Model S Service Contracts - the poll edition(tm)!

[Todd Burch]

Reading George B's blog post on service, it sounds pretty good overall. The $600 covers all wear and tear parts as well, such as wiper blades. Basically you know your maintenance costs exactly for 4 years...$600 a year, period. Well, except tires.

Interesting...I never got an email for this blog post (didn't know it was up)...yet I've received all others. Anyway, I'm off to go read it!

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One thing that I think(?) is an improvement regarding rangers is it's a flat $100 fee. No per mile charge.

That's great only if you live more than 100 miles from a service center .

 

[contaygious]

Coming from over 2k services to fix my Infiniti this sounds great to me.

 

[andystj]

Coming from over 2k services to fix my Infiniti this sounds great to me.

How many miles were on the infiniti? The repair bills on my e350 have also been outrageous, but only after the 50,000 miles.

 

[Todd Burch]

So I wonder what happens if the Rangers come to your house and determine that they need to put your car on a lift? Do they trailer it back to the service center?

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Coming from over 2k services to fix my Infiniti this sounds great to me.

Vehicle component repair outside of warranty is different than scheduled maintenance costs. If you blow an inverter after 4 years and the repair is $6K (or whatever it is), this annual service charge isn't going to help you.

 

[mknox]

A bit disappointing that there's no included service...and $600 a year isn't going to qualify as low maintenance cost. But I guess I knew this news was coming.

Yikes! I might just pass on the whole service thing. $600 seems a lot for wiper blades (I can do myself for a few bucks) and brake pads (which are supposed to last "forever" with regenerative braking). My 3 1/2 year old Cadillac CTS (70,000 miles) is still on the original brake pads, and there's no regen on that car!

The only non-ICE related maintenance I've had to do on my Caddy is to replace a DRL bulb.

Other than wipers, brakes and tires, what else is there to maintain on an EV? Is an annual inspection required to maintain the warranty? If so, $600 seems steep to me.

 

[dsm363]

So I wonder what happens if the Rangers come to your house and determine that they need to put your car on a lift? Do they trailer it back to the service center?

Yeah. They had to do that once with my Roadster when the repair was more involved than they thought and it had to go to Chicago for a short time.

 

[AnOutsider]

Yikes! I might just pass on the whole service thing. $600 seems a lot for wiper blades (I can do myself for a few bucks) and brake pads (which are supposed to last "forever" with regenerative braking). My 3 1/2 year old Cadillac CTS (70,000 miles) is still on the original brake pads, and there's no regen on that car!

The only non-ICE related maintenance I've had to do on my Caddy is to replace a DRL bulb.

Other than wipers, brakes and tires, what else is there to maintain on an EV? Is an annual inspection required to maintain the warranty? If so, $600 seems steep to me.

I also wonder if paying the fee is required to keep a tesla uplink for monitoring and service updates.

 

[Todd Burch]

I also wonder if paying the fee is required to keep a tesla uplink for monitoring and service updates.

I'm thinking yes, given that periodic software updates and over-the-air maintenance is listed as a benefit of annual service. It seems mandatory to me.

 

[ckessel]

Is an annual inspection required to maintain the warranty?

Probably, that's the norm for most manufacturers, though with others you can go to Bob's Auto Mechanics for a cheap maintenance and fulfill the warranty requirements.

$600 isn't cheap, but it's not bad. At least not relative to way I pay for my wife's Acura RDX maintenance. It's less than $600, probably closer to $400, but that's just oil and filter changes.

 

[mknox]

I also wonder if paying the fee is required to keep a tesla uplink for monitoring and service updates.

Jeeze I hope not! That's $50/month not including whatever the connectivity package costs. I have OnStar right now which includes remote diagnostics, iPhone app for remote control etc. for something like $25/month. OnStar doesn't do remote software updates (as far as I know), but does do an awful lot including emergency and crash response.

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$600 isn't cheap, but it's not bad. At least not relative to way I pay for my wife's Acura RDX maintenance. It's less than $600, probably closer to $400, but that's just oil and filter changes.

