Article on void Tesla warrantly 20 June 2014

[Teo]

Hi,

The following article says:
20 June 2014: Is Tesla Model S Really A Quality Green Car? - Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) | Seeking Alpha

Model S's annual maintenance package costs $600, and it is not optional. If you do not take it, the warranty is voided.

It refers to an older article as the source:
8 Oct 2012 Tesla Model S Service Contract: $600/Year, Or Warranty Voided

The 2012 article on Greencarreports was written by David Noland. In the comments of that article some commentators say what Tesla is doing is illegal and Tesla wouldn't do that. But then Noland posts a few quotes from George Blankenship who was Vice President of Sales & Ownership Experience of Tesla at that time and until November 2013.

George Blankenship's blog post:

"You will forfeit your warranty if you do not do Annual or 12,500 mile Inspections, when due. You will forfeit your warranty if you take your Model S to an independent shop for vehicle service and/or repairs. Your car needs to be serviced by a current, Tesla Certified mechanic to make sure it is working properly and to maintain the warranty on your car."

The quote is not actually from a blog post. It is a from a forum message posted in this forum. Here is the link:
Warranty/Servicing - official Tesla responses (incl GeorgeB) - Page 3

GeorgeB's forum title still shows "Tesla Motors VP, Sales & Ownership Experience" which should probably be updated now.

In the comments of the 2012 article the Senior Editor John Voelcker says they have contacted Tesla for clarification but Tesla didn't respond. Therefore there is no reason to change the article. This whole thing looks like a mess. What is the latest situation? Do you have to do the annual servicing at a Tesla service center or Tesla certified mechanic to keep the warranty valid?

Elon said you don't need to buy the $600 a year annual service for the warranty to remain valid but this could still mean you have to have the car serviced at a Tesla certified mechanic or the warranty will be void. Is that the case? Is that how it works with other car companies? Is there any official statement on this? I checked the PDF document for warranty but it doesn't mention or clarify the annual service issue one way or another.
PDF file: http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/de...ts/model_s_quick_guide_-_na_rev_d_for_web.pdf

I think this is what Tesla should do:
1. Respond to David Noland from Greencarreports and clarify the issue.
2. Contact Seekingalpha and have them update their article.
3. Add information to the PDF document about warranty to make it clear whether annual inspection by Tesla service center or certified technician is needed or not needed for the warranty to remain valid.
4. Post a blog post to make things clear.

 

[Right_Said_Fred]

You're quoting a website where anyone who has a short (or long) position in Tesla can post anything they want, true or untrue, to influence the stock. And you are quoting a 2012 (!) article and want Tesla to respond to that article in 2014. Not the most reliable and up-to-date sources.

Not having your car serviced will NOT get your warranty voided!

I'm not sure what happens to the warranty if you have your car serviced somewhere else than at a SC. But it would be an idiotic thing to do (except for things like tires). Only Tesla-trained mechanics have the expertise to work on the battery, drivetrain, control screen, software and other unique features of the Model S. Someone else can only screw it up. I actually hope Tesla voids the warranty if an unqualified person starts messing with the car.

 

[Teo]

I was able to find a blog post by Elon that says the following:

However, even if you never bring in the car, your warranty is still valid.
link: Creating the World’s Best Service and Warranty Program | Blog | Tesla Motors

So no need for my suggestion #4 I wrote above. However the same blog post also says:

$600 annual service now optional with no effect on warranty

and

As such, we are comfortable making the annual checkup entirely optional.

It was posted on 26 April 2013. This clearly shows that George Blankenship's statements was correct at the time. This explains why Tesla didn't respond to Greencarreports. Obviously they couldn't because what Greencarreports said was true. This would make the story even bigger than it was. I think after the change Tesla should have contacted them and tell them they changed the requirement.

I contacted the press department of Tesla and linked them to this topic. I don't think either source is to blame. I blame Tesla for not contacting Greencarreports after 26 April 2013.

 

[SFOTurtle]

Anyone who has done a minimal amount of research on this issue in the past year can easily determine that there is no need to purchase annual maintenance (or any maintenance) to maintain the warranty. This can be verified by doing any minimal amount of research online (and reading articles from Seeking Alpha is not research) or calling any Tesla store. In short, this has been a non-topic for more than a year now. Anyone seeking advice on the car by reading Seeking Alpha must have some other motivation.

