Recommended annual service

[Tforme]

Tesla may honor the extended warranty without doing the annual services. But the wording in the contract gives them the option to deny coverage if the annual services aren’t done.

After paying for the warranty extension it doesn’t seem like a good idea to me to jeopardize the coverage by not doing the service.

 

[Tforme]

The two big advantages often times touted about Ev’s: 1) they are simpler and therefore more reliable and, 2) the maintenance costs are way lower. But neither is really true of the MS. I’m not complaining about this - but it needs to be recognized.

M3 must have much better reliability and lower cost of ownership for it to be a successful mass market car. Time will tell........

 

[DR61]

Every two years for brake fluid seems a little excessive.

2 year brake fluid replacement is normal for performance-oriented cars (BMW, etc.). It should be encouraged for all cars, especially in humid environments. You really can feel the difference with a well-done brake fluid replacement.

 

[T34ME]

This is one (of a number) of reasons I decided to buy a Bolt for my second EV instead of a model 3. Tire rotations and an occasional cabin air filter are the ONLY services required on the Bolt for the first five years or 150,000 miles. And so far, five months 6500 miles, mine has been completely reliable. Never even back to the dealer.

How is that SuperCharging system working for you?

 

[DR61]

Tire rotations and an occasional cabin air filter are the ONLY services required on the Bolt for the first five years or 150,000 miles.

Shame on GM. They don't have a magic brake fluid. I recommend that you replace it at 2 year intervals.

 

[Tforme]

How is that SuperCharging system working for you?

Super charging works fine for my Tesla. But the Bolt gets lots of daily use while the Tesla is in for repairs.

 

[T34ME]

Super charging works fine for my Tesla. But the Bolt gets lots of daily use while the Tesla is in for repairs.

What kind of repairs?

 

[FlatSix911]

I'm sure it's primarily a physical inspection checklist which makes it even more amazing that they charge the prices they do.

"real" things that cost money are that the brake fluid is supposed to be flushed every 2 years and every 3 or 4 years the battery coolant is supposed to be swapped. I imagine a $10 cabin air filter needs to be swapped or cleaned periodically.

One thing is for sure. Maintenance on a Tesla is going to be much higher than what many people expect from their "low TCO" Tesla.

Some have recommended simply not doing the Tesla maintenance. I imagine that then becomes a card Tesla can hold over one's head for anything that fails under warranty.

Agreed. A local Tesla engineer recommended skipping the annual service visit and perform only the major service at 4 years.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

2 year brake fluid replacement is normal for performance-oriented cars (BMW, etc.). It should be encouraged for all cars, especially in humid environments. You really can feel the difference with a well-done brake fluid replacement.

We barely even use the brakes on our Teslas. My Lexus hasn't had new fluid in at least eight years. When I had it in last year for new brakes, I asked them to replace the brake fluid. They said they tested the fluid with brake fluid test strips, and that it was fine and it didn't need to be replaced.

 

[DR61]

My Lexus hasn't had new fluid in at least eight years.

Interesting. I think if you did have it changed, you would notice an improvement in brake feel and response. Brake fluid is hydroscopic and degrades with time; it becomes more compressible, degrades brake feel, and becomes much more susceptible to fade. Internal corrosion is also an issue. All European cars I have owned have recommended two-three year replacement interval for brake fluid. Tesla is right in line with common practice for this service. A brake flush on my Mini recently cost $110 with .8 hour labor at an indy shop. Seems like a small price to keep a vital safety system in top shape.

Perhaps because of my road racing experience I am more sensitive to this. To be competitive I had to replace brake fluid