$180 for checking a rattle?

As far as i know, if they find the rattle and if your warranty is still active then estimate will update to zero at the end

I got charged the same. I am still under warranty, but they stated that creaks and sound issues are not covered.

Almost certain this is not in California due to the labor price. This visit doesn’t look fully prepared; there would actually be something like “Interior Rattle Noise Diagnosis” followed by “Post Validation Drive”, which in CA is around $297 just for that one line with two corrections. Noises are not covered under warranty unless a part that’s covered under warranty needs replacement. For example, if an adjustment would resolve your concern, that would be customer pay. If a window seal replacement would resolve your concern, and you’re under warranty/no 3rd party tint or outside influence, the noise is covered.

Note the word ESTIMATE. If they find a warranty issue, there won’t be a charge. This isn’t unique to Tesla.

If they find an issue it will be probably under warranty. If they find no issue you will be billed for the time to look at it.

I was quoted $423 for the same.. F*ck that.. I skipped it and planned to take a look at the door panel myself on my dayoff and voila! The rattle went away in its own.. Shitty QA and shitty practice to be charging for lame shit

they have to discourage 1000's of people from getting their cars checked somehow

Even if the car is under warranty, sometimes they zero the estimate after the repair, sometimes don't. Can't really trust them anymore. Amsterdam service told me that if there is no replacement done on the troubled part, I need to pay for the repair. Last year I had to argue with the service center because of the rattling rear mid headrest.

The whole customer service experience post sale has sucked. Every other car service has to treat you well because you've got choices. They'll look at your car, then give you an estimate and you've got a choice to leave then. Tesla? Cash grab.

That concept never sat right with me.

They fixed my mirror rattle under warranty.

Maybe they should have built a car that didn’t rattle. I had to take mine in at like 2 months for rattling.

Nothing in this world is perfect.

I suppose it makes sense a rattle is not covered but that is what I’m noticing and it’s getting worse. It’s like an indication of something worse going on and when I ask google it says don’t ignore this for too long.

I’d like to get it looked at some time before it hits 50K. Seems like a legit concern and getting worse. Even a Google search said I should not ignore it. I’m just not sure the best way to approach this. I suppose I just go in and get it done and see what happens.

Yes. An estimate I can understand, but asking me to pre-pay things a little bit excessive.

You are not prepaying you are approving an estimate if the technician finds the problem is under warranty you will not be charged.

Are you struggling to read and understand the text at the bottom of the estimate? You agree to pay or fafo. Tesla doesn’t do charity work.

Pretty normal price for any mechanic to look into something similar. Most often it’s covered under warranty or user error because a kid dropped something down the rear under seat AC opening or something like that.

Given how likely these cars are to have shitty suspension issues and how likely service is to deny it… yeah, it’s extremely lame

We aren’t asking the vehicles to be perfect, but if a Tesla rattles and a Toyota doesn’t , that’s terrible.

That’s fine, create the visit and take a validation drive with tech once you arrive to your scheduled appointment. Once service is complete, take another validation drive, insist if you must, to ensure the noises are no longer present

Depends on where you are and how long you had the car, in US rattles can be considered wear and tear and warranty for sound related issues is a year.

Yeah, they are slowly turning into GM

You’re absolutely correct. Bring back memories of my good old Chevy Volt.

Honestly the service departments are a crap shoot. I’ve had horrible communication and time frames, I’ve had things fly in and out with no problems at all. They’re definitely not consistent and both sides of service stories will be wildly different and both true

I had a similar issue. The fan under the screen was buzzing and it was driving me crazy. The Tesla app said they’re were going to charge like $300. I was like hell no. Eventually I got fed up and just went to a service center. The guy said Tesla says they’re going to charge you but will likely be fixed for free under warranty (assuming it’s not something blatantly on the owner for doing something stupid) They took care of the part that was buzzing and cleaned under the glass front camera with no charge. TLDR: They likely won’t actually charge you, but they error on the side of saying they charging you but will likely take care of it for free. I personally think they do this to prevent people from taking every little thing to the service center and taking up all the tech’s time

Estimate is the key word. You say it should be under warranty but how should they know that? If it’s a warrantable concern then it will get covered under warranty if it isn’t then you get quoted as a diagnostic fee. This is how it would be at other dealers.

If you go to most dealerships they charge a diagnostic fee. Usually it’s some percentage of the labor rate charged by the shop. Warranty work isn’t warranted until they verify what’s up. If your rattle is coming from a wear item it won’t be covered. If it’s coming from an item that is covered they will zero it out.

except... toyota's can rattle too. i've driven plenty of cars that rattle. new or used.

No, I think that it’s because people are too lawsuit crazy. If they didn’t do this, and in case there was a non warranty issue that was billable.

First of all, stop googling shit. The same as why you don't google illnesses/symptoms, ever! Not a single freaking soul on this universe can know for sure what kind of mechanical issue you're having without taking a first hand look at it, especially not google. Second of all, this is an estimate and just billing approval, you're not paying anything beforehand. If it's warranty, you won't pay anything, if not you used their precious time and need to pay. Literally the same as everywhere else. Last I checked no-one works for free, bet you don't either...

Do people actually get billed this and pay it? I’d escalate it. Contrary to some comments- most dealers (toyota, lexus etc) will check it for free to validate the issue. Otherwise they’ll just say couldn’t be duplicated and not charge clients. Tesla is in a league of their own.

not sure what the issue is? +10 years ago my company would charge you that for me per hour (4h min) for It issues. Sound like the standard min charge for any service nowadays. My only issue is/was - if a company charges that much - the person doing the work should get x% of that money. I was getting like in the high $30's for the $180/h we charged.

So they're supposed to just do inspections for non-issues at their own cost? With no limit? Come on. For most customers that could be sustainable, but not with the fringes that would be constantly bringing in their cars because they are idiots and/or assholes.

Definitely depends on what's rattling and why

My experience with this. Report noise or issue. Estimate is presented. Notify service I prefer tech ridealong for diagnosis. Estimate is changed to zero. Proceed with service. Now if they can't pinpoint immediately, and want it fixed, I agree to the charges and hope it's covered haha.

lol they quoted me more but zeroed it under warranty after

If it is just sound related it does not, performance is different. Was denied warranty for a squeaky control arm 1.2 year out of purchase for said reason.

You can't expect people to work for free.

Ok. TY

They might send an invoice for replying to this comment also mate

I messaged them and told them the car was under warranty and they updated the estimate to $0