I live in Quebec City and cleaned/lubricated my brakes after a bit more than a year. It is similar to ICE cars, with one caveat... these brakes use pins to hold the pads in place. I'm sure there are other sports cars that do this but I didn't have that on my other cars before. The pins can corrode and will become extremely hard to remove. You must also slide the pads out, you don't need to remove the caliper. I think the pads will rust/corrode and expand where they touch the caliper. If you don't lubricate regularly, they might be stuck. You can always remove the caliper but it will be a pain. I've also heard of people breaking the pins and needing new ones. Again, you can buy them at Tesla but it's a pain that you can save. When I did mine, the pins required a few good mallet taps to come out and the metal had started to "grow" from corrosion. Pads were fine but I couldn't see any lubricant. The pins needed a quick sanding and lubrication, and pads needed lubrication.
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Maintenance costs
- Thread starter WADan
- Start date
Yes, maintenance costs are high. I'm scheduled for: 1) Balancing & aligning wheels & rotating tires-$605.20 and 2) maintenence of brakes & rotors-$1094.76 for a grand total of $1757.62, including tax. This is at an hourly rate of $220. That's nearly half a million/year. No wonder Musk's a billionaire!
I strongly suggest you do this at another garage, it will cost you way less. There's nothing in that work that requires a Tesla specialist.
"maintenance of brakes and rotors - $1094.76" : What does that entail precisely? I had all 4 brakes serviced (new pads/fluid, rotors resurfaced) on my GTI and it was $700 at a local shop (not the dealer). Your price either has a decimal point in the wrong place or someone is taking you for a ride. Same question on balance and alignment - $605? That's completely insane.
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All decimal points are in the correct place. I hesitate going to "a local shop". I want the job done right.
Those prices basically mean they are not interested in doing that work and would rather keep their time for warranty work.
Cleaning and lubricating brakes should be done right by any reputable garage. If you are stressed, find a garage that is EV-friendly, they will ahve done Teslas before. Same thing for an alignment.
Cleaning and lubricating brakes should be done right by any reputable garage. If you are stressed, find a garage that is EV-friendly, they will ahve done Teslas before. Same thing for an alignment.
1) It makes no sense to prefer warranty work over cash work.
2) I am not stressed and am going to Tesla for the work.
1) I have extrapolated but I don't know for sure, I'll give you that. My premise is that many service centers are already overloaded with warranty work and various complaints. To give a proper customer service they might have to prioritize that at the expense of other things. As a case in point, Quebec province service centers stopped offering tire installation and balancing as a service. To get your tires mounted, you MUST go to an independent tire garage. Since we have serious winters with mandatory snow tires here, this might happen twice a year.
Your SC might not be allowed to say no to what you're asking. Maybe their only way to discourage you is to raise the price. If you still say yes, they're making a pretty penny.
2) That is fine, if you have the money. I would just ask that you do not state that Tesla maintenance is costly then. That is just you insisting on paying those prices.
Your SC might not be allowed to say no to what you're asking. Maybe their only way to discourage you is to raise the price. If you still say yes, they're making a pretty penny.
2) That is fine, if you have the money. I would just ask that you do not state that Tesla maintenance is costly then. That is just you insisting on paying those prices.
thesmokingman
Active Member
gr8tdane24
Member
Agreed. Tesla maintenance is not costly, especially if you have some basic mechanical chops. Brake system, suspension, and wheels/tires not much different than any other modern car. My coworkers (several of them also Tesla owners) all give me this incredulous look when I say I do all my own maintenance other than that which requires Tesla's $3000 diagnostic software. Some can-do attitude and signing up for Tesla's complimentary service and repair information subscription can get you pretty far...
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I've done brakes, oil changes and filters all my life on my own cars and I'm not a mechanic by trade it is really not as difficult as people think and requires just basic tools. So unless you are crazy busy/wealthy person you are just throwing money away at $220/hr. As far as trusting Tesla or dealer over local mechanics you are forgetting those are the same kids getting hired at these places and they make about the same money as well even though they charge you more so unless you have a personal relationship with that mechanic and you know he is experienced it is a hit or miss no matter where you go and how much they charge you for labor. Nothing beats experience and trust when it comes to car mechanics.
