My Tesla Winter Tire Experience

Last March I got myself a Tesla Model 3 (Long Range, Rear Wheel Drive). I’ll rave about this another time, but I wanted to talk about tires, and my experience ordering them from Tesla from start to finish.

Firstly, my mistake in ordering them. I was contemplating getting just the wheels and sensors from Tesla, and getting my tires elsewhere. This took a bit of research, and I didn’t prioritize this research, so when I ultimately decided to just go with Tesla for everything (a bit more money, but way easier) it was November 15th when I placed the order.

What’s the problem with this date you ask? Well, it was after the first snow. So all the ambitious early birds had long ago ordered their tire packages, and all the slow pokes as well. So there was going to be quite a wait for the tires to come into stock.

I received an email on December 5th that the tires were on their way to my “local” Tesla service center, and a call on January 2nd that they have arrived. The first available appointment slot was January 4th which I took. So 50~ days from start to finish to get my tires. Ouch.

I do accept that I ordered at a garbage time, but 50 days is a bit crazy. So shame on me, and shame on Tesla. Especially since they charged me the full $3051.00 on November 15th; at the least just take a deposit until service time.

That was the only negative part of my experience. Since Jan 4th was a Saturday, I turned it into a mini road trip with my brother to make the best of the time. I was very excited because the service center has showroom that has a Model X, 3 and S in it and I really wanted to spend some time in the X (It’s their SUV, and is ridiculous, I will gush about it another time).

When we arrived at the service center, the parking lot was very barren. Last time I was here it was to pick up my Model 3 and it was so packed I could barely find parking. When we got to the service center, there also weren’t any staff inside, and worst of all the showroom Model X was gone!! It was plain just not in the showroom. There was a shiny Model 3 and a very red Model S, but no X! I was immediately heartbroken </3.

After a few minutes of checking out the S and hiding my tears, a technician appeared and he told me where to park the car so they could swap the tires. I did so and gave them a keycard, they told me it would be about 30 minutes. Rad! My appointment was at 10:15, we got there a bit early at 9:55, and we were out of there by 10:30.

Adam and I went to the showroom to play with the showroom cars while we waited, and now there were some sales rep to bother. I harassed one of them about the missing Model X, expressing my deep heartache. He revealed to me that they had been selling their cars insanely fast and shit is crazy. During the entire month of December they had no Model 3s in the showroom for people to see. Almost all of their test drive vehicles were gone. At the time there was no Model X :(

Anyway, it was a TON of fun picking the sales reps brain about Tesla, and it was clear he was extremely excited about the company and its future. We talked about the upcoming Model Y, the Roadster, and of course the Cybertruck. So excited for this to come into stock, but probably won’t see it in the showroom until mid-late 2021.

I went back to chatting with Adam, and it wasn’t long before the sales rep I was romancing came over with some key fobs for a Model X that showed up. He told me to go out and play with it!

He didn’t say I could drive it, but he didn’t say I couldn’t drive it. Since I felt like my Model 3 was going to be ready soon I didn’t try to take it for a spin, but it was a lot of fun seeing all the features of the X. I won’t gush about this now, but it was so-fucking-cool to climb into the passenger seat, leave the door open, put my foot on the break, and the door closes on its own. Like come on! It felt awesome.

We spent a while in the X before going back inside, and shortly after my car was ready and we took it home. Overall it was a very fun experience at the service center, the staff were great, and I got my winter tires!

I’m writing this the same day I got the tires, so there is no point talking about them specifically. They seem great, but I haven’t had a chance to really try them out. The weather is pretty nice, they grip great, and I still get the sickeningly fun acceleration the Tesla vehicles are known for.