Outrageous $5000 repair bill after warranty expire!

[MXWing]

Before my warranty expire couple of month ago. I did consider to purchase extended warranty. I read peoples opinion on the forum, agreed not to pay the $4000 ahead of the time, can't believe this.

I am really sorry I did not see your post on this topic. It would have been an easy decision in my opinion given how old your X is and the complexity of the car versus the S/3.

As an example, the FWD open/close buttons kept breaking so Tesla changed them in 2017.

Another example is it seems like O-Ring issues that caused AC coolant to leak out was pretty ccommon for cars in 2016. I'm very confident, that cars in 2017 and onward would have addressed that.

There's probably been a thousand tiny changes here which many of us have no clue that was fixed between now and when your 2016 AP1 Model X was produced.

I'd buy an ESA for a Model X produced tomorrow but I would pay even more to insure one made in 2016.

The rep and his manager communicated me through text messages which they type in their computer, I receive as text. He said our text communications are also viewed by his manager. The manager disapproved any goodwell, discount, and not letting me to purchase extented warranty because I am over 50k miles. The rep also sent my question to higher management which is "regional office", they declined the same.

I really feel for you here - but asking for an exception does put Tesla in a difficult spot. There's no point to insurance, if you don't pay the premium until a claim occurs.

It also doesn't help your vehicle becomes a liability to Tesla for 4 more years. Tesla would be incurring a lost immediately and take losses going forward.

If I were the CFO, I would have to fire anybody who was selling warranties to cover claims that already happened. As a human being, I feel bad for you and for the rep but the company is #1.

however, my 3 years old tesla go to service center every 4-6 month in the past year and half.

That is a red flag that you should have gotten the extended warranty. Also, you did drive 4+ years in mileage over 3 years, so you can't age the car as 3.

I was seriously considering a preowned new Tesla Coupe, in several years when it drops to around maybe 50% to 70% of the $200k release price. Now I am absolutely NOT considering getting one. I was also waiting for the model Y, the truck. No, I will get a Fort Raptor or Honda Ridgeline that will hold a lot better value after 3 years, if I ever get a truck.

Yesterday, I preordered a 2020 new mid engine corvette, expect to take delivery next summer. I plan to get the base model with little bit options, cost me less than 70k, I am sure after 3 years, it still worth $50k due to my 3 past corvette experience.

I understand emotions running high but you do have to take ownership of your decisions here. Your heartache is from not having warranty and Tesla not making an exception which you cannot expect. There's no reason a Ridgeline as superior to the Tesla truck until you know what the Tesla truck actually is.

No one knows the production run and value of a Roadster. Tesla may just stall forever until batteries are extremely cheap because they have so much liability for the ones they are giving out. Multiple Roadsters to some people - and they are going to need to be warrantied as well. (stupid Tesla)

Did you lock in the price for the 2020 Corvette? If its really hot, your dealer will mark it up past MSRP as "market adjustment". Only to sell it for 15K under sticker when demand falls.

$50K after 3 years when the warranty expiress on THAT car is unlikely when you can get a Model 3 /Y Performance for not much more than that. The 3/Y P will wreck the base Corvette and have utility with more than 2 seats.

Thankfully you have time to get everything together but jumping off the bridge for remorse caused partly by you is not a smart thing to do. Don't compound bad decisions with more bad decisions.

 

[alloverx]

I am no GM fan but the new Corvette looks fantastic.
You will be able to get (3rd party) parts for it for decades.
If they produce the rumored Hybrid version in the next few years, it might be extremely fast.

 

[bewilderman]

I'm sorry the OP had to go through this, but I think its not all that bad, considering its only $5K and the ESA that he chose to not buy would have cost him $4K+ anyway. Its not like its a $20K repair. Who knows, may be his car won't break at all in the next 5 years. So he's almost even. Sometimes you lose your bets, and you cough up and move on. Back dating transactions for financial gain has landed former CEOs in jail. Its simply not fair to those who paid up. I hope the OP will put this in perspective and stick to the tech of the future.

Perhaps I did not explain it well. My point is that I expect a premium product when I spend premium money. That the manufacturer doesn't and cuts corners is on him. European legislation works like that too. If your air conditioner of a premium car breaks after two years for instance than the manufacturer is on the hook as a consumer can expect better from a premium product. The manufacture cannot hide behind their suppliers. In Europe there is no need to buy extended warranty as the law protects consumers. It would be a good thing if these kind of protections were also available on this side of the Atlanticm

Europeans are fascinating, but I would rather my government not try to fix the stupid, or try to socialize personal responsibility. You are expected to understand what you are paying for, and read the fine print. Same amount of money may be 'premium' to some, and 'cheap' to some other. So I don't think you can 'expect' anything other than whats included and whats expressed, just because you are paying a certain amount. In this case, the warranty terms were explicit and advertised. Yes, Tesla could fix it out of goodwill, but I don't think that the government should arm twist a company to deliver more than what they promised. The cost of the warranty/support contract is usually included in the price of the product. Thats why there's extended warranties available for additional cost. If the government forces companies to fix things that they didn't originally offer to fix, the companies will need to price the products higher to include that extended warranty as standard. And you are back to square one when that warranty expires. Its like chasing your own tail.

 

[Krazaak]

If the government forces companies to fix things that they didn't originally offer to fix, the companies will need to price the products higher to include that extended warranty as standard. And you are back to square one when that warranty expires. Its like chasing your own tail.

Without a doubt. Any costs being imposed on manufacturers will be baked back into the product acquisition cost. The real problem here is that Tesla is still too new to have a robust independent service offering and OEM/refurbished part supply.

Few people concerned with price bring their out of warranty car to the dealership for repairs.

