Model S extended warranty decision time!

[mberrow]

I just finally drove my September, 2014 Model S 85 over the 50,000 miles new car warranty.
There is a one month or 1,000 miles grace period to decide about purchasing an extended warranty
2 and 4 year periods are offered.
Since I did not purchase the extended warranty at the outset, a 4-year 'Extended Service Agreement' is $4,750
I hear that they now insist that regular servicing occurs (was not true for the new car warranty but I bought the service plan anyway)
So another 4 -year plan would be ... (475 + 725 + 475 + 850 = 2525) $2,525
The total would be then $7,275
That's a very big chunk of change. Also there is a $200 deductible per 'issue' (not visit).
The car has been fairly reliable so far. After some initial minor 'teething trouble ' issues the only major things that needed fixing were the pano roof 'cartridge' and a motor replacement.
I have a rear-wheel drive model (dual motor was not out then) and this was in the first batch of cars released with the auto-pilot hardware. It has the smart suspension.

I am interested in hearing the thoughts and experiences of people who've had to make this same decision. How did it turn out? (whatever you decided).
Are there significant holes in this 'Extended Service Agreement' ?

Thanks Much
-- Mike Berrow

 

[steve841]

It's insurance ... it's worth it when you need it and then you thank the heavens you got it. OR, it's a total waste of money as in you buy it and never use it.

Helpful?

 

[arcus]

Congrats on the milestone. Here are the terms of the ESA for US market: https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/service/vehicle_extended_service_agreement_en_us.pdf

In my opinion, if you intend to keep the car for long it is worth the expense. A single repair/replacement of a part can easily cover it.

 

[David99]

I did the same numbers and decided not to go for it and didn't regret it. The extended warranty also has a limit on miles. Since I drive a lot my extended warranty would have only lasted one year for me because by then I would have hit the limit of miles. My car is now 4 years old and has 157k miles. I did not have any repairs that would have exceeded the cost of the extended warranty. It really only makes sense if you have some major repairs that are not battery or drive unit related. Those are very rare. I don't think it is worth it. If you drive a lot lke me, definitely not worth it because the miles will limit it dramatically. If you drive very little your car gets used very little so the odds of something drastic failng is small.

 

[Tam]

....The total would be then $7,275...

Tesla repairs are too expensive so I wouldn't own a Tesla without a warranty (original or extended one).

If you think $7,275 is expensive, wait until your A/C needs repairing in summer and then your Heater for winter.

Those 2 items alone could cost more than $7,275!

What about your onboard charger, handles, 17" screen, Instrument Cluster...

If you know how to fix them on your own, there's no need for warranty/extended one!

 

[David99]

Tesla repairs are too expensive so I wouldn't own a Tesla without a warranty (original or extended one).

If you think $7,275 is expensive, wait until your A/C needs repairing in summer and then your Heater for winter.

Those 2 items alone could cost more than $7,275!

What about your onboard charger, handles, 17" screen, Instrument Cluster...

If you know how to fix them on your own, there's no need for warranty/extended one!

Door handles $500-900
A complete MCU is $3400
Instrument cluster is $1000 (estmate)
AC is $2400 if I remember a post here correctly.

All these combined is $7400. Now add $200 deductible for each repair and the so called warranty is still more expensive than just paying out of pocket. As I said, you would have to have some serious repairs and be extremely unlucky that all those things plus more fail on you and then maybe you break even. The word 'warranty' is just creating a false sense of 'saving money'.

 

[eye.surgeon]

I'm approaching the same decision point with my Dec 2014 delivered S85 with AP. I generally do not buy extended warranties, but I probably would if I had a local service center. Unfortunately Tesla has decided that the thousand+ California central valley owners don't deserve a service center so I have to drive 3 hrs to Monterey for any service, which fortunately I have never had to do. That to me is more of a deal breaker than the cost of service. If there was a local service center in Fresno I would probably buy the extended warranty and keep the car a couple more years, as it is I'll probably sell it when it hits 4 years.

 

[Xd85]

Door handles $500-900
A complete MCU is $3400
Instrument cluster is $1000 (estmate)
AC is $2400 if I remember a post here correctly.

All these combined is $7400. Now add $200 deductible for each repair and the so called warranty is still more expensive than just paying out of pocket. As I said, you would have to have some serious repairs and be extremely unlucky that all those things plus more fail on you and then maybe you break even. The word 'warranty' is just creating a false sense of 'saving money'.

