After 10.5 years of faultless running (only very minor, non-operational issues), my 2013 Model S (60) bricked, and after four weeks of diagnostics and $2.5k repairs, Tesla Service says it will cost close to $5.5k more to repair, and they don't know for certain if those repairs will completely fix the issue (more details below). I have questions...
The first thing the tech discovered was that there was a rat's nest in the car, and the rat had chewed up some of the wiring. While necessitating replacement of the wiring harness, that was not what was causing the car to fail. After two weeks of poking at it and trying to get the error to repeat, they determined the problem to be the battery management system. Waited two weeks to get the parts only to hear that now it needs a DC to DC Converter and a junction box. They said that part of the expense is that the OEM parts for a 2013 are no longer available, and they have to retrofit to replace them with second generation parts. They also mentioned something about possible water intrusion. The service rep said that once those parts are fixed, it's possible more could be wrong.
I love my Model S, and would like to keep it. If I got a new car, it would be another Model S; I would definitely appreciate the doubled range and the new-style regen braking. While plunking down the $80-90K is not out of the question, I do have better things to do with that money. Other than the fact that it currently doesn't run, the car is in good condition. I am getting around 180 miles of charge when full (down from the original 200). 112000 miles.
Any feedback and thoughts are welcome and appreciated!
- Has anyone else experienced this type of major issue? What was your experience?
- In evaluating whether to plunk down another $6k, what factors should I consider? Remaining battery life? Concerns about a continuing cascade of repair catastrophes?
- At $2.5k in, am I throwing good money after bad? Should I cut my losses and run? Tesla says they'd give me $6700 on a trade in. Whoopee. How much longer will this car last?
- Are these service people having me on? Do they know what they are doing? Should I suspect gross incompetence, as in, they are clueless about what is wrong and are just replacing stuff until it works again?
The first thing the tech discovered was that there was a rat's nest in the car, and the rat had chewed up some of the wiring. While necessitating replacement of the wiring harness, that was not what was causing the car to fail. After two weeks of poking at it and trying to get the error to repeat, they determined the problem to be the battery management system. Waited two weeks to get the parts only to hear that now it needs a DC to DC Converter and a junction box. They said that part of the expense is that the OEM parts for a 2013 are no longer available, and they have to retrofit to replace them with second generation parts. They also mentioned something about possible water intrusion. The service rep said that once those parts are fixed, it's possible more could be wrong.
I love my Model S, and would like to keep it. If I got a new car, it would be another Model S; I would definitely appreciate the doubled range and the new-style regen braking. While plunking down the $80-90K is not out of the question, I do have better things to do with that money. Other than the fact that it currently doesn't run, the car is in good condition. I am getting around 180 miles of charge when full (down from the original 200). 112000 miles.
Any feedback and thoughts are welcome and appreciated!