Service with a Smile
Our first Tesla service exceeded expectations -- which were already high.
The service department at the Merritt Island Tesla store.
Electric vehicles (EVs) have many advantages over internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, especially now when the price of a gallon of unleaded gas nationwide is about $4.45 a gallon (according to today’s AAA survey).
EVs require far less maintenance than ICE cars. No oil changes. No radiator fluid. No timing belt swaps. Brakes last much longer due to regenerative braking. You’ll need to replenish your windshield wiper fluid once in a while, but that’s it.
According to the Tesla website, the typical Tesla maintenance services are:
Tire rotation
Cabin air filter replacement
Brake fluid checks
High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) Filter Replacement
Of these four, only tire rotation is routine. The Tesla Model Y Owner’s Manual recommends rotating the tires about every 6,250 miles (10,000 kilometers).
In some areas, Tesla will come to you to rotate your tires. It can be done in your driveway, with an appointment made through your smartphone’s Tesla app.
We passed the 6,250 mile mark, so for the first time I used the app to schedule tire rotation. The app, however, found other service calls that could only be performed at the Tesla store, so the app scheduled me for an appointment there.
The app lets you choose the date/time for your service. “Waiter” means you’ll be waiting in the customer lounge.
The app lets you choose from available dates and times. You can also specify if you’re going to wait, if you need transportation (loaner cars are sometimes available), or if you’re just going to drop it off at your convenience.
You don’t need to speak with a service technician. You can park the car anywhere on the store property you want. The service department can detect your car’s location.
Because I had several service needs to address, I was able to use the app to text the service department to ask how long it would take. They responded within a few minutes. I decided to wait in the customer lounge.
I didn’t have to speak to the service manager, but my wife wanted me to point out to them several scratches on the passenger door. A technician came out to the parking lot to inspect the scratches. He buffed out the scratches at no charge!
I went to the customer lounge to wait. I observed the staff deal with a couple of “irregular” customer incidents.
The Tesla store lobby.
An elderly couple from Massachusetts pulled up in an ICE rental SUV. The man asked a salesperson for help figuring out how to use the GPS mapping on the car. Even though he wasn’t driving a Tesla, the salesperson went out to the car anyway and showed him how to sync his smartphone with the SUV. That was impressive.
The other incident occurred at the service desk. A few of we Tesla owners were chatting with the service manager when we heard a man outside screaming and cursing. The man came inside and started screaming at the manager, raving about an adapter part he had in his hand. Apparently he had an adapter that lets a Tesla charge at a non-Tesla supercharger. The adapter no longer worked. The manager kept calm and escorted the man outside to resolve the situation.
The Tesla app shows you the resolution of each service request, as well as the cost. All your service calls are available through the app if you need to review your car’s service history.
The service appointment took longer than forecast. The technician found that the front fascia harness was broken. It took an extra two hours to fix. The cost? Zero. It was under service recall. They also fixed the glove box mount, also free under recall.
My only expense was for the tire rotation. My cost for the day? $69.55.
You don’t need to interact with the service desk to claim your car. The app notifies you when the car is ready for pickup. Your credit card is already on file, so all you have to do is review the invoice and approve payment. You can then find your car in the parking lot and use the app to enter your car.
Tesla consistently ranks among the best-made cars. In December 2025, Consumer Reports ranked Tesla ninth out of 26 for “average predicted reliability.” The Model Y, our car, was ranked “the most reliable electric SUV and the most reliable electric vehicle overall in this year’s survey.” In a separate article ranking cars by maintenance and repair costs, Tesla ranked fifth out of 29 for lowest maintenance costs over the first ten years of ownership.
The other car in our garage is a 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse with about 100,000 miles on it. We use it as the “Plan B” car when one of us is driving the Tesla. The Eclipse has a sticker on the windshield reminding us of when it will require its next oil change.
That will never happen with a Tesla.