High maintenance car ever I owned

[nimesh71]

I owned Model S 2013. In my knowledge, it has following items replaced during warranty period:

Entire 60KW battery
MCU
Drive unit

After warranty period,
MCU screen (air bubble issue) replaced: Costing $1000
Passanger side door handle stop working: Costing $350
Driver window open/close motor (regulator) failed: Costing $300
Control low voltage Battery died: Costing $275
Now MCU failed: replacement cost $2200 + taxes

This car is computer on wheels. If MCU is so unreliable, think how much this car going to cost down the road costing you out of your pocket after spending $85000 for this car.

On other hand Lexus that I owned for last 9 years. Total breakdown cost so far $600 for radiator leak besides regular maintenance.

I would suggest stay away from buying Tesla especially after warranty. Please share your thoughts.

 

[ucmndd]

The early cars had some well known problems, and there were a couple sore spots like the MCU all the way up until 2018.

You bought basically the first model year of a new car with a novel drivetrain from essentially a startup company. I’d say to a degree your experience should be expected.

As a counterpoint, my 2016 S75 is approaching 110,000 miles. I just had my very first out of warranty repair cost TODAY, $338 for a new trunk latch and actuator.

 

[Alysashley79]

Is the mileage similar?

I think the newer S have less issues. Where the early adopter cars have more of the kinks that need working out. I have a 2014 p85D. Have had 2/4 door handles replaced. Airbags (recall) replaced. Clovis mounts (tsb) and condenser fan. All under warranty.

outside of warranty I’ve paid for the front wheel well linings that packed snow ripped off last winter. It was $110 I did it myself.

In regards to the door handles. And the actuators. I have a 2015 Toyota Prius. The actuator went out in the passenger side which controls both locking and unlocking the door. And rolling the window up and down. Cost to fix is over $1500. So in that regards Tesla is cheaper.

My warranty will be up May of next year unless I put another 40k on the odo which I don’t see doing with corona. I will 100% be keeping the car post warranty.

 

[MichaelP90DL]

I have to agree with ucmndd.

Tessie is a 2015. By then they apparently had the presenting door handle issue fixed. The battery, MCU and drive units are functioning properly. In my 15 months of ownership, the only thing that's gone south is the 12-volt battery, which was replaced.

 

[whitex]

As a counterpoint, my 2016 S75 is approaching 110,000 miles. I just had my very first out of warranty repair cost TODAY, $338 for a new trunk latch and actuator.

Your MCU will likely be dying soon, which will significantly increase your out of warranty repair cost, immediately pushing you above what you'd be spending on a 2016 Lexus.

A new sore point I think is going to start showing up is the coolant pumps. Since the batterygate, pumps on my 85 run a lot more than they used to, I wonder what their MTBF is if you assuming the new high duty cycle, including when. My 75 is 2018 vintage, so no batterygate yet - pumps are not going round the clock like the 2015 85, yet (also charged to 90%).

 

[David.85D]

This is only true if you haven’t owned a BMW, MINI, Jag, Land Rover, MB, Ferrari, Maserati, Bugatti,

hmmm did I forget anyone?

 

[glide]

Elon’s proclamation that EV’s are virtually maintenance free is a flat out lie.

My P85D has been far and away the most problematic and expensive to repair vehicle I have ever owned. Yes, most repairs have been covered under warranty but I will *never* own one of these things outside the warranty period.

 

[nimesh71]

This is only true if you haven’t owned a BMW, MINI, Jag, Land Rover, MB, Ferrari, Maserati, Bugatti,

hmmm did I forget anyone?

David.85D, I was sold Model S as low maintenance car.

 

[ucmndd]

Your MCU will likely be dying soon, which will significantly increase your out of warranty repair cost, immediately pushing you above what you'd be spending on a 2016 Lexus.

I'm aware, which is why I specifically referenced the MCU in my post.

I'm about 95% certain I'm going to pay the $500 for an eMMC swap, as I don't see a whole lot of value in the MCU2 upgrade for my personal use case.

