My Model S 85D and Tesla life at 100K miles

Back in July 2018, I wrote this post:

My S85D and Tesla life at 50K miles

Three years and a few months ago, I took delivery of a brand new Tesla Model S 85D. Today its odometer passed 50,000 miles! A few stats (as of the end of the day today): Miles on odometer: 50,069 Lifetime average wH/mi: Somewhere between 312 and 317 (uncertainty due to Tesla technician...

teslamotorsclub.com

It concluded with, "Looking forward to the next 50,000 miles." My car (2015 S85D) passed that milestone (100,000 miles) a little over a week ago! Updated stats (and comparison to prior post):

Miles on odometer: 100,026 (was 50,069 in prior post)
Lifetime average wH/mi: I gave up trying to track this, but the prior guesstimate of 312-317 wH/mi is probably still accurate
Door handle replacements: 5 (was 3)
Half-shaft replacements: 1 (no change)
Unique Superchargers visited: 186 (was 36)
HV Battery degradation: 270 Rated Miles -> 240 RM (was 264 RM)
12V Battery replacements: 2 (was 0)
Software updates: 83 (from 6.2(2.4.160) to 2021.24.28) (was 43)

Notable service issues so far (all covered under original warranty or extended warranty):
* MCU replacement (probably caused by eMMC failure)
* Battery coolant heater replacement [in an earlier version of this post I mistakenly called this a coolant pump]
* Liftgate cinching actuator replacement (2)
* Door handle replacements (5)
An important point is that I've never gotten stranded by any of these problems.

I indulged myself with a few general thoughts on my experience so far in my 50K post. I still think all of those are true, so I won't repeat them. Instead, here are a few things I've learned over the years.

* You need to take it on yourself to be informed about your car. For various reasons, Tesla doesn't do as much in this area as they used to. Nowadays, it's up to you find a trusted source of information (a friend, owners club, TMC). Conversely, try to help others when you can.

* You might know more about your car than the Tesla employee you're speaking to. They can still help you and are still worthy of respect.

* There are no absolute "must haves" when it comes to accessories.

* Make sure you have a plan for charging your car before taking delivery. If possible, try to have home charging or workplace charging. You might need to get creative if you live in an apartment or condo complex, or only have street parking.

* Road-tripping a Tesla can be fun! It's a little different from doing a road-trip with an ICE, so be prepared and develop the right intuition. Don't "fill up" at your charging stops unless you really need to. Work rest breaks or meal stops into charging stops. Have backup plans for charging because charging stations aren't as ubiquitous as gas stations.

* Try to do your own trip-planning if you can. The in-car software, as well as various third-party tools, get the job done, but they probably don't know about the Supercharger with your favorite restaurant, or the one with the cleanest restrooms.

* Remember that all of the Autopilot-type systems from Tesla (including AP, EAP, FSD, and FSD Beta) are driver assist systems. You still need to pay attention but you're supervising the car driving, rather than doing the driving yourself.

* OTA upgrades let Tesla install new functionality or bug fixes. They also allow Tesla to make a change you don't like or add bugs.

* People come to the Tesla brand for many different reasons ("green"-ness, cost savings, performance, tech, etc.). Other owners you meet (on-line or in real-life) might've had different paths to Tesla-hood, and have different needs and wants from you.

* Owning a Tesla can still make you do unexpected things, like competing with other owners to see how many Superchargers you can visit.

Oh yeah, still love the car, things are great.

Bruce.

 

[suraj1194]

The number of rated miles you have left doesn't take into account changes in elevation in whatever direction you're going, or the effects of wind or temperature. So "rated miles" is fictional anyway, it doesn't necessarily correspond to actual miles you travel. Same for "ideal miles".

Interesting point here. I'm in the RM camp but I always tend to use both since the dash shows me RMs and the map shows %.

RMs are useful for end to end mapping of required distance. E.g. I'm going between A and B separated by X miles. The RM figure of the SOC% Y is X+C . I find it more helpful to align to keeping C positive. The alternate thought process of course is keeping Y > 0, but I find that harder to map dynamic real X to dynamic Y %SOC . It's easier to mentally map real X miles left to dynamic X+C RMs left since they're the same units.

