Feb 4, 2013
Todd Burch Service Driving My Car To Their Home?
So,
Interesting thing here. Since I have the iPhone app, I can now track where my car is. All day, it's been at the service center. (It's actually been there since Thursday, while Tesla investigates an inverter fault and closes out a few punch list items).
So I just checked the app again, and I see that the range has dropped by 30-40 miles. I look closer...and my car is parked AT A PRIVATE HOME in a residential neighborhood. I'm really not comfortable with this. At all.
I understand if Tesla employees need to drive the car a few miles to test things out, but I'm not sure I like the idea of employees taking my $90,000 car home with them. Anyone else have opinions on this? Should I be concerned?�
Feb 4, 2013
tdiggity Take a screenshot for evidence. This is not ok unless you gave them permission.�
Feb 4, 2013
rekoh I tend to agree that it is not really appropriate.
I guess you have a few options:
1) file a complaint.
2) honk the horn. A lot. at all hours of the night.
3) run the battery down so they cant get it back to work.
4) just be happy you are getting your car.
5) all of the above.�
Feb 4, 2013
Todd Burch I gave them permission to drive it a little bit for testing. Not to take it home with them overnight.�
Feb 4, 2013
Jason S Could be they are taking their work home with them.
Are any of the punch list items just fiddly little things that some glue and time will fix? Maybe something relatively easy like getting the jump seats installed?�
Feb 4, 2013
ChadS A couple of years ago an employee told me that Elon REQUIRED service personnel to put 50 miles on cars that were in for service to make sure everything was OK. Which was frustrating for them at the time because doing so was time consuming and they didn't have many employees.
If something like this is still in effect, taking it where they are going anyway rather than driving around aimlessly seems reasonable to me. I am sure they have good insurance; but I would still hope it's in a garage somewhere to avoid having to wait for insurance and repairs if anything happens.
I am not at all certain that this policy is still in effect. And I'm not sure if what you took the car in for really requires the car to be driven around or not. So it is certainly worth asking about; especially if it turns out the service manager is surprised to hear that it happened...employees shouldn't be taking the car just because it's there. But I'd let it pass if they are putting on mandated miles, or running some sort of test at home that requires them to check the car periodically.�
Feb 4, 2013
tdiggity Yea, this isn't ok. It is unprofessional. I would want my car stored inside the service center or on their gated premises at night.�
Feb 4, 2013
Todd Burch Here's my car sitting in someone's driveway...instead of at the service center.
I'm not going to assume malice. I agree it seems fair that driving to/from work in the car instead of driving aimlessly makes sense if you're going to have to drive it anyway. However, I'm going to write first and ask what the deal is.
Regardless--and even though I gave permission for them to put some miles on the car--I think in the future they should explicitly ask about driving it to their home overnight. At the very least, this gives me the heebie jeebies. I automatically picture worst-case scenario in my head--a hothead service guy taking my car for a joyride...
Of course this may be completely innocent. But it doesn't bring me comfort.�
Feb 4, 2013
JoshG I agree with most commenters here, and have to disagree with ChadS... this is definitely NOT OK unless the service team asked the customer. Insurance or not, a customer's property should not end up at an employee's home unless there's some specific need for watching the car overnight, AND that's explained to the customer and the customer agreed to this highly unusual request.
I think the suggestion to honk the horn a whole lot tonight is a great one. At least the employee will know he's been busted and it will be interesting to hear what you're told when you pick up the car tomorrow. DEFINITELY take a screen shot at a few different zoom levels and record the address or lat/long.�
Feb 4, 2013
Todd Burch Punch list:
-Inverter fault (seems to be a software/firmware glitch)
-Intermittent flashing right turn signal (possible bad LED board?)
-Well-known rattling wire harness behind pano roof in headliner.
I actually called Tesla on Saturday. Service center was closed, but the Tesla guy told me that it appeared as though my service case was closed.
I'll be sending an email to service momentarily to find out what's going on...
