Opinions on extended warranty IF you purchased the extd. warranty:

[CBPfromTN]

Save your money! I've had two Teslas and never needed it. In fact, my 2013 had an out of warranty repair on the charge port. it was corroded, and they replaced it and the cable free of charge. A lot of these problems will usually manifest themselves after about 150.000 km anyway which is beyond the life of the extended warranty. Cheaper to just pay for what's needed after warranty expires.

I know you've got a good point and I've just got to think about my state of mind....I will probably never drive it that many miles, but hey, I may just love this car so much I might start taking some road trips just because I CAN. So, who knows? It's just not a risk I am willing to take. I do appreciate your point of view and you know how it works...I get the warranty, I am problem free. I don't get it, I realize on day one after the expiration of the manufacturer's original warranty that I should've gotten it. I guess it's a nice "problem" to have, eh?

 

[CBPfromTN]

Be careful on the 180 days. I had planned to purchase the warranty, but was still on the fence so waited until the last minute. While I took delivery on 06/16 the discount was void sometime before 12/14. They really mean 180 days NOT 6 months.

Wow, Jim, that's a terrible thought! I will definitely be sure to take your advice. Thank you! (SO, did you go ahead and purchase for the extra $250? AND, have you had ANY repairs so far?)

 

[CBPfromTN]

Currently, there's no independent repair shops to compete and bring repair costs down, so I have purchased extended warranty for both my 2012 Model S and 2017 Model X.

My 2012 Model S suffered a $4,000 repair for MCU (17" display module) at 60,000 miles. Notice that if you don't need to replace the whole MCU but only the screen, it is much cheaper.

At 80,000 miles it suffered a $4,500 repair for cabin heater.

It's not a lemon car but for 2 repairs that are worth $8,500, it's just crazy!

Since I bought the extended warranty, I am way ahead!

It's just like healthcare insurance: Most people are healthy but if they suffer a cancer or 2, it's unimaginably very expensive if they don't have coverage!

I agree with you completely! I will be getting the extended warranty because whether I use it or not, it gives me the peace of mind I need to live LOL. Plus, one repair would probably make it WELL worth it!

 

[smilepak]

It would seem after the initial warranty the cost of ownership for Tesla is higher than an ICE. The cost repair of higher cost items are greater than those on ICE vehicles.

 

[Tam]

...higher than an ICE...

There's no question about that!

So far, Tesla repairs are quite expensive. I don't know whether the cost would go down for Model 3 but I doubt it.

There might be many reasons but I think one of the reasons is Tesla monopoly.

If your onboard charger is broken, Tesla would charge you about $2,800 to fix it by replacing it with a new one.

However, if there are shops to compete with Tesla, they could replace a fuse that costs $17 + shipping for much less.

Thus, Tesla needs to:

1) open the repair manuals to the public,

2) train high school kids, community colleges, competing shops such as Pepboys...

And hopefully, when there are competitions, repair costs for Tesla cars would go down!

 

[Hookemhorns]

If you read the "terms and conditions" for the Extended Service Warranty (ESA) you find:

"You must follow correct operations procedures and have Your Vehicle serviced as recommended by Tesla during the Agreement Period of this Vehicle ESA."

So, you are required to have the annual service. This adds around $2500 to your out of pocket expense for the warranty period, plus the $200 (!) per visit deductible.