Article states M3 maintenance costs highest

[Bad Horse]

Over time brake fluid takes on water and becomes corrosive. You can change it or you can leave it alone and let it ruin your brake lines and other components along with the greatly degraded performance you get with old fluid that doesn't work as well as it should.

I know many, MANY people who have 10+ year old vehicles that have never changed the brake fluid. Do their brakes "work fine"? It's subjective. The pedal fade and poor performance would scare the crap out of me but they seem fine with planning their stops 10 seconds in advance. They also might be surprised when they eventually have to replace the brake lines and other things due to skimping on a simple preventative.

I don't disagree that you shouldn't change it, just the time table is far too much. There is a big difference between every 2/3 years and every 10+/never.

Basically I have had my brake fluid checked every time I have gotten new brakes, which is twice over the 10 going on 11 years of owning my G6. Given that I drive around 10k miles/year it ends up nicely where the brakes need replaced at the right time, so might as well do it all in one shot. Going out of the way to just change the brake fluid is, not stupid, but overkill given the amount of time most drivers go between having the brakes themselves replaced.

 

[DR61]

Brake fluid that has not been regularly changed can easily boil on steep grades that require frequent brake applications. This is primarily due to water absorption, which is a function of time and humidity. 3 years is the maximum I will let a street car go before changing. For a road race car it is changed before every race weekend.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

I don't necessarily agree with the conclusions, but the quoted data makes the point :
Tesla Model 3 Maintenance Costs May Be Higher Than ICE Cars | Torque News

Now, while I don't have to follow Tesla's recommended maintenance schedule, why do they set themselves up for an article like this?

Cause they have obviously never owned a BMW M3 out of warranty.

This is Clickety Bait Crap. They left out changing the air in tires too.

 

[JeffK]

My experience with newer generation Japanese cars is that they are quite reliable and that it would take something like a grenaded transmission or engine for it to have the kind of high service costs that Tesla is asking for with their regularly scheduled maintenance.

Many of the higher end vehicles from japanese car manufacturers do have prepaid maintenance plans which differ from Tesla's by only around $150/yr over four years.

 

[Krazaak]

It doesn't sound to me like this comparison has anything to do with maintenance costs for ICE vehicles or EVs, but more that a car with the first few years of maintenance included in the sticker price costs less to maintain over those years than a car that doesn't include the maintenance. If the Model 3 started at $36,675 and included the first 3 years of maintenance, then the argument as presented would be void. Comparing the value of two vehicles over 3-4 years of ownership by including maintenance into the equation makes sense, but that maintenance isn't free, it's either baked in the MSRP or it isn't. If you want to actually compare the maintenance costs for ICE vehicles and EVs, then you should be comparing the costs of the services being performed.

 

[TimM.]

You are mixing up two different things, one is the manufacturer recommended maintenance on the vehicle. The other is the service adds that the dealer often tries to pack in and do on the car when it's there for an oil change.

I'm not mixing them up.. one is an analogy for the other.

Take the case of transmission fluid. Most cars call for transmission fluid swaps at around the 4-5 years or 50-60K mark. Does the car "really" need the transmission fluid swapped then? The only way you'd know is to take a sample of the transmission fluid and have it tested. Or you could just swap it as recommended. Or you could just take your chances on destroying a transmission which on some cars costs $3000 or more to fix or replace because you didn't want to do the maintenance.

Totally different type of fluid. Transmission fluid is there to lubricate gears, etc.. not transfer heat. I have geothermal in one of my properties and the antifreeze mixture in the ground loop shouldn't need replacement for 50 years.

 

[Az_Rael]

Sure, you should do it occasionally but changing break fluid every 2-3 years is crazy. For crying out loud the brakes on a Tesla aren't going to be heavily used due to regen

Eh, I have direct experience to the contrary. My 2013 CPO had a mushy brake pedal coming into it's 50K service at 4 years old. I dont know if the prior owner did the 25K service, but if they did, then it had only been 2 years since the last flush and enough condensation had accumulated to affect performance.

Over time brake fluid takes on water and becomes corrosive. You can change it or you can leave it alone and let it ruin your brake lines and other components along with the greatly degraded performance you get with old fluid that doesn't work as well as it should.

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