Hawaii Tesla Owners

[spleen]

We have decided to keep our 4 year anywhere service plan for now to keep our options open. The promised hardware upgrades included in the 4 year plan are intriguing - it's not quite clear in what sort of upgrades will be included but again, we thought best to keep our options open. If nothing else, having a ranger (Barry?) come out to service the car instead of having to bring the car to them is worth a lot to my parents.

 

[solar powered]

Nanimac, Papafox, spleen:
Thanks for your input.
Nanimac, an 18 month cycle would result in a cost of $600 + $600 = $1200 for 2 inspections within a 3 yr period. The pro rata service plan rate of $475/yr would be $1425 for 3 inspections within a 3 yr period. That's kinda close.
Papafox, good point about the Model S not having a track record. A friend of mine that did a factory pickup was told that the center screen cost $8,000. That made me decide to definitely get the extended warranty, since I do plan on keeping it more than 4 yrs. It's the service plan that makes me wonder. As Nanimac pointed out, there is not much to service and the warranties are supposed to cover defects.
spleen, do you know whether those that pay $600 for each inspection would also get the hardware updates? I'm not sure whether the Ownership Experience staff are able to clearly distinguish these little nuances.

 

[Jkam]

Jkam - where did you get the work done, and at what cost. I have a similar problem. Thanks

I'm sure most people with a Model S have some sort of curb rash, especially if you have the 21" tires.

I got it done through a friend at the Tony Group Autoplex in Waipio. I asked him if it is ok to give out his contact info and if he's willing to do the work for other Tesla owners. He said yes. If you are interested you can call Gary at 680-7188 during business hours. All four of my wheels had some varying degree of damage. Depending how bad the damage is, it cost roughly $200 per wheel.

FYI, right now the Tesla Service Center doesn't do it's own wheel repair. They farm it out to a subcontractor. Luke at the Tesla Service Center saw my original curb rash and then the repair. He commented whoever did the work did a good job because some guys are iffy.

I'm having my friend at Tony Group Autoplex do the bodywork on a nasty door ding someone left on my car. I'll post some before/after pictures when it gets done. They looked at my ding and said it shouldn't be a problem. Hopefully it comes out good.

 

[spleen]

Nanimac, Papafox, spleen:
Thanks for your input.
Nanimac, an 18 month cycle would result in a cost of $600 + $600 = $1200 for 2 inspections within a 3 yr period. The pro rata service plan rate of $475/yr would be $1425 for 3 inspections within a 3 yr period. That's kinda close.
Papafox, good point about the Model S not having a track record. A friend of mine that did a factory pickup was told that the center screen cost $8,000. That made me decide to definitely get the extended warranty, since I do plan on keeping it more than 4 yrs. It's the service plan that makes me wonder. As Nanimac pointed out, there is not much to service and the warranties are supposed to cover defects.
spleen, do you know whether those that pay $600 for each inspection would also get the hardware updates? I'm not sure whether the Ownership Experience staff are able to clearly distinguish these little nuances.

The details that Tesla has released about how the 4 year service plan works now is frustratingly vague. I would assume that if you were paying for $600 for each inspection regularly, you would probably get some upgrades but nobody knows for sure. At this time, it's hard to make a recommendation for people to get the plan unless the Ranger service part of it is attractive.

 

[gmtom1]

This discussion on the service plan has raised some additional questions in my mind as I get ready to pull the trigger and order my MS. I was not planning to get the service package, thinking that any problems would be covered by the warranty, and I have no intention of keeping it beyond the 3-year guarantee period for the Tesla financing offer.

I'm intrigued by @Spleen's comment - do you think the service package includes future hardware "upgrades" that occur? It's hard to justify $600/year for a car that even Tesla claims has low maintenance needs, unless that $600 buys you some other benefit besides Ranger service.

If so, that might make the cost a bit more appealing, as I do believe there are several areas that the MS is missing compared to the market - auto cruise control, LTE connectivity, parking sensors among my top three.

Also, sorry, I'm confused by the comment earlier re: $475 pro-rata service? I thought the service plan was flat at $600/year?

 

[StephenM]

...A friend of mine that did a factory pickup was told that the center screen cost $8,000.

Whoa. Let's put an end to that rumor right there. It's a beautiful 17" touchscreen from Nvidia, but there's no way it costs $8k. No more than a few hundred bucks at cost for sure.

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I'm also of the opinion that if you're driving relatively low miles that you don't have to service as frequently.
I signed up for the 4 year pre-paid plan before Elon's announcement that not having a service agreement would NOT affect your warranty. I almost canceled to get my pre-paid back but just kept it in place, but I'm pretty sure I would have just done the pay as you go if his announcement came before I paid though.

