Alignment no longer part of Annual Service?

[Canuck]

Disclaimer: Everything below is lies. Consult your lawyer, do not listen to me.
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1. The current contract says "alignment is included".
2. It also says "any changes must be agreed to by both parties".
3. It also says "tesla can change what is included at it's sole discreetion"

#3 and #2 contradict each other. #3 will not stand in any court. Tesla HAS TO honor the contract...

Uhhh... no they don't. Just because a company has to honour a contract, doesn't mean they will honour a contract.

And taking them to court to get your included alignment is cutting off your nose to spite your face.

I hope Tesla does the right thing and honours the contract but even though legally they must, practically speaking they may not.

 

[MsElectric]

I've more than gotten my money's worth on every single Mercedes extended warranty I have bought so I am completely averse to owning a car that could be very expensive to fix if something breaks without warranty coverage. This is why I said if you plan to keep the car for a while, I'd pay for the additional 4 years of extended warranty coverage because what if they stop offering it or increase the price of it even further. That extended warranty I think used to be $2,500.

I feel if I really had to I am likely just fine taking the car in every other year for service when you have to do the fluid flushes but the extended warranty is something I'd personally want to pay and lock in right away when I get our Tesla. In fact as long as the current policy of CPO warranties not being extendable stands I am likely going to purchase a car from a private party so I can get the additional warranty coverage.

With regards to your points my main concern would be that Tesla either stops offering the additional 4 years of warranty coverage or increases the cost of it further. I'd be honestly shocked if Tesla comes anywhere near going bankrupt. I went to the Nikola Tesla birthday party at the Embassy of Croatia in DC. Guests were offered test rides in a Model S and there were foreign diplomats, Ambassadors, and professionals who were quite well off who attended the event and they were waiting in line for almost half an hour just to get a ride in a Model S. Most of these people I am sure owned very nice cars. I can't think of any other sedan where these people would have waited in line to just get a ride in. Tesla is going to do to the auto industry what digital cameras did to Kodak.

I personally would never risk depending on a non Tesla warranty to cover all the technology components in a Model S. Being such a smart Kuttakamina, I think it would make sense for you to first get the extended warranty extension if you are considering the 8 year service agreement if you plan to keep the car for a long time. If you really had to, you can service the car every other year and I can't imagine how the cost of service could go up any more than what it is already now!

Even if you decide to sell your beloved Blootiful in 4-5 years it would be a whole lot easier to sell with the full extended warranty. I think a potential buyer would value the the 4 year extended warranty more than 4 service visits being covered...

In any case it is obviously your call. Just sharing what I'd do and why...

I'm smarter than I look huh? WOOF!!

By lock in, do you mean the "extended warranty"?

There are three things to consider there,

1. Unlike service plans, I have 4 years to decide on the extended warranty, and 4 years of interest on $4k is atleast 25 cents, 12.5 cents after tax.
2. Tesla is the guarantor of that extended warranty. If Tesla files for bankruptcy (not unthinkable given the headwinds they may face), that warranty will be worthless - of course if that happens we have bigger issues anwyay. Even if it isn't a bankruptcy, the headwinds most likely means additional pressure on service centers to cut back on their excellent service.
3. In 4 years, while the price of that extended warranty will most likely be revised upwards, but Tesla may have a better 'repair' network, and may allow for third party extended warranties, probably pushing the price down - a counter balance force that most likely means the price won't be revised upwards significantly. Plus there will be a lot more 4 year old MS's by then.

8 years is a very long commitment for a car. And well, every car I have owned, I have never bought extended warranty on it. In the most likely event that the car is issue-free for the first 4 years, the probability of an issue arising in the last 4 years is low (not zero).

So .. long story short, I'm gonna risk it by delaying the extended warranty purchase. I may regret it, but for a 4K profit, vs. a 1K upwards price revision risk, the risk is justified. And most likely I will know at the 2 year mark whether or not this car will need the 4K expense or not.

One additional thing to consider .. If I buy 8 years of service now, and If I trade in the car in 3 years for another Model S, I will receive a pro-rated refund for the remaining visits. If I sell the car privately, the service plan transfers to the new owner.

The reality is, I will most probably never trade in my blootiful to Tesla. Mostly because their trade in offers are so ridonkulously low .. ! So I have to assume the service plan is burnt money. Grr.. this decision is so hard!

 

[kuttakamina]

Totally agree with everything you said there MsElectric. I shudda gone to the Croatian Embassy thing. But I was in Croatia then . Maybe next time.