I've always found the map very good at estimating %SOC and corresponding RMs for a given destination. It's worked well on mostly flat with a moderate hill in between (e.g. Bay Area to Kettleman via Pacheco - 180 miles for me), a larger hill (Kettleman to LA basin over the grapevine) or a large uphill section (e.g. Roseville to Incline Village or Reno). I've done these in summer and winter. This suggests that it is at least aware of the topological impact on required energy, if not the temperature too.

 

[Kandiru]

2015 S85D, 85k miles. No way am I going to get rid of it in this phony inflationary economy. Once the chip factory in Columbus OH opens,
and Giga Austin and Berlin get in full gear, lightly used MS will show up again, got my March 2015 MSRP 98k for 75k with 4k/6mo later that year.
Same as OP, many little repairs with ranger visits to my work parking lot, never left me stranded. 254 of the 260 original miles.

Inferno on wheels, talk of town with my slaloming through traffic, people still go wow when they realize my 7yo MCU2 car does more than their 2022 legacy luxo ICE will ever do in its lifetime. And the looks, OMG those sexy curves, I admit the Taycan looks better though tech inferior.

 

[ndinh]

Not exactly the subject of this thread of discussion but I'm thinking of buying a used Model S, say 6 years old with a 100 000+ mileage. Since all the respondents here seem to have a model S that is quite close to what I'm looking for I was wondering if you'd be keen to give me some advice for this purchase. Like do's and dont's, traps to avoid, things to check, etc...

Your expertise and knowledge would be greatly o

Not exactly the subject of this thread of discussion but I'm thinking of buying a used Model S, say 6 years old with a 100 000+ mileage. Since all the respondents here seem to have a model S that is quite close to what I'm looking for I was wondering if you'd be keen to give me some advice for this purchase. Like do's and dont's, traps to avoid, things to check, etc...

Your expertise and knowledge would be greatly appreciated.

I just bought my wife a 2017 s75 so I have some shopping experience but nowhere near the ownership experience as these members. First off, expect to pay alot more than what the car was valued 2 years ago. I ended up paying close to $60k for a 2017, granted it only had 18k miles. The car came with coils and if I had to do it over, I'd go air suspension. Also, if you could afford a 2018, do it because they came with MCU2. The car rides pretty rough having coils so keep that in mind. Also, never realize how expensive auto insurance was on this car compared to our BMWs.

 

[smilepak]

Great summary! I have hit over 125k with the 2015 Model S 70D.

- Replaced all for door handles. One was under warranty, the other three a few months apart.
- Had a bright chrome issue where it leaked to the rear cabin. I had to bring it back to Tesla to replace/fix. It took 3+ trip to have it finally fixed. They had to re-glue, rather than replace. Goodwill Service out of warrant.
- Did annual service. Replaced brake fluid twice. Coolant Twice. Drivetrain fluid once
- Still on original brakes. As of the last service this past Nov, front and rear are about 50%-60%.
- Replaced all wheel lug nuts due to swelling issue last year.
- Replaced MCU, upgrade to new version due to eMMC failure. Replaced in 2020.
- Liftgate cinching actuator replacement
- Had them fix center arm rest, screw was coming off about 6 months into ownership
- Had them fix air bag alert due to not being connected. 3 days after into ownership
- Had them adjusted the shock, 6 months into ownership, it was too bouncy.
- Replaced tires, twice. Once with Pirellis and then now Michellins. Will go back to Pirellis P7, those are quieter.

Battery degradation. At 100% brand new was around 232. Now around 218ish, depending on the weather.

 

[TonyT]

I have not heard of any MCU2 leaks so far. Also if I am not mistaken, someone has looked the parts for the mcu2 and it does have the proper automotive grade adhesive vs the industrial grade adhesive of the mcu1.

The MCU2 IC and MCU screens don't have much change... So only time will tell, There are some IC screens without the second layer, so no glue to melt.

