teslas.

He owns a separate leasing company, that included passenger vehicles. The leasing company appears to be separate from the catering business. I don't see any evidence he's leasing the vehicle out either, and certainly haven't implied such. I'm asking for clarification of this, however.

 

[Drivin]

Yeah, and it might mean I get a free pony with every agreement I sign, but I am not holding my breath, even though my wife would love a pony. So, beyond your warped interpretation, do you have any evidence that Tesla is doing this? (Not holding my breath on this one either)

If Tesla gave you money you can use it to buy a pony.
There is absolutely nothing warped in this interpretation.
The agreement specifically includes "other compensation" and, unfortunately, this is a standard practice with large businesses.
I am not privy to the specific negotiated terms of any Tesla agreement, but apparently he did receive monetary value in the form of discounted repairs for signing this agreement.

Again, if this was about customer satisfaction only, they could have just done that without this agreement.

 

[Pdub2015]

I loved the Tesla response letter, but wonder about how they came to assert the OP lived on a dirt road. Seems like a rather random falsehood to propagate, and dangerous too, since it could be so easily disproven (as it was). Is it possible that when the OP requested tow service that he told the SC the vehicle was located at home, and that's what was in the service record? Sure it's speculation, but that seems to be the norm in this thread...

 

[ecarfan]

oh wow. So people whos having those issues above should just keep quite. I see.

No one is saying that. Making stuff up does not help support your position.

Goodwill NDAs (when Tesla does the right thing and fixes out of warranty vehicles for free) are not preventing customers from contacting NHTSA if they wish.

That is how I see it as well. Thanks for posting.

 

[Drivin]

Back on track - Tesla Model S suspension and NDA situation: here are the facts

Facts?
Seems more like "Best Spin from the TMC forum".

He doesn't live on a dirt road.

 

[Electroman]

5. Tesla in no way, shape, or form had to do that.

Amen. Given that they had to tow it from mud roads and the car was caked in mud.. they should have simply said, 'screw you'. All this goodwill is totally unwarranted. That is where they shot themselves on their foot by trying to help this guy.

 

[Yggdrasill]

Again, if this was about customer satisfaction only, they could have just done that without this agreement.

And risk getting sued? Not going to happen.

 

[stopcrazypp]

This has NOTHING to do with customer satisfaction, since Tesla can provide whatever repairs they want without asking for this agreement.

False. Tesla explained why they have such an agreement: "The basic point is to ensure that Tesla doesn’t do a good deed, only to have that used against us in court for further gain. These situations are very rare, but have sometimes occurred in the past."

The other factor brought up is like with lemon law settlements, such agreements isolates any repairs into a case-by-case basis, rather than something that is public that other people may ask for.

 

[lklundin]

You Tesla apologists are freaking me out! Are you now saying, Tesla discriminates among its customers, and decides on its own whim what it provides free to whom, and what services it charges for? This is getting out of hands. The company should have clear policy of what is covered under warranty and what may be goodwil, so all customers are treated equally. Why is there this need for secrecy?

You ended your previous post with "Will see how this unfolds".

But this is untrue, you are actively trying to spin this into something negative for Tesla.

For out-of-warranty repairs, Tesla is free to chose to give preferential treatment to customers that they deem to be good.

That's just how human relations work.

 

[Tech_Guy]

I believe tesla has responded to this on there website!!

A few things need to be cleared up about the supposed safety of Model S suspensions:

First, there is no safety defect with the suspensions in either the Model S or Model X. Since we own all of our service centers, we are aware of every incident that happens with our customer cars and we are aware of every part that gets replaced. Whenever there is even a potential issue with one of those parts, we investigate fully. This, combined with extensive durability testing, gives us high confidence in our suspensions. With respect to the car that is discussed in the blog post that led to yesterday’s news (more on the blog post below), the suspension ball joint experienced very abnormal rust. We haven’t seen this on any other car, suggesting a very unusual use case. The car had over 70,000 miles on it and its owner lives down such a long dirt road that it required two tow trucks to retrieve the car. (One to get the car to the highway and one to get it from the highway to the service center.) When we got the car, it was caked in dirt.

Second, NHTSA has not opened any investigation nor has it even started a “preliminary evaluation,” which is the lowest form of formal investigatory work that it does. On April 20th, as part of what it has told us it considers “routine screening,” NHTSA informally asked us to provide information about our suspensions. On April 30th, we provided all relevant information to NHTSA. NHTSA has since told us that we have cooperated fully and that no further information is needed. Neither before nor after this information was provided has NHTSA identified any safety issue with Tesla’s suspensions. This can be confirmed with NHTSA.

Third, Tesla has never and would never ask a customer to sign a document to prevent them from talking to NHTSA or any other government agency. That is preposterous.​

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Continued here
A Grain of Salt

 

[omarsultan]

If Tesla gave you money you can use it to buy a pony.
There is absolutely nothing warped in this interpretation.
The agreement specifically includes "other compensation" and, unfortunately, this is a standard practice with large businesses.
I am not privy to the specific negotiated terms of any Tesla agreement, but apparently he did receive monetary value in the form of discounted repairs for signing this agreement.

Again, if this was about customer satisfaction only, they could have just done that without this agreement.

I cannot believe I am running with this analogy, but....

Let's agree Tesla does not owe you a pony (car was well out of warranty)
Tesla says we feel kinda bad for you because you are a nice guy, we will help you buy a pony, but please don't tell anyone else because we don't want to be on the hook to buy everyone a pony and if you happen to fall of the pony you are going to agree not sue us--you seem nice enough, but there are some real a$$holes out there who will try to take advantage of any situation

You are now at choice to buy your own pony (no strings) or have Tesla help pay for the pony (don't tell anyone/don't sue us). In neither scenario are you barred from talking to your vet if your pony turns out to be gimpy.