For those looking for an alternative for rim repair, I used the following shop:
Alloy wheel Repair Specialists of Hawaii
94-1388 Moaniani St. #322
Waipahu, HI 96797
Tel: 808-391-8633
[email protected]

They charged me $160 for one rim and gave me a break for paying cash.

Everything was great except ONE pretty big thing, so buyer beware. I took pictures of the repair, and noticed that there was a gash in the tire. The technician said his machine presses against the tire to give room for him to work on the damaged rim, and it caused this gash. They didn't disclose it to me, and then brushed it off like it's not a big deal when I brought it up to them, so that was a big minus in the overall experience. If this damage would occur everytime he tries to repair our 21" wheels, of course it would not be recommended, but if it was just a one time mistake then the job on the rim itself is flawless. I can't even tell where the damage was.

Left: before repair
Middle: after repair
Right: Close up of damage to tire.

 

[spleen]

This discussion on the service plan has raised some additional questions in my mind as I get ready to pull the trigger and order my MS. I was not planning to get the service package, thinking that any problems would be covered by the warranty, and I have no intention of keeping it beyond the 3-year guarantee period for the Tesla financing offer.

I'm intrigued by @Spleen's comment - do you think the service package includes future hardware "upgrades" that occur? It's hard to justify $600/year for a car that even Tesla claims has low maintenance needs, unless that $600 buys you some other benefit besides Ranger service.

If so, that might make the cost a bit more appealing, as I do believe there are several areas that the MS is missing compared to the market - auto cruise control, LTE connectivity, parking sensors among my top three.

Also, sorry, I'm confused by the comment earlier re: $475 pro-rata service? I thought the service plan was flat at $600/year?

Details here: Tesla Service | Tesla Motors

$475 a year is the 4 year plan without unlimited Ranger service (prepaid) = $1900
$600 a year is the 4 year plan with unlimited Ranger service (prepaid) = $2400

Officially, this is what the page says:
"Tesla Service includes
Annual inspection (or every 12,500 miles)
Replacement parts like brake pads and windshield wipers (excluding tires)
24 hour roadside assistance
System monitoring
Remote diagnostics
Hardware upgrades"

As to what exactly the hardware upgrades would include, nobody knows as of now. LTE connectivity might be a possibility as an included hardware upgrade (even though Tesla has yet to decide what to do about the connectivity packages and assumedly, the LTE connection costs would be more than the 3G costs). However, bigger hardware upgrades such as adaptive cruise control, parking sensors and the like are likely to be additional cost upgrades (much like the paid upgrades available for the Roadster) - I would be (pleasantly) shocked if they were included in the hardware upgrades covered by the service agreement.

 

[StephenM]

As to what exactly the hardware upgrades would include, nobody knows as of now. LTE connectivity might be a possibility as an included hardware upgrade (even though Tesla has yet to decide what to do about the connectivity packages and assumedly, the LTE connection costs would be more than the 3G costs). However, bigger hardware upgrades such as adaptive cruise control, parking sensors and the like are likely to be additional cost upgrades (much like the paid upgrades available for the Roadster) - I would be (pleasantly) shocked if they were included in the hardware upgrades covered by the service agreement.

Parking sensors are a must on such a large luxury auto and I'm pretty sure they will roll this out. Hopefully it would be free as it should have been included to begin with, but we shall see.

 

[Akikiki]

Reference Hardware Upgrades: So far TM and EM have lived up to everything I thought and hoped they would do. Sure, sure, I paid an arm and leg for the car. I'd do it again in a second. Someone called this car a Life Changing Event. I believe it is. It sure perked me up. So, I will keep the faith, baby; and trust in TM. I too bought the 4 year Service Package (without Ranger) before his announcement. So, I will take my chances that its going to be worth it. Why not, everything else has been so far.

Yes, I'd enjoy having those toys everyone is talking about; the adaptive cc, the parking sensors and other stuff that I don't know even exists yet. Yep, more stuff is good. EM and TM so far have always done "the right thing". I want to believe if they put the stuff on later cars, they have in mind retro-fitting those that delivered earlier. So, I will speculate and guess what's next. I will try to rationalize that's its in TM's interest to make stuff available to me, if for no other reason than -- its fun to do so. Bottom line, I've bought the Service Package and good or bad, I will not complain if I don't think I didn't get my money's worth.

Here's an interesting thought, what if one of the hardware upgrades turned out to be the Drop-in Center Console? Hmmm.