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I'm thinking of going over the service center's head to email Tesla HQ about this. Is that a bad idea? On one hand, I don't want to make a big deal of nothing, if that's what it is. On the other hand, if something fishy's going on here, I wouldn't want it to be "covered up" by reporting it to the fishy people...�
Feb 4, 2013
DrDave Definitely report it at a level above the service center. Force an explanation to be made.�
Feb 4, 2013
carrerascott Heck you're assuming it was taken home by a tech. Maybe it was stolen? Personally I might call the cops and have them check it out. Car was supposed to be in for service, your tracking shows it at xxxx address. Tell them you don't know if it was stolen or what. A police report will make some changes faster than a simple complaint. Have them go knock on the door and find out what's going on...�
Feb 4, 2013
JoshG I was just going to post the same thing. The more I think about it, this is really unusual and there's a non-zero chance the car has actually been stolen. If it were my car in some strange location that wasn't where I left it and no one asked to take it there, I think I'd call the police and describe the situation. Don't be alarmist, but say that your car was dropped off for service but tonight it is at a residential address... may have been stolen from the service center after hours.�
Feb 4, 2013
Zythryn I would ask for an explanation, but don't go in with the attitude that you need to "force" one out of them, just ask.
Another possibility, I heard the Chicago service is basically full. They have so many cars waiting for delivery that they are running out of room. Perhaps it is a similar situation and they simply don't have space for it.
I do agree though that they should have explicitly asked your permission to drive and park it off site overnight.�
Feb 4, 2013
cinergi FWIW, this was never practiced for the 6 home visits or 3 NYC visits my Roadster had from 10/2010 to 10/2012, nor has it been the practice for the few times my Model S has been in.�
Feb 4, 2013
jkeyser14 I've actually had mechanics take my car home overnight before when they were having a hard time recreating issues. Sometimes they ask, sometimes they just tell me afterwords. It's definitely helped solve the problem on a few occasions (like a horrible geartrain whine after the car is warm and climbing a steep hill).�
Feb 4, 2013
Todd Burch I'm not too concerned about it being stolen at this point--I'd rather hear from the service center first. While a police report would light fires quickly, I don't want to unnecessarily involve law enforcement or get anyone in trouble at this point. I don't have enough information--it could be that they really are testing the fixes to make sure everything's good.
Either way, in the future Tesla should get explicit permission from the owner for this. I've emailed GeorgeB (hope I got his email address right) to see if he can clarify policy on this. I'll contact the service center in the morning to find out what's going on.�
Feb 4, 2013
bonnie While I agree the service center should have explicitly checked with you first, I'm just having a hard time getting worked up on this one. It's pretty normal practice for a service person to put some miles on the car - and if they can get the miles on by driving it home and back (vs. waiting until tomorrow), that seems like a smart thing to do.
I would not even consider calling law enforcement or filing a police report. The car is in the care of the service center. If anything happens to it, it's on their dime. Why not wait until tomorrow and then ask the service center manager if they knew it went home with the mechanic.
They know you have an app that tracks the car (and odds are high they've already been alerted to these posts). I really don't see this as unacceptable. It's not like you found out they were joyriding or discovered a stack of empty pizza boxes and crushed beer cans in the car.�
Feb 4, 2013
Todd Burch Completely agree, Bonnie...like I said, I'm not going to assume malice. I emailed GeorgeB to notify him of it, ask Tesla's policy on that, and recommend that in the future technicians get permission from the owner when they're going to do this.
Certainly I'm going to avoid the police report/horn honking...�
Feb 4, 2013
FlasherZ I had the beta app and when my car went up to Chicago, I noticed it at a weird address as well -- not the service center, but rather a place that was a steel warehouse. I dropped a note to the service manager and found out that it was a place that Tesla took it for safekeeping. Just ask, it never hurts.�
Feb 4, 2013
ckessel The strategy being to really piss off the guy that's going to be driving your $90k car back to the service center and then having to trust to work on it?
