Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Importing an MS to a country without Tesla presence

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
We have reserved a Model 3 in South Africa. I suspect that after the 500 000 orders have been delivered to the rest of the world, we will be lucky to get ours before about 2022!

In the meantime we are very keen to go EV so as soon as we can get a 200+ mile EV we would buy one and then wait for the M3. This in SA would most probably be a Leaf 2; Bolt or i3 Mk2 in about 2018. An alternative is to import a (RHD) Model S from the UK – CPO most probably – 2014/15 model.

Would we be able to run a MS here without a Tesla SC?? We would have OTA connection to Tesla and the usual mechanical garages/service stations here plus, possibly, computer whizzes.

I would trust that the DU issues have now been solved but what about door handles and other Tesla specific problems? How many issues still arise regularly with an MS that require attention to keep the car operational? We could accept odds and ends going awry that do not stop us and are tricky to sort out here.

How many other people have tried to own an MS in a country without Tesla presence – is it possible?! It seems to me from the forum that many people have niggly issues that they say will be addressed at the next service visit but which don't stop the car............

Please can MS owners give me some indication of what sort of things now go 'wrong' with their cars and whether they are critical and would stop the car (eg drive unit!). If we had a serious problem it may require sending the car back to Tesla in the UK/USA for repairs – frighteningly expensive.

Is this a mad or workable idea? Input would be greatly appreciated – thanks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kennybobby
There's a similar situation in New Zealand where Tesla has a presence in Australia but none so far in NZ despite comments from Elon indicating that they will be coming to NZ. Some Model S owners have bought via Australia and some via UK and I understand that the Australian purchased Model S will regain warranty status once Tesla opens there, but I'm not certain about the others.
Unlike NZ South Africe is a very long way from the nearest service centre so if you chose to do this I would recommend you do a couple of things. Firstly send a South African SIM to the UK for them to fit to your car prior to export and ask them if you car will regain any warranty status once Tesla opens in South Africa. I would also go for a 2014 year model as anecdotally and surveys by US Consumer Reports seem to rate that year as the most reliable and post October 2014 will come with autopilot hardware.
 
I am offering a service to support cars out of Tesla markets or out of warranty (such as salvage and/or blacklisted cars). I can assist the owners with enabling cellular service (internet) and remote access, including the ability to remotely diagnose the car. Through a custom web application, you will have the ability to read internal diagnostic data anytime as well as control many functions. (way more than Tesla's remote app) This can be absolutely essential if there is a problem, so you know exactly what to do. Plus, for peace of mind and preventative maintenance. For example many impending failures will be reported by the car, normally to Tesla service, but on my system you will instantly receive an email and/or text message describing the problem or alert.

If Tesla ever officially enters your market and decides to provide support, the car can be reconnected to Tesla's servers at any time in minutes. (or should the car need to be transported to Tesla for any reason)

I can also consult with you and assist with deducing the problem remotely. Many problems are easy to fix and don't even need any parts. I am supporting cars all over the world now with great success. I started offering this to other owners after I found myself in possession of several cars which Tesla would no longer support due to them being blacklisted. I developed a back-end system equivalent to Tesla's (and in some ways more capable).

Please shoot me a PM if you are interested in discussing this. I have spent years learning about the Model S inside and out and throughly understand all it's systems.
 
Thank you for those useful comments.

I would still be grateful top hear from current owners on what issues would stop a Model S in its tracks and require official Tesla intervention to sort it out (eg DU problems - although it seems one could drive for quite a while with odd noises and not break down)

Have most of the issues that stranded early cars now been resolved?
 
I am running a P90D in Abu Dhabi, UAE and there are at least 20 cars here now. I imported mine from Norway. The car seems trouble free so far. We have a Tesla Ranger that visits us from Gemany. When he visits all of us in need split his hotel and ticket costs. He has done everything from installing local sims and dual chargers to Ludicrous upgrades.
 
anxman - all of us TMC lurkers are aware that some/lots of (!)/all(?) Model S cars have suffered issues ranging from irritating to debilitating. Newer cars seem better and the DU issue seems to have subsided.

What year; model and mileage is your car and how many 'serious' faults have you suffered - ie you were stranded and/or needed to flat-bed to a Tesla SC? How many faults have stopped you using the car and required specialist Tesla works to re-invigorate the vehicle?

I would appreciate more detailed feedback as it would be helpful - many people post that their cars have been 'faultless' too........! It is, maybe, a foolish idea but if we could get some back-up from Tesla (or remotely from someone like Ingineer above); the faults were manageable or could be addressed here by competent auto electricians/computer whizzes/mechanical workshops - especially if Tesla eventually came here for the M3 - we may still think it worth the 'risk'..........

Final fall-back option would be to stick it back on a boat to the UK/USA!
 
Is Mennekes an EVSE standard in South Africa?

It would be unfortunate if you get a car with a Mennekes port (e.g. UK/Australia RHD model) and Tesla chooses to use the Tesla proprietary port (e.g. Japan RHD model) in SA.

That means you won't be able to Supercharge the vehicle once the supercharger infrastructure is up.

If all of the other EVSE's there are already Mennekes, Tesla would probably go Mennekes as well. If the current system is J1772 + Chademo however, Tesla might stick with proprietary.
 
Thanks deonb - good and valid points. I'll have to investigate that and find out what is being used for the Leaves and i3s here. I do recall talking to the BMW i-series man and he said that they were trying to get a 'universal' standard adopted in South Africa - wonder how far that got!

I certainly don't want to be 'locked out' of using Supercharging...........
 
anxman - all of us TMC lurkers are aware that some/lots of (!)/all(?) Model S cars have suffered issues ranging from irritating to debilitating. Newer cars seem better and the DU issue seems to have subsided.

