Maintenance

[TEG]

Mechanical checks are indeed a good idea but the failure of those things are based on miles driven, not time. Some people drive their cars every day, for others it's just a weekend car. Rims aren't going to develop cracks sitting in someone's garage.

Somewhat obvious, but some things do wear out on a calendar clock even if you don't drive though:

• Anything rubber (including tires) eventually breaks down. If left for many years you can get flat spots on the tires, and cracking on the trim.
• Gasoline left in a tank goes bad after a long while. Lithium batteries fade over time.
• Spiders and mice may get into your stored vehicle and cause damage.
• Rust
• etc.

 

[strider]

Somewhat obvious, but some things do wear out on a calendar clock even if you don't drive though:

• Anything rubber (including tires) eventually breaks down. If left for many years you can get flat spots on the tires, and cracking on the trim.
• Gasoline left in a tank goes bad after a long while. Lithium batteries fade over time.
• Spiders and mice may get into your stored vehicle and cause damage.
• Rust
• etc.

Well yes of course. I'm not talking about finding a Roadster under a blanket in a barn and jumping in and driving off. I'm talking about people who drive a few times/month and the car is otherwise plugged in on Storage mode. I'm sure there are plenty of those people out there.

Also, I was just reading my owner's manual and it states 12 months or 12,000 miles, whichever is sooner. That seems excessive for a car that should be low maintenance.

TEG, what are the service intervals for the Leaf?

 

[smoothoperator]

Heck, my 2006 Corvette had the same thing. Everything was synthetic (oil, xmission and diff fluids, brake fluids, etc) and the system would tell you when it was time to change the oil based on your driving habits. Mine was a daily driver so it came on about every 12k miles.

Is the coolant swap included in your annual price? Also, I could have sworn they said 5 years on the coolant - again, my 2005 diesel Jeep Liberty and aforementioned Corvette had 5-year coolant intervals.... Just checked my 2.5 owner's manual, it says 4 years on coolant.

I just don't see what they're doing for $700. They should be able to run pack/cell diagnostics over the air. Hmm, maybe I'm thinking about this all wrong. Maybe we should think of this annual service as a "software maintenance fee" that is common on technology products. You have to pay so much for maintenance every year which gives you access to tech support and all software upgrades.

Doug, maybe we need a new "Tesla Annual Maintenance" thread?

On my service invoice there was a checklist attached, that said something like "Coolant Every other service". I am pretty sure they will charge extra for the coolant flush. They replaced my wiper blades (which they charge for), did a firmware update, and then did a bunch of inspections. It took 3 days for them to do all this.

Its very annoying to see the service warning pop-up everytime you are in the car, so it might be worth it just to get rid of this warning :wink:

I thought that if you brought the car during the warranty period to Tesla they will update the firmware for free? Are they charging for this now?

 

[vfx]

They blow it out too. No small deal.

 

[TEG]

TEG, what are the service intervals for the Leaf?

The Dealer said they want the car brought in once every 12 months so they can run a battery diagnostic.
They gave me a sample report of the sort of thing they expect to get from their diagnostic system.
It looks like this:

They suggest rotating the tires every 7500 miles.
They suggest replacing the in-cabin microfilter (climate control) every 15,000 mile at least once per year.
Replace brake fluid every 15k mile / 12 months for heavy usage ( 30k / 24 months for normal usage.)
Replace all coolant every 105K miles / 84 months.
They also suggest periodically inspecting things (but not necessarily servicing them) such as axle & suspension parts, brake rotors & pads, drive shaft boots, ball joints, steering gear, etc.

 

[doug]

The Dealer said they want the car brought in once every 12 months so they can run a battery diagnostic.
They gave me a sample report of the sort of thing they expect to get from their diagnostic system.
It looks like this:
View attachment 1854

Sounds like more of a check of your driving and charging logs rather than the actual health of the battery.

 

[TEG]

Sounds like more of a check of your driving and charging logs rather than the actual health of the battery.