There's a common bit of advice about saying something when you have a poor restaurant service. Never complain while your food is out of view...�
Feb 4, 2013
dbullard
My car arrives tomorrow with EXACTLY 50 miles on it, so I'd say they're still doing that.�
Feb 4, 2013
andrewket Service Driving My Car To Their Home?
Don't call the police. You already emailed George, so go that route. I may have waited to ask the service rep about it, not bringing up the remote app to see if they are forthcoming or tried to hide it. Based on that I'd decide the next step.
It's not ok without customer permission. If asked I'd likely say no. You can drive it a bit during work hours for diagnostics. Driving it home introduces too many other variables.
A�
Feb 4, 2013
dcopperfield if you see the car being driven all over town tonight, id be concerned. If not, its likely harmless but annoying nonetheless that they didn't check with you.�
Feb 4, 2013
UMD86 My concern is the liability. What would happen if the car was in an accident or broken in to or vandalized while located at the home and not the service center? There are numerous reasons why this is not a good idea or proper protocol. I'm sure Tesla has standard operating policies and I don't think this is one of them.
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I have a question - Does the service center provide LOANER CARS? It seems from a few posters there ISSUES with the Model S. I'm a little concerned over their service visits...... The closest service center is over 2 hrs in Queens, NY and there's no way I can have someone follow me to pick me up. I hear that there's a SC opening in Edison, NJ but that's still an hour away.�
Feb 4, 2013
MikeK I'll chime in and say that mechanics who have worked on my family's cars over the years have, on several occasions, driven one of our cars home overnight while trying to reproduce problems. I don't think it's particularly uncommon.�
Feb 5, 2013
vfx I was going to say this about LA service too. So incredibly packed that someone taking a car home might be a better way to store it overnight.�
Feb 5, 2013
Todd Burch A rental car was offered to me. Enterprise. "They'll pick you up."�
Feb 5, 2013
Todd Burch Wow, that was cool.
I happened to time it perfectly and watched my car get driven from the house directly to the service center this morning. Speeds looked very conservative. I feel a little better now, although they should still ask permission for this.
I was amazed that I seemed to get updates at 2-4 Hz! I even watched the car go into park, I saw the driver's door open, and the doors lock. So cool!
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BTW UMD86, they trailered my car for the 3.5 hour drive to the service center. No worries there.�
Feb 5, 2013
Al Sherman This is very cool. Why not start at awesome? Indeed. Guess this answers the insurance thread about tracking the car!
I agree with Bonnie and Flasher (though I guess now it's after the fact) it might be against policy to not ask/tell you but I feel this was an employee really working hard to turn the car around with positive results for the customer.�
Feb 5, 2013
ckessel Repairs can take a software push. I think it's some sort of update to the manifest of parts used rather than a real version roll, but it goes through the whole software update process. It can take a little while from the time the tech requests it to when the update is available to install. They may have very well taken it home so they could push the "ok, install it" button once the update was available and have it install overnight.
When I had my charge port door issue fixed, the tech had them push the update the night before I was to bring it in (he knew what the problem was) and then told me NOT to install the update, that he needed to do that after the part was replaced.�
Feb 5, 2013
Todd Burch I got a call from the service center this morning. I actually feel pretty bad for making an issue of this at all.
Engineering had asked the service folks to put some miles on the car to reproduce the issue. They've driven about 35 miles on it, and the service manager (Hi Nathan!) drove it home (just a few miles away) as part of this testing session. Nathan called this morning and said it was him driving the car, just as part of the evaluation process.
Nathan apologized for not explicitly asking about taking the car home overnight--but I guess this is just as much my fault, because they DID ask for permission to drive it--I just wasn't expecting to see it parked in a residential area overnight.
On the bright side, everything's good--as I mentioned, the car was not driven recklessly, so no issue there.
