Outrageous $5000 repair bill after warranty expire!

[jerseygirl18]

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.

 

[jerseygirl18]

i'm confused..before we purchased the MX yesterday, the advisor that closed the deal said there were NO extended warranties available? yet in your post there is a lot of discussion about that...whixh is correct? just ordered a MX 2019 Raven

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

Tesla build quality is crap. Owning this car outside of warranty is asking for trouble.
Sorry you had to go through this. Even with extended warranty they charge you a deductible per visit (not per issue).
Sucks but if you want to own a Tesla, this is a reality you have to face.

 

[alloverx]

As others have said, asks politely what they can do seeing its just out of warranty. Maybe split the cost, etc..
Mention you would like to buy another Tesla in the future but this incident is giving you pause.
That said, I had a Ford Explorer engine blow up at 120,000 miles and it was always dealer serviced but the dealer would not budge.
No more Fords for my family; replaced with a Toyota SUV, still going strong after 14 years

 

[mrElbe]

I am way out of warranty. Had left front wheel bearing making slight noise. While in Florida two years ago, took it to Orlando Service Center. Diagnosis was front wheel bearing needs to be replaced. They gave me a Volvo loaner and four days later ( the needed to order parts ) I was mobile again. Total cost including labour was US$ 318.44
I found that to be very reasonable.

 

[cwerdna]

It's about risk assessment.

It's always a gamble, but some cars are FAR more risky than others.

I have no idea how in good conscious someone could say not to get the extended warranty on a Model X. Unless of course they felt like the extended warranty itself didn't cover enough. So maybe some detail that I don't know about.

Yep.

Every single year I've seen reliability data from Consumer Reports for the Model X (as I and others have pointed out before), the X is always in the bottom 10, which puts at it much greater risk than a vehicle w/average or above average reliability.

10 Least Reliable Cars
10 Least Reliable Cars
https://web.archive.org/web/2018110...ty-owner-satisfaction/10-least-reliable-cars/
10 Least Reliable Cars

I am not sure why one would expect a compressor on a more expensive car to last longer. Tesla likely buys it from the 2 or 3 manufactures that everyone else does

There are far more than 2 or 3 automotive AC compressor manufacturers.

While digging thru A/C Compressor finally failed. But $3400??! and A/C Compressor finally failed. But $3400??!, I discovered Model S had a compressor from HVCC now Hanon Systems, a Korean company. Someone I know who works on cars replaced a compressor on a Hyundai and put up pics. It came from HVCC/Hanon.

A quick search on eBay for Tesla Model X AC compressors turned up ones like this: 2016-2019 TESLA MODEL X AIR CONDITIONING AC COMPRESSOR A/C 1042442-00-D | eBay. If you look at the silver label on the end, it's from Hanon, as well.

If you have a Toyota/Lexus, there's a good chance it AC compressor came from Denso: DENSO Auto Parts | Products | AC Compressors.

If you have a Nissan, there's a good chance it came from Calsonic: Calsonic Kansei - Air Conditioners, which Nissan used to own a large stake of. Oddly, Nissan Leafs have compressors from Panasonic from pics I've seen on eBay besides being mentioned by Nissan Leaf teardown (Part 2): main components disassembled - MarkLines Automotive Industry Portal.

A friend had his daughter's VW Beetle AC fail. He mentioned Denso and Sanden USA as the two possible suppliers.

https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/global-auto-ac-compressor-market-2019-industry-size-segments-growth-factor-share-and-demand-analysis-and-2024-forecast-research-report-2019-07-04 has more names. Besides that ones I've mentioned, I'm famillar with Valeo, Mahle and Delphi.

Besides the earlier examples of Yugo parts vs. a more expensive vehicles, just sit inside an use the controls and feel the interior bits and seats of a bottom of the barrel Toyota like a Yaris and then compare that to a Lexus LS. You'll see and feel a huge difference.

I've pointed to USATODAY.com - Carmaker follows 'Toyota Way' before when Toyota decided to start manufacturing Lexuses outside Japan.

The big automaker began rolling Lexus RX 330 sport-utility vehicles for the North American market off a new assembly line Sept. 26 — the first time conservative Toyota has allowed its premium brand to be manufactured anywhere but Japan.
...
Toyota hopes that the quality remains identical to Japan-made vehicles so that buyers neither know nor care where their RXs were made.

"We have some concerns about sustaining high quality," allows Atsushi "Art" Niimi, CEO of Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, in large measure because North American parts suppliers average 500 defects per million parts vs. 15 per million in Japan. But if it works, and Lexuses made here are equivalent to those from Japan, Toyota will have exported a major upgrade of its already respected production system.

One will also notice that at Warranty and Roadside Assistance Coverage: What You Need to Know | Edmunds, luxury nameplates usually have a year and 10K mile more warranty coverage than an automaker's non-luxury brand (e.g. Nissan vs. Infiniti, Toyota vs. Lexus).

