$1,500 for tires?!?!

[TarmacSurfer]

Good grief. Yes they’re some kind of weird run-flat, foam-filled exotic ones (parts $1,200-ish) so about $300 each. Steep but after considering the balancing, disposal and all the other BS “extras” a tire place would charge not horribly out of line.

$240 for an hour of tech work. Wow. If they even make half that in their paycheck I’m quitting my engineering gig and working there. Sure, tech time is worth something but… more than a lawyer or anesthesiologist? That part seems like gouging.

Rant out. I’ll still have the work done so I guess I’m part of the problem. But ranting on the Internet makes one feel better, right?

 

[MorrisonHiker]

You can order them off TireRack or someplace similar and probably save several hundred dollars over what the Tesla Service Center charges.

 

[TarmacSurfer]

Maybe… for this replacement I’ll go through Tesla and stick with my “boring” 18” aero wheels but I’m going to plan on a full wheel / tire upgrade for the next time around. I’ve used Tire Rack that way in the past - still decent but nowhere as good as they used to be. Heck, I remember the “good old days” when I could buy good tires for $50-$75 a pop and have someone spin balance / put them on for about $20. Guess those days are long gone. And in fairness the tire technology / composition has gotten a lot better.

 

[ewoodrick]

That's how much that Tesla does not want to be a tire store. They'll do it, And are happy to do it. But you're going to pay for it.

You probably passed a dozen tires stores on the way to the service center, stop at one of them instead. Most have no problems changing Tesla tires these days.

And Tesla has trained mechanics that indeed make the loaded $240 (Tesla takes some of this). They don't have the kids that change tires for a living.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Maybe… for this replacement I’ll go through Tesla and stick with my “boring” 18” aero wheels but I’m going to plan on a full wheel / tire upgrade for the next time around. I’ve used Tire Rack that way in the past - still decent but nowhere as good as they used to be. Heck, I remember the “good old days” when I could buy good tires for $50-$75 a pop and have someone spin balance / put them on for about $20. Guess those days are long gone. And in fairness the tire technology / composition has gotten a lot better.

Gee whiz, is this Beverly Hills. You getting a free manicure and pedicure with that?
Last time I got tires replaced, it cost me $920. That was 3 years and 30,000 miles ago. I'll be due for some new ones in about another 5K miles.

 

[TarmacSurfer]

That’s pretty awesome - $240 an hour equates to a half mil a year income. Not too shabby at all. Sign me right up! Even if it means working for Musk I think I could hold my nose and put up with it for a while at those pay rates!

Funny enough I got the sense Tesla really DID want to push the tires (they’ve made a huge issue about it on my last coupe of appointments). Admittedly they were getting worn but I’ve certainly seen worse and yeah, I want to get what I can out of them before junking.

At those billing rates I can see why!

 

[240vPlug]

the OE 19' contis are $300 each. That's $1200 just for the tires from tire rack.

 

[LoudMusic]

Do you have a tire balancer and mounter? I suspect having the requisite tools is part of their high price

Also, the work they're doing literally carries your life.

 

[mgs333]

While $240 is high, Tesla does not pay the entire $240 to the technician, they take a huge chunk to pay their own bills. Most likely the tech gets paid by the hour, they don't get paid more because you paid more.

 

[ewoodrick]

While $240 is high, Tesla does not pay the entire $240 to the technician, they take a huge chunk to pay their own bills. Most likely the tech gets paid by the hour, they don't get paid more because you paid more.

Hence, why I said in my post, "loaded $240"

That can mean that the techs are probably well under $100.

I know what my company bills customers for what I do. I know that I don't get anywhere near that. In the Service Center, some allocation goes to the center manager, some goes to the repair team manager, some to the schedulers, some to the cleaning crew, and then they've got to send a pile back to Hawthorn managers, some to the software development team.

Loaded costs are quite eye-popping to some people. But someone has to pay for it.

 

[jjrandorin]

Good grief. Yes they’re some kind of weird run-flat, foam-filled exotic ones

Foam filled = yes. Run flat = no. Tesla doesnt use run flat tires. You probably know that and were just exercising a large amount of hyperbole, but in case you didnt, they are not run flats so dont expect them (the tires) to do that.

 

[TarmacSurfer]

Thanks and yes - I keep my emergency air compressor and plug kit with me at all times. Recommended for everyone. Old touring motorcycle rider wisdom (no spares on bikes either, unless you have really old school tube tires).

 

[GoVols!]

Maybe… for this replacement I’ll go through Tesla and stick with my “boring” 18” aero wheels but I’m going to plan on a full wheel / tire upgrade for the next time around. I’ve used Tire Rack that way in the past - still decent but nowhere as good as they used to be. Heck, I remember the “good old days” when I could buy good tires for $50-$75 a pop and have someone spin balance / put them on for about $20. Guess those days are long gone. And in fairness the tire technology / composition has gotten a lot better.

Heck, I remember the good ole’ days when/if I threw a wagon wheel, I could just fix it myself on the Oregon trail unless I came down with typhoid fever, cholera or the damn dysentery which made changing the wagon wheel very difficult