I guess I got spoiled. Cadillac gave me 4 years / 50,000 miles of free maintenance. If I didn't want to wait at the dealer for the oil change, they gave me another Cadillac to drive and I'd pick my car up at the end of the day or they'd meet me at my office. Once they even sent someone to change a flat and repaired the tire for free as part of the service. Then they apologized to me because I'd picked up a nail in my tire and gave me a bunch of OnStar calling minutes for the "inconvenience"!

Now that oil changes are on my dime, they are a bit expensive (requires synthetic oil), but aside from the oil, there has been precious little else to "maintain" on this car. Air filter, Cabin air filter, tire rotations and that's about it. Take out the ICE-related items, and the Caddy has cost me close to nothing in maintenance. I was expecting close to zero maintenance on Model S.

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I'm thinking yes, given that periodic software updates and over-the-air maintenance is listed as a benefit of annual service. It seems mandatory to me.

If getting access to some of the "hardware" updates is included, then it may be worth it. There has been talk of adding parking assist, adaptive cruise and blind-spot detection to existing cars after the fact.

 

[andystj]

$600/12,500 miles = 4.8 cents/mile
$1,900/50,000 miles = 3.8 cents/mile

I don't see this as a bargain for miles 0-50,000, and I really did use the simplicity of the structure and the presumed savings on maintenance as part of the justification for the expense of the vehicle.

What happens after 50,000 miles?

Incidentally, prepaid maintenance on a MB CLS550 is $1,800 for 5-year/50K. Aren't these supposed to be lower cost to maintain? Did I imagine that as a selling point, or did I just buy into a bad assumption based upon the inherent simplicity of the drivetrain?

 

[Doug_G]

$600 is what they have been charging Roadster owners for annual service. Model S was supposedly less expensive and less work to maintain, so the price is a big disappointment.

On the other hand, Ranger service costs me $564 - doubling my annual service cost - so a $100 flat rate would be an improvement. :smile:

On the yet another hand, they've never charged me the Ranger fee for a warranty repair, and now apparently they will. :frown: So over the course of a year it might be wash... depends on whether my Model S has as many little glitches as my Roadster did.

At least it says explicitly, "Prices are for North American customers only", which obviously includes Canada. :smile: With the Roadster they tried to foist $1/km on me instead of the promised $1/mile. After I complained they agreed to reduce the price. :smile: But when the time came they charged me the $1/mile anyway. After I complained again they made the rate $0.65/km, which is only 4% higher instead of 60%. :smile:

I do have to say that the service itself has been extraordinary.

You can tell by the emoticons, however, that I'm a bit conflicted about all this. Everyone at Tesla had been saying the service would be less expensive, and it obviously isn't.

Thinking about it some more... the $1900 "4-Year Anywhere Plan" probably makes a lot of sense for me. I wonder if they can fix my Roadster while there here. :wink:

 

[jed-99aggie]

I must be missing something

Yikes! I might just pass on the whole service thing. $600 seems a lot for wiper blades (I can do myself for a few bucks) and brake pads (which are supposed to last "forever" with regenerative braking). My 3 1/2 year old Cadillac CTS (70,000 miles) is still on the original brake pads, and there's no regen on that car!

The only non-ICE related maintenance I've had to do on my Caddy is to replace a DRL bulb.

Other than wipers, brakes and tires, what else is there to maintain on an EV? Is an annual inspection required to maintain the warranty? If so, $600 seems steep to me.

Honestly... I know the roadster crowd somehow got their mind around this maintenance fee, however given the low volume and unique attributes of the product somehow it seemed more reasonable.

For me, like a few others here have said, the Models S is supposed to be an example of a car you use; not one that you are always thinking about the next service. Reading through the summary of the service plan, I don't get what the value is.
* For anyone who can pump their own gas, swapping out your wipers should be doable.
* Brakes, not likely in the first 50k with or without regen.
* Annual Inspection (is this the DMV safety inspection or Tesla product quality assurance?)
* Roadside assistance - available @ $12/year from many auto insurance co.
* System monitoring, remote diagnostics - sound nice, is tesla saying cellular network connectivity is included?
* SW updates - why isn't this covered in the warranty at a very minimum?