 

[MsElectric]

Totally agree with everything you said there MsElectric. I shudda gone to the Croatian Embassy thing. But I was in Croatia then . Maybe next time.

That was such a great event. The same group that organized that event had organized a Bastille Day Gala at the French Embassy the following day and we signed up for that event as well so it made for a fun weekend cultural experience for us in DC. So glad Tesla was there with 4 Model S cars. Many people went home that night in awe of the Model S.

The word got out quickly that the "white car" is the one to get a ride in, and that of course was a P85D! Most of these people never realized a sedan could accelerate that quickly. That 0-30/0-40 acceleration in a P85D is surreal and those who say you can't enjoy a high performance car in a city like DC have no clue what they are talking about... Hopefully they will do the event again next year.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Sadly, you're SOL there. The service contract says clearly that you must abide by the owner's manual. The owner's manual specifies exactly the kind of tire you need on the car page #136 on https://www.teslamotors.com/sites/d..._model_s_owners_manual_na_r20140926_en_us.pdf.

Sorry, but this is why I don't do crazy stuff with my car. Even swapping the wheels for TSportline, Vossen, or putting XPel on, technically means, you are giving Tesla wiggle room in the service and warranty contracts.

Not fair, but totally legal.

The BEST thing to do is, buy the service plan, and stick with the owner's manual. You do your part, Tesla should do theirs.

I put Hankook tires on the stock 21" rims. What tires I have on the wheels shouldn't matter to rotate the wheels. It's just silly a cop-out.

 

[Canuck]

Tesla is going to do to the auto industry what digital cameras did to Kodak.

Great line.

 

[Lump]

Sadly, you're SOL there. The service contract says clearly that you must abide by the owner's manual. The owner's manual specifies exactly the kind of tire you need on the car page #136 on https://www.teslamotors.com/sites/d..._model_s_owners_manual_na_r20140926_en_us.pdf.

Sorry, but this is why I don't do crazy stuff with my car. Even swapping the wheels for TSportline, Vossen, or putting XPel on, technically means, you are giving Tesla wiggle room in the service and warranty contracts.

Not fair, but totally legal.

The BEST thing to do is, buy the service plan, and stick with the owner's manual. You do your part, Tesla should do theirs.

My XPEL saved Tesla money when they scraped my front bumper, instead repainting or replacing the bumper only the XPEL was redone.

 

[Muddy]

Glad I pre-paid for service. Got my Model S85 in Dec 2014 - Just took it in for its Annual (14000 miles) service.Here is what they did - Key fob batteries, Wiper Blades, Cabin Filter, Updated Firmware and Wheel Alignment. Stuff they found and repaired - clicking noise in steering wheel - replaced steering rack bolts and found rear axle seal leaking on driver & passenger side so replaced both seals. Had P85 as loaner.

 

[jdw]

I asked about alignment at the SC yesterday and was told that checking the alignment was still included but adjusting the alignment was not. It would seem that checking the alignment would be a good piece of the work involved in doing an alignment ...

 

[CmdrThor]

Glad I pre-paid for service. Got my Model S85 in Dec 2014 - Just took it in for its Annual (14000 miles) service.Here is what they did - Key fob batteries, Wiper Blades, Cabin Filter, Updated Firmware and Wheel Alignment. Stuff they found and repaired - clicking noise in steering wheel - replaced steering rack bolts and found rear axle seal leaking on driver & passenger side so replaced both seals. Had P85 as loaner.

Seems like you could have just went in for an alignment and paid $150 only. Key fob batteries ($1.50), wiper blades ($44), cabin air filter ($15) surely can easily be replaced on your own. The rest of the items are warranty. I wonder how much time they spend inspecting cars during the annual service? If it is half an hour or so then it is a ripoff. If they are spending several hours thoroughly checking out the car then it could be worth it given how much they charge hourly for service.

 

[jaguar36]

If they are spending several hours thoroughly checking out the car then it could be worth it given how much they charge hourly for service.

If the car requires hours of inspections every year, that indicates some serious design flaws. If they are finding so much stuff that fails so frequently that it needs to be inspected every year thats a real issue. It only takes 2 hours to do a full blow pre-purcahse inspection on a ICE car.

 

[yobigd20]

If the car requires hours of inspections every year, that indicates some serious design flaws. If they are finding so much stuff that fails so frequently that it needs to be inspected every year thats a real issue. It only takes 2 hours to do a full blow pre-purcahse inspection on a ICE car.

