Have you paid out-of-warranty repair costs?

[tliving]

Hi folks, I'm nearing my extended warranty (ESA) decision for the 50K limit (I'm at 48K). Im looking for some actual costs on out-of-warranty repairs for things that would have been covered by an extended warranty. So not things like normal wear and tear, things from accidents/damage etc, but things the ESA would cover. Have you paid for something and had it not covered as your standard warranty expired? If so what was it and what did it cost?

The bet for me is that whatever can fail within the next 50,000 miles for me will cost <= $4,200. If my first 50,000 miles is an indication then its a good bet to skip the ESA. But I really have no information on actual costs for things that could fail that would be covered by a warranty.

Anyone out there with some data?

 

[CHG-ON]

I have no data. But considering how new the car and tech is and the number of issues that people have had, I think I will be going for it.

 

[supratachophobia]

Hi folks, I'm nearing my extended warranty (ESA) decision for the 50K limit (I'm at 48K). Im looking for some actual costs on out-of-warranty repairs for things that would have been covered by an extended warranty. So not things like normal wear and tear, things from accidents/damage etc, but things the ESA would cover. Have you paid for something and had it not covered as your standard warranty expired? If so what was it and what did it cost?

The bet for me is that whatever can fail within the next 50,000 miles for me will cost <= $4,200. If my first 50,000 miles is an indication then its a good bet to skip the ESA. But I really have no information on actual costs for things that could fail that would be covered by a warranty.

Anyone out there with some data?

Lucky dog. I've had just about everything replaced twice. There is no way I would drive this car out of warranty.

 

[JMG]

I mistakenly voted Yes before reading the full post. I paid for a faulty parking sensor that was hit by a rock. If you can, you can remove my vote. Sorry about that!

 

[Tacket]

Only 10k out of warranty. Only thing I would likely have done are some rattles in the cabin. Trying to take care of those myself. Nothing else wrong at the moment.

 

[Rama]

Lucky dog. I've had just about everything replaced twice. There is no way I would drive this car out of warranty.

Can you give some more details? Also, do you have an early VIN? I am very worried about this car becoming a money pit.

 

[dhrivnak]

Yes my charge port needed replaced and cost about $600. Not cheap but not as bad as I feared.

 

[taurusking]

Thank God...no out of warranty costs yet...(knock on wood).

 

[3mp_kwh]

Bump

 

[TaoJones]

I've pretty much concluded, considering carefully the ESA verbiage (it's not a warranty, extended or otherwise) as written, the ESA is just not worth the $4K for what in my case would amount to 18 months of coverage.

Will reach 50,000 miles in about month 18 of ownership. Worst case is I sell the car then, since I really can't justify owning the car a single day out of warranty. They may correct and improve the ESA soon, but I'm not holding my breath. Further, the refusal to provide an ESA, flawed or otherwise, for miles 100,001-150,000 *despite numerous requests from owners and service managers* does not build confidence.

At months 36-39, I do have a GRV option (Guaranteed Resale Value), but it won't be worth much after a $12.5K hit for miles (see fine print in the GRV).

Happily, by months 36-39, there's an outside chance that my Model 3 will be ready (I surmise that mine will be one of the first 10,000-15,000 delivered). If not, there will be plenty of CPO and private market low-mileage Model S available.

Not a bad problem to have, as disappointing as it is. I had originally planned to keep the car for the full 8 years, and invested in good faith in numerous aftermarket improvements to that end. Live and learn.

 

[Hengist]

Just had two: 12 volt battery at 55,000 $400. And this week at 60,500 the DCDC converter fried the air conditioner compressor. So replace both for a $4,100 bill.

 

[TaoJones]

Just had two: 12 volt battery at 55,000 $400. And this week at 60,500 the DCDC converter fried the air conditioner compressor. So replace both for a $4,100 bill.

Bummer - talk about a combination of the frequent and the infrequent.

It would be helpful if, upon request, with NDA as necessary, a top 10 list was provided of components that have failed - per VIN range (every 20,000 or at significant points along the way). With caveats, of course. No guarantees of future performance, blah blah blah.

It stands to reason that assemblies such as door handles would fail less after their redesign, making concerns after a certain VIN range less warranted.