As for brake lubrication that's when you inspect the brakes you can tell if they should be lubricated or not and in my experience in north east that would only be needed once every 2-3 years. Most shops including dealers will scam you and charge you for lubrication without actually doing it because most of the time it is not needed. It's similar thing with brake fluid where some places will tell you it needs to be flushed every 2 years no matter what which is BS unless you actually taking your car to a race track and the only thing that should be done is bleeding them whenever you take the brakes apart or when the brake pedal feel changes.
As for brake lubrication that's when you inspect the brakes you can tell if they should be lubricated or not and in my experience in north east that would only be needed once every 2-3 years. Most shops including dealers will scam you and charge you for lubrication without actually doing it because most of the time it is not needed. It's similar thing with brake fluid where some places will tell you it needs to be flushed every 2 years no matter what which is BS unless you actually taking your car to a race track and the only thing that should be done is bleeding them whenever you take the brakes apart or when the brake pedal feel changes.
Had a Pleasant surprise from Tesla
. When I arrived for my service, the repair mechanic checked my car and much to my surprise told me I did not need the brake job I requested. This saved me $895.42. There is honesty by the Tesla folks. They could have done the brake job and charged me for and I would not have known I didn't need it. So Kudos to Tesla service center. 
![angus[Y]oung](/tmc/data/avatars/l/141/141264.jpg?1620160343){kind=avatar}
angus[Y]oung
Active Member
Had a Pleasant surprise from Tesla
@Radlaw had a similar experience for tire rotation. Booked an appointment as per the 10,000 KM recommendation in the user manual, but when I arrived with the car, they checked the tread depth and did a quick visual inspection said it wasn't needed at that time. I guess they are not paid on commission?
Tha_Ape
Active Member
Don't forget the annual evaporator coil cleaning for some (I was unlucky enough to have to do it already).
I do all my own stuff on my cars, but if you order tesla air filters they're $36 shipped ($17 each, and you need 2) plus a can of Kool-it is $14. $50/yr if you DIY with OEM filters.
I was going to lube the pins and sides of the pads myself when I switched back to summer wheels, but on the MYLR I have, they look like a royal pain. Each pad is held on by 2 torx screws. That's 16 screws you need to remove!, plus a few caliper bolts if you want to do it right. I believe the MYP has knock out pins which would make this job SOOO much easier. I had those on my old CTS-V and it made changing pads a breeze
I figured my car wasn't quite a year old so I'll let it slide until next year for better or worse.
I do all my own stuff on my cars, but if you order tesla air filters they're $36 shipped ($17 each, and you need 2) plus a can of Kool-it is $14. $50/yr if you DIY with OEM filters.
I was going to lube the pins and sides of the pads myself when I switched back to summer wheels, but on the MYLR I have, they look like a royal pain. Each pad is held on by 2 torx screws. That's 16 screws you need to remove!, plus a few caliper bolts if you want to do it right. I believe the MYP has knock out pins which would make this job SOOO much easier. I had those on my old CTS-V and it made changing pads a breeze
I figured my car wasn't quite a year old so I'll let it slide until next year for better or worse.
I have been driving a Model S for 6+ years and got a maintenance package. So I didn’t know exactly what Tesla charges for maintenance.
I only got a hint just recently when I brought the car in for some minor repairs. I hadn’t had it serviced for some years because due to COVID I hadn’t used the car much.
The service app first sent me an estimate of ~$1,200. But with the prepaid package that went down to $165. Over $1,000 for general maintenance seemed high.
Now my wife wants to service her Model 3. Its about 18 months old. including the repair of one of the knobs moving the chair the estimate was $1,000. Is that a normal price for a regular maintenance visit for a Model 3? Or is Tesla doing some serious price-gauging here because you can’t really service it elsewhere?
I tried to Google it and I mostly see claims how cheap service is for Tesla cars.
We love the cars, but with this kind of service cost our appreciation of Tesla is rapidly diminishing. Does anyone have similar experiences?
Tha_Ape
Active Member
Is that not a warranty item?
I imagine they can't just fix a knob, they have to replace the whole assembly (aka seat). $1000 for s seat replacement sounds about right
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