EV general discussion

tamzzy said:
My car then developed a rattle at speed a few months back. The ranger came out to me, took the car for a spin and demonstrated the rattle. Parked up back at home and a few tweaks and all done and dusted within the hour.
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I've been very impressed with the service a colleague gets on his Model S. Back when he first got it any work was a long trip away to a service centre but for the last few years it has been mobile service or the centre which has now opened up locally.

Taking that particular issue of the rattle, the reaction I got from Poxhall when I raised an epic intermittent rattle on my then 10 month old Astra it has had since new was "Yeah, well, we can investigate it but if we don't find anything we'll have to charge you £159." Er... OK. But as I said, it is intermittent, so I can't guarantee you'll hear it. On a rough road you are very likely to hear it though and you can't miss it. "Yeah, well... like I say, we can take a look but if we can't find anything we'll have to charge you..." Tell you what mate, don't bother :rolleyes:

It's no wonder every customer in there is cheesed off, which then sets the tone for their service people and so it goes on. As client service is my thing I make my mental notes every visit of how not to do things.

It's a company hack so I don't really care too much. I genuinely think if I need to source my own car at some point in the future I'm going to go Lexus in the hope I get decent aftersales.
 
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To be fair, my post sales service experience has also been pretty good and the parts pricing is very fair.

The electric charge port latch that locks in the cable on my model 3 broke (manual still worked, I could still charge it).

I reported it on the app, got an appointment a few days later. I dropped the car off just before the time booked and I was gone within an hour. The mechanic couldn’t have been nicer in terms of customer service.

Similarly with my model Y, the cabin filter needed doing, I logged it on the app and a mobile ranger did it on my drive. It’s a fully maintained lease so no chance I was doing it myself even though I would ordinarily. That reminds me, the rear tyres are almost done.

The only thing Tesla are absolutely militant on is warranty terms. There is absolutely zero goodwill, if it’s out of scope, it’s a hard no. You could buy 5 cars a year but if your main computer died after 4 years and 1 day, you are paying. Same goes for the battery, 120,001 miles or 8 years and one day, that’s your problem.
 
Say what you like about Nissan but Dicksons of Inverness has been brilliant. When I bought my Leaf there was no hard sell, the sales guy showed us around the car and explained how everything worked (first ever EV experience) then gave me the keys and said go for a drive. After we had bought it they gave me a phone call after two weeks and again after a month to make sure everything was good. When I take it in for a "service" there are comfy chairs and tables in the customer waiting area, that days papers and free tea/coffee/chocolate from a machine and cold bottles of water and fizzy drinks in a fridge. Rather than call you over to the desk they come and sit down with you when the service is completed to hand over the keys and paperwork. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another car from them although I don't like any of Nissans current line up but they do sell Kia, MG, Suzuki and KGM as well. Didn't KGM used to be Ssanyong because I am pretty sure the Rexton and Musson used to be Ssanyong?
 
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They are at least less militant on the fact the car hasn’t been serviced. There is a sliding scale from draconian (annual service) like Hyundai and Kia. To no need for a service like Tesla. Failure to get a service from a VAT registered mechanic results in a voided warranty.

My Cupra Born is every two years and includes a battery state of health check, which I am fine with because I would not leave a car unserviced for more than that anyway. I know MOTs will pick up the worst issues after 3 years.
 
Ah, the old “biofuels are the future… ignoring the future will be too late.

EVs may not be the ultimate answer to remove the reliance on fossil fuels, but it is viable right now rather than waiting for some magical solution.

The “solutions” like hydrogen or biofuels are always just around the corner, yet years later have shown zero real progress.

EVs and solar/wind on the other hand have made great progress and despite their downsides, they are FAR better for the environment than equivalent vehicles. But yeah, let’s just stop the move to a cleaner better style of energy because they aren’t perfect.
 
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