So I guess that would raise my out of pocket repairs to $838 in 110,000 miles (to be clear, I didn't buy the ESA either).

If I wanted a Lexus, I would have bought one. Toyota is obviously the high water mark for reliability and literally wrote the book on it. Lamenting that literally every other car company on the planet can't meet their reliability benchmarks isn't particularly interesting to me. That said, if Lexus made an interesting/compelling/not-ugly EV, I'd probably be tempted to look at it.

Most importantly, if I wanted the lowest total cost of ownership over 8 years, I'd certainly not buy a Lexus OR a Tesla.

 

[InternetDude]

That’s not bad, I had more troubles with my 2015 85D. In fact I traded it for a Lexus recently with the only regret of not doing that sooner.

I agree, do not own an S out of warranty. X also applies.

 

[EVortex]

My S is a 2018 MCU2 car - no issues at all. Completely satisfied.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

Real simple solution: Buy the ESA.

Either way, it's a win. If you don't have a lot of repairs, Tesla comes out ahead, and you had peace of mind for 2 or 4 years. And when Tesla "comes out ahead," that means they have even more funds to accelerate the transition to sustainable ground transportation. Given that we have one planet, this is a very, very good thing.

If you DO have repairs during the extended coverage period, then you come out ahead in that you didn't spend much on repairs, and Tesla learns more about the failure rate of their components.

So buy the ESA. I will be during the 180-day period post-purchase as I like a discount. If we don't use it or trade the cars in early, we'll get all of our money back. What's not to love?

Extended Service Agreement

 

[TSLA Pilot]

That’s not bad, I had more troubles with my 2015 85D. In fact I traded it for a Lexus recently with the only regret of not doing that sooner.

I agree, do not own an S out of warranty. X also applies.

Yes, we know--you're "the problem." You made a YouTube video no less. Very impressive since your video is based on the impressive sample size of ONE, and Tesla has made over a million cars. And even after getting a number of no-cost repairs well out of warranty, you then showed gratitude by purchasing a massive, GHG-dumping Lexus and then tried out a host of pathetic excuses as to why raping the planet just isn't your problem. When you were called out on it, you didn't have anything to stand on, but, in the end, why care?

By definition, an "externality" is a cost borne by someone else, so give 'em the finger and keep buying that gasoline! Future generations will think very highly of you that you were able to ignore so many damning facts and still look in the mirror:

A warming Arctic could cost the world trillions of dollars

Climate spirals | Climate Lab Book

If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.
--Eldridge Cleaver

 

[sorka]

The early cars had some well known problems, and there were a couple sore spots like the MCU all the way up until 2018.

You bought basically the first model year of a new car with a novel drivetrain from essentially a startup company. I’d say to a degree your experience should be expected.

As a counterpoint, my 2016 S75 is approaching 110,000 miles. I just had my very first out of warranty repair cost TODAY, $338 for a new trunk latch and actuator.

Mine was starting to fail. The motor got slow and very uneven. I bought the part (I think it was like $65) and replaced it myself. So much easier if it's done before it fails with the hatch stuck closed.

 

[sorka]

Real simple solution: Buy the ESA.

Either way, it's a win. If you don't have a lot of repairs, Tesla comes out ahead, and you had peace of mind for 2 or 4 years. And when Tesla "comes out ahead," that means they have even more funds to accelerate the transition to sustainable ground transportation. Given that we have one planet, this is a very, very good thing.

If you DO have repairs during the extended coverage period, then you come out ahead in that you didn't spend much on repairs, and Tesla learns more about the failure rate of their components.

So buy the ESA. I will be during the 180-day period post-purchase as I like a discount. If we don't use it or trade the cars in early, we'll get all of our money back. What's not to love?

Extended Service Agreement

I would have lost my shirt on that since I had nothing fail between 50K and 100K miles.

 

[ucmndd]

I would have lost my shirt on that since I had nothing fail between 50K and 100K miles.

