Is There a difference between a CPO extended Warranty and an ESA?

[heysteveh]

So are the CPO extended warranty, and the ESA able to be purchased by an original owner, the same exact coverage or are there differences?

On Tesla's website they say that a CPO has a "Warranty":

What sort of warranties does a pre-owned Tesla come with?
Every Model S receives a full inspection, the remaining Battery and Drive Unit Limited Warranty and a four year, 50,000 miles pre-owned limited warranty.

The original owner of a Model S is able to purchase an "Extended Service Agreement" (ESA) as seen here:

Does Tesla have an Extended Service Agreement?
Yes, we do offer a recommended Extended Service Agreement. For $4,000, you can purchase an Extended Service Agreement that extends the Basic Vehicle Warranty and covers repair or replacement of parts due to defects in materials or workmanship provided by Tesla for an additional 4 years or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first. This Extended Service Agreement begins on the date the original warranty expires. You can find more information about the Extended Service Agreement on our support page.

 

[HankLloydRight]

The CPO warranty starts when you buy the car and likely doesn't have a $200/visit deductible.

The ESA extends the standard warranty to 8 years, 100k miles, and does have a $200/visit deductible. Only the original owner can buy the ESA.

 

[heysteveh]

The CPO warranty starts when you buy the car and likely doesn't have a $200/visit deductible.

The ESA extends the standard warranty to 8 years, 100k miles, and does have a $200/visit deductible. Only the original owner can buy the ESA.

So there is at least one difference: the deductible. Any other differences anybody knows about?

 

[chillaban]

So there is at least one difference: the deductible. Any other differences anybody knows about?

I'd also like to know from folks who bought it, what kinds of things have they declined to cover? And what kinds of things have they covered?

The wording of the ESA seems to make it easy for Tesla to claim it's wear and tear / not covered.... and I've had a pretty bad experience with a similarly worded extended warranty from another automaker that leaves me very wary of non-factory warranties.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Tesla is very different... what is and isn't covered w/r/t the warranty largely rest on the local service center and how customer-centric they're feeling that day. Some SCs will bend over backwards "to do the right thing" and others will call up to corporate to get an answer.

Also realize very few cars are now out of warranty... so your sample size is going to be pretty small.

Also, what do you mean "non-factory warranties"? Tesla is the factory, so this isn't one of those.

 

[chillaban]

Tesla is very different... what is and isn't covered w/r/t the warranty largely rest on the local service center and how customer-centric they're feeling that day. Some SCs will bend over backwards "to do the right thing" and others will call up to corporate to get an answer.

Also realize very few cars are now out of warranty... so your sample size is going to be pretty small.

Also, what do you mean "non-factory warranties"? Tesla is the factory, so this isn't one of those.

By Factory warranty, I mean the one that originally comes with a new car, the one that is actually legally regulated by lemon laws and the MM warranty act.

Sorry, I come from a paranoid background because I actually had a BMW that had an airbag defect that eventually turned into a NHTSA recall 2 years ago. But it took moving mountains and eventually resorting to state lemon law provisions to get a non-defective vehicle. Bottom line is, I love kissing up to the service center, but I don't like paying extra money for a contract that may not provide meaningful coverage. At that point, I'd probably rather repair the car out-of-pocket per incident or consider the operating costs vs getting a new car.

 

[TaoJones]

There are quite a few things that are not covered by the ESA. Just one example is/are rattles and squeaks. Covered by the original warranty, troubleshooting and fixing those after 50,000 miles or 4 years, whichever comes first, *if* one purchases the ESA for $4000, will cost $175/hour or the prevailing labor rate at your SvC on top of the $200 per visit fee. At least they changed the verbiage to no longer reflect $200 per issue.

That was one owner's recent experience at the Denver SvC. I know of at least 1 other SvC where the verbiage of the ESA is largely ignored and almost everything gets covered as it did under warranty.

The inconsistency from SvC to SvC and from region to region is annoying at best when potentially thousands of dollars are in play - and that's after paying the $4000 entry fee. Or not.