I think they Plaid has gen3 door handles, which are supposed to not fail... We see a report of a plaid owner who had 3 replacements already, and we see gen3 handles fail, however they are simplified to a microcontroller and much less mechanical parts. The new handles seem a lot less repairable.

 

[aerodyne]

Great feedback, Bruce. But, 5 door handle replacements! None so far for my car ... it might be due to my low mileage of 47k miles?

Same here, 7ish years and 53k miles, only a bad turn stalk, peeling trunk garnish, replaced eMMC, loose parking sensors, and failed contactors in the pack. No handle problems.

 

[Mhoepfin]

2015 85D 70k miles. Amazing I’ve had exactly the same things fixed - battery heater, 4 handles, tailgate chinch mech, mcu replaced. Also they upgrade the pano roof from gen 1 to gen 2 due to some small leaks. Amazing well built car.

 

[Droschke]

2015 85D 70k miles. Amazing I’ve had exactly the same things fixed - battery heater, 4 handles, tailgate chinch mech, mcu replaced. Also they upgrade the pano roof from gen 1 to gen 2 due to some small leaks.

and this:

Amazing well built car.

Are you serious? Those are two statements are incompatible.

 

[aerodyne]

and the, this:



Are you serious? Those are two incompatible statements.

My new MS LR is an amazingly poorly built car...anything touched by a human is screwed up.

 

[Mhoepfin]

and this:



Are you serious? Those are two statements are incompatible.

Yes I am serious. 7 year old car that looks and drives like it just came off the showroom floor. There are a few small things that have consistently failed across this model year all fixed under warranty. Not a squeak, sound or rattle in my S.

 

[aerodyne]

Yes I am serious. 7 year old car that looks and drives like it just came off the showroom floor. There are a few small things that have consistently failed across this model year all fixed under warranty. Not a squeak, sound or rattle in my S.

I'm not quite that lucky, but pretty close. My car was a demo, then leased, and extremely well cared for by Prior Owner.

Thanks Stan ?...wherever you are.

I really think that if I had the premium interior package, light interior, and a 90D or 100D I would never want a new MS, or any other car, for that matter.

Now I have to spend another month getting things fixed on the 22 MS LR before I can sell it in good conscience.

IMO, the solution to old MS problems is not a New MS...

 

[Silicon Desert]

Bruce, really nice summary. I hope my oldest car lasts to 100,000 miles. So far, really great experience.

 

[roblab]

I’ve had 3 on my 2021 Plaid already. Real crap. Prefer my MYP mechanical handles any day to these abominations.

As a note on the other side, I've owned four Teslas. Two were Model Ses, the first of which needed to have door handles replaced, though they never caused a problem. The work was done before my wife and I got seated. The second needed no work at all. After the door handles were replace on S number one, there was never any issue. There was no issue before the replacement, either.

I don't think these handles were "Real crap." They worked fine before the replacement, and never gave me trouble over the next 100,000 miles after the replacement. Of course, it could be the Service Department where you live, who are still learning how to replace door handles. To have three replacements pretty much says there's something wrong with the Service Department, as there are thousands of Model Ses driving around with zero door handle problems. Your Plaid car has the same door handles that I do.

 

[Silicon Desert]

This ^ I've always struggled to feel comfortable with in my seven years of ownership. It seems to me you always need to translate percentage to miles to make sure you can make A to B distance. So, why using the percentage then?

Yup, that's my feeling. I understand Bruce's (and other people) point of wanting to display range in percentage. I tried it for several months when I first got the car and understand the differences between percentage and miles. In our case, we were born in the Fred Flintstone era so we think of things in miles and since we don't drain down the car to almost nothing, a rough estimate is fine for us. I haven't yet seen a road sign that reads "48% to San Francisco", so I can't compare road sign mileage to a percent. You folks that use percent probably just have a better brain than me and the wife But yea, I tried it and understand it is a personal preference. There are a couple other threads about that debate.