On the bad side, service/engineering hasn't found a cause for the fault or a problem with the inverter, and it seems to have just been a glitch. That's what I was afraid of, actually. Will it happen again?
On the very bad side, it looks like it will at least be a few more days until my car comes home, as they haven't been able to reproduce the turn signal issue yet either. It's almost been a week now! Driving with gas sucks, and damn I miss that car!
�
Feb 5, 2013
kinddog Why does everything have to be such a big gosh-darn deal? seriously... this whole website is paranoid as h*ll.
emailing Blankenship was wrong, as was creating a public thread about it. you could have just called them in the morning to de-tangle your underwear if you really needed to..
Am I the only one who thinks it's actually pretty cool that the service team "brings their work home with them"? I trust the Tesla team completely. They were TRYING REALLY HARD to solve your problem. And you email the VP of the company about it? Wow...�
Feb 5, 2013
mknox I have to disagree on this one. I am very fussy about who drives (or even gets into) my cars. I would, for example, NEVER let a valet touch it. When I take my car in for service I am putting my faith and trust into the dealer and assuming that they will not "abuse" that trust by using my car for things unrealted to servicing. I once discovered that my car had been used to shuttle other customers back and forth to their destinations, and was FURIOUS. I had spent the prior weekend cleaning and detailing the car inside and out, and the interior floor mats and carpets were filthy when I got the car back. They offered to clean it, but that was not the point.�
Feb 5, 2013
dsm363 I'd consider that totally different than service driving it home after they had asked if they could drive it to try and figure out the problem.
I agree they should specifically ask in the future if they can do this though. With so many customers I'm not sure we can email GeorgeB immediately at the first hint of a problem each time. If service lied or wouldn't offer an explanation then that's one thing but sounds like they weren't given a chance to explain themselves. Anyway, glad everything worked out. I think it is safe to assume, in general, there is no malice involved when dealing with Tesla and taking a normal communication route up the chain of command may be more beneficial.�
Feb 5, 2013
mknox Respectfully disagree. See my post above about who uses my car. Back in the 80's, a dealer's service personnel took my car home and it was vandalized in his driveway. Dealer told me that they don't assume liability and I would have to contact my own insurance to deal with it. I ended up getting the police involved and still ended up with an insurance claim that affected my rates. This is not okay in my book. With permission, yes, but otherwise NO WAY.
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... I'll bet Tesla service will be turning off the remote app access when they have cars in for service now�
Feb 5, 2013
sp4rk Now I see why mods chose your avatar!
The forums are here for just this reason ... to share information. The good and the (maybe) bad.�
Feb 5, 2013
kendallpb For all we know, this happens with most cars, all the time, in overnight service work. I can't track my current car; how many folks can (maybe a lot of you have high-end cars that have this feature and you've checked...I suspect most people don't have it and/or haven't thought to check).
@Todd: Glad things worked out right.
@kinddog: Totes, man, although I do understand Todd's initial concern over this, really. I would've been very taken off-guard--maybe not posted about it till resolved, but maybe not...tough to say when it's not me. ;-)
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It would've first been covered by his homeowner policy maybe??? Dunno.
Anyway, I think y'all are wrong on it being safer at the dealer. I had my car vandalized in a service center lot when in for overnight service, years back, and they were all "not our responsibility"--I don't think they even fixed the damage gratis. So being parked at a service center is not protection necessarily. I suppose it depends, and it's possible that they just had cruddy insurance...or were taking me for a ride...but I didn't feel like suing them (ultimately, the damage was minor) to find out.
I bet if they do, people will bitch about it and make them turn it on, especially after this thread. ;-)�
Feb 5, 2013
Owner I actually like the idea that they drive the car home for testing. Instead of driving around aimlessly, they are saving time for themselves, Tesla and power. Seems like a very efficient way to handle the need to reproduce a problem. I think they just need to let us know ahead of time that they may do this. And yes, if the tech lives in a sketchy area with bad parking spots, I wouldn't like it.
