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KrenGrl
Banned
Precisely what I want to know before buying a Tesla. This information must be somewhere that perhaps I have overlooked.
Petra
Member
Well, the information for the S and X is right on their website... Maintenance Plans
That said, it's unknown what pricing will look like for the Model 3. I do feel like what Tesla charges is excessive given how little is actually in their service list and, consequently, I think they're going to have to drop pricing for the Model 3... but we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
From what I recall, the recommended service isn't required to preserve the standard new car warranty, but is required if you want to purchase and maintain Tesla's extended warranty.
That said, it's unknown what pricing will look like for the Model 3. I do feel like what Tesla charges is excessive given how little is actually in their service list and, consequently, I think they're going to have to drop pricing for the Model 3... but we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
From what I recall, the recommended service isn't required to preserve the standard new car warranty, but is required if you want to purchase and maintain Tesla's extended warranty.
KrenGrl
Banned
Petra, good info. I did not see any info yet on their site about model 3, so I presume that is yet to come.
Big-T
Member
Yeah, the TCO is one thing that I'll be looking at, I mean it won't change my wanting to buy the car but my last new car maintenence for the first two years went like this
5k miles - Oil Change = 1st one complementary
10k miles - Oil Change = $50
15k miles - Oil Change and Tire Rotation = $65
20k miles - Oil Change = $50
25k miles - Oil Change =$50
30k miles - Oil Change and specified 30k service =$300
35k miles - Oil Change $50
Of course there's all the "inspections" that is included in the regular oil change, brakes, fluids, lines, etc. But it's all included in the price. That's a total of $565 over the first three years. Maybe kick in for a couple sets of wipers or misc like a filter or the $5 for a fob battery that I can't remember, but under $600 for sure.
The 3 year pre-paid package for a model S is $1,550 and frankly Tesla has less to check than a regular mechanic (and only 3 visits/inspections). The only real additional thing I can see is flushing the AC and brake fluids. But of course they don't have 7 oil changes to do either so it should more than even out in terms of work.
5k miles - Oil Change = 1st one complementary
10k miles - Oil Change = $50
15k miles - Oil Change and Tire Rotation = $65
20k miles - Oil Change = $50
25k miles - Oil Change =$50
30k miles - Oil Change and specified 30k service =$300
35k miles - Oil Change $50
Of course there's all the "inspections" that is included in the regular oil change, brakes, fluids, lines, etc. But it's all included in the price. That's a total of $565 over the first three years. Maybe kick in for a couple sets of wipers or misc like a filter or the $5 for a fob battery that I can't remember, but under $600 for sure.
The 3 year pre-paid package for a model S is $1,550 and frankly Tesla has less to check than a regular mechanic (and only 3 visits/inspections). The only real additional thing I can see is flushing the AC and brake fluids. But of course they don't have 7 oil changes to do either so it should more than even out in terms of work.
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I thought one of the selling points of these cars was supposed to be lower maintenance costs? Musk boasted that telsa doesnt use the service centers as profit centers, but those maintenence plan schedules and prices suggest otherwise. Replacing key fob batteries every year? My infiniti key remote has lasted over 100k miles. I thought tesla were the battery specialists? What gives?
Looks to me like $500 for a tire rotation.
Maintenance Plans
Looks to me like $500 for a tire rotation.
Maintenance Plans
YIKES!
We drive our Acura ILX around 7,500 miles per year and only ever need to have like 2 $90 services per year. We've always had them done at an Acura dealer so I imagine an independent shop would be cheaper. The service usually involves an oil change, fluids, wiper blades, inspection, and maybe a tire rotation. 3+ years in an we have not had to buy new tires yet.
Will be unpleasantly surprised if a RWD Model 3 requires us to spend over $300 per year in maintenance costs...
We drive our Acura ILX around 7,500 miles per year and only ever need to have like 2 $90 services per year. We've always had them done at an Acura dealer so I imagine an independent shop would be cheaper. The service usually involves an oil change, fluids, wiper blades, inspection, and maybe a tire rotation. 3+ years in an we have not had to buy new tires yet.
Will be unpleasantly surprised if a RWD Model 3 requires us to spend over $300 per year in maintenance costs...
Note that according to the owners manual, Model X has asymmetric tires and so cannot have a standard tire rotation.
Oh well then that means its $500 for wiper blades. They must be pretty awesome.
cpa
Active Member
And batteries for your key fobs. Don't forget the batteries! 
I think that it is difficult to compare maintenance on ICE cars to Tesla's cars for the first five or so years of ownership. The components of most ICE cars hold up well for five years (50,000 miles) or so. However, if people keep cars for ten or more years and over 100,000 miles, there are a lot more things to service, repair, or replace on ICE vehicles that become pricey. We have an '05 Acura RL. We are fortunate that this is my wife's car, and she only puts on 4,000 miles or so per year now that she is retired. But the periodic maintenance (depending upon the idiot light that flashes when service is needed) can run as high as $600-$750 at an independent shop. We have about 80,000 miles on the car now. We have not had to replace anything on the vehicle yet, but the mechanic told us to expect things like the serpentine belt and radiator hoses to need replacement by 100,000 miles.
Tesla repairs can be expensive. Ask those folks who have had to have their out-of-warranty work done on the center screen or door handles.
That said, the Model 3 is likely to have fewer fancy things, so perhaps repairs and maintenance of older models will be less expensive.
I am hopeful that economies of scale will bring down these prices once there are hundreds of thousands of Model 3s on the road. Musk once said that he did not want the back room to be a profit center. Maybe this philosophy has changed.