I would be much more interested in not selling my car at 50,000 miles if there were very few or no instances of MCU failure yet, for example.

 

[Souljah]

I'm so ready to pull the trigger on a used MS, but this gives me pause.

 

[RAM_Eh]

Just had two: 12 volt battery at 55,000 $400. And this week at 60,500 the DCDC converter fried the air conditioner compressor. So replace both for a $4,100 bill.

This sounds like the problem I have at the moment. I am just out of warranty, the 12 v went and now my A/C does not work. I had an issue with my A/C last summer and they put in a new compressor.

If the compressor is gone again, is this a recurring issue and should it be covered?

 

[trigga71]

If the compressor is gone again, is this a recurring issue and should it be covered?

Good question. What is the warranty time on some of these repairs?

 

[Gizmotoy]

Just had two: 12 volt battery at 55,000 $400. And this week at 60,500 the DCDC converter fried the air conditioner compressor. So replace both for a $4,100 bill.

Wow. The 12V is $400? I wonder if that's covered under the ESA. Would have to check the language.

Essentially those are getting replaced yearly. I'm on my 3rd and the car's 2.5 years old. That adds up, and might change the buy-ESA/pass on ESA math for someone.

 

[BertL]

Wow. The 12V is $400? I wonder if that's covered under the ESA. Would have to check the language....

I believe you'll find it depends when you purchased the ESA. IIRC 12V is an exclusion in the more recently changed language for owners that didn't buy before the more recent language change, compared to e.g. my contract that I purchased with my new MS back in October '15 where the 12V is not listed in the exclusions, so IMHO would be covered, but would still unfortunately have a $200 incident charge (unlike most other mfgr premium-level extended warranty agreements that have zero deductible, but where a 12V is called out even in the owner's manual as a consumable item like wiper blades -- but the 12V in my MS is not stated like that in my original owner documents, so I technically consider it as part of the vehicle, especially as the 12V specs are not identified, and it's not easily accessible for owner replacement like every other luxury vehicle I've ever owned).

IMHO, MS isn't built to be cheap for those that want it to last forever. It is new tech, from a new company, without a long track record in such things, and unlike every other auto mfgr, Tesla does not (presently) want to make money off of service -- only new car sales which is their primary focus. I also believe most would agree that with Tesla's present policies of providing parts only via SC and authorized repair shops, and without making repair manuals available except in one State that legally requires it, longer-term cost of repair will be a consideration on all MS and MX. Let alone our MS, I wonder with design points like the massive sweep-over MX windshields that require special jigs at SCs just to replace the windshield, how that will also impact longer-term repair and insurance rates. As much as I love my MS, IMHO Tesla just isn't yet at the point of caring a lot about design for long-term (cost-effective) ownership and insurance rates with the things that an owner considers for "total cost of ownership" unless all you're doing is flipping your car every 3-4 years on a lease, or have enough disposable cash so you just don't care and flip vehicles any way... But M3 and MY will hopefully begin to evolve what Tesla has to be concerned with, just as it has with other mfgrs over the years.

 

[Hengist]

Bummer - talk about a combination of the frequent and the infrequent.

It would be helpful if, upon request, with NDA as necessary, a top 10 list was provided of components that have failed - per VIN range (every 20,000 or at significant points along the way). With caveats, of course. No guarantees of future performance, blah blah blah.

It stands to reason that assemblies such as door handles would fail less after their redesign, making concerns after a certain VIN range less warranted.

I would be much more interested in not selling my car at 50,000 miles if there were very few or no instances of MCU failure yet, for example.

Actually my car had an unusual number of issues (VIN 160xx):

• Passenger seat controls not connected
• Window regulators, driver side
• DC converter fried air conditioner compressor
• Charge cable defective
• Charge door magnet unglued
• Charge door not releasing
• Power unit replaced: milling
• Charger module died

(Not in order)

 

[cdf3]

Had to replace the rear camera because it was blurry. Had some water leak issues that needed to be addressed.
Replacing the door handles has been pretty costly.

 

[scaesare]

I just had a charger die @ 35 months & 70K miles.

It would have been about $2,500 to replace. I opted instead to use my convert my car from a dual-charger unit to a single charger car. Total cost was $382 for the labor. But of course now I only have a single charger car.