My Tesla Model S Plaid Needed a 30-Minute Fix, The Service Center Took 8 Hours, Left Me Stranded, and Now Wants $250 to Fix Their Own Mistakes
Tesla is a car company but it also isn't a traditional OEM with a lineage of grease and gears; it’s a cloud-based, over-the-air-updating, direct-to-consumer empire built on the back of a visionary CEO and a loyal fanbase that sometimes confuses inconvenience for innovation.
You don’t buy a Tesla just for the car, you buy into a system, a digital lifestyle. But when that system fails, as it increasingly does at the service level, the magic quickly turns to mayhem.
Take it from Johnny Cichowski, who tried to get a simple TPMS fault resolved at Tesla’s Duluth, Georgia, service center. He recapped the experience in a Facebook post:
“Let's have a Tesla customer service story at Duluth, GA. Haven’t done this in a while.
Recap: Months ago, I brought the car in for a TPMS fault, a 30-minute job, and I waited for it. It took them 8 hours; I was very bored. At 4:55, they said the car was done. I jumped in, and the dashboard was lit up like a Christmas tree.
The tech told me to drive around the building and come back in if the lights didn't turn off. So I did, and I pulled back in... everyone had left. I was absolutely boned. They did the old 'look that way' and ran. Thankfully, one service writer was left behind. All the techs and the service writer who was helping me (the same guy who said to drive around the building) had left for the day. She was able to get me a loaner so I could get home, thankfully. While they had the car, I said fix the issue with water dripping on my feet and the driver's seat doesn't cool on the back.
They said they replaced the windshield and the seat. Some will remember that they told me I didn't have cooled seats. I had to threaten them with sending a diagnostic invoice if I was forced to drive down to the service center and show them the button.
New Issues: The Tesla pages say to avoid bad service centers. You'll quickly find out that the Duluth service center is one of the bad ones. Well, the water is still dripping on my feet when it rains, and the cooled seats are still broken. I've been avoiding the Duluth service center and going to other centers where people have been much better. The bad part is I have to drive longer to go into Atlanta. They diagnosed the car with a poor windshield installation. They set me up with a repair date. We got a flat tire and couldn't make the date, so I had to reschedule. Lo and behold, the only place that could accommodate was Duluth. I set the appointment, and they informed me it was going to be a $250 diagnostic fee. I informed them that the car has already been diagnosed by the Atlanta location, and I have a warranty. Also, these problems came from when I originally purchased the car, and it was guaranteed that they would be fixed.
Duluth said, 'We don't care, it's $250.' That's when I lost my cool. I basically gave them the old story about how the Atlanta location didn't charge me for a diagnosis and about how I'm literally going back to them to 'fix' the work they've done. Lo and behold, they want a phone call, and so far, they've waived the diagnostics fee that I already had. How nice. The Plaid is my favorite car. I absolutely love it. I'm thankful it doesn't break down because my local service center is probably the worst place on earth.”
From there, it spirals into windshield leaks, a broken cooled seat Tesla swore didn’t exist (until threatened with proof), and ultimately, a $250 diagnostic fee for problems already diagnosed under warranty, problems originating from that very service center. And while they eventually waived the charge, the damage was done. “The Plaid is my favorite car,” Johnny wrote. “I absolutely love it. I’m thankful it doesn’t break down because my local service center is probably the worst place on earth.”
Tesla Model S Plaid: 1,020 HP Tri-Motor Power & Real-World Range Breakdown
- Equipped with a tri-motor all-wheel-drive system delivering 1,020 horsepower, the Model S Plaid accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in approximately 1.99 seconds and achieves a top speed of 200 mph, placing it among the fastest production cars available.
- Featuring a 100 kWh battery pack, it offers an EPA-estimated range of up to 348 miles. Real-world highway driving tests indicate a range closer to 280 miles, with energy consumption around 33 kWh per 100 miles.
- The 2025 model introduces new sport seats and retains Tesla's minimalist interior design, highlighted by a 17-inch central touchscreen and the yoke-style steering wheel. It also incorporates Tesla's latest Full Self-Driving (FSD) computer hardware, enhancing its semi-autonomous driving capabilities.
- While the Model S Plaid excels in straight-line speed, competitors like the Lucid Air Sapphire and Porsche Taycan Turbo GT offer superior handling and more luxurious interiors. The Lucid Air Sapphire, for instance, delivers 1,234 horsepower, accelerates to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds, and provides an EPA-estimated range of 427 miles.
Tesla’s fanbase is famously devout, somewhere between Apple enthusiasts and people who collect vintage Porsches they can’t afford to drive. They put up with a lot. Chris Coffey chimed in under Johnny’s post with his own tale:
“Best car I’ve ever owned. My sunroof just broke, and they quoted me $6,500 to replace the whole thing... and the part that’s broken is $29.”
He ended up ordering the part himself. This isn’t just bad customer service, it’s bureaucratic absurdity at its most distilled. If Kafka ran parts distribution, it would look like this.