Thanks for the insight! I’m probably going to average 30k miles per year and was thinking ESA wouldn’t be a good decision either. What about your service schedule?

 

[David99]

Thanks for the insight! I’m probably going to average 30k miles per year and was thinking ESA wouldn’t be a good decision either. What about your service schedule?

In 160 k miles I did one normal service visit. They are not mandatory for the drivetrain and battery warranty. I did have a few drive units replaced under warranty in the first two years and think they did a courtesy inspection while the car was there, but nothing done other than filling up washer fluid and check tire pressure.
The only real out of warranty repair I ever had was a coolant valve replacement for $300. Everything else was things like tires and cabin air filter, wipers and one broken UMC (which was my own fault as I left it out in the rain) none of these things would be covered by any warranty.

There are a few videos on YouTube of owners with high mileages. They list their repairs. Nothing crazy. The warranty only covers parts that fail. Normal wear and tear is not covered, so it's not lilke you will have zero repair cost. The cost to run my Models S for 4 years and 158k miles has been extremely low.

 

[suraj1194]

I did the same numbers and decided not to go for it and didn't regret it. The extended warranty also has a limit on miles. Since I drive a lot my extended warranty would have only lasted one year for me because by then I would have hit the limit of miles. My car is now 4 years old and has 157k miles. I did not have any repairs that would have exceeded the cost of the extended warranty. It really only makes sense if you have some major repairs that are not battery or drive unit related. Those are very rare. I don't think it is worth it. If you drive a lot lke me, definitely not worth it because the miles will limit it dramatically. If you drive very little your car gets used very little so the odds of something drastic failng is small.

My circumstances are the same as yours, and I made the same decision too. Treating the car as an electrical/electronic appliance with some mechanical aspects, my view was that anything that could break, would break early, within warranty period. Outside of that, I saw it as better value for money to simply put aside some repair money (into TSLA if one so prefers) and not get an ESA at all.

My car's been in the shop thrice - for the regular 25K service, the 75D uncorking, and most recently the parking brake recall.

 

[Tam]

...warranty is still more expensive than just paying out of pocket...

 

[Tam]

It is just like an insurance: The house always win so some are against buying it because what's your chance of claiming it but others would still buy it even when the chance is so tiny.

 

[battleroyale]

I would not have gotten my CPO without the extended coverage. It's been a life saver so far. Tons of work done and covered under the extended warranty.

 

[suraj1194]

A general set of cases (neither complete nor comprehensive) and the choices could be:

* Low mileage driver new car (say mid 2016 and newer) buyer: Wait until you're near your 4y/50K mark and decide based on service record.

* High mileage driver new car buyer: If the car's behaving fine, probably not worthwhile. If it's accumulated lots of service work under warranty, then there's a case for getting rid of it altogether, rather than buy any warranty or paying for repairs out of warranty. If the work that's been done ensure the car's in great shape now, probably keep the car and no ESA.

* Leased car: no need

* CPO buyer: Older than 2016, or pre-facelift low mileage car probably makes ESA worthwhile. Defect rate as a fraction of total cars was significantly higher in earlier years than it is now. One datapoint: Tesla Model S Battery Life Study Charted By Plug In America . Again, if you're high mileage driver, then the question is a little more nuanced - you may simply run out of warranty period runway too soon.

 

[Sharkdiver76]

I debated about for a long time as well and finally purchased on last day of the 30 day window. One thing to also consider is resale value if you do sell it, most people will shy away from a tesla without warranty. I called service center and was able to get 4 year for $4250 after complaining that when I bought the car the buying warranty within a certain time period didn't affect price. they adjusted price without issue.

 

[Az_Rael]

CPO buyer: Older than 2016, or pre-facelift low mileage car probably makes ESA worthwhile.

ESA is not an option for CPOs. You get the CPO warranty instead.

 

[suraj1194]

I see, thanks for that correction.

As far as ESA and resale value goes, that dovetails in with low vs high mileage driver. The latter will use up most of , or all residual value anyway.

 

[JasonA-EV]

Can you buy the lower mileage one, and then one more final time at 75k? Or do you have only 1 chance or choice to buy either or?

 

[davidc18]

Same issue here. Current plan is to drive without the extended warranty due to my higher than average mileage.

 

[achilles992000]

i will skip the warranty. there is some chance i might not use it. and some chance that if repairs occur, they will be less than the warranty cost.