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Am I being an idiot trying to hold onto my p85dL outside of warranty?

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I’d take that. My 19 is almost paid off. Way better than a new car and I know my car since I drove it since it had 20 or so miles on the odometer.

The real danger for these things isn't that some big expensive part breaks and you have to fix it; the danger is that you get pecked to death by dozens of little failures each of which stops the car and forces you to plan around it.

The suspension arms can randomly break and cause thousands of dollars of damage; there are 2 different drive units, there's the air suspension stuff with compressors and valve blocks and air springs each component can cost $2k.

Is that a realistic outcome? Perhaps not -- I'm actually on board with trying to keep my 2016 90D past the warranty.

But don't look at just the battery and DUs and think that's the end of it.

The worst is after you've finished replacing / repairing all that stuff some nitwit in a honda fit puts a booboo in your rear bumper and the insurance company totals the car instead of repairing it for another $15k.

But hey, I read on the internet someone drives around a 1998 mercedes and it's been reliable for her. So anything's possible.
 
FWIW, any Tesla outside of warranty I would unload ASAP. We have had so many issues with our 2021 Model S including the high-voltage battery needing to be replaced after 1.5yrs of ownership. The low build quality could mean huge bills for you outside of warranty.
 
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FWIW, any Tesla outside of warranty I would unload ASAP. We have had so many issues with our 2021 Model S including the high-voltage battery needing to be replaced after 1.5yrs of ownership. The low build quality could mean huge bills for you outside of warranty.

It's really not a valid to compare a 2021 MS with the 2014 P85DL that's been on the road for 8 years and had all the kinks (if there were any) already worked out.

The ESA on my P85D+ just ran out, and before that I took it to Tesla for a warranty inspection and due to a small leak in the front motor, they replaced both front half-shafts and inspected everything else (which passed).

So even though my 8 year old car is now completely out of factory, ESA and battery warranty, I'm happy to keep it going for many more years. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. And now that I upgraded the battery to a 100kWh pack, it's really a P100DL+ with AP1. 😁
 
It's really not a valid to compare a 2021 MS with the 2014 P85DL that's been on the road for 8 years and had all the kinks (if there were any) already worked out.

The ESA on my P85D+ just ran out, and before that I took it to Tesla for a warranty inspection and due to a small leak in the front motor, they replaced both front half-shafts and inspected everything else (which passed).

So even though my 8 year old car is now completely out of factory, ESA and battery warranty, I'm happy to keep it going for many more years. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. And now that I upgraded the battery to a 100kWh pack, it's really a P100DL+ with AP1. 😁
That is an amazing story! How much did you pay for the 100 pack, what range do you get now, and how fast can you supercharge? Did the folks over at 057 do it, is there a warranty? How many miles do you have on yours? Mine's been babied for 83k. I love my AP1 and plus suspension, it definitely feels like a unicorn. the only gripe I have is wind noise on the freeway. I wish there was a way to fix
 
Boy I'm getting a lot of questions about this today!

Yes, Jason at wk057 did the upgrade. I'm not going to talk about the cost, since it was a while ago and the battery I got was a little older (2016) with someone less range (about 288). I get about 280 now. But it still is a beast! And charges faster - if the battery is low I can get 130kW and occasionally 140kw.

I too get a lot of wind noise in my P85D, not much I can do about it.
 
Boy I'm getting a lot of questions about this today!

Yes, Jason at wk057 did the upgrade. I'm not going to talk about the cost, since it was a while ago and the battery I got was a little older (2016) with someone less range (about 288). I get about 280 now. But it still is a beast! And charges faster - if the battery is low I can get 130kW and occasionally 140kw.