 

[cwerdna]

i'm confused..before we purchased the MX yesterday, the advisor that closed the deal said there were NO extended warranties available? yet in your post there is a lot of discussion about that...whixh is correct? just ordered a MX 2019 Raven

Extended Service Agreement

I do agree w/the OP that $5K is outrageous. Of all the cars I've owned (and leased one), I've never ever had the AC compressor fail. The oldest of the cars was over 13 years old before I sold it in Feb 2019. The next oldest were about 10 and almost 8 years old.

I can't think of a time where I spent even $1K on a repair (e.g. not wear items like tires), let alone $2K or $5K. The used '13 Leaf that was my primary car (still drive it though) until end of Jan 2019 that I bought when it was ~25 months old and is now past 6 years old I've spent $0 on repairs.

BTW, it is a bit odd to me this thread I started: automotive reliability and durability testing is basically crickets here.

 

[ajdelange]

There are far more than 2 or 3 automotive AC compressor manufacturers.

True. So just go to your local auto parts store and ask for a compressor that runs on 385 VDC and is compatible with the Tesla control interface. They'll fix you right up.

 

[ajdelange]

If you don’t recharge you ac every 2 years you will probably destroy the pump on year 3. This is do to the chemical used lately. It is such a small molecule that you loose 10% of the chemical every year.

It's R134a i.e. 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane which has been in use since the 1990s when it began to replace R-12. If you lose refrigerant you will notice reduction in cooling capacity long before the compressor is damaged if it is ever damaged. In fact a fairly common technique used in servicing HVAC equipment is to use the compressor to pump all the refrigerant into the condenser so you can work on the low side without having to recover the refrigerant. My walk in cooler's thermostat function is realized by doing just this so the compressor is getting no gas for a period in each cycle. In the car a reduction in cooling performance will upset the BMS and you will be warned.

While on the subject does anyone know where the A/C service ports are on the X?

 

[mrElbe]

Based on the original Post, according to the diagnosis, the compressor failure distributed aluminum parts all over the system. So, not only the compressor needs to be replaced but also condenser, evaporator, receiver-drier, and all hoses and lines. In other words, the whole A/C system. So the 5k dollar amount is not outrageous. Unfortunately it happened after warranty expired.

 

[Del Schier]

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.

My S is out of warranty and I am wondering if I should get rid of it as I am not sure I can afford it. I got a crack in the windshield, that was $1600 but it got paid by insurance. The DRL turned yellow that was $1600 but I got one on eBay for $150 and put it in myself. Now a bird chewed up the roof weatherstripping and that is $1900. Geez I hope nothing serious goes wrong with the car, sounds like any problem is thousands of $$.

 

[mtnbikr]

I had the same AC problem (thankfully 1500 miles before the warranty expired - I was told parts would have been $3000 alone...). A few days ago I went to check out the extended warranty on my tesla account home page (also to compare to and it is no longer there as an option. The website seems to have been updated since, but still no option to purchase. I submitted a question, but I fear I'll be past the time to be able to purchase the warranty by the time I get a response . Can anyone else with an X still see the extended warranty as an option? I'll look into X care as well, though last I looked it was not available in CA...

 

[jboy210]

My S is out of warranty and I am wondering if I should get rid of it as I am not sure I can afford it. I got a crack in the windshield, that was $1600 but it got paid by insurance. The DRL turned yellow that was $1600 but I got one on eBay for $150 and put it in myself. Now a bird chewed up the roof weatherstripping and that is $1900. Geez I hope nothing serious goes wrong with the car, sounds like any problem is thousands of $$.

This is not an uncommon surprise. In our family service we had some very unhappy customers of expensive used cars.

I remember one young man that bought a BMW L6 (variant of BMW 6 series, with special features). 6 months later the transmission or diff failed (don't remember which one, 20+ years ago). We looked at new units and refurbished and the best we could do was $5,000 because of limited supply. He was nearly in tears and said he only paid $10,000 for the car and could not afford that. Then got upset and said the price should be much less because the car was only worth $10K. People do not understand: 1) parts bought one at a time can add up to more than the car, and 2) part prices do not drop over time as the car depreciates.

 

[jboy210]

Yep.

Every single year I've seen reliability data from Consumer Reports for the Model X (as I and others have pointed out before), the X is always in the bottom 10, which puts at it much greater risk than a vehicle w/average or above average reliability.

10 Least Reliable Cars
10 Least Reliable Cars
https://web.archive.org/web/2018110...ty-owner-satisfaction/10-least-reliable-cars/
10 Least Reliable Cars

There are far more than 2 or 3 automotive AC compressor manufacturers.

While digging thru A/C Compressor finally failed. But $3400??! and A/C Compressor finally failed. But $3400??!, I discovered Model S had a compressor from HVCC now Hanon Systems, a Korean company. Someone I know who works on cars replaced a compressor on a Hyundai and put up pics. It came from HVCC/Hanon.