+1, and I'm not in the habit of making my charitable donations to for-profit companies like this guy seems to suggest is some noble pursuit.

 

[EVortex]

I would have lost my shirt on that since I had nothing fail between 50K and 100K miles.

I hope I am as fortunate, but I like the peace of mind of having ESA in case my car does have major problems during my intended long term ownership. I realize the ESA is priced using data from statistical failures and corresponding costs plus profit, but for me the discounted price was worth it because I am risk adverse on things outside of my control. I think everyone has a different take on it, I’m just glad I had a choice.

 

[David.85D]

I have the ESA and it completely paid for itself in the first 6 months after the original warranty ran out. Likely will need more repairs before we get to the 1 year mark post original warranty.

 

[David.85D]

David.85D, I was sold Model S as low maintenance car.

it is! You’re not allowed to do any maintenance

 

[dgpcolorado]

My list is similar to the OP, save for the battery pack replacement, which is bigger than my problems. My impression from others at TMC is that I have been more unlucky than most!

[May 2014 build S-60, purchased CPO with fewer than 7000 miles on it. Currently at 94,800 miles.]

Warranty:

•Door handle: replaced by SLC UT service center because they didn't have parts for a repair. (17,197 miles)
•Failed UMC on road trip: replaced by Tigard OR service center. (28,024 miles)
•Noisy drive unit: replaced by Littleton CO service center (this was an expected repair when I purchased my used car; I got a Q version refurb DU and it has been completely quiet for more miles than the original). (40,260 miles)
•MCU failure: Mobile service didn't have a replacement in stock so they transported my car 300 miles across the mountains to Littleton and dropped off a rental car. New MCU1 with LTE installed. (44,314 miles)
•Dust shield and right front knuckle joint: replaced by Littleton CO service center. (44,314 miles)
•12V battery failure: replaced by mobile service. (45,712 miles)
•Steering bolt recall: replaced by Littleton service center. (55,020 miles)
•Lug nuts on one wheel were loose after an earlier service: took my car all the way to Littleton to make sure no damage had occurred after several thousand miles of driving before I discovered the problem, including freeway driving at 80 mph. No issues found. (57,488 miles)
•Passenger side airbag recall: replaced by mobile service. (91,863 miles)

Out of warranty:

•Door handle (same one as before): repaired by mobile service. (66,824 miles)
•Car dead and unresponsive in garage, charge cable could not be removed: had car transported 300 miles across mountains to Littleton service center. Transport quote from Tesla roadside was $1400 from a local company; they suggested that I contact my insurance company. I did that and State Farm arranged for the flatbed transport at no cost to me because Littleton was the nearest place the car could be serviced. After a wait of a few days during the end of quarter sales push, Littleton got on it the first day of the next quarter and told me that it took them nine hours to find the problem: a corroded wire to my charge port. They replaced the charge port because of cosmetic damage while they were working on it. Service comped me on all but one hour of repair time and they picked up the cost of my rental car to get to Littleton to pick up my car (my S-60 is my only car and I live alone — had to get a neighbor to take me thirty-five miles to pick up the rental). Needless to say, despite the inconvenience and worry I was very pleased with how I was treated by Littleton service. (68,468 miles)
•Door handle: repaired by mobile service. (91,863 miles)

My car has been out of warranty awhile, 38,000 miles and almost two years, but I am happy with it and hope to keep it for many years more. My battery is down about 14% in capacity, to about 179 RM, and that makes some road trip legs difficult. My inclination, however, is to have another battery installed at my expense if the range gets to be too low to be practical. As the Supercharger network increases in density, trip leg length is becoming less of a problem in most places. So far so good.

I do wish I could get the eMMC chip replaced but the idea of taking my dash apart and removing my MCU is way beyond my comfort level, especially after watching the air bag replacement. Still mulling it over, however. Tempted to make a road trip to Orange County and just drop my car off with @TonyT and rent a car until it can be fixed. It would be worth the peace-of-mind!