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How reliable is a Tesla?

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Hi everyone.
I'm new to this forum and English is a foreign language for me,so I hope I didn't misunderstand any of the rules here.

Recently I started a new business and finally have the $$$ for a new car.I currently drive a 84' BMW E30 325i as my Daily (my first car).It's very reliable if maintained because it's mostly mechanical and built like a tank...and the pedal to the floor engine sound is great :love:.But It's time for a new silent and reliable Daily.After watching some reviews of a P85D (Holy sh*t it's a fast car) it's on my maybe list.

So researching the P85D a bit more I've found some posts about failed software updates (Seriously Tesla???) and some kind of failed 12v inverters...whatever.Now I'm kind of hesitant to buy a Tesla.

My main question: How reliable is a tesla as a daily driver and what are the maintenance costs in lets say 1 or 2 years of ownership? I think the best place to get some real answers is a Tesla forum :biggrin:.

Thanks in advance!
 
This seems to be a point of contention, but there are a number of threads already on this topic.

For reliability, it seems to depend largely on what you consider reliable. The least biased source that you'll probably find is Consumer Reports, which says its 'Average'. Personally I think its rather poor, other folks disagree.

Maitence costs are equally contentious, however the easy answer is that prepaid its $475 a year. (Keep in mind that's in USD, not sure what it is on Croatia but you should be able to find out on the website) Some folks don't do any maintenance, some pay the $750 annual service fee ($600+$150 alignment).
 
This seems to be a point of contention, but there are a number of threads already on this topic.

For reliability, it seems to depend largely on what you consider reliable. The least biased source that you'll probably find is Consumer Reports, which says its 'Average'. Personally I think its rather poor, other folks disagree.

Maitence costs are equally contentious, however the easy answer is that prepaid its $475 a year. (Keep in mind that's in USD, not sure what it is on Croatia but you should be able to find out on the website) Some folks don't do any maintenance, some pay the $750 annual service fee ($600+$150 alignment).


Thanks for the useful info!
I consider it reliable if I don't have to worry about being stranded on the side of a road at night.My 30 year old bimmer never did that so I hope a Tesla can do it too :biggrin:
 
I prepaid the first four years of annual maintenance, I think it was $1,900Cdn, so divide that by 4 and multiply by two (because of our 17,000km trip, I had the first year maintenance check early and the 2nd year last month). The only other maintenance item I have had to pay for is fixing a tire with a slow leak from an embedded screw, completed by a tire shop that I trust. There have been a few very minor issues that Tesla Service took care of at no charge. This is after 1 year 10 months ownership.

So, I'm in the "excellent reliability" camp. So far, I haven't had any oil changes, air filter changes, fuel pump issues, transmission issues...

I'm just hoping the karma detector doesn't spot this post and wreak havoc on my future maintenance expectations.
 
There don't seem to be many cases of Teslas leaving their owners stranded. (of course this is true for most new cars) Most people seem to have a handful of things that they want the service center to fix after a year or two. Things like drive unit noise, 12v battery, non-dimmming rear view mirror, sticking frunk latches, loose trim, and the like.
 
Without getting into the fray over reliable vs. unreliable what I can say is that Tesla Service has been over the top exceptional at dealing with any of the problems I have had. And I am fortunate to live just a few miles from a Service Center.
 
I consider it reliable if I don't have to worry about being stranded on the side of a road at night.My 30 year old bimmer never did that so I hope a Tesla can do it too :biggrin:

Well... I'll add that our 17,000km trip was done over 2.5 months and the only issue we had was how loud the air conditioner was in Arizona (she be hot!!). I dropped in to a service centre far from home, and they added some sound baffling somewhere that helped considerably. They gave us a loaner for the day so there was no disruption of our vacation plans.

For the record, I'm not at all concerned about being stranded on the side of a road. I had that experience once in a Dodge Caravan, don't really want to repeat it, and don't expect to. [Away with you, karma detector!!!!!]
 
There don't seem to be many cases of Teslas leaving their owners stranded. (of course this is true for most new cars) Most people seem to have a handful of things that they want the service center to fix after a year or two. Things like drive unit noise, 12v battery, non-dimmming rear view mirror, sticking frunk latches, loose trim, and the like.

If that's the case I could own a Tesla soon...
Thanks for answering!
 
Well... I'll add that our 17,000km trip was done over 2.5 months and the only issue we had was how loud the air conditioner was in Arizona (she be hot!!). I dropped in to a service centre far from home, and they added some sound baffling somewhere that helped considerably. They gave us a loaner for the day so there was no disruption of our vacation plans.

For the record, I'm not at all concerned about being stranded on the side of a road. I had that experience once in a Dodge Caravan, don't really want to repeat it, and don't expect to. [Away with you, karma detector!!!!!]


Thanks for the info...I hope karma wont get you! :biggrin:

- - - Updated - - -

Without getting into the fray over reliable vs. unreliable what I can say is that Tesla Service has been over the top exceptional at dealing with any of the problems I have had. And I am fortunate to live just a few miles from a Service Center.


Nice to hear that!
 
Hi everyone.
I'm new to this forum and English is a foreign language for me,so I hope I didn't misunderstand any of the rules here.

