The reason Tesla cannot sell extended warranty in Florida is because Florida law requires all extended warranties to be sold in person, and Tesla only sells it via their website, and the stores cannot sell it to you.
I think another issue in Florida has to do with insurance laws. Insurance companies argue that:
1) extended warranties are a type of insurance, which should only be handled by an independent party that is licensed to sell insurance; and
2) a manufacturer of a product has a 'conflict of interest' in selling an extended warranty, because they choose the terms by which the service is done.
When you purchase an extended warranty on your car bought through an
'independent franchised dealership', you are not buying it from the manufacturer of the product. It is perfectly OK for Tesla Motors to give you a warranty, of any length they like... But the act of selling a warranty must be done by a third party, typically a state bonded/licensed insurance agency, rather than the manufacturer of the product itself. The system allows an
'independent franchised dealership' the benefit of being a licensed insurance agent, as well as a licensed lender, as well as a licensed service provider, as well as a licensed dealer. Yet somehow, that is not considered to be a
'conflict of interest' at all.
Naturally, this smells of yet another type of protectionist/monopolistic cronyism, as insurance companies have a lot of pull with state legislatures too...
I am admittedly a Tesla Motors Certified Apologist Fanboy. I am very optimistic about how the company will handle out-of-warranty conditions. I am extremely confident that Tesla will simply 'make it right' for all those who are concerned.
Those who are realistic, pragmatic, and/or pessimistic about Tesla Motors are wont to predict with extreme authority that Tesla Motors will one day have to 'grow up' and 'be just like everyone else' and 'draw a line in the sand' that requires they 'screw customers'. They tell me I am being naive. They say there is 'no way' Tesla can survive by 'giving stuff away'.
But from my perspective, Tesla Motors plans to do something... extraordinary. I don't have inside information. I don't have any reference to any official statements from Tesla. I just have a gut feeling, some strong guesses, and a healthy amount of faith in the notion that Elon Musk and his fellow executives are very sincere when they say they want Tesla to change everything about the interaction between an automobile manufacturer and the consumers that buy their products.
So I'm a bit more willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I believe that in practice, the limitations on warranty will be largely ignored. I believe that Tesla Motors intends to take care of 2012 & 2013 buyers of Model S at least two years past the official warranty period.
I'm much more understanding of Tesla Motors' apparent lack of communication. I believe that Tesla has already decided this, but is keeping that close to the vest, because $#0r+s, Bears, and Naysayers would immediately claim it was a mistake. They would try to spin it as a 'loss' for Tesla, an overwhelming expense that could not be borne.
I do not share the concerns about being able to do my own maintenance on a Tesla Motors product, because I would not bother to, personally. I know that for some it is a matter of pride, for others it is a matter of skill, and for others it is a matter of finance to work on their own cars. There are far too few Tesla vehicles on the road for any independent services/maintenance shops to bother with them.
The expense of training staff and purchasing diagnostic equipment cannot be balanced against such a small installed user base. And until the Model ☰ is a proven hit, with at least 100,000 units on the streets in the US per year, the user base will still be too small. That, combined with a mandate for Tesla to not make a profit on service would be a hard pill to swallow.
Why would anyone go through such an effort to provide service to Tesla cars that might have 0.35% of the installed US market by 2020? With the Model S alone being revised with something on the order of 20 hardware changes per week on average, about 1,000 per year, how could a published volume possibly cover your specific version of the car better than the database that a Tesla Service Center has access to?
Independent shops for Tesla Motors cars may well appear someday, but they won't be part of national chains at first. They'll be in affluent neighborhoods, next door to Tony's Fiat & Ferrari. It will be a long time before you can hope to get them serviced at a local Pep Boys. It will be practically forever before you can get over-the-counter replacement parts at AutoZone. Maybe, just maybe... Tesla will make a deal with Walmart or Sears automotive service centers to provide all the appropriate equipment and training to their staff to handle repairs and service, but I don't think even that is very likely.
