Are replacement 12v batteries covered by any warranty?

[tallypwner]

Long story short my car started having voltage errors out of the blue about a year ago. Car has been gently driven, carefully charged, rarely supercharged over the years.

Paid a fortune to tow it 200 miles to Tesla service center. They charged me $15k+ for a new battery after not figuring out what was wrong and replaced the 12v battery.

Went to the SC and got the car home. It died the next day more voltage errors. Again with the towing. SC has had the car about 2+ months at this point trying to figure out what's wrong and replacing things and charging me a lot for it.

Got the car again. Seems to work for about 6 months! yay.

Now getting voltage errors again and car didn't want to go into drive. Car sat for a couple days and now will drive again but I'm scared it'll breakdown somewhere at a bad time.

Sent in a mobile service ticket. They told me to tow the car to SC again which I'm not going to do.

Then said they'd send a technician to replace the 12v battery again for $500.

Shouldn't all this be covered by a warranty of some sort?

How are they not able to diagnose and fix whatever problem I have? It seems like their default is just to replace batteries and charge a fortune and shrug. It's really bizarre to me how they can't actually figure out what the real problems are and fix them.

Am I screwed and just need to pay $500 for another wild random battery replacement and just expect more failures frequently?

2013 P85+ 51k miles great condition otherwise.

 

[DerbyDave]

I believe any warranty on the 12 volt battery, assuming it is not a "Tesla" brand battery, would be between you and the battery manufacturer, just like if you had a battery replaced on a normal car by Autozone, or the local dealer's service department. The service people generally don't warranty a battery made by someone else.

 

[tallypwner]

12v battery was replaced by Tesla at SC. I don't know exactly what they put in but I assume it's OEM. Then again, Tesla does some random crazy stuff at service centers. They once replaced my entire dash to a different styled one without telling me. They also broke my parking sensors and badly scratched my rear bumper without telling me. It seems very very sloppy in my experience.

 

[DerbyDave]

Ask them what the warranty is on the battery they replaced. I am sure it is not a Tesla battery.

 

[tallypwner]

They've replaced the 12v battery 2 times in the past 2 years. I'm not sure why it keeps failing and why they can't seem to fix it. It's a very expensive repair. And when it fails it bricks the car and leaves me stranded or worse. What a silly and major failure on Tesla's part.

Has anyone had experiences with replacement 12v batteries quickly failing and if there were any warranty?

 

[Tam]

They've replaced the 12v battery 2 times in the past 2 years. I'm not sure why it keeps failing and why they can't seem to fix it. It's a very expensive repair. And when it fails it bricks the car and leaves me stranded or worse. What a silly and major failure on Tesla's part.

Has anyone had experiences with replacement 12v batteries quickly failing and if there were any warranty?

1) Do you plug your car in when not driving?

2) Parts warranty: 1 year or 12,500 miles, whichever first.

 

[DerbyDave]

Except for the following:
Exclusions
This Tesla Parts, Body & Paint Limited Warranty does not cover:
• Parts not purchased directly from Tesla; and,
• Non-Tesla Parts including tires

 

[kpanda17]

12v battery was replaced by Tesla at SC. I don't know exactly what they put in but I assume it's OEM. Then again, Tesla does some random crazy stuff at service centers. They once replaced my entire dash to a different styled one without telling me. They also broke my parking sensors and badly scratched my rear bumper without telling me. It seems very very sloppy in my experience.

Tesla says best part is no part
For their service center, best service is no service
Crazy

 

[tallypwner]

My car doesn't sit for long periods of time. I drive only a little bit everyday and slow charge at home every 2 weeks or so to 80-90%. I've babied the car.

I assume when Tesla SC installs a battery it's a "Tesla" part. I've never heard of any mechanic shop having no warranty on the work they perform or the parts they install unless they're super shady.

 

[DerbyDave]

My car doesn't sit for long periods of time. I drive only a little bit everyday and slow charge at home every 2 weeks or so to 80-90%. I've babied the car.

I assume when Tesla SC installs a battery it's a "Tesla" part. I've never heard of any mechanic shop having no warranty on the work they perform or the parts they install unless they're super shady.

No, Tesla does not make 12 V batteries, or tires, or windshield wipers. You have the manufacturer's warranty for the battery. Find out who this is, and look up any warranty. This is between you and the battery manufacturer. Tesla only installs the battery, like they would install your Goodyear or Michelin Tires.

 

[tallypwner]

I doubt 2 completely different 12v batteries would be faulty within a 2 year period. Too coincidental. Calling out Tesla on this one. Something is wrong on their end clearly.

Especially considering they replaced the entire HV battery and 12v battery and car bricked the next day and is now having issues less than 6 months later.

This isn't a 12v battery manufacturer error. It's 100% Tesla error.

 

[DerbyDave]

I doubt 2 completely different 12v batteries would be faulty within a 2 year period. Too coincidental. Calling out Tesla on this one. Something is wrong on their end clearly.

Especially considering they replaced the entire HV battery and 12v battery and car bricked the next day and is now having issues less than 6 months later.

This isn't a 12v battery manufacturer error. It's 100% Tesla error.

I don't disagree, but I guess you could ask Tesla to replace your new Michilen tires after the Tesla alignment was out, and wore out your tires, but I wouldn't count on it happening. The problem still needs to be fixed, likely by Tesla.

 

[tallypwner]

I denied their $500 estimate to replace the battery without inspecting the car.

We'll see what happens tomorrow when they're supposed to show up.

 

[Big Dog]

$500 seems pricey. The 12v on my model 3 costs $125 installed by mobile team.

 

[RV8R]

I had mobile service come to rotate tires and replace the 12v battery after nearly five years use. The battery price, installed, is $251. When I looked at the manufacture date on the replacement, it was a one year old this month (08/22). I refused it and the only other one he had was also one year old. I have rescheduled the replacement and will not accept more than 90 old battery date.

 

[kpanda17]

I had mobile service come to rotate tires and replace the 12v battery after nearly five years use. The battery price, installed, is $251. When I looked at the manufacture date on the replacement, it was a one year old this month (08/22). I refused it and the only other one he had was also one year old. I have rescheduled the replacement and will not accept more than 90 old battery date.

Good for you!!
How much is the tire rotation?
I would have done the air filters by mobile service at the same time

Btw, for the air filter change by mobile, do we have to buy them ahead of time?

 

[tallypwner]

Technician found a loose battery cable and crossthreaded nut on the fuse box. SC likely overtightened the nut and destroyed the fuse box, ruining the 12v battery. Just another flub up from the SC it seems. They also scratched up my rear bumper, as well as other scratches all over the car, and broke my parking sensors somehow.

So, Tesla is trying to find a fusebox and 12v battery. They're going to cut the old one out and see if that fixes the issue.

No ETA but we'll see!

Everyone always recommends I just trade in the car for a new one. These old ones are very difficult to work on and it's hard to get parts for them. If Tesla would offer me an amazing trade in deal I'd do it but they keep lowballing me and won't negotiate.

They did say they approved a local bodyshop recently so I'm going to see if they can repair the bumper and fix the parking sensors maybe.

 

[kpanda17]

Per highland rhe M3 inventory is dropping
This should help your trade in value as M3s become rare
Timing will be key

 

[Lloyd]

Once you have the 12V battery replaced, Tesla will warranty it for 30 months. I just had one replaced by mobile service $119 total in 2018 model 3. Great experience.

 

[Kairide]

Had the 12v replaced on my MS a couple months ago via mobile service. Cost is $233 for the battery and labor.
The battery has a 12 month warranty from Tesla since they installed it.