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Rich Rebuilds: How Tesla is failing its most loyal customers

moosehead

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I don't want to go off topic too much but didn't want to start a new thread for this either. I have never owned a vehicle with air suspension. Can anyone reading this that owned one share your experience? Especially if it is a relatively older vehicle. I am planing to keep my R1 for a long time (passed warranty) and trying to see what I am signing up for.
We’ve had several vehicles with air suspension: ‘02 RRover, ‘16 Cayenne GTS, ‘13 Audi S7. IIRC also had them on an ‘11 WK2 Jeep Grand Cherokee. All perform extremely well but over the long haul may require parts replacement and upkeep. As example, the airbags and orings in a 20 year old Rover needed replaced as they can weaken and crack with age. Not so yet on the other two vehicles, though some report needing to repair and replace air tanks and lines. IME, while they can be finicky depending on the vehicle, they are worth the effort.

The height adjustments are tremendous for both OR and for lowering for high speed aero pavement pounding. Rear air suspension also is hugely beneficial for auto leveling for tow loads, such that I’ve also added aftermarket airbags to a 3/4 ton truck for tow duties to prevent sag and stabilize handling under heavier tongue loads.

Max, this one is interesting enough along with the rest of Rivian’s suspension setup to start a new thread.
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opnwide

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I don't want to go off topic too much but didn't want to start a new thread for this either. I have never owned a vehicle with air suspension. Can anyone reading this that owned one share your experience? Especially if it is a relatively older vehicle. I am planing to keep my R1 for a long time (passed warranty) and trying to see what I am signing up for.
Both my Land Rover LR3 had to have all 4 suspension airbags replaced as well as two air compressors. My '12 Sport had a total of 6 suspension airbags, 3 failed compressors, and service techs that couldn't ever figure why it kept failing/leaking/computer module wouldn't communicate properly. Nightmare. You'll notice my profile photo is my '12 Sport slammed down suspension-wise because I grew extremely poor and tired of attempt after attempt to fix it. I sold it to Carmax with 140,000 miles, took my check, and walked away because no way was I paying an additional $10k to "try" to fix the suspension again. Worked great for a while and is fantastic when it does. I'm hoping there are no British parts on the R1 suspension!
 
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Trekkie

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You either get a good one, and never have an issue, or you enter some dystopian hellscape where it never gets fixed.

There service interaction is all via App, you can't ever talk to people, that's probably the worst aspect of it to me.

Their mobile service I've used 2x and I've used their in person service 1x. I also had them upgrade my full self driving computer from 2.5 to 3.0 (2019 Model X Standard)

All my experiences have been acceptable. I was treated much better by my Audi dealer and my Toyota dealers. Honestly for me that personal touch of getting an advisor and talking to them works better. The app is like playing marco polo over 3000 ft. you send out a message, and hope you get one sometime soon, and when things are screwed up and you're stuck somewhere that's VERY frustrating.

Dealers can be shit too, but Tesla the technology between you and a shit experience makes it that much infuriating.
 

Max

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Both my Land Rover LR3 had to have all 4 suspension airbags replaced as well as two air compressors. My '12 Sport had a total of 6 suspension airbags, 3 failed compressors, and service techs that couldn't ever figure why it kept failing/leaking/computer module wouldn't communicate properly. Nightmare. You'll notice my profile photo is my '12 Sport slammed down suspension-wise because I grew extremely poor and tired of attempt after attempt to fix it. I sold it to Carmax with 140,000 miles, took my check, and walked away because no way was I paying an additional $10k to "try" to fix the suspension again. Worked great for a while and is fantastic when it does. I'm hoping there are no British parts on the R1 suspension!
‘Someone said there is British parts in it but could not verify:

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/air-suspension-will-come-from-dunlop-in-uk.724/

other older threads

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/rivian-air-suspension.421/

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/rivian-adjustable-air-suspension.21/
 

SANZC02

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Was your dash delaminating the recall? I had this start to happen on my '15 Grand Cherokee. I also had to have the hood replaced under the corrosion warranty due to a known defect, but Jeep never issued a recall. When the problem popped up the dealer was well aware of the problem. Plus about three other recalls over the years, including the "shifter" that doesn't move that they determined was dangerous.
It was, I got a letter from Jeep, had to take it to a dealer for them to take pictures and submit them for approval. It as approved but still waiting for the parts. Mine is a 2014 Overland, not sure what vehicles were involved, try calling Jeep Customer Service and see what they say.
 
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virgnia_rivian

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It was, I got a letter from Jeep, had to take it to a dealer for them to take pictures and submit them for approval. It as approved but still waiting for the parts. Mine is a 2014 Overland, not sure what vehicles were involved, try calling Jeep Customer Service and see what they say.
I had a 2015 Overland. Build quality of that vehicle was not good.
 

PAFDenver

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I personally think the big issue with service and repair is that only Tesla can really do it. With ICE vehicles there are multiple times as many independent mechanics to choose from as dealers. So you CAN take it to a dealer, but you don't have to. Not really the case with EVs. I've need what should be a fairly smart part on my car but Tesla wants to scrap the entire battery and replace it for $22K. And I don't think it's because they are actually greedy. I just don't think they are equipped/staffed to fix a module of the BMS. Many industries do this too. If your computer's motherboard is bad no company is going to spend the time & effort hunting down the single $1.50 component that failed. It's just cheaper to replace the entire MB. But the MB isn't $22K.
I am trying to find a place to just replace the bad module, but besides the labor to drop the battery & prepare it to safely work on it, i've got to get the car to their shops, which are at least 750 mi from where I am.
This is an issue for ALL EVs (Tesla, Rivian, Ford, etc), not just the start-ups. It will be much easier with Ford since they probably have parts inventory and (I expect) a much higher ratio of dealers/cars on the road. But until independent mechanics are enabled to diagnose & fix EVs, this is going to be an issue. Probably exactly like what happened when cars were started to be on streets frightening the horses. I hope that the quality & reliability of the EVs built is high though. They really should be able to meet much higher quality & reliability standards. If so, that will help massively. But even that doesn't help with repairs required due to accidents.
 

SANZC02

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I think the issue for Tesla is they just have so many issues with the cars they cannot keep up with repairing them.

I have a 2016 I have been Supercharging for the last week+ because the onboard charger is not working and the earliest I can get an appointment is Feb 3rd. Hopefully it will not take weeks to repair.
Just a follow up on the Tesla service appointment, I have to give credit where due.

I had my service appointment today, credit to the service advisor, he was reviewing the pictures of the errors I sent prior to my visit, called me a couple of days ago to discuss and proactively ordered an on board charger for my car so they would have it for the appointment. Dropped off the car, this morning and picked it up fully repaired this evening. $2700 dollar bill was no fun but the service facility in Santa Ana was very well organized and get 5 stars for today.
 

Joints4Sale

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I had my Model Y Performance for 13 days when I had to take it to the service center(they wouldn't do mobile service) 2 hours from my house to install a homelink module. This is what the service center did in my absence......

Rivian R1T R1S Rich Rebuilds: How Tesla is failing its most loyal customers 5YJYGDEF7LF011604 A


Rivian R1T R1S Rich Rebuilds: How Tesla is failing its most loyal customers IMG_0678


It took them 8 weeks to figure out a buyback price. Lots of heartache and pain with this experience. My replacement was a great car but we ended up trading it in on my wife's e-tron gt. I am glad to not have to deal with Tesla ever again.
 

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