The above post makes me sad. I've watched your battery videos and have followed your trials and tribulations through your battery replacement. I'm sad that what we see happening is dampening our enthusiasm for this brand and potentially over the longevity of our vehicles. I would be lying to say that I'm not concerned. Everyone is in Happyville while under warranty and under Tesla's great customer service umbrella. But look... My Prius went 7 years before I sold it and racked up 122,000 miles. I replaced the 12v battery once and that was it! I bought the 100,000 mile warranty and ended up regretting it. My VW Jetta before that was also pretty reliable, although it did have more than its share of warranty issues. But I did not keep it far beyond the warranty before I sold that one. Acura Integra before that, went over 160,000 miles and blew a hose pipe once.
I do not accept the argument that other premium vehicles in this price range also require service and suffer from component failures. That's not the point. Tesla says it is doing better. It has like an order of magnitude fewer moving parts than an ICE car and Elon says in front of hundreds of people that their drivetrain is nearly indestructible. He recently said they have one back in their labs with over 500,000 miles on it. So why isn't that experience resonating throughout these threads?
Islandbay, can you still buy the extended warranty? I believe you are still inside of your warranty period and are eligible to purchase it. Even at $4,000, it's still a heck of a lot less expensive than a failed supercharging unit. And it should also help you with resale potential down the road. If these failure reports keep up, I don't see a very prolific used market for Model S vehicles that aren't still under a warranty of some kind.
I hear ya. Trust me, I'm still chugging along. Tesla service has been great, and above and beyond what was expected or required. I just feel that, even while having what I would consider a earlier VIN (09846), that some of these problems should have been foreseen. My worries are what happens after warranty is up. I was told by the service center that my pack (The contactor) could have been repaired on site at a much lower cost out of warranty (No one has gotten to that point of being out of warranty for that type of repair, so no known cost at this time), however, they wanted the quickest turn around (Appreciated), and to send mine back for analysis. I just think that contactors, especially with how many have reported that failure, should not happen.
Just, so many things that should be so much better, have so much more reliability. I really hope they will pull through this. I can also say, with the last Model S loaner I had in the late 40,000's VIN, over 4th of July weekend while mine was getting the Titanium armor and some other minor stuff taken care of, the quality level has improved drastically in terms of Fit and Finish (accept for the Frunk latch bend that seems to plague newer cars), cant speak for battery or drivetrain reliability, as I was only able to put about 1,000 miles on that loaner before returning it the following Monday.
I know things will improve over time, and in just 1 short year, they did make those Leaps and Bounds improvements. Unfortunately, some of us early guys are going to end up taking it in the rear (my opinion) after our warranties run out.
Amped, yes, I can still get the extended at the $4,000 price tag. Still a lot harder to swallow given that it was $2,500 if I got that when I ordered my car, and even more so given that the Extended warranty would be expired by the end of next year due to mileage. That $4,000 could so much better be spent for 6 more car payments, potential upgrades, or even a upgrade to a 85kWh battery if they'd ever let me, or even a awesome vacation for my lil guys.
I am/was Wisconsin's first electric car dealer of full street legal EV's (Full Size conversions, not NEV's or Golf Carts), and I also sold the Zap Cars for a while (which were complete and utter CRAP). I've done 26 conversions to date. I have never had a car come back due to a major failure. Some have 40-50,000 miles using Lead Acid batteries, and being used just as short range commuter cars and food deliver (pizza and chinese take out). The worst I have had to do was change out a lead acid battery pack. that was only his second pack at about 45,000 miles, and only required a $1,000 check and a trip to Walmart for another set of 10 Everstart Deep Cycle MAXX batteries. The only motor failure I've had was my first conversion, where I pushed a small 72v D&D motor at 800 amps at about 80mph in 5th gear on a old Alfa Romeo Spider, that one went POP then Sizzle
And that was my fault since I did not have my amp meter connected and was just enjoying the maiden voyage too much....
Sorry, off topic again. I'm highly Caffeinated right now and accidentally slipped into Keyboard Commando mode.
I will close my post with this.
I KNOW Tesla is working their butts off to Improve things. I have and will continue to give my full support. I want, No, NEED Tesla to Succeed. They have done on a massive scale what no one else has, and that is bring Long Range electric travel to the masses, and so far, have done it better then everyone else has. Better doesn't mean perfect.
I want to see Tesla GET IT PERFECT, and I KNOW they can achieve, or nearly achieve Perfect. As you did Tesla with the Drivetrain Warranty. Please don't leave us early guys behind. We're here pushing and selling these vehicles for you, as well as being Ginny pigs in the mean time. On top of that, my Respect for the Roadster Owners is Astronomical for undertaking Tesla's "Alpha" experiment.
/Caffeine High Curved
