My First Tesla Mobile Service Experience
By Edward A. Sanchez – March 17, 2021
I want to preface this post with the caveat that I’m a Tesla owner, and a general fan of the company and its products. Before I bought my Model 3, I was an avid reader of owner forums and Tesla blogs that covered the purchase, service, and ownership experience in excruciating detail. The experiences ran the gamut from horrific to superlative. I really had no idea what to expect when I took delivery of my car. Other than a few misunderstandings as far as bonus Supercharger credits, the delivery, service, and ownership experience has been pretty great so far.
No car is perfect, and my Model 3 is no exception. I’ve had to reboot the infotainment screen a few times, I’ve taken it in to the service center to have a noisy door seal replaced (which didn’t do that much to remedy the issue), and most recently – and the subject of this post – to get my charge port assembly replaced.
Not being able to open the charge port door quickly becomes a major issue – after all, this is the EV equivalency of not being able to put gasoline in the tank of an ICE car.
My issue was not as bad as it could have been, however. I could not open the charge port door from the center display or the app, but I was able to manually open the door by prying my fingernails underneath and forcing it open. The second time I did it, it made a disturbing grinding noise.
Tesla’s mobile service technician resolved my Model 3’s charge port woes at my home quickly and without issue.
By the time the mobile technician came by, of course it was functioning correctly. He commented that it seemed to be working fine, and I explained to him that I had to force it open twice prior to the visit. Since my car is well within the bumper-to-bumper warranty period of four years or 50,000 miles, he didn’t quibble too much and agreed to replace the charge port assembly. The job took a little more than 30 minutes, and the charge port worked satisfactorily after the repair. He also measured the tread depth of my tires and recommended I get new ones soon. I made sure to commend the service technician in my communication with Tesla service.
While Tesla has been offering mobile service since its inception, in the greater automotive world, such service is a relative rarity. Several premium brands offer vehicle pickup and drop-off for service, including Lincoln, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW. However, because of the typically lower maintenance requirements of an EV, Tesla can handle many service and repair requests on-site at owner’s homes and workplace locations (which in the era of COVID-19, is more often than not also at home).
In some areas, the offering of mobile service for Tesla is as much a necessity as it is a convenience, as some states that have laws hostile to manufacturer-direct sales and service have limited the company to only one or two permanent service operations statewide (we’re looking at you, Michigan). In Southern California, an area virtually crawling with Teslas, there are five service centers in Orange County alone.
While “concierge” type pickup and drop-off service is not that unusual among luxury brands, it is very rare among mainstream brands. As Tesla transitions from more of a luxury, premium marque to a mass-market brand, the need to expand their service operations will have to scale proportionately. And from my vantage point, they’re doing a pretty good job so far.
(Images by Edward A. Sanchez)
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