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2013 Model S a money pit

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Makes me glad I sold my 2014 S in 2018 to buy a model 3. As for excessive repairs on older cars I’ve had since new. I’ve not had any major repairs on our 2003 MB e320 4matic at going on 20 years old, only thing I’ve replaced is brake pads. Also only thing I’ve replaced on my 2013 Lexus LX570 (which was also >$100k) is brake pads and rotors all the way around which was ~$350 or <1 Tesla door handle.

Now I had a Range Rover and a BMW m3 that both were in the shop almost as much as they weren’t. Sold both of them before they got out of warranty.
 
This is definitely true, but sometimes thread titles invite a specific type of response. This thread title, for example, complaining about a 2013 model year luxury car as a "money pit" is going to elicit responses along the lines of "most 2013 model year luxury cars would be money pits under those definitions".


Luxury cars are expensive to maintain, and the older they get, the more they cost. With that being said, 10k over the amount of time they owned it does not seem out of bounds to me, for a luxury car. It would be out of bounds if one was comparing it to a toyota camry, but not to a BMW 7 series, Audi A7 / S7, Merc S class, etc.

If the thread title was more "Is this a lot to spend to maintain a 2013 Model S?", the responses would likely be a bit more supportive.

With that being said, I do agree with you, for sure. TMC members can be pretty rough, if the question is phrased a certain way. Thats definitely true.
i mean that drags us back into the "is a 2013 (or any year/model) model s a luxury car"? I'd absolutely disagree, our cayenne is head and shoulders above my model s in features and comfort.
 
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sorry to hear OP.. not sure if the seller was aware of impending issues - these cars are tough to do a thorough pre-purchase evaluation when buying used. There are many legacy 2012-13 Model S's that are holding up really well... in my case, I had a lot repairs done (LOTS of door handles, drive units, etc) the first few years under warranty and while Tesla was refining the product.. I drive a lot, so those issues came up early for me. Seems to have paid off now, as the 2012 has been requiring very little attention. I do think that many early buyers 'babied' their prized possession, and this backfired as issues were not uncovered soon enough
 
and to those who say ~9k on 100k is not bad in repairs, the cars are barely worth 30k these days and most of that is the battery. so yes 9k on 30 is alot.
It costs a lot to maintain massively depreciated Mercs and BMWs too. This is, generally speaking, why the depreciation is so catastrophic in the first place.

I'm not saying it's not a lot of money - more that it should be expected to play in this league.
 
It costs a lot to maintain massively depreciated Mercs and BMWs too. This is, generally speaking, why the depreciation is so catastrophic in the first place.

I'm not saying it's not a lot of money - more that it should be expected to play in this league.
agree, i think its more painful to hear the number from one and only source, and not multiple repair shops... or even a real chance to take a stab at it yourself (which is how some people justify buying the old bmw's etc)
 
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There was a post in the Porsche forums that shows monthly expense (assuming 5 years payment at 3% APR) on older Prosches and the numbers always showed that the sweet spot is cars that are 3-6 years old. after 6 you pay less for sure in cost to acquire the car but more on repairs. and if you include your time spent without a car or rental cost or to shop around for a repair shop the numbers get worse.

I am pretty sure this applied to all other eurpean cars too.
 
Well crap, now you all have me second guessing buying a used Tesla. New 2013 model S 60 owner here and am happy so far. Only have had the car for a week and, yes, purchased because of gas prices. Got it for 28k with 93k miles on it.
not an awful price, maybe slightly above "a good deal", but with the current used car market i'd say you did alright. just drive it and see, cant worry about what you cant fix or know. its not like a gas car where you can look inside the cylinder walls for scoring or check the oil for signs of abuse. take the repairs in stride and sell the car if it becomes too much
 
Well crap, now you all have me second guessing buying a used Tesla. New 2013 model S 60 owner here and am happy so far. Only have had the car for a week and, yes, purchased because of gas prices. Got it for 28k with 93k miles on it.
I agree with demundus. I always advise friends and family to have a budget for repairs. Cars do not fix themselves & nothing lasts forever.

If I were in your position, I'd budget for AP HW3 & MCU2, but wait until those parts need repair. With MCU1, I'd consider pairing with OpenPilot w/Tinkla, but then you'd have to upgrade the eMMC proactively.
 
