May 2, 2014 | Hagerstown, MD

By luminousprint on May 2, 2014

05.02.2014

Prologue: Several weeks ago drove from Greensboro to Savannah by using Tesla Superchargers in Burlington, Lumberton, Santee, and Savannah. Since have scheduled a visit to son Sam in Urbana, IL anyway and would be staying there May 4-6, I thought Illinois might prove a launchpad for a Tesla drive through parts further West after we returned in late April from a trip to Belize. But with only a few days to prepare had trouble with tires (two had nails floating around inside and one had gone totally flat). Problem was, also had scheduled additional tinting for windows (otherwise, the Arizona sun is not kind to travelers). Also had wanted to have entire car protected by a “self-healing” coating for protection from road gravel, etc. But now there were time-driven conflicts. In addition, the day before leaving for Illinois had some Tesla onscreen “May Day” warnings. Had ‘rebooted’ the car (I kid you not) and the warning signs disappeared. Still, at Raleigh’s Tesla Service Center, Vito and Trevor wanted to make absolutely sure that my Model S was road-worthy before such a lengthy trip. Vito had told me they’d work on it all night if necessary and have it back early the next morning.

They were as good as their word. Today, 5/2, Raleigh Service Ctr’s Taylor came by at 7:15, with Model S already unloaded and thoroughly road-checked for rude duty West. With him he had a multi-document of the many checks they’d made at no charge. Tesla service––that’s what I’m talking about! They’d done a safety inspection for about $20 ($10 more than for bare bones safety check because I had installed tinting, for which there’s an additional annual charge).

I remember Taylor because he and fellow specialist Javier, as part of Tesla Mobile Ranger Service in North Carolina, had appeared one Tuesday morning last November. In a few hours they had replaced three coolant pumps (one for the power-train and two for the battery). No charge whatsoever. On the invoice beside “Pay Type” is written “Goodwill.” Not long after, Taylor migrated to Norway for six weeks to work with Tesla there. (The Tesla Model S is currently Norway’s best-selling car.) Memo: must find rear 21″ all-weather tires for Tesla. I’m told that they’re available via 3rd party or eBay.