What year; model and mileage is your car and how many 'serious' faults have you suffered - ie you were stranded and/or needed to flat-bed to a Tesla SC? How many faults have stopped you using the car and required specialist Tesla works to re-invigorate the vehicle?

I would appreciate more detailed feedback as it would be helpful - many people post that their cars have been 'faultless' too........! It is, maybe, a foolish idea but if we could get some back-up from Tesla (or remotely from someone like Ingineer above); the faults were manageable or could be addressed here by competent auto electricians/computer whizzes/mechanical workshops - especially if Tesla eventually came here for the M3 - we may still think it worth the 'risk'..........

Final fall-back option would be to stick it back on a boat to the UK/USA!

I had a mid 2013 P85 and an early model P85D. The P85 required flatbed twice, and the P85D required flatbed once. The Drive Unit was replaced twice on the P85, and both Drive Units on the P85D have been replaced. So in total, 3 complete failures requiring a flatbed across both models and had my car in the shop around 11 times total for other issues (alignment, sunroof, charging port, etc).
 
Most mechanics and "computer whizzes" can do nothing to service a Model S (unless they they have dissected parts to reverse engineer like Ingineer). It is a closed system and other than tires or breaks or things like that, nobody has the tools or knowledge to service most of the car.

I would also be concerned about running a Model S in a country like South Africa where the electric grid is so unreliable. Maybe the load shedding is not as frequent now as a few years ago but can Eskom be trusted to keep the electrons flowing?
 
Most mechanics and "computer whizzes" can do nothing to service a Model S (unless they they have dissected parts to reverse engineer like Ingineer). It is a closed system and other than tires or breaks or things like that, nobody has the tools or knowledge to service most of the car.

I would also be concerned about running a Model S in a country like South Africa where the electric grid is so unreliable. Maybe the load shedding is not as frequent now as a few years ago but can Eskom be trusted to keep the electrons flowing?

As far as I can remember, there has never been load shedding between 1am and 5am, which is all you generally need for daily charging.

As for Superchargers, Tesla is in the most ideal situation in the world there - they can just add a bunch of powerpacks to each SuperCharger. Problem solved.
 
Well I would hope to most of my charging via solar anyway. It is true that load shedding was seldom at night and seems to have come to an end as Eskom has caught up with the backlog and new plants (and re-commissioned) have come on line along with a huge amount of wind and solar. Indeed I read recently that South Africa should have a surfeit of electricity soon! Oh the irony......

But we may need that if EVs are to rule the roost.

SUN-day driver makes valid points and we could get 'stranded' if we need specialist Tesla back-up and it can't be done OTA. I wonder if we could get MS back-up when Tesla are here for the M3??

I would certainly NOT import a MS until the DU issue is finally resolved 'forever' - I presume as DUs are replaced they will (eventually) be the final 'indestructible' design..............when will this happen? Any late 2015/16 DUs failing still?
 
I would never assume that a DU will be bullet proof. Further, it's a custom part made only by Tesla and trying to buy/replace one on the open market sounds horrifying and expensive to me.

Again, I love love my Tesla, but trying to run one without any local service center sounds like a ticket to hell.
 
Is Mennekes an EVSE standard in South Africa?

It would be unfortunate if you get a car with a Mennekes port (e.g. UK/Australia RHD model) and Tesla chooses to use the Tesla proprietary port (e.g. Japan RHD model) in SA.

That means you won't be able to Supercharge the vehicle once the supercharger infrastructure is up.

If all of the other EVSE's there are already Mennekes, Tesla would probably go Mennekes as well. If the current system is J1772 + Chademo however, Tesla might stick with proprietary.
FYI, Japan has US style connectors on Euro spec cars. We have the same HPWC as the U.S. version as well.
 
I am offering a service to support cars out of Tesla markets or out of warranty (such as salvage and/or blacklisted cars). I can assist the owners with enabling cellular service (internet) and remote access, including the ability to remotely diagnose the car. Through a custom web application, you will have the ability to read internal diagnostic data anytime as well as control many functions. (way more than Tesla's remote app) This can be absolutely essential if there is a problem, so you know exactly what to do. Plus, for peace of mind and preventative maintenance. For example many impending failures will be reported by the car, normally to Tesla service, but on my system you will instantly receive an email and/or text message describing the problem or alert.

If Tesla ever officially enters your market and decides to provide support, the car can be reconnected to Tesla's servers at any time in minutes. (or should the car need to be transported to Tesla for any reason)

I can also consult with you and assist with deducing the problem remotely. Many problems are easy to fix and don't even need any parts. I am supporting cars all over the world now with great success. I started offering this to other owners after I found myself in possession of several cars which Tesla would no longer support due to them being blacklisted. I developed a back-end system equivalent to Tesla's (and in some ways more capable).

Please shoot me a PM if you are interested in discussing this. I have spent years learning about the Model S inside and out and throughly understand all it's systems.

very useful thank you for the support you are offering .

can you give me an idea on what exactly is your software is logging live from the car ? screenshot?

i live in saudi arabia so something like that might help me prevent shipping the car back to Germany for repair


I am running a P90D in Abu Dhabi, UAE and there are at least 20 cars here now. I imported mine from Norway. The car seems trouble free so far. We have a Tesla Ranger that visits us from Gemany. When he visits all of us in need split his hotel and ticket costs. He has done everything from installing local sims and dual chargers to Ludicrous upgrades.

Ames can you include me , i want to chip in as well when he comes to the UAEi . do the model s owners in the UAE have a whatsapp group?
i like to join please
if so here is my number +966 5 666 66673

i am the first and only tesla models s in saudi and hopfully i am not the last