Per my thoughts above, I fail to recognize the service Tesla is performing for the annual service fee? The thought that comes to mind is software industry annual maintenance; you have to pay for it whether you need it or not.
What happens if you forego the annual service for the warranty period?
If you want the latest SW update do you have to true up on your skipped payments?

In my opinion this is a nickel and dime practice that I would have though Tesla was better than. I guess in this regard, Tesla is behaving like their American/Domestic auto brethren. Should I anticipate the question from my delivery specialist, "do you want the special protective undercoating spray?"

Please someone help me see the light on this topic!!!!

 

[brianman]

Incidentally, prepaid maintenance on a MB CLS550 is $1,800 for 5-year/50K. Aren't these supposed to be lower cost to maintain? Did I imagine that as a selling point, or did I just buy into a bad assumption based upon the inherent simplicity of the drivetrain?

You didn't imagine it.

Model S Facts | Tesla Motors

Electric vehicle ownership is extremely advantageous compared to traditional vehicle ownership - gasoline is not needed and routine maintenance is minimal.

 

[kcveins]

I don't think he saw the fine print Todd.


Reading George B's blog post on service, it sounds pretty good overall. The $600 covers all wear and tear parts as well, such as wiper blades. Basically you know your maintenance costs exactly for 4 years...$600 a year, period. Well, except tires.

Just like you, I thought that this was George B's blog spot - however, he didn't write this post.
It was by Joost de Vries, VP Global Services

 

[Orthonos]

Our BMW came with a number of years free maintenance as well, and so a $600 yearly maintenance fee for having a car purported/advertised to require almost no maintenance seems both excessive and even slightly offensive (free wipers! and brake pads, although they should definitely not need replacing in the first 4years). Not impressed.

As well, I had been told by Hans (Canada's Tesla Guy, albeit something like a 6 hour flight away) that there would be a Vancouver service centre this fall. This would have been nice for delivery and dealing with any issues that arise initially. Now, their page says by March, long after it would be any use for Sig or early production reservation holders. Again, not impressed. Actually, even more disappointed with this, as I had heard rumours of the expensive service fee previously.

 

[Todd Burch]

Yeah. They had to do that once with my Roadster when the repair was more involved than they thought and it had to go to Chicago for a short time.

And when they're done, do they return the car...or do you have to drive it back from the service location?

 

[dsm363]

And when they're done, do they return the car...or do you have to drive it back from the service location?

They dropped it off since it is over 800 mies in my case I'd assume they'd do the same for the Model S.

 

[shokunin]

Really disappointed with this...

So is I take this is an annual 12-month service regardless of miles (under 12,500)?? So if I only drive 6,000 miles in the first year, it's an additional .10 a mile ($600) for service? Are you joking? or is it $600 for every 12,500 which could take 2 years to hit? What's the penalty if I forgo the service? Invalidate the warranty?? Isn't a law that I can't be required to go to the dealer for maintenance service for warranty purposes?

That blog sure sounds like, we're opening all these service centers so that every year you can pay use $600 whether you like or not! Buwahahaha.... :crying:

 

[andystj]

You didn't imagine it.

Model S Facts | Tesla Motors
Electric vehicle ownership is extremely advantageous compared to traditional vehicle ownership - gasoline is not needed and routine maintenance is minimal.

Touche.

Immediately following that quote comes this:

Compared to a vehicle like the BMW 535i, Model S will save its owners approximately $8,000 over five years in fuel costs alone.

They should edit this page to read:

Compared to a vehicle like the BMW 535i, Model S will save its owners approximately $8,000 over five years in fuel costs alone, mitigated in part by the fact that the BMW 535i includes $0 maintenance for the first four years, whereas Tesla will charge about $2,000 for the "minimal" maintenance that is required.