Recently I started a new business and finally have the $$$ for a new car.I currently drive a 84' BMW E30 325i as my Daily (my first car).It's very reliable if maintained because it's mostly mechanical and built like a tank...and the pedal to the floor engine sound is great :love:.But It's time for a new silent and reliable Daily.After watching some reviews of a P85D (Holy sh*t it's a fast car) it's on my maybe list.

So researching the P85D a bit more I've found some posts about failed software updates (Seriously Tesla???) and some kind of failed 12v inverters...whatever.Now I'm kind of hesitant to buy a Tesla.

My main question: How reliable is a tesla as a daily driver and what are the maintenance costs in lets say 1 or 2 years of ownership? I think the best place to get some real answers is a Tesla forum :biggrin:.

Thanks in advance!

I think this is going to be tough to get a good answer on. The biggest reason is that there is a big difference between the early cars (2+ years old) and the new ones. Obviously they've had 100,000 vehicles over which to work out the bugs, and so the newer ones are going to be much better than the first ones off of the line.

Further, I think you'll have a small number of people who have had struggles, and the happy majority is generally silent.

Personally I've had my car for 10 months with zero problems and that's typical of the people who I know who have them. But... you have to bear in mind that this is still a new design and that no new design will ever be perfect.
 
My 70D has been very reliable. Usually high-end cars with a lot of gizmos have a number of small issues, but my only repair was getting the sunroof recalibrated. It did not open evenly when vented. Tesla ranger has been great.

If you get one, post a picture of the car in front Mr. Tesla's house!
 
My experience is probably far from the norm, but my 90D is less than two months old and has been knocked out of commission twice. First time was a faulty DC to DC converter, not sure what the problem is this time as it's still at the service center being diagnosed.

I can say that the service center has worked very hard in resolving my issues.
 
My experience is probably far from the norm, but my 90D is less than two months old and has been knocked out of commission twice. First time was a faulty DC to DC converter, not sure what the problem is this time as it's still at the service center being diagnosed.

I can say that the service center has worked very hard in resolving my issues.

90D. One squeaky spot near the pano roof. Told it would take an hour. It took an hour. The squeak is gone. No charge.

Hope you get your car back soon. I have had FAR fewer issues with this than my old one, where they were still fixing issues at over 50,000 miles. But they eventually got them fixed, charged me nothing, and the car was perfect.

But as far as "reliable"? Does that mean it won't run or is inoperable? Because Most People don't have those problems. It would be interesting to find out what percent.
 
In my 1 year of ownership, my car has been bricked twice where it was un-drivable. Once at a supercharger, where it flashed me an error on the dash and did not allow me to put the car into drive. Second time my car completely bricked and I couldn't open the car door even though it was presented, app couldn't connect to vehicle nor could I lock/unlock or open the trunk. Beyond that, I've had a slew of smaller issues (charge port door not opening, bluetooth mic fuzzy, car only charged up to 30amps).

That being said, everytime one of these issues happened Tesla went out of their way to make my experience relatively pain free. They always send a loaner out to me and swapped me cars to minimize downtime and get me on my way. They even upgraded my floor mats for me when I complained that they were floppy.
 
Hi everyone.
I'm new to this forum and English is a foreign language for me,so I hope I didn't misunderstand any of the rules here.

Recently I started a new business and finally have the $$$ for a new car.I currently drive a 84' BMW E30 325i as my Daily (my first car).It's very reliable if maintained because it's mostly mechanical and built like a tank...and the pedal to the floor engine sound is great :love:.But It's time for a new silent and reliable Daily.After watching some reviews of a P85D (Holy sh*t it's a fast car) it's on my maybe list.

So researching the P85D a bit more I've found some posts about failed software updates (Seriously Tesla???) and some kind of failed 12v inverters...whatever.Now I'm kind of hesitant to buy a Tesla.

My main question: How reliable is a tesla as a daily driver and what are the maintenance costs in lets say 1 or 2 years of ownership? I think the best place to get some real answers is a Tesla forum :biggrin:.

Thanks in advance!

1 year / 37,000 miles. Car has never left me stranded and always gotten me to where I needed to go. However, I think we are on service visit #21 this week. Service has always been great, just wish I didn't have to see them so much and I think the feeling is mutual. 0/10 on owning this car out of warranty.
 
In my 1 year of ownership, my car has been bricked twice where it was un-drivable. Once at a supercharger, where it flashed me an error on the dash and did not allow me to put the car into drive. Second time my car completely bricked and I couldn't open the car door even though it was presented, app couldn't connect to vehicle nor could I lock/unlock or open the trunk. Beyond that, I've had a slew of smaller issues (charge port door not opening, bluetooth mic fuzzy, car only charged up to 30amps).

That being said, everytime one of these issues happened Tesla went out of their way to make my experience relatively pain free. They always send a loaner out to me and swapped me cars to minimize downtime and get me on my way. They even upgraded my floor mats for me when I complained that they were floppy.
Your car has not been bricked. Bricked means permanent damage to the battery so it is unusable. It's a term used by anti-EV people to spread FUD. Please don't use it casually to mean your car didn't work temporarily.