A quick search on eBay for Tesla Model X AC compressors turned up ones like this: 2016-2019 TESLA MODEL X AIR CONDITIONING AC COMPRESSOR A/C 1042442-00-D | eBay. If you look at the silver label on the end, it's from Hanon, as well.

If you have a Toyota/Lexus, there's a good chance it AC compressor came from Denso: DENSO Auto Parts | Products | AC Compressors.

If you have a Nissan, there's a good chance it came from Calsonic: Calsonic Kansei - Air Conditioners, which Nissan used to own a large stake of. Oddly, Nissan Leafs have compressors from Panasonic from pics I've seen on eBay besides being mentioned by Nissan Leaf teardown (Part 2): main components disassembled - MarkLines Automotive Industry Portal.

A friend had his daughter's VW Beetle AC fail. He mentioned Denso and Sanden USA as the two possible suppliers.

https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/global-auto-ac-compressor-market-2019-industry-size-segments-growth-factor-share-and-demand-analysis-and-2024-forecast-research-report-2019-07-04 has more names. Besides that ones I've mentioned, I'm famillar with Valeo, Mahle and Delphi.

Besides the earlier examples of Yugo parts vs. a more expensive vehicles, just sit inside an use the controls and feel the interior bits and seats of a bottom of the barrel Toyota like a Yaris and then compare that to a Lexus LS. You'll see and feel a huge difference.

I've pointed to USATODAY.com - Carmaker follows 'Toyota Way' before when Toyota decided to start manufacturing Lexuses outside Japan.

One will also notice that at Warranty and Roadside Assistance Coverage: What You Need to Know | Edmunds, luxury nameplates usually have a year and 10K mile more warranty coverage than an automaker's non-luxury brand (e.g. Nissan vs. Infiniti, Toyota vs. Lexus).

Looks like Hanon is the only one that makes a compressor for Tesla. So your source is limited to one vendor, regardless of how many AC compressor manufactures there are. This is considerably more limited than in some other cars where you can get OEM, and 2 or 3 3rd parties. Of course, if you get a 3rd party party, you need to either install it yourself, or find a shop that will install it. I doubt a Tesla service center will install anything but an OEM part, and warranty the work.

And regarding the price, go back to the original post. The number is not just for the compressor which disintegrated and blew fragments throughout the system. It is for compressor, hoses, refrigerant, oil, and potentially evaporators, dryer, etc. The whole system may be contaminated, but hopefully not.

 

[RecklessFury]

i'm confused..before we purchased the MX yesterday, the advisor that closed the deal said there were NO extended warranties available? yet in your post there is a lot of discussion about that...whixh is correct? just ordered a MX 2019 Raven

Interesting. Up until yesterday I could purchase it from my account page. It isn't there today. My page now looks like the model 3 users account page.

 

[jerseygirl18]

Interesting. Up until yesterday I could purchase it from my account page. It isn't there today. My page now looks like the model 3 users account page.

 

[Skryll]

Maybe consider trade-in the car to Tesla, and get a new one... Hope they give you some discount..

That was actually the plan with the assumption that stock price would be past $400 by now that it is clear that model 3 is taking over the sedan world at an every increasing pace, with model y at the horizon, gigafactory 3 being on track etc.

I made some bets on the stock market with options that this would be the case, and instead of taking the temnporary 40% gain I saw at some point, waiting for the big breakout, had a 90% loss instead. That is of course my fault for gambling and thinking we can break past the FUD depression of stock and get a short squeeze etc. Not blaming anybody else.

But that is why my original plan did not work out: Buy the Model X90D in 2016 on credit for $110k, then sell it back to tesla with the buy back guarantee in May 2019 at $55k. In the meantime, accumulate shorts-subsidized stock until it suddenly appreciates hard as they have to pull out. Did not happen. The gains would have easily allowed me to afford the extra $50k to upgrade to newer Model X.

Tesla had a buy back agreement for our 2016 Model X 90D that expired this May. I was not able to justify the $50k out of pocket I would have had to pay to upgrade to a new 2019 Model X LR trading in our AP1 Model X 90D, and I am unhappy knowing that it will drop significantly in value over the next few years.

Another big issue is that we never resolved the shuddering while acceleration driveshaft issue. I hope that because it is on record for having had experienced and attempted to fix it before, that it will still be covered under our expired warranty, but that is again an unlikely outcome now that we are at 60k miles.

 

[Skryll]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. You agreed to pay $110k for a car with a 50k warranty. Not sure why you think Tesla should make an exception. Think of it this way, the repair is less than 5% of the cost of the car. Not bad after 5 years.

So what about the 'EV has so much less components than gas cars and so much less repair cost and in consequence lower TOC' argument

 

[MXWing]

So what about the 'EV has so much less components than gas cars and so much less repair cost and in consequence lower TOC' argument

The Model X is a faberge egg and an exercise in hubris.

Not a Model 3.

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

Not a Model 3.

Sir Guacamolaf doth rofleth at ye naivety!