 

[solar powered]

spleen
I was told on multiple occasions that roadside assistance (including towing up to 50 miles) was already included as part of the base warranty for the 1st 4 years. No one at Tesla has been able to clarify whether that would be extended if one purchased the extended warranty. I presume that even without the service plan, any breakdown would trigger remote diagnostics to fix the problem and determine whether it was a warranty-eligible repair or excluded condition.

 

[spleen]

spleen
I was told on multiple occasions that roadside assistance (including towing up to 50 miles) was already included as part of the base warranty for the 1st 4 years. No one at Tesla has been able to clarify whether that would be extended if one purchased the extended warranty. I presume that even without the service plan, any breakdown would trigger remote diagnostics to fix the problem and determine whether it was a warranty-eligible repair or excluded condition.

Think you're right. Some of these things may be covered as part of the warranty and not necessarily limited to the service plan.

 

[Jkam]

For those looking for an alternative for rim repair, I used the following shop:
Alloy wheel Repair Specialists of Hawaii
94-1388 Moaniani St. #322
Waipahu, HI 96797
Tel: 808-391-8633
[email protected]

They charged me $160 for one rim and gave me a break for paying cash.

Everything was great except ONE pretty big thing, so buyer beware. I took pictures of the repair, and noticed that there was a gash in the tire. The technician said his machine presses against the tire to give room for him to work on the damaged rim, and it caused this gash. They didn't disclose it to me, and then brushed it off like it's not a big deal when I brought it up to them, so that was a big minus in the overall experience. If this damage would occur everytime he tries to repair our 21" wheels, of course it would not be recommended, but if it was just a one time mistake then the job on the rim itself is flawless. I can't even tell where the damage was.

FWIW, when I got my wheels repaired there were no gash marks on the tires.

 

[gmtom1]

Re: Service plans -

After re-reading the TM website info on the service plan offerings, it seems like you can opt for pay as you go at $600/service, and no where on the site does it say that hardware upgrades are limited to only prepaid/multi-year plans. Therefore, I think I'm going to stick with pay as you go once I get my MS, and only get the service if necessary for something not covered by warranty and/or there are significant hardware upgrades.

 

[solar powered]

gmtom1:
As nanimac pointed out to me earlier, here is the list of services provided for the inspection of your Model S: Model S Annual Service Checklist.

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Everyone:
My insurance agent asked whether we would be responsible for the car during shipping from the mainland to Hawaii. My belief is that we are not responsibile until we drive the car out of the service center, but cannot find any documentation of the sort. Also, no one answers or returns calls at the ownership experience number since late last year. For those of you that paid prior to ocean shipment of your car, what were you able to conclude?

 

[StephenM]

gmtom1:
As nanimac pointed out to me earlier, here is the list of services provided for the inspection of your Model S: Model S Annual Service Checklist.

- - - Updated - - -

Everyone:
My insurance agent asked whether we would be responsible for the car during shipping from the mainland to Hawaii. My belief is that we are not responsibile until we drive the car out of the service center, but cannot find any documentation of the sort. Also, no one answers or returns calls at the ownership experience number since late last year. For those of you that paid prior to ocean shipment of your car, what were you able to conclude?

You are not responsible for the vehicle until they deliver it to you. As to where that is documented I'm not sure, but I'm sure you're not responsible til then.

 

[spleen]

Got the car Glare 5 year treated today through 20/20 Auto Detailing today. They're very nice to work with. We shot the breeze and had some Tesla time with them. Car looks gorgeous. Pics here:

 

[Akikiki]

Spleen, Wow !! Looks wonderful.

 

[dsmith2189]

FWIW, when I got my wheels repaired there were no gash marks on the tires.

I think the gashes are extra. But you really need to have them so you can justify the cost of a new tire to match the flawless rims.

- - - Updated - - -

Got the car Glare 5 year treated today through 20/20 Auto Detailing today. They're very nice to work with. We shot the breeze and had some Tesla time with them. Car looks gorgeous.

Mmmmm. looks good, Now I am wondering what the glare treatment would look like with the Xpel PPF on the hood. maybe 20/20 would do both for me...

 

[StephenM]

Spleen. That detail job looks fantastic!! Let us know how well it maintains the shine after a few months of washing. May save me from slaving away at my own car with Zaino products.

 

[RodF]

Saw a silver MS at the Keeaumoku and King car wash today around 12:00. No front license plate. Belong to anyone here?

BTW my first choice was delivery this Saturday, but as of yet they haven't been able to confirm a solid appointment date/time.