The service folks have picked up my Roadster many times, and they have always treated it wonderfully.�
Feb 5, 2013
Al Sherman Another Perspective
Might be a little off thread but; one of the advantages of being/getting old. I just think it's SO FREAKING AMAZING that Todd could track his car and actually see it on his phone. I rationally understand that the technology is and has been there. Young people take this stuff for granted. Go ahead and laugh but I just can't tell you how cool I think this is. Can't wait to play with it and very thankful to have lived long enough to see it progress.�
Feb 5, 2013
kinddog case in point...
you seem to be punishing Tesla for other people's mistakes, stretching back three decades. that is ridiculous.
Tesla is a different company. Upscale and highly customer-oriented, not made up of meth-head service techs from a used Chevy dealership looking to take advantage of you.
Again, all of this could have been easily cleared up with a private phone call to the Service Center. This website gets a BAD reputation if every molehill is made into a very public mountain. to say nothing of emailing George Blankenship. boy I bet the service team really appreciates that. and I'm sure Mr. Blankenship is really regretting giving out his email address now.�
Feb 5, 2013
FlasherZ +1. I found it neat that I was able to track the progress of the tow truck driver as he took my car to the Chicago service center. I found it worrisome that they took it to some other place and let it spend the night, but was relieved to learn that they have limited parking space inside the Chicago center and look after the safety of the car by storing it at another secure facility. Trust, but verify seems the appropriate route here -- ask the questions.�
Feb 5, 2013
Al Sherman LOL! OMG, THAT's gonna bring rain!�
Feb 5, 2013
andrewket While I agree the OP pulled the trigger on contacting George too quickly, you have to consider the numerous stories of dealership employees taking high-end customer cars for joyrides. In recent memory I can think of an M5 that was destroyed this way. In other cases, people have found fast food wrappers and used condoms under the seats. When the car is destroyed its pretty clear the dealership is liable. But in other cases it's door dings, wheel rash, etc., and it always ends up with the employee denying it and the customer losing, except for the rare case when the owner comes up with evidence (car cameras, GPS tracking, etc.) It's shame to have to think this way, but it's an old story- one or two people do something really stupid and ruin it for everyone else.�
Feb 5, 2013
mknox I've had a few OnStar equipped vehicles and too am a big fan of these kinds of telematics systems. OnStar offers something similar.
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Actually, I'm not punishing anyone for something that happened decades ago, rather I learned my lesson three decades ago. Whether a Chevy dealer, a Lexus dealer or Tesla, people are people and accidents happen. Ask me if it's okay for a service tech to take my car home, and I'll say "no". Do it without asking and I'll be pissed.�
Feb 5, 2013
Plug Me In It could have been worse. Your car could have been parked outside a night club, say, Good Guys in Wash DC.�
Feb 5, 2013
qwk It's not like some sales employee took the car for a joyride. This is a service tech we are talking about here. I'm sure that they have driven company owned roadsters and model S plenty of times, so it's not like some dealership tech that works on and drives Corollas and Prius all year and then once in a blue moon gets to drive a turbo Supra which most likely results in a joyride. Since most of these cars perform the same and have no clutch to burn or rev limiter to bump against the outcome is totally different than a traditional Dealership visit.�
Feb 5, 2013
rcsting It seems like a phone call to Todd with an update before the car went home with the service manager would have avoided all of the stress. I manage an auto repair center and on the rare occasion that we need to take a customer vehicle on an extended drive home we get permission from our customer. We always have test equipment hooked up and in use during the drive so there really isn't time to even think of a joy ride.
With that being said I believe that its great that Tesla management is accessible to their customers. I sold my Porsche so that I can reserve my Model S and this forum has been a great help to me. I hope Todds issue get corrected soon.�
Feb 5, 2013
rogbmw WOW....now that is a name from the past. Our entire Residency class went there in the early 90's�
Feb 5, 2013
ElSupreme Would you let them drive the car around to make sure everything is working properly?
