My Tesla Story

[rxlawdude]

Hi Max *

I have been enjoying Tesla for about 10 months now and I can try commenting on some of your thoughts: I believe there are veterans who have owned the car for more time and did lot of road trips (which I am planning to take soon).

My comments

5. I drive about 30,000 miles each year and debating whether to buy the extended warranty..I understand we have to have service visits but I would rather pay $4000 and have extended warranty and have that peace of mind. Please refer to posts where fellow Tesla owners complain how expensive parts are once the warranty is expired.

I will join with you to hope Tesla grows and also the parts and labor costs go down. Wish Tesla works on Nav and Beta trip planner as well.:smile:

I hope you've done the "annual" maintenance at 12,500 mile intervals. Otherwise, you won't qualify for the Extended Service Agreement, since a condition of coverage is all prior maintenance done within +/-1,000 miles of 12,500 increments (in your case where you drive more than 12,500 miles a year).

 

[brucet999]

3. The AC controls are poor. I keep needing to fiddle with it, and I know that I'm not alone. If I set it to LO it'll blow cold air at a fan speed of 11. But if I set it to 67, it wont set the fan high enough to cool the car off.

For what it's worth, we have had two Lexus vehicles, LS 450 and RX350 and have found the AC controls pretty worthless on both. Set a temp and you would expect lots of cold air until cabin temp drops and then lower fan speed, but generally nothing much seems to happen. I find the manual controls of my ancient work van much more effective.

Also both Lexus cars emit a musty smell from the AC and no amount of filter changing solves the problem. Lexus service folks just acknowledge the problem and advise running outside air on vent for a while before shutting down to get rid of excess moisture. I wonder if Tesla AC does that as well?

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I hope you've done the "annual" maintenance at 12,500 mile intervals. Otherwise, you won't qualify for the Extended Service Agreement, since a condition of coverage is all prior maintenance done within +/-1,000 miles of 12,500 increments (in your case where you drive more than 12,500 miles a year).

So extended warranty actually costs $5200 because you have to do the two redundant $600 service visits.

 

[jerry33]

FAlso both Lexus cars emit a musty smell from the AC and no amount of filter changing solves the problem. Lexus service folks just acknowledge the problem and advise running outside air on vent for a while before shutting down to get rid of excess moisture. I wonder if Tesla AC does that as well?

No musty smell in the Model S in 2.5 years, and I'm in Texas. Generally musty smell is because the drain isn't draining properly. An air filter change won't stop it or even mitigate it. The fixes are: 1) ensure that the drain is freely draining. 2) clean any moisture holding dust off of the A/C condenser (note this often requires removal).

 

[brucet999]

No musty smell in the Model S in 2.5 years, and I'm in Texas. Generally musty smell is because the drain isn't draining properly. An air filter change won't stop it or even mitigate it. The fixes are: 1) ensure that the drain is freely draining. 2) clean any moisture holding dust off of the A/C condenser (note this often requires removal).

Thanks for that good news. If there is no problem in Texas, there certainly won't be one in semi-arid SoCal.

 

[Max*]

For what it's worth, we have had two Lexus vehicles, LS 450 and RX350 and have found the AC controls pretty worthless on both. Set a temp and you would expect lots of cold air until cabin temp drops and then lower fan speed, but generally nothing much seems to happen. I find the manual controls of my ancient work van much more effective.

My old car I'd set the AC and forget about it. It'd come on strong (full fan) and slowly adjust as the cabin temp stabilized. That's also been the behavior in every car I've been in.

 

[Cyclone]

My old car I'd set the AC and forget about it. It'd come on strong (full fan) and slowly adjust as the cabin temp stabilized. That's also been the behavior in every car I've been in.

This is also the behavior my 2006 4Runner exhibits, which adds to my surprise that Brucet has the experience he or she has had.

 

[Ingineer]

The 2008 Prius I had was excellent, and had a similar compressor as the Model S.

I did some experimenting to see what's going on. It seems to overcompensate on the solar sensor/exterior temp. When there is sun shining and it's hot out the system works well, but as it cools off outside I have to drop the set point to keep the interior the same.

 

[Pollux]

6. The rear seats have no AC. Seriously? Sigh... my kids will only sit there when it's less than 85 degrees outside. I put on heat reducing tint and got the rear sunshade and got them handheld fans. But this is a serious design flaw with no retrofit in mind. They like the seats, but haven't been able to use them much.

Two years and counting since I first was told that Tesla knows about this problem, takes it seriously, and will release a fix in "a year". The lack of air flow in the rear seriously limits what I'm willing to do with the kids sitting there in the spring, summer and fall.

Love the company, love the people, love the product. Can't wait until they get their act together on communications and executing on their promises. (Center console, anyone?)

Alan

 

[Max*]

Two years and counting since I first was told that Tesla knows about this problem, takes it seriously, and will release a fix in "a year". The lack of air flow in the rear seriously limits what I'm willing to do with the kids sitting there in the spring, summer and fall.

Love the company, love the people, love the product. Can't wait until they get their act together on communications and executing on their promises. (Center console, anyone?)

Alan

Their "fix" was to turn on fresh air mode, but that's not the same as having air blown AT you. I've seen some creative people retrofit some sort of air vents to that go to the trunk, but I personally don't like how any of them look (not that I can do better, but I think OEM would be better).