 

[heysteveh]

Thanks for all your responses. I am a Model 3 reservation holder that might end up getting a used Model S instead. If I buy a CPO it looks like the warranty might be a little better. If I go with a private party sale (making sure the original owner buys the ESA before we complete the sale) I would save about 9.5% in Arizona sales tax that WOULD apply to a CPO purchase. I am trying to get to the bottom of the differences between those two "warranties" and how it might affect my decision to purchase CPO or private party sale.

The CPO warranty starts when you buy the car and likely doesn't have a $200/visit deductible.

The ESA extends the standard warranty to 8 years, 100k miles, and does have a $200/visit deductible. Only the original owner can buy the ESA.

The wording of the ESA seems to make it easy for Tesla to claim it's wear and tear / not covered....

Tesla is very different... what is and isn't covered w/r/t the warranty largely rest on the local service center

There are quite a few things that are not covered by the ESA

 

[TaoJones]

So here's the page with a link to the warranty: Service plans

A bit frustrating that the link for the ESA does not seem to be readily apparent. I know there is one as someone posted same to a different thread - search for that and you'll have both PDFs as a result to parse through ad libitum.

That said, the risks and realities associated with the variability between SvCs and regions are worth considering.

 

[SmartElectric]

To answer the question of what does Tesla do with CPO cars in terms of warranty.
They replaced the brakes, UMC charging cord, tires and fully reconditioned before we took delivery of our CPO Tesla S.
We experienced two problems, first was no heat, Tesla fixed by replacing cabin heating core. Free loaner provided.
The second was an issue charging the car, Tesla took it in, diagnosed, and while looking for that problem, did another brake replacement known as the "winter brake kit" and installed new firmware, car came back spotless and again, free loaner provided.

I can't speak more highly of the CPO condition of our car and warranty work provided. Very satisfied customer.

 

[heysteveh]

To answer the question of what does Tesla do with CPO cars in terms of warranty.
They replaced the brakes, UMC charging cord, tires and fully reconditioned before we took delivery of our CPO Tesla S.
We experienced two problems, first was no heat, Tesla fixed by replacing cabin heating core. Free loaner provided.
The second was an issue charging the car, Tesla took it in, diagnosed, and while looking for that problem, did another brake replacement known as the "winter brake kit" and installed new firmware, car came back spotless and again, free loaner provided.

I can't speak more highly of the CPO condition of our car and warranty work provided. Very satisfied customer.

Sounds like a great experience for you... and I have heard others report similar satisfaction. Do you think you would have had the same treatment if you had bought used from a private party and had an "Extended Service Agreement" warranty instead of the CPO route?

 

[SmartElectric]

Do you think you would have had the same treatment if you had bought used from a private party and had an "Extended Service Agreement" warranty instead of the CPO route?

I can only guess. Tesla service treats me just as nicely as any other owner, doesn't matter if I am the second owner of the car.

 

[seclinton]

Agree. 2013 CPO owner here:

Warranty coverage in the first year:
- Repaired battery (loaner battery for 6 months)
- REPLACED all 4 rotors and brake pads with Gen 2 Rotors and pads when I brought the car in three weeks after CPO purchase and brakes were squeaking
- Replace driver door panel (due bill 6 months later claimed no issue)

No issues and I've been treated the same as a brand new purchase owner. Of course, I use the factory SC since I'm only 6 miles from it.

 

[Roadrunner13]

Sounds like a great experience for you... and I have heard others report similar satisfaction. Do you think you would have had the same treatment if you had bought used from a private party and had an "Extended Service Agreement" warranty instead of the CPO route?

This is the way I went for my roadster.
Private party before warranty expiration and I bought the extended warranty.
This was prior to getting a CPO S... and there is no difference in service between the two, stellar service for both cars.

Just had a rear adjustable shock changed on the S as part of CPO warranty and
I have a rear-right axle swap waiting to be done on the roadster on the extended warranty!
No hesitation, no hassle to get the job done, I don't believe original owners coud be doing any better

The big difference is really the CPO program doesn't allow any warranty beyond its 4 years/50K miles,
buying private, you may be able to get up to 8 years/100K miles IF done right
(which includes a very good inspection...not such a concern with CPO)