 

[InsanePath]

Sorry I'm new but is this the warranty company you are referring to or a different one?

 

[InsanePath]

I warranty place that my dealer told me about it called X Care EV care. Is that the same place everyone is talking about in this thread or different?

 

[brkaus]

@X-Care EV is the only one I know about.
Still trying to decide for my 2017 S.

 

[InsanePath]

Ok that's what they told me but I wanted to be sure. Yeah I'm not sure if I should add it to my model X or not. 5,500 for 50k miles or 36 months.

 

[SaniDel]

just bought the extended warranty ... 4800
Thanks for posting this!! Jeez.

mohanman ... tell us again when you brought the extended warranty ... when you bought the vehicle, during its original warranty or after the original warranty had expired? Did you qualify for the $500 discount for early purchase a.k.a. the $500 penalty for late purchase? In any event ... congratulations on your decision!

 

[mohanman]

I bought it from the Tesla website on my car page. I paid 4800.00 via credit card, but it doesn't show up on my vehicle page now.. weird.

 

[Mayo]

I bought it from the Tesla website on my car page. I paid 4800.00 via credit card, but it doesn't show up on my vehicle page now.. weird.

I also recently bought the extended warranty prior to the end of my manufacturer original warranty period. The purchase was on my tesla online account for a bout a month. Just as of very recently Tesla removed all mention of my purshased extended warranty. I believe it now only shows your warranty on the service centers computers.

 

[DrComputer]

My 2016 Model X is just a little over a month out of warranty and poof, my A/C compressor failed (in a spectacular meltdown way the service center noted). Luckily I have the Extended Service Agreement and the Van Nuys service center quickly fixed it and returned my car in 1 day.

 

[wolfwill23]

My 2016 Model X is just a little over a month out of warranty and poof, my A/C compressor failed (in a spectacular meltdown way the service center noted). Luckily I have the Extended Service Agreement and the Van Nuys service center quickly fixed it and returned my car in 1 day.

How do you get the extended service warranty? I have a model 3. Thanks

 

[SilverString]

How do you get the extended service warranty? I have a model 3. Thanks

You have to go in person to a Tesla Service center.

 

[SilverString]

The entire extended warranty program seems pretty nebulous and constantly changing. I purchased a new vehicle and paid $2k for a two year 75K warranty extension 89 days after I bought the car to avoid the $500 increase after 90 days of ownership.

When I bought it I just gave them a credit card - there was no additional paperwork regarding terms and conditions, no mention of a deductible, and I signed nothing except the credit card receipt. The SA just told me this was a really good move and it simply extended the car's original warranty as stated when I purchased it. He also told me that it was unlikely that the upgrade will appear in my account any time soon, and this was early 9/2019. All I got was a receipt that says essentially the same thing the SA told me.

 

[brkaus]

@wolfwill23 The Model 3 does not have an extended warranty from Tesla. There is a third party that offers one.

 

[SilverString]

@wolfwill23 The Model 3 does not have an extended warranty from Tesla. There is a third party that offers one.

Wow I did not know that but it explains the conflicting information I have noted. So who does the warranty work?

 

[Tam]

Wow I did not know that but it explains the conflicting information I have noted. So who does the warranty work?

You might want to check the new extended program for EV:

Vendor - X-Care EV Extended Warranty - The "Why" to our "What".

Your one-time premium is based on your odometer.

Coverage: If it's still under 50,000 miles / 4 years, then Tesla does the standard new warranty coverage. Once your standard Tesla new warranty expires, X-care warranty kicks in.

Repairs: It says you only need to pay the deductibles to Tesla and Tesla will call it to get the rest of the repair cost.

 

[Tlwagner1]

I got my model x in late summer 2016 for $110k. During the 3 years of ownership. I had several problems, they all covered under warranty. The most recent problem was this March, right before before my warranty expires. It was the Shock Spring on the suspension at the passenger front tire broke. I heard a very load "pop" when I was driving 10 miles a hour in my neighborhood. The car comes with 5 years warranty or 50k miles whichever comes first.

Unfortunately my car now just past 50k mile, I went to supercharger last week. While it is supercharging, I felt my whole car was shacking and making a big engine noise under the front hood. I could not figure out why and tried to unplug the super charger. It took me like 5-8 minutes to figure out after I turned of the A/C, then the shaking stopped. The AC after that completely quite working.

Same day evening the screen shows
Air conditioning reduced
DC Fast Charging / Supercharging rate maybe reduce.

I bought to the service center, it took them 2 business days to email me a quote. They said "the air conditioner compressor had an internal failure and sent aluminum shaving throughout the system and all needs to be replaced."

I only used the A/C for 2.5 summers... now I have to pay $5k+ to fix it.... I am very upset with it. I don't know if I can or how to get hold of their higher tier manager to see if I can try to ask them to make an exception to fix my car. It is apparently a quality issue. I have had bmw, mercedes, toyota, corvette, dodge, mazda in the past. Non of them had a problem like this. And tesla is the only NEW car I purchased....

I am a big fan of tesla and Elon, that is why I spend so much money on this car even tesla keeps dropping the price after I bought it. I still love it so much. However the $5147 A/C failure in 3 years is NOT acceptable.

Before my warranty expire couple of month ago. I did consider to purchase extended warranty. I read peoples opinion on the forum, agreed not to pay the $4000 ahead of the time, can't believe this.

I am wondering if the A/C compressor going out and then having these metal shavings inside of it is a common problem. I just went through the same exact thing. I’m trying to find more posts about the same. Is it a defect in the compressor? Thank you

 

[Damager99]

Sorry you are dealing with this - really I am. But this is the bet you made when you didn't get the extended warranty. I'm not pro or anti warranties, but the risk aversion is worth it to me.