 

[mknox]

I hope you've done the "annual" maintenance at 12,500 mile intervals. Otherwise, you won't qualify for the Extended Service Agreement, since a condition of coverage is all prior maintenance done within +/-1,000 miles of 12,500 increments (in your case where you drive more than 12,500 miles a year).

This is driving me crazy! When I bought my car in early 2013, I was told I had to have the "annual" inspections just to maintain the Basic warranty, so to save money, I pre-paid for 8 years. I drive about 25,000 miles a year and so would need that many just to get me through 4 years of ownership. Subsequently, Elon came out and said no, you don't need to do this, so I figured I would use the "annuals" roughly annually, regardless of mileage and stretch out the benefit a bit longer.

I just took my car in for it's 50,000 mile inspection, which is only the second one I have had done. Tesla Service made some comment to me about how my coverage "might not be in place" as a result of the fact that I had "missed" a couple. What? I assumed they meant that I had "lost" the ones that would have been done at the earlier mileage intervals.

Here's what bugs me:

1. They apparently have a whole different set of things they do at each mileage interval, but that was never documented or communicated to me. All I was ever told is that EVs need hardly any maintenance, and I assumed these were just "inspections". The 50,000 mile one, as it turns out, was a biggie.
2. Whenever I took my car in for other things, they always did a whole bunch of stuff that I didn't ask for, but apparently needed to be done. Fine. But it seemed silly to take my car back the next day for an "annual" when it appeared to me they had done all of the stuff they would have done at the "annual" already anyway.
3. Tesla seems to know everything about me and the car. They often call me about forum posts I make here, but they couldn't call me when one of my pre-paid service inspections was due???
4. When I bought the Extended Warranty and Pre-Paid Service Plan, there was nothing linking the two together (i.e. You must have the Service Plan in order to buy the Extended Warranty)

I'll be thoroughly pissed if I find out my Basic or Extended Warranty (that I also paid for on day one) is not in place.:cursing:

 

[hiroshiy]

You are still in much better shape than me. In Japan no service contracts or whatever, no warranties at all. No annual service.

 

[mknox]

You are still in much better shape than me. In Japan no service contracts or whatever, no warranties at all. No annual service.

I'm concerned I might be in worse shape. According to @rxlawdude, I may not have warranty and/or service plan coverage either.... but I PAID for them!

 

[Max*]

I'm concerned I might be in worse shape. According to @rxlawdude, I may not have warranty and/or service plan coverage either.... but I PAID for them!

I'd contact Tesla if I was in your shoes. The ESA does clearly state that you're required to do annual maintenance, but I bet Tesla might be willing to bend the rules some since they changed the rules so many times and you've had your car a while: Thoughts about Tesla Warranty, CPO, Service, and Other Policies - Page 3

 

[mknox]

I'd contact Tesla if I was in your shoes. The ESA does clearly state that you're required to do annual maintenance...

I wonder if the version I have says that? Need to check. When I bought the car, it said in writing I needed the inspections just to keep the basic warranty in place. Elon over-ruled that in a tweet or something.

 

[taurusking]

I'm concerned I might be in worse shape. According to @rxlawdude, I may not have warranty and/or service plan coverage either.... but I PAID for them!

I think I have to call Tesla and receive a clarification...when I picked the car for delivery I was told to come in for an annual visit despite me telling them I drive at least 30 K miles each year.

What is the point in purchasing annual service agreement or ESA at this point?

Is there an email address I can write my questions about the ESA and annual service?

 

[mknox]

I think I have to call Tesla and receive a clarification...

Me too, but I do want to clarify one thing. I am in no way taking a shot against my local Tesla Service Center. They have been over the top great with me and I have no issues with the incredible level of service I get there. My concern is around what seems to be ever changing policies and procedures that seem to be coming from the "top".

 

[Max*]

I would check your ESA first, you're right, they may have changed the wording from 2013 Canada to 2015 USA.

 

[taurusking]

Me too, but I do want to clarify one thing. I am in no way taking a shot against my local Tesla Service Center. They have been over the top great with me and I have no issues with the incredible level of service I get there. My concern is around what seems to be ever changing policies and procedures that seem to be coming from the "top".

Me too...I just called my service center and I told them I forgot my UMC and they are loaning one to me...No way its on my local service center but I need clarification from the top just like you mentioned

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I would check your ESA first, you're right, they may have changed the wording from 2013 Canada to 2015 USA.

I just called the Tesla 1877 number and they told me that they don't require any service visits ...in other words they are telling me that I can purchase extended service agreement without any service done to my car ....I better get something in written from Tesla

 

[Max*]

I just called the Tesla 1877 number and they told me that they don't require any service visits ...in other words they are telling me that I can purchase extended service agreement without any service done to my car ....I better get something in written from Tesla

I would get it in writing, as that directly contradicts what the ESA says:

To maintain the validity of this Vehicle ESA, You must follow correct operations procedures and have Your Vehicle serviced as recommended by Tesla. If requested, proof of required service, including receipts showing date and mileage of the Vehicle at the time of service, must be presented before any repairs under this Vehicle ESA commence. Service within 1,000 miles and/or 30 days of Tesla’s recommended intervals shall be considered compliant with the terms of this Vehicle ESA

You can easily verify that by logging into your MyTesla clicking service agreements, and "read more" (or something) under the ESA.

 

[taurusking]

Why would the 1877 people say something like this??

Update: I sent an email to them and I will let you guys know