Would you allow them to pass by their residence on that trip?
If so would you let them drive the car on their lunch break? Would you let them stop at a fast food place (eat there)?
I am just wondering where you draw the line. If I take a car in I expect it will be driven, at least shuffeling it around the parking lot. I expect the service techs to fix a driving/vibration issue I expect them to drive it a lot. Why do I care where it gets driven? As long as it isn't excessive, or reckless. I would expect to not have more than driving.
Granted I took my VW GTI into the dealership (for a problem with a published service bulletin) about a fuel line rattle. I told them it happened in a temperature range, and only when at idle. They put 0.1 miles on my car when they told me they couldn't replicate the problem. So I have been burned by people NOT driving my car.
I agree they should have called and said "[ENTER NAME AND TITLE HERE] is going to drive your car home in hopes to witness [INSERT APPROPRIATE PROBLEM HERE]."�
Feb 5, 2013
digitaltim Cheers. In my experience with my old ICE, the service rep took my car home to try and diagnose some issues, but only after asking my permission.�
Feb 5, 2013
Owner Yes, true in some perspective but you've been able to track your iphone and iPad for a few years now. So maybe we are already jaded!�
Feb 5, 2013
mcornwell And OnStar charges $3.99 a month for this additional service. At that price, the Model S will pay for itself in like... 50 years!
�
Feb 5, 2013
kinddog more like 1,670 years, but i feel ya....�
Feb 5, 2013
nrcooled You don't need an app to figure out that it went to Good Guys...just look for glitter stuck to the seat along with a smell of vanilla body lotion
I'm on board with Kinddog on this one. Everything on this site seems to be a "Deal-breaker" or major "flaw". I am, by no means, witholding information from the site but I just don't feel the need to overreact to a situation until I have had the ability to acutally figure out what's going on with the car or situation prior to making a public outcry. Now with all that being said I don't think that OP did anything wrong by emailing GB. He can email whomever the hell he feels like to get answers that he wants.
Posting on TMC about it...I would have probably passed on that one and left it as an interesting story to tell at a Model S owners meet up.
To the OP, I'm glad everything was figured out.�
Feb 5, 2013
mknox A test drive for the purpose of verification... yes, and passing by their residence, well what difference would that make? Lunch breaks and stopping somewhere.. NO WAY. I'm very careful about where I park to avoid parking lot door dings and a lot of cars come and go from fast food restaurant (lots with little kids swinging car doors into each other :cursing
I draw the line at operating the vehicle for testing/verification purposes, but NO PASSENGERS and NO SIDE TRIPS. (As I mentioned before, I've had my interior messed up when my car was used to ferry other customers to/from the dealer and had a car vandalized while parked where it shouldn't be).
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I think I need to know what the Model S connectivity plan is going to cost before I can make that comparison. I currently pay $28.20 CDN (including taxes) for my OnStar services and this tracking plan would be on top of that.�
Feb 5, 2013
Todd Burch Wow, this thread really blew up way more than I intended it to.
A few things:
1. I started the thread "assuming no malice", and asked opinions on whether I should be concerned that the car was parked at a private home--frankly because I'd never heard of that being done, and it did genuinely worry me a bit. This car is worth more than a third the cost of my home. I have a right to be worried about its treatment. Many responses indicated that there was reason to be concerned.
2. I sent an email to GeorgeB because I was (it turns out incorrectly) worried that something fishy was going on, and feared that contacting the service center directly would not yield a straight answer. In hindsight I shouldn't have gone to that level, but honestly the responses to my OP had me a bit freaked out. I apologized to George for occupying his time.
3. GeorgeB has been fairly vocal and responsive to issues on this board in the past. Other customers from this board have exchanged emails with him directly in the past. That's why Tesla's a different company. But I admit I shouldn't have contacted him about this. I was tired (end of a long travel day for a business trip) and clearly wasn't thinking straight (enough). Let's recall that the suggestions for horn honking and police reports probably would've been worse than my single email asking for clarification on policy--so I could've gone a much worse route.