 

[sbronle1]

My question is what is the best thing to do? I live in Florida so no extended warrantees are legal at the present time. My understanding was that annual maintenance consists of rotating and aligning tires, changing the A/C filter, and topping off the windshield wiper fluid. It may possibly include battery change for the FOB. Not sure about the wiper blades. I have also seen a thread talking about an oil change in some part of the drive train every 130,000 miles. With the judicious use of regenerative braking, I cannot imagine needing new brake pads for years or possible never in my lifetime. So what exactly does this annual $600 maintenance fee cover and does it have to paid for in advance? Enlighten me Tesla Forum, please. The SC here in Tampa assured me that the 4 year or 50,000 mile warrantee is bumper to bumper and does not require annual maintenance. Looking forward to the answers.

 

[Teo]

SFOTurtle,

The only reason I opened this topic is because the Seekingalpha article appeared on Google news on the first page when I searched for Tesla this morning. Here is a screenshot: http://oi59.tinypic.com/dgt4hu.jpg

Because this is the news section of this forum it is normal to talk about what goes on in the current news. I'm a Tesla fan and I'm interested what the news says about Tesla. It doesn't mean I "must have some other motivation".

I try to correct mistakes about Tesla when I see them in blogs or news sites. Many sites use a comment management system called disqus. The following link shows my disqus profile where you can read all messages I wrote in various sites to support Tesla. I also write a lot of messages in youtube comments trying to correct mistakes.

Disqus – Teo

 

[stopcrazypp]

This whole thing has been discussed a while back. What George says is true. If you don't do maintenance, the automaker has the right to void your warranty. This is true for every vehicle out there. The subtly is that Tesla can't require you to buy that $600 annual maintenance package specifically as condition, as that violates warranty law (no warranties can be tied directly to service packages). George made it sound like the warranty was tied to the $600 package, but that is not true (as that would be illegal). However, given there is no third party that can do that annual maintenance, in practical terms you are forced to go with the Tesla option for now (as it's the only option at this point).

However, Elon's blog removed the requirement of doing any sort of annual check up, so all of these points are moot now. You do not need to do any sort of maintenance for the warranty to remain in effect.

 

[Matias]

" However, even if you never bring in the car, your warranty is still valid"
Source
http://www.teslamotors.com/service#/service-plans

 

[glhs272]

You do not need to do the annual service in order for the warranty to be valid. I know this for a fact. I had my drive unit replaced at 22,000 miles for noise, sans annual service.

but they do strongly recommend it. I eventually did the annual, because they would do an alignment and I wanted it to get done at least once. With my 30,000+ annual usage, I am not sure I will be doing it again as the warranty will be expired by then anyway.

 

[evme]

No need to do annual service to keep warranty. As for other shops doing work on the car. Musk in Norway clarified that if you have a non-Tesla certified 3rd party shop (Tesla has a certification program for 3rd party shops) do work on the car. If they damage something, that something is obviously not covered by warranty. But that does not void the warranty on the entire car, only on the part they damage/modify.

 

[Teo]

glhs272,

You might be aware of this but I wanted to mention it anyway in case you are not or in case other users might not know this, you can extend your warranty for a further 4 years for $4000. Confusingly enough it is called 'Extended Service Agreement' even though it has nothing to do with servicing.

Look for the $4000 'Extended Service Agreement' (Warranty Extension) on this page:
Tesla Service | Tesla Motors

There is a 4 year service plan for $1900 and there is a 4+4 extended version of the service plan (not to be confused with the $4000 warranty extension that is called 'Extended Service Agreement') for $3800.

To clarify even further:
4 years warranty is included in the purchase price
4 years servicing is $1900
4+4 years servicing is $3800
4+4 years warranty is $4000

If you want 8 years warranty and 8 years servicing it would cost $3800+$4000= $7800. I think because many owners keep their cars for longer than 4 years, the warranty extension is more important. As you have experienced with the drive train replacement, there can be costly repairs. If the same happens on 5.th year, you will have to pay from your own pocket even if you have the $3800 service plan. But if you have the $4000 warranty extension, you wouldn't pay anything.

A while ago I started the following discussion about the same topic:
Extended warranty is hidden so well it almost doesnt exist | Forums | Tesla Motors

By the way, in case somebody from Tesla is reading this, that confusion about warranty extension is another subject Tesla can fix by changing the name for warranty extension from "Extended Service Agreement" to something else that doesn't include the word 'service'.

 

[yobigd20]

The author of the article has disclosed he is short tesla. His objective is to trash tesla as much as possible because he is probably so far in the hole he's going to lose his house. If the article influences anyone to sell stock or short stock, the author makes money. This type of trash talk when you are shorting the stock I thought was very illegal. It's no different than buying stock of a crap business then posting articles talking about how great it it when it's all made up *******. Then if it influences anyone to buy, the stock raises in price and then the author sells making money. That is illegal. Shorting the stock and then trash talking it is the same thing. That is also illegal. This author clearly has an agenda because he's shorting the stock so basically everything in the article is made up ******* to make the author money.