It's a brand new car from a brand new car company. They are learning as they go. This is expected and flaws are expected IMO. They spend so much time making sure everything is perfect. They don't need bad PR from owners having lots of issues so they try to address as many as possible before they happen. This is the only car company I know of that takes feedback directly from owners and makes changes on the fly to the whole fleet for a better overall experience. While the first cars were so much more flawed than today's cars it's their fast moving continuous improvement that helps puts them up and above all others.

 

[jaguar36]

Its almost a 3-year old car at this point, and the company is 12 years old, hardly brand new. Regardless, using that argument means that the company is charging us to be beta testers for it. If they are using these inspections to improve future products, they should be paying for the inspections and wrapping that into the development cost of the future cars.

 

[Lerxt]

You didn't get that you were a beta tester ( like you are with every vehicle new off the production line )? I would be concerned and disappointed if they weren't using inspections to improve the product.

 

[yobigd20]

using that argument means that the company is charging us to be beta testers for it.

yes, we are all beta testers. I swear some document I signed back in 2012 even said that we were beta testers lol. regardless, with it being so new of a car company + new technology not found in other cars I would say it is common sense that we are all beta testers here.

 

[Max*]

yes, we are all beta testers. I swear some document I signed back in 2012 even said that we were beta testers lol. regardless, with it being so new of a car company + new technology not found in other cars I would say it is common sense that we are all beta testers here.

I agree with this. And for some features, we're alpha testers... like the trip planner!

 

[mikes_fsd]

If the car requires hours of inspections every year, that indicates some serious design flaws. If they are finding so much stuff that fails so frequently that it needs to be inspected every year thats a real issue. It only takes 2 hours to do a full blow pre-purcahse inspection on a ICE car.

If you feel that way, don't give them your business, but please for crying out loud, do not say you are surprised they are improving as they go - which means, there is room for improvement, which means you are a tester of sorts (you can call it beta, but it really is RC - release candidate - testing that is happening here).

You didn't get that you were a beta tester ( like you are with every vehicle new off the production line )? I would be concerned and disappointed if they weren't using inspections to improve the product.

+1,000,000,000,000,000,000

 

[alexrov]

Glad I pre-paid for service. Got my Model S85 in Dec 2014 - Just took it in for its Annual (14000 miles) service.Here is what they did - Key fob batteries, Wiper Blades, Cabin Filter, Updated Firmware and Wheel Alignment. Stuff they found and repaired - clicking noise in steering wheel - replaced steering rack bolts and found rear axle seal leaking on driver & passenger side so replaced both seals. Had P85 as loaner.

You paid $400 for an alignment. GJ.

I love the Model S, but the service agreement is ridiculously overpriced.

 

[Mayhemm]

I had my drive unit replaced. The work order did NOT mention an alignment was done. They stated it was done, but my energy usage shot up from 290wh/hr to over 380hw/hr. I complained to them that was NOT done as the car did not track straight. They put it on the rack and it was ALL WHACKED! Either a retard did it incorrectly, or he lied and said they did it. After the alignment, my energy usage dropped very close to normal and the car tracked straight. Don't ever trust a service advisor. They're almost like salesman. Just my opinion.

My service order did state an alignment was performed. However, my energy use under normal operation is still abnormally high compared to others here. Not as bad as yours but still high (200+ Wh/km, whereas Rated is 180Wh/km). Perhaps they did it incorrectly, or not at all?

My car was just returned from its two-year prepaid annual service and the alignment was included. It was also de-creaked in the A pillar and pano roof bar, and the early version floppy floor mats were replaced with the nice thick stationary ones. Wonderful service.

Took mine into Vancouver on June 25th with identical issues to yours. However, in my case the creaks remain, as do the floppy mats. Less and less impressed with my service visit with each passing day. Alignment performed only because they replaced the drive unit, though now it seems even that may have been done incorrectly (see above).

 

[AmpedRealtor]

My service order did state an alignment was performed. However, my energy use under normal operation is still abnormally high compared to others here. Not as bad as yours but still high (200+ Wh/km, whereas Rated is 180Wh/km). Perhaps they did it incorrectly, or not at all?

Did you receive a copy of your before/after alignment numbers? Tesla always provides that to me after an alignment, even if it was part of a DU replacement.

Took mine into Vancouver on June 25th with identical issues to yours. However, in my case the creaks remain, as do the floppy mats. Less and less impressed with my service visit with each passing day.

Did you specifically ask for those issues to be remedied?