I think that it is difficult to compare maintenance on ICE cars to Tesla's cars for the first five or so years of ownership. The components of most ICE cars hold up well for five years (50,000 miles) or so. However, if people keep cars for ten or more years and over 100,000 miles, there are a lot more things to service, repair, or replace on ICE vehicles that become pricey. We have an '05 Acura RL. We are fortunate that this is my wife's car, and she only puts on 4,000 miles or so per year now that she is retired. But the periodic maintenance (depending upon the idiot light that flashes when service is needed) can run as high as $600-$750 at an independent shop. We have about 80,000 miles on the car now. We have not had to replace anything on the vehicle yet, but the mechanic told us to expect things like the serpentine belt and radiator hoses to need replacement by 100,000 miles.
Tesla repairs can be expensive. Ask those folks who have had to have their out-of-warranty work done on the center screen or door handles.
That said, the Model 3 is likely to have fewer fancy things, so perhaps repairs and maintenance of older models will be less expensive.
I am hopeful that economies of scale will bring down these prices once there are hundreds of thousands of Model 3s on the road. Musk once said that he did not want the back room to be a profit center. Maybe this philosophy has changed.
KrenGrl
Banned
Well, that is something I finally know something about. Your Infiniti key remote is like a lot of other key remotes in that it only communicates with the car via a very short RF signal and only when you press the button.
If it were to regularly communicate with the car by using Bluetooth and similar communications like the Teslas seem to use, then you would be replacing the battery in your Infiniti remote about as often as for the Tesla. Nothing to do with being a "battery specialist". More about how often the fob transmits and the amount of power needed.
I suspect that Tesla's issue with service costs right now is volume. I'm guessing that overall their costs are high because they don't have that many cars to service compared to the number of service centers they need to pay for.
and yes I understand that there are tons of warranty repairs that are needed and it is difficult to get appointments in a lot of locations. but I don't know how they handle the costs related to this type of work compared to scheduled maintenance work. Perhaps a large portion of the cost of the service centers needs to be covered by the scheduled and non-warranty maintenance that is performed.
I suspect its similar to other expensive cars. I've had 2 BMW's now, and once the 4 year included service period was over, I've had to make quite a few expensive repairs on both of them. I'm guessing I averaged at least $750 a year over 10 years for all of the maintenance if not more. While I really like BMW's I don't think they are particularly reliable.
I remember when my dad bought a used Porsche 911. The service just to change the spark plugs was over $2k. (Granted they may have had to drop the engine to get to them)
and yes I understand that there are tons of warranty repairs that are needed and it is difficult to get appointments in a lot of locations. but I don't know how they handle the costs related to this type of work compared to scheduled maintenance work. Perhaps a large portion of the cost of the service centers needs to be covered by the scheduled and non-warranty maintenance that is performed.
I suspect its similar to other expensive cars. I've had 2 BMW's now, and once the 4 year included service period was over, I've had to make quite a few expensive repairs on both of them. I'm guessing I averaged at least $750 a year over 10 years for all of the maintenance if not more. While I really like BMW's I don't think they are particularly reliable.
I remember when my dad bought a used Porsche 911. The service just to change the spark plugs was over $2k. (Granted they may have had to drop the engine to get to them)
So in other words, more amazing new technology that is inferior to the old more reliable technology that didn't really require improvement.
Instead of a remote battery that lasts over 100k miles, we get a new "improved" one that only lasts 10k miles because it saves you the horrible burden of having to press a button to unlock your car.
KrenGrl
Banned
ha, yup I think you got it right
But for me, I'm not so lazy to replace my fob battery every year.
Petra
Member
The fob battery lasts more than a year, they just replace it as a courtesy thing (gotta justify that maintenance pricing somehow). There's no reason you couldn't do it yourself whenever it eventually gets low--it's no different from other proximity key systems.
That was kind of my original point. Tesla said they weren't using service centers as profit centers, but charging over $500 for wiper blades and key fob batteries is the type of robbery that tesla customers were supposedly sick of tolerating from the bad old car makers.
omgwtfbyobbq
Active Member
My hope is that Tesla is using high maintenance costs to bootstrap their service center network. If they're using those high costs to cover stuff that fails under warranty, that would be a downer.
strykeroz
Member
Presumably the additional value comes from using some kind of super high quality imported hand-crafted squirty-washer refill liquid?
Those enormous bioweapon filters probably cost a bit
The service costs for the UK - 4 year package is about £2500 on the S, nearly £3k on the X. Eeek !
I've spent only a few hundred on my current car in a year on services. Had 2 big bills of £350 and £250 when I had it break down leaking coolant and when I needed tyres and break discs/pads - that's on a car from year 5 -> 10. So not even a third the cost of the S over a longer period - and for more minor things.
So much for the services not being a source of revenue Tesla?! But maybe when you're doing warranty repairs adding "shims" on every early drive motor (Elon's own words) then maybe you have to make some money from the non-warranty stuff !
The service costs for the UK - 4 year package is about £2500 on the S, nearly £3k on the X. Eeek !
I've spent only a few hundred on my current car in a year on services. Had 2 big bills of £350 and £250 when I had it break down leaking coolant and when I needed tyres and break discs/pads - that's on a car from year 5 -> 10. So not even a third the cost of the S over a longer period - and for more minor things.
So much for the services not being a source of revenue Tesla?! But maybe when you're doing warranty repairs adding "shims" on every early drive motor (Elon's own words) then maybe you have to make some money from the non-warranty stuff !
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