4. I apologized to everyone--George, Joost (who sent me an email this morning), and Nathan (the infamous driver). Nathan, who I talked to this morning, was nothing but gracious and he said not to worry about this.
To analyze the issue here:
-I take the blame for jumping the gun and not waiting to talk to the service center this morning before elevating.
-I did authorize Tesla to drive the car--but did not realize it was going to go to someone's private home overnight. In all honesty, Tesla should've mentioned that they might be doing this, but since they did get my permission to drive the car they did nothing wrong. They never said it would only be during the workday.
OK, so I'm sufficiently embarrassed. Sorry everyone.�
Feb 5, 2013
dsm363 No problem at all, no need to apologize. Classy response Todd and great post too. You had every right to wonder what was going on so am glad everything worked out for you.�
Feb 5, 2013
Arnold Panz Don't feel bad! I'm on a business trip (currently in Germany), and have been checking the app roughly every ten minutes or so, just because I can! Well, my car is in for service, and at one point this morning my car started to move, about 1-3 mph, so I immediately went to the map function and watched as they apparently quite carefully moved my car from inside the service center to outside (in the back). Watching my car go even that short distance for 2-3 minutes was nerve-wracking as I sat thousands of miles away, so I can only imagine how you felt (or how I would've felt) seeing the car go to someone's home overnight!
BTW, can we reflect for a second on the fact of how amazing it is that, as an owner of the Model S, I can see where my car is at any time, even if I'm half a world away?!�
Feb 5, 2013
Larry Chanin Yes, I agree with Todd's analysis of the situation on every point. I agree with you it took some courage for him to admit creating a situation that would best have been handled with a call to the service manager and escalated only if warranted.
Larry�
Feb 5, 2013
Todd Burch Absolutely! It's totally awesome! For me, as crazy cool as it is to watch the car moving on the streets and getting 2-4 Hz updates on speed, for some reason it was almost cooler to watch the doors open and close when the driver got in/out! It's like watching a ghost drive your car! Totally sweet.�
Feb 5, 2013
jerry33 The thing is that instead of Todd, it could have been someone who called the police or honked the horn all night. This incident will allow Tesla to make sure the service people know to inform the owners before they do something that could be construed as strange and should save a lot of grief in the future. I suspect the service manager never even thought about how it would look to someone over their iPhone. If I was the service manager, I probably wouldn't have thought anything about it either.�
Feb 5, 2013
Todd Burch Good point--this is somewhat new territory--they should recognize that owners might become concerned seeing their car parked at some random unknown location somewhere on the earth�
Feb 5, 2013
ggr I don't know to what extent this is related to this thread, but our Model S was picked up this morning (Pano sunroof not working, rattle in the front end), and when I went to see where it was the remote access had been turned off... but I have great respect for the team and I'm not worried. I just thought it was interesting.�
Feb 5, 2013
Todd Burch Mine's still on and transmitting--so probably just coincidence.�
Feb 5, 2013
jomo25 Probably a good practice anyways. I don't think Tesla service folks would want customers to know where they live either for their own privacy.�
Feb 5, 2013
kendallpb Hehehehehe . . . they wouldn't dare turn yours off now, Todd. ;-) ;-) ;-)
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Ouch, that's a good point, actually. We can watch them like hawks--but that means we can, on rare occasion, get private info from them without either us or them meaning for it to happen. Interesting.�
Feb 5, 2013
brianman Ew. Must replace images in head with ... anything ... TEG, where are you!
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Model S withdrawal can have that affect, Todd. Glad things worked out (car wasn't stolen, etc.).
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I wouldn't be surprised if they have a checkboxs on service forms in the future:
[ ] Enthusiast: should be made aware if vehicle will be moved, especially if across state lines
[ ] OCD TMC member: should be contacted whenever the vehicle is moved more than 1 mile from fob-transfer location�
Feb 5, 2013
daxz They probably just disconnected the accessories' battery to work on the sunroof.
