Annual Maintenance costs

[HappyHappy]

Hi All,

My car is 4 years old and at approx 50,000 miles, and I'm trying to schedule service. I got back the estimate, and wanted to see if it seems reasonable.

Wheel alignment $210
Wipers $80
Cabin filter $20
Carbon filter $24
Receiver Dryer and Desiccant (Add Refrigerant Part if Needed) $210
MX, CFM, COND, IRD Service Kit $19
Brake Fluid Bleed/Flush $200
Suspension - Front - Check Torque $120
Suspension - Rear - Check Torque $140

What is the MX, CFM, COND, IRD Service Kit? Isn't the brake fluid only tested every 2 years? $200 seems a lot just to test. Also, any idea what the suspension items are for? It's not listed on Tesla's recommended car maintenance schedule. I sent a message through Tesla's app asking about it, but haven't gotten a response yet, so I thought I'd try my luck here. Thanks in advance.

 

[ngng]

Seems reasonable paying shop rate. Whether you "need" any of that? that's up to you. Are you having symptoms that would indicate you need to align your car? Is your AC not cold? Not sure why they are checking suspension torque values...if hardware was torqued correctly you should not need to recheck it.

Personally, I do brake fluid once a year.

 

[Bigriver]

I’m also approaching 4 years and 50,000 miles and recently had some service done. I paid $75 for wiper blades. I thought the cabin filter is the carbon filter…. Here is from my service in March, I think the first price is labor and second is the part.

No recommendation for changing the HEPA filter? That was my priciest item at $220. (Price of the part; labor waived since it was done at same time as 12V battery replacement.)

I bought lifetime alignment at Firestone for around $200 when the car was a year old.

 

[Bigriver]

In addition, this was a list of possible routine maintenance items that my SC had 2 years ago, when I discussed maintenance with them.

 

[Les236]

I just had my 2018 MX100D almost 50,000 miles maintenance completed. Wheel alignment, cabin filter (thought this the carbon filter). They tested the brake fluid and topped it off. Cleaned and lubricated brake pads and calipers, key fob batteries, and a couple other items. When I asked about the HEPA filter they said unless I was running BIOHAZARD mode all of the time, it should last easily 4 years or more.

 

[TigerTan]

My 2016 90D has 71k miles. I took into Tesla and new tried to pay for a service, asked them to service anything it needs. All I got were new wiper blades, service advisor said everything else was good. I had an alignment 6 mo ago and changed my HEPA filter a year ago.

 

[DCGOO]

My 2016 90D has 71k miles. I took into Tesla and new tried to pay for a service, asked them to service anything it needs. All I got were new wiper blades, service advisor said everything else was good. I had an alignment 6 mo ago and changed my HEPA filter a year ago.

“Anything it needs?” How would they know, without you being specific? There are no scheduled requirements.

 

[TigerTan]

“Anything it needs?” How would they know, without you being specific? There are no scheduled requirements.

True there aren’t. I asked about break fluid and the squeaking breaks. They said it was fine. I assumed that they were the experts and would figure it out since it was a Tesla service center. I guess not. I’m not a mechanic so I offered to pay for whatever needed to be done.

 

[aesculus]

True there aren’t. I asked about break fluid and the squeaking breaks. They said it was fine. I assumed that they were the experts and would figure it out since it was a Tesla service center. I guess not. I’m not a mechanic so I offered to pay for whatever needed to be done.

They used to have a scheduled service based on what they thought the car would need and even offered a yearly pre purchase for it. Then decided in hind signt (using analytics?) that the procedures were no longer necessary.

So I would say in this area we were dealing with an unknown but it appears after a number of years we do now know what the service requirements are (at least for the elements that were thought to need service before).

 

[jboy210]

Hi All,

My car is 4 years old and at approx 50,000 miles, and I'm trying to schedule service. I got back the estimate, and wanted to see if it seems reasonable.