Has anyone else had a long string of expensive repairs needed for their older Model S? We purchased a 2nd hand 2013 Model S in 2017. In the past 4-5 years we have pumped over $10k in repairs into the thing. Replaced every door handle. A few years ago a coolant leak destroyed important parts under the hood and we got hit with a $6k+ repair. It's been in the shop almost every month lately. Now the latest issue (won't charge in cold temps) is going to run us $3k+. For a car with under 80k miles, and under 10 years old, this seems excessive. Just wondering if anyone else is having a similar experience.
Tesla service could see remotely that the "heater was not activating". I'm bring it in for evaluation Thursday so I can keep you updated.
I just had the battery coolant heater and a coolant pump replaced on my 2015 Model S 70D. The car was essentially not charging when the weather was really cold. It had been charging slowly earlier in the winter before it got so cold that I could not help but notice, so the heater was probably failing or failed for several weeks before I realized I had a problem and had it in for service. Big difference once it was repaired! Besides charging faster, it also gets regenerative braking restored much more quickly, which is nice. Weather is getting warmer now, too, of course.
I have an extended service plan so the repair cost me only the $200 deductible. I asked the service manager what it would have cost without the ESP, and he indicated it would have been in the range of $1600-1800.
 
I'll give you my experience so you can compare.

I purchased my Model S P85+ on Nov 2013 and have had the following repairs done:
Apr 2021 - $982 - Repaired air conditioning and replaced TPMS sensors
Nov 2020 - $1481 - Replaced cabin heater
Mar 2019 - $493 - Replaced door handle and greased axle for engine clunking noise
Aug 2018 - $193 - Replaced 12v battery
Dec 2017 - $699 - Replaced door handle

I'm currently waiting for parts to replace the front assembly due to my wheels having negative camber and they need to replace these parts before they can adjust the alignment. The estimate for this is $3200.

They are also going to upgrade my 3G modem to LTE for $200.

So once this is done my total will be $7248 over 8 years.

The car is at 50k miles and I replaced my first set of tires at 24k miles and the second set at 43k miles.

There were some other things they fixed that were covered by warranty and I did a couple of the annual service checks when they were still recommending them.
 
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2013 Model S 60 - 85,000 miles now:
Under warranty I had the motor swapped.

Under extended warranty:
4 door handles replaced.
Primary screen replaced.

No Warranty: 2022
Driver side v2.5 door to v3.0 ~ $400

Debating:
MCU 2 upgrade - $1,500 or $2,000 (I like radio). mainly for the IC screen which is leaking and the main screen which is yellowing
Passenger front sway bar link is making noise ~ $160 diagnostic fee + $250 fix (assuming its the sway bar)

OR

A new car....
 
sorry to hear OP.. not sure if the seller was aware of impending issues - these cars are tough to do a thorough pre-purchase evaluation when buying used. There are many legacy 2012-13 Model S's that are holding up really well... in my case, I had a lot repairs done (LOTS of door handles, drive units, etc) the first few years under warranty and while Tesla was refining the product.. I drive a lot, so those issues came up early for me. Seems to have paid off now, as the 2012 has been requiring very little attention. I do think that many early buyers 'babied' their prized possession, and this backfired as issues were not uncovered soon enough
I’m still driving my 2013 Model S, 182,000+ miles. It’s had minor issues, most of which were taken care of under warranty. I did have 2 fairly early drive unit replacements, the milling issue I think, but both were covered under warranty. Unfortunately, I’ve recently started to hear DU noise again and suspect I may have to pay to have it replaced, it’s definitely out of warranty now. Have you had to pay for a DU replacement? I’ve seen posts on the forum ranging from 5K-10K. Ouch. I really wasn’t expecting this newer DU to have problems. I’m also wondering if it’s possible to replace bearings, if that’s the problem, instead of the whole DU but haven’t seen much about that. Any advice or helpful hints? Thanks.
 
I’d live with the DU noise honestly. It’s totally safe. Being in SoCal, there are a couple third party folks here that can take it apart and repair.
You don’t think at some point the motor might seize or something, if the noise is from bad bearings? If it’s just noise I’ll live with it, but I worry about more serious trouble down the road, literally.

I live in Louisiana and am unaware of any independent shops in this part of the country.
 