Back when I was a mechanic, I took home an AC Cobra replica to install an additional cooling fan. It was to be picked up the next morning by a band member in "The Cars". It was a good thing too, as I found issues with the brakes.�
Feb 5, 2013
brianman Thank you for that.�
Feb 6, 2013
defmonk I agree. Geez, why always presume bad faith?�
Feb 6, 2013
mknox Hey! You talkin' about me? :smile: Seriously, even my wife doesn't touch my car (she has her own)!�
Feb 6, 2013
NigelM Just got back from a trip and I'm not going to comment on the story which seems to be at an end in any case. However, slightly off-topic:
I wonder why people on the forum often seem to think they're invisible? Tesla folk read the forums and Todd you have your location and VIN number right there in front of them; I suspect they knew long before you wrote a mail or talked to anyone.... :wink:�
Feb 6, 2013
Todd Burch I of course know that Tesla reads the forums. I don't expect that EVERYONE at Tesla reads EVERY thread. The chances of the service folks having read this thread that night were extremely small. Turns out, they hadn't seen it. Why does it matter? I posted multiple times during the thread that I was not assuming malice, but also had concern that something fishy *might* be going on. I don't find that unreasonable.�
Feb 6, 2013
NigelM Nothing "unreasonable" was implied, tone doesn't come across well in posts, sorry. My simple mind was just amused at the contrast involved in publicly speculating whether to escalate your issue when the post itself was publicizing it.
Kudos to you for your apology post btw.�
Feb 6, 2013
Todd Burch Thanks...haha yeah kinda funny I guess. I've already admitted my stupidity here and that I wasn't thinking straight!�
Feb 20, 2013
patp My car is being serviced by Tesla and I realized they disabled access to the Mobile App while in service. Interesting to know and probably safer this way!�
Feb 20, 2013
Trnsl8r Hmm... mine is in right now and is not disabled. And I can see that they are charging my car and have the trunk open.�
Feb 20, 2013
mknox Thanks for the heads-up. I am going to remember to specifically tell them to leave it on if/when I ever have to go for service.�
Feb 20, 2013
Elshout I like Rekoh's idea, honk the horn until the neighbors call the police. You might also make a police report of a stolen car!�
Feb 20, 2013
swegman Is this the Rockville MD Service Center? Please say no (but I think it is, as I don't think there is a service center in VA).�
Feb 20, 2013
Francis Lau My MS was being serviced at the Seattle center today and remote mobile access was not turned off. I was able to track when the car was being driven back to me which was nice since I was out and was able to get home to meet them. In fact, I was home first and I walked out to see the car arrive.�
Feb 20, 2013
sfriedrich Hey, kind of another tack on this. Is it even possible for a Model S to be stolen (and stay stolen)? All the way from the way the key fob works to the telemetry. Can this car really be stolen?�
Feb 21, 2013
Robert.Boston Some musings on this question are here:
Remote Kill Track�
Feb 22, 2013
jerry33 Load it on a flatbed, put it inside a metal chop-shop building. Basically the Model S can't be stolen by a casual joyrider. A professional thief with equipment could steal it. However, for quite a while there won't be any market for chop-shop parts. Maybe never as all the service is factory supplied. It's not a concern to me.�
Feb 22, 2013
mknox A former work associate had his OnStar equipped car stolen this way a few years ago. When OnStar couldn't find it, the police told him it was likely in a steel cargo container on its way to some foreign country.�
Feb 22, 2013
Larry Chanin When an owner looses his/her fob or locks it in the trunk there must be a way for a Tesla service center to both gain entry and unlock the car. If there is a means to do this there is always the potential of leaking insider information to professional criminals. That said it is undoubtedly more difficult to steal a Model S. When more are on the road there will be a greater motive to pursue stealing the car and canabalizing it for a black market.
Larry�
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