Yeah... Maybe the battery can't divulge its' real condition, but the way you treated it is easier to track and gives some idea how much the pack has been suffering.

 

[JRP3]

It will have brakes that have exactly the same maintenance issues as other cars, pad wear, fluid level and rotor wear.

EV's should have much less brake wear than ICE vehicles since regen does most of the braking. EV's should have lower overall maintenance issues than ICE vehicles. Battery coolant will not see the same extremes as ICE coolant.

 

[ChargeIt!]

When did the annual/12k maintenance fee of $600 change to $700 ? Or did it ?

 

[dpeilow]

When I test drove the Leaf, the guy said that the scale highlighted in the orange dashed lines in TEG's picture is to tell how badly the battery has been treated, so if you are buying a second hand one look for that being close to 1.

On the subject of oil changes, my 2002 Audi's intervals are 19,000 miles on synthetic - which was quite something back then but seems par for the course today. In my experience other stuff needs checked more frequently than the oil now.

 

[JRP3]

Yet so many people still think 3k oil changes are mandatory. Consumers Reports debunked that over 20 years ago I think.

 

[doug]

Yet so many people still think 3k oil changes are mandatory.

Thanks to Jiffy Lube.

 

[mleskovar]

$700/yr. for a check up maintenance visit would be ludicrous for this type of car. Throws the "low maintenance requirements" tag right out the window. That's 6 hours of overpriced dealer labor. No car manufacturer could survive with a mass produced vehicle that requires that level of checking up. You should be able to determine the battery health, brake wear, critical systems monitoring yourself with on board computers. I'm guessing the coolant requirements are less demanding than an ICE vehicle as well. It will be interesting what the maintenance requirements really are.

 

[eledille]

EV's should have much less brake wear than ICE vehicles since regen does most of the braking.

Yes, but make sure you use the disk brakes a few times each time you drive the car, they need excercise. If you forget using them because of the regen, you will get a nasty surprise at the next service - you will have to replace the brake disks due to rust damage. The calipers may also start to stick.

 

[JRP3]

I agree a few hard stops each trip might be a good idea. On the other hand since EV brakes are doing so much less work maybe the rotors could be made out of aluminum, saving some weight as well, or made smaller but out of stainless steel.

 

[eledille]

I would think that aluminium would melt? That would be a bit unfortunate... Al melts at about 600 deg C.

Ceramic rotors will not rust. They are expensive, though. Drum brakes don't rust either, but don't look very nice. Some googling confirmed the existence of stainless brake rotors.

If regen can be switched off, exercising the brakes would be easier.

 

[JRP3]

The idea is that the rotors would not get that hot since they only do a small amount of the braking. You can already buy aluminum rotors so they must stand up to the heat.

 

[Doug_G]

The idea is that the rotors would not get that hot since they only do a small amount of the braking. You can already buy aluminum rotors so they must stand up to the heat.

Yeah but in a fast stop they will still do almost 100% of the work.

I remember reading somewhere tbat ceramic brakes don't work as well when they are cold. So they might not be a good match for a car with regen.

 

[JRP3]

I would think even in a fast stop it would be a good deal less than 100%. As soon as you're off the A pedal regen kicks in and it's there until the vehicle stops moving.

 

[eledille]

JRP3: You're right, of course. I see that they're even used in racing, so an EV should be no problem.

I've seen brake rotors glow bright orange in the dark during Rally Sweden. Quite a sight to watch a car approach the corner at about 200 kph, apply the brakes and suddenly the brake rotors turn red, salmon, orange, then fade again as it accelerates away. Bright orange indicates about 900 deg C, so at first I thought that aluminium wouldn't work, but now I think I understand: Steel is a poor conductor of heat, while aluminium is a very good one. The brake pads heat the rotor surface, but the heat needs time to spread throughout the rotor. The higher heat conductivity of aluminium will keep the surface cooler, even though the average temperature is the same.