Tesla Delivery Win, Seamless Model 3 Handoff
But before we paint the entire brand with a rusty brush, it’s important to note the contrast.
People from across the world have had no issues with their dealership, for example, one user had a Model 3 delivery experience that bordered on utopian: plate transfers pre-arranged, one signature, no hassle. “I didn’t even ask or think about it,” he said. These are the real stories Tesla points to when defending its reputation. The problem is that the level of service is not the norm; it’s a gamble, a coin toss with your $100,000 investment riding on heads.
We decided to explore the Tesla Duluth Service Center on Google to see what the reviews looked like, and we're a bit disappointed by the results, with a 3.0 rating. Here's an excerpt from some of the comments.
"I bought a Model Y in March of this year, and I love the vehicle! What I didn't like was the delivery experience.
I had a chip on the hood, there was overspray on the vehicle, it turned out that it was wax of some sort, several scratches and swirl marks from the prep. I was told if I wasn't going to take it that I would lose my deposit and any incentives, I was promised a 250 credit. I never received it.
Chased them and when I gave them a low rating on their survey, I got called and then was promised 200.00 over the phone a credit to use on the app the rep said it several times and even said I would get an email with a recap and now it's May and haven't received that! IF I BUY another Tesla and if I'm told I need to get it at Duluth, I'll purchase another EV instead!”
Another user by the name of Chiquitta Mary had a similar poor experience,
“Tesla services are going downhill!! This location to be particular. Picked up my second Tesla one month ago.
First, they lost my garage opener; second, their “operations manager” never made a follow-up. Third, I found out on the new vehicle that something is wrong with the horn, and they’re giving me an invoice for $210??????? I got this car ONLY one month ago. They don't wanna take responsibility, and they definitely don’t do quality checks before handing over the new vehicle.”
Cybertruck owners are already reporting the same polarized experiences at dealerships. Some rave about roadside repairs done in record time.
Polarized Tesla Service, Lightning-Fast Roadside Repairs vs. Weeks-Long Delays
Others fume about radio silence, backordered parts, or vehicles sitting untouched for weeks. Tesla's service infrastructure is stretched thin, and as the brand scales up with more models and higher volumes, cracks in the foundation are widening. For a company built on control, from battery chemistry to the buying process, it’s baffling that the service network is still so uneven.
And that’s the tragedy here. The Model S Plaid is a masterstroke, an American-built, quad-motor warhead capable of embarrassing Ferraris while carrying groceries. The Cybertruck, love it or hate it, is a bold gamble in design and function. These aren’t just cars; they’re declarations.
But the service experience, whether it’s an unnecessary diagnostic charge or windshield water leaks that persist post-repair, doesn’t match the price tag or the promise. A luxury EV with dealer-level headaches is a hard sell in a world where Lucid, Rivian, and legacy brands like Mercedes are finally getting serious.
Tesla’s digital-first, direct-to-consumer model was supposed to eliminate the greasy middleman. No upsells. No pushy dealers. No waiting rooms with burnt coffee and Judge Judy reruns. But when service centers are run like call centers, when communication is scattershot and policies are enforced arbitrarily, the entire ecosystem starts to feel less like a revolution and more like a roll of the dice.
Inside Tesla’s Direct-to-Consumer Model: Online Sales, State Laws & Service Gaps
- Tesla's DTC approach allows customers to configure and purchase vehicles entirely online, offering fixed pricing and eliminating haggling. This model provides a transparent and convenient buying process, appealing to tech-savvy consumers.
- Tesla faces restrictions in several U.S. states due to franchise laws that prohibit direct manufacturer sales. States like Alabama, Louisiana, and Connecticut have laws that limit or ban Tesla's direct sales model, compelling the company to find alternative methods, such as operating galleries or facilitating out-of-state purchases.
- Some customers report issues with vehicle delivery and service, including rushed handovers, quality control problems, and limited access to service centers. The absence of traditional dealerships means Tesla must manage all aspects of the customer experience, which can strain resources and affect service quality.
- Tesla's service network is still expanding, and in areas without nearby service centers, customers may face delays or inconvenience when seeking repairs or maintenance. While Tesla offers mobile service for minor issues, significant repairs often require travel to distant service locations.
It's one thing to reinvent the car. It's another to reinvent customer care, and Tesla, for all its brilliance, is still very much in beta on that front.
The sad irony? Tesla could fix this. With the same attention to user experience they’ve poured into the cars, sleek UI, OTA updates, app-driven everything, they could streamline service into something that truly disrupts the industry.
But until that happens, stories like Johnny’s will keep popping up in Facebook groups and Reddit threads. The Model S Plaid may be the best car he’s ever owned, but the journey to keep it that way? That’s a trip no owner should have to take twice.
Noah Washington is an automotive journalist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys covering the latest news in the automotive industry and conducting reviews on the latest cars. He has been in the automotive industry since 15 years old and has been featured in prominent automotive news sites. You can reach him on X and LinkedIn for tips and to follow his automotive coverage.