Wheel alignment $210
Wipers $80
Cabin filter $20
Carbon filter $24
Receiver Dryer and Desiccant (Add Refrigerant Part if Needed) $210
MX, CFM, COND, IRD Service Kit $19
Brake Fluid Bleed/Flush $200
Suspension - Front - Check Torque $120
Suspension - Rear - Check Torque $140

What is the MX, CFM, COND, IRD Service Kit? Isn't the brake fluid only tested every 2 years? $200 seems a lot just to test. Also, any idea what the suspension items are for? It's not listed on Tesla's recommended car maintenance schedule. I sent a message through Tesla's app asking about it, but haven't gotten a response yet, so I thought I'd try my luck here. Thanks in advance.

A brake fluid bleed/flush is safer since you can't really measure the water intermix in the lines from the reservoir. With a bleed, you attach the supply pump to the reservoir and push new fluid through the lines and then bleed at every caliper to ensure all of the fluid is replaced.

 

[WADan]

Is this true?

Car And Driver Not Happy With Cost Of Tesla Model 3 Maintenance

The publication has been running a Model 3 for nearly 40,000 miles, but it hasn’t found the vehicle as cheap to maintain as expected.

insideevs.com

 

[jboy210]

Is this true?

Car And Driver Not Happy With Cost Of Tesla Model 3 Maintenance

The publication has been running a Model 3 for nearly 40,000 miles, but it hasn’t found the vehicle as cheap to maintain as expected.

insideevs.com

Seems off to me. I have never taken our 3 or X in for any service. If you want to lube the brake calipers pins you can do it yourself with brake spray. But I have never heard any chatter from the calipers on either of our vehicles that would have had me reaching for brake spray and pulling a wheel.

More importantly to me is that C&D seems to be nitpicking. $300 over 3 years is tiny in comparison to the "fuel" (gas or electricity) for the vehicle. And if you compare the fuel, the EV wins by a large margin. Especially for those that charge mostly at home.

I don't know for sure but suspect that this "study" is driven by C&D trying to appease their advertisers. Look through one of their magazines and see how many ads are from Tesla or for Tesla add ons versus ICE vehicles and ICE add-ons and make up your own decision.

 

[Sandiegodoug]

Other than tires, haven’t spent a cent on maintenance on my 1/18 rwd m3. Haven’t even spent a penny on electricity, completely powered by my solar. (My house and pool to)

 

[ngng]

Seems off to me. I have never taken our 3 or X in for any service. If you want to lube the brake calipers pins you can do it yourself with brake spray. But I have never heard any chatter from the calipers on either of our vehicles that would have had me reaching for brake spray and pulling a wheel.

More importantly to me is that C&D seems to be nitpicking. $300 over 3 years is tiny in comparison to the "fuel" (gas or electricity) for the vehicle. And if you compare the fuel, the EV wins by a large margin. Especially for those that charge mostly at home.

I don't know for sure but suspect that this "study" is driven by C&D trying to appease their advertisers. Look through one of their magazines and see how many ads are from Tesla or for Tesla add ons versus ICE vehicles and ICE add-ons and make up your own decision.

lubricating the brakes aren't difficult, but it isn't just "spraying with brake spray". or, alternatively...use your brakes so they don't seize up in the first place!! i guess i drive too fast because i routinely need more braking than regen can provide.

 

[jboy210]

lubricating the brakes aren't difficult, but it isn't just "spraying with brake spray". or, alternatively...use your brakes so they don't seize up in the first place!! i guess i drive too fast because i routinely need more braking than regen can provide.

You can pull the pads and put high temp lube on the backs if you want, is that what you are referring to? I am referring to putting silicon spray on the pins and maybe calipers.

Also, I find I need to use the brakes some every morning when the car is cold. Especially in our 2018 X which did not really support one pedal braking very well when cold because of lack of regen.

 

[dmurphy]

Seems off to me. I have never taken our 3 or X in for any service. If you want to lube the brake calipers pins you can do it yourself with brake spray. But I have never heard any chatter from the calipers on either of our vehicles that would have had me reaching for brake spray and pulling a wheel.

That’s more location-based than anything. Here in the northeast, where our roads are salted In the winter, brake cleaning and lining is likely a more frequent occurrence than it would be in Norcal. I had it done on my 3 in the early summer - they were replacing the upper control arms anyway so I figured “while it’s on the lift ……”