Back to the real point of the thread, I should say my oldest car is the early 2017 MX with only 62,000 miles, so I don't have the nice fancy door handles, thus no issues there. Replaced the 12VDC battery twice (most recently 3 months ago). Got the clevis mount update for free a couple years ago, so no vibration issues since then. Got the HW3 and cameras free update. Service center up here is really great, yet I hear it can be a nightmare in many places. No other issues. Now that I have said this, Murhpy's law will prevail and next time I go to the garage, the car will probably be dead

 

[Droschke]

Yes I am serious. 7 year old car that looks and drives like it just came off the showroom floor. There are a few small things that have consistently failed across this model year all fixed under warranty. Not a squeak, sound or rattle in my S.

But an "Amazing well built car" does not go through all the fixes and part replacements you had listed. That's all I'm saying.

 

[RCFLMA]

As my car turns 100k miles, I wanted to summarize my experience.

47 states + Canada, 20+ National Parks​

Battery Degradation 90KWH version C has been excellent:

Initial 100% range 2/17 294 miles​

12/18= 285 miles (odometer 36k)​

06/22= 283 miles (odometer 100k)​

Since Oct 2018, data recorded daily by TeslaFi​

Supercharging – Max typically set to 80-85%, 90-95% if necessary

404 supercharges at 215 locations​

Average charge time of 26 minutes​

Total of 12,195 KWH added​

AC Charging - vast majority at home on a 50 amp 220V circuit, Max typically set at 80%

558 charges at 20 locations​

Total of 12,686 KWH added​

Software – 78 updates

average of 17 days between updates​

average of 4 days from release to download and installation​

Service –

4/17: Initial issues with 12v battery failure and shut down (x4) in first few months. Required replacement of junction box and rear subframe wiring harness (resolved, warranty).​

5/18 Yellow border on MCU – replaced (recurred in 2019, warranty)​

10/18: FSD purchased (already had EAP).​

5/19 Yellow border on MCU again – replaced (resolved, waranty)​

9/19 AC failure (resolved)​

6/20 HW3 retrofit upgrade for FSD​

9/20 Infotainment upgrade (AP2 to AP3)​

2/21 12v Battery replacement (no problems, elective replacement)​

Tires:

OEM tires lasted 25k mi, replaced with Michelin Primacy (50k) and Michelin snow tires (15k) in season​

Now using Michelin CrossClimate2​

I had recently posted this in another forum but I think it adds to discussion

 

[rsg123]

Nice. I have a 2015 S with 147k miles. I bought it with 48k just over 5 years ago. I’ve had to change the 12V 3 times, only once under warranty. I had $2k worth of suspension work done because of worn parts. It’s an amazing car and I want to keep it for many more years but tbh I’m a little worried about the battery warranty ending!

 

[maximizese]

Nice. I have a 2015 S with 147k miles. I bought it with 48k just over 5 years ago. I’ve had to change the 12V 3 times, only once under warranty. I had $2k worth of suspension work done because of worn parts. It’s an amazing car and I want to keep it for many more years but tbh I’m a little worried about the battery warranty ending!

Care to share which suspension parts wore, at what mileage point, and where you sourced the parts (assuming OEM from Tesla). I haven't had any suspension issues with alignment or breakage but I know these bushings don't last forever. Would be nice if there was place that offered a core-swap with some good bushings already pressed it.

 

[850EX]

120k 2015 S here.
Just had these replaced:
- Front shocks
- Front left and right control arms
- front/rear Aft links, Fore link bushings
- Driven hub
- other parts cleaned due to corrosion form winter salt
- iShaft Steering link (stiff steering wheel-they say not part of recall)

Car’s arms/legs replaced with mine.

 

[smilepak]

Nice. I have a 2015 S with 147k miles. I bought it with 48k just over 5 years ago. I’ve had to change the 12V 3 times, only once under warranty. I had $2k worth of suspension work done because of worn parts. It’s an amazing car and I want to keep it for many more years but tbh I’m a little worried about the battery warranty ending!

2k was for all four suspensions?