I’m still driving my 2013 Model S, 182,000+ miles. It’s had minor issues, most of which were taken care of under warranty. I did have 2 fairly early drive unit replacements, the milling issue I think, but both were covered under warranty. Unfortunately, I’ve recently started to hear DU noise again and suspect I may have to pay to have it replaced, it’s definitely out of warranty now. Have you had to pay for a DU replacement? I’ve seen posts on the forum ranging from 5K-10K. Ouch. I really wasn’t expecting this newer DU to have problems. I’m also wondering if it’s possible to replace bearings, if that’s the problem, instead of the whole DU but haven’t seen much about that. Any advice or helpful hints? Thanks.
I'm a newbie here and have a 2012 Signature 85 113,500 miles out of warranty. Just read your post about your rear large drive unit. I had my first DU replaced at 53,000 miles under warranty due to buzzing sound. I've had a hellish experience as had to replace another DU recently. First started last December when I received errors BMS-151 "Vehicle may not restart". I brought to Tesla Service, which they diagnosed as a bad HV battery with a price tag of $16,500 for a refurbed 90 battery. I've never experienced no major degradation in my battery, just the error coming up. I refused service and asked that they button up my Tesla and I'll come and pick it up. I then did some research to find battery swaps/repairs in socal to save some money, which I called 3 different places. In the meantime I was able to drive my Tesla for a few weeks, then the error again back. I figured Tesla SC was correct in their battery diagnosis, so concentrated on replacing the battery. I was fortunate to find a company that could do a swap. I had options of replacing my 85 battery with a 90 (2015 with high mileage) or 75 (2019 very low mileage), or wait for another battery. I didn't consider the 90 battery as was afraid with the high mileage I'd eventually have to deal with another replacement. I opted for the 75 with my logic that I've already had my current 85 battery charging to 90% to 213 miles. If the 75 battery was at least 200 miles range then it would be worth it for a newer battery. After I told the tech to move forward, he spent a day diagnosing the car, and told me that he didn't think the battery was bad and most likely the DU. He asked if I wanted to replace the battery anyways, and I said yes thinking that getting a 6-7 year newer battery with low mileage in the long run would be a good investment. BTW, he charged $5k for the battery swap.

I was hoping he might be wrong about the DU (since Tesla SC told me it was the battery), and picked up my car. He told me to drive it around but told me that he was sure it was the DU. The errors came back instantly. I found a another company which they can rebuild the DU, but after teardown they discovered that the coolant leaked into the motor and the inverter was completely shot. At that point there was nothing they can do. They advised me the best thing is to bring to Tesla for them to replace the DU. I looked elsewhere and even if I were to locate a used DU it was costing $4k, plus labor would be close to 6k (w/o warranty).

Towed my car to a different SC location than the original. Took them almost a month to get the DU. Cost was $6,250 with 4 year/50k mile warranty. Car runs like new. The replaced battery is charging to 206 miles (90%) charge. If you were able to get through this long story, the moral is that if you have an out of warranty Tesla Model S with the large rear drive unit, I would highly recommend having it checked out. This is a critical part of the car, and you might be able to avoid the huge cost of the DU replacement. In your case, you might be able to still have the DU rebuilt with the bearings at a lower cost if the inverter has not been affected. I hope this helps and hoping you are able to get the DU fixed!
 
I'll give you my experience so you can compare.

I purchased my Model S P85+ on Nov 2013 and have had the following repairs done:
Apr 2021 - $982 - Repaired air conditioning and replaced TPMS sensors
Nov 2020 - $1481 - Replaced cabin heater
Mar 2019 - $493 - Replaced door handle and greased axle for engine clunking noise
Aug 2018 - $193 - Replaced 12v battery
Dec 2017 - $699 - Replaced door handle

I'm currently waiting for parts to replace the front assembly due to my wheels having negative camber and they need to replace these parts before they can adjust the alignment. The estimate for this is $3200.

They are also going to upgrade my 3G modem to LTE for $200.

So once this is done my total will be $7248 over 8 years.

The car is at 50k miles and I replaced my first set of tires at 24k miles and the second set at 43k miles.

There were some other things they fixed that were covered by warranty and I did a couple of the annual service checks when they were still recommending them.
Updating with costs incurred in 2022 and beginning of this year:
Jan 2023 - $1018 - Replace rear control arms and perform alignment
Dec 2022
- $274 - Replace 12v battery
- $324 - Replace door handle
Sep 2022 - $420 - Lubricate and re-torque axle to address engine clunk when regen braking engages
May 2022 - $739 - Purchase rear control arms from N2itive
Apr 2022
- $969 - Replace rear tires
- $2622 - Replace front control arms and perform alignment
- $221 - Upgrade to LTE
- $185 - Replace headlight