I too get a lot of wind noise in my P85D, not much I can do about it.
Thanks, i’m actually so excited about the compatibility of this upgrade that I wouldn’t mind if my current battery died just so that I could justify the 100 pack. 🤣

I don’t have any engineering expertise but let’s say we keep our cars for 300 or 400,000+ miles. overtime I would imagine the suspension would start to not perform like it did when new… i’m not exactly sure why that is, or how many parts are involved, but what would one have to replace and how much would that cost to make the car drive as if it’s new, is that even possible in theory? — and even then how close to new would it feel driving… With my layman‘s understanding, I would hypothesize it would be very close since the drivetrain, battery, and frame are comparably constant over decades (unlike ice cars)
 
While I would probably never get another Tesla, they aren't that bad with longevity and repairs. Sure, there are bad ones and the really early ones had more kinks. I have a 2015 with 105k and it has been pretty darn good. Sure, I have 3 new or repaired door handles. I did 2 of those DIY and had Tesla do one. I have a deteriorated wiring harness at the driver's door - repaired once by Tesla gratis.
Outside of that and a battery heater, it has been fine.
You should budget around $5k a year for repairs on a car like an S after 8 years. Battery in 2 years; DU in 2 years; something else also.
So far my year 4-8 was like $400 a year. It should have been more like $1-2k a year so I am a few $k in the positive.
An S bought today is probably costing $4k in interest (or opportunity cost) and $12k in excess depreciation (over an old one) a year. So sure - buy a new one. Pay about $50 a day for the privilege. The first year costs are higher - I am just averaging the first 4 years.
Or budget $14 a day to repair the older one.
These decisions are really simple if you use logic and skip the emotional part. But then, you can do better with a used Yaris of course. But arguably, there isn't that much difference between an older S and a newer one - I mean relative to a Yaris.
Now - if the acceleration means a lot to you or the longer range/faster charging - that is different. I would like those 2 things but not enough to give up my stalks....
 
Thanks, i’m actually so excited about the compatibility of this upgrade that I wouldn’t mind if my current battery died just so that I could justify the 100 pack

Just realize that if you're thinking of @wk057's battery replacement, the cost goes way up if your existing battery isn't in good condition. He keeps the old pack and resells or repurposes them for other projects/customers.

And for those keeping track, I was getting 130kw yesterday at a V3 SC with a 15% SOC.
 
Boy I'm getting a lot of questions about this today!

Yes, Jason at wk057 did the upgrade. I'm not going to talk about the cost, since it was a while ago and the battery I got was a little older (2016) with someone less range (about 288). I get about 280 now. But it still is a beast! And charges faster - if the battery is low I can get 130kW and occasionally 140kw.

I too get a lot of wind noise in my P85D, not much I can do about it.
Also did the 100kWh upgrade a while ago on my 85D and still very excited and happy I did it... charging on V3 often keeps power over 130kW until 40%, over 100 when 50%... nominal is 91kWh, shows approx 490km on the dash...highly recommended!
 
I'll be keeping my 2017 past the 8 year, along with upgrading to a 90-100kwh at that time. Battery would be ~1/5 the price of a new car and no 4-8% interest.

Luckily I got the wind noise (driver window) fixed before the 4 year expired. Not sure what they did but it didn't seem easy/cheap.
 
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As a nostalgic former P85DL owner I tend to think keeping it is fine, especially when Jason confirmed you have "one of the good [packs]. Yes, if something goes wrong fixing it will be costly. Thus, replacing it with a new one makes sense if you've a good deal. I'd tend towards an AWD in a new one, rather than Performance, just because of lower costs and still excellent performance. I did replace my P85DL with a Model 3 Performance, to be honest, but...
Performance versions are never justifiable on financial terms unless they're used.
Just now you might well get an excellent deal on a newish used one, and that could be a practical and fun choice too.
 
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Just realize that if you're thinking of @wk057's battery replacement, the cost goes way up if your existing battery isn't in good condition. He keeps the old pack and resells or repurposes them for other projects/customers.

And for those keeping track, I was getting 130kw yesterday at a V3 SC with a 15% SOC.
Ok right, and I just checked the cost to upgrade to 100kw with my currently in good condition 85kw pack and it’s over $23k. I was thinking it would be in the mid teens or something given the trade in of the new pack. And the reason I was thinking that is because tesla replacement cost for a failed p85dL battery is 21k (I got a quote from then out of curiosity if my pack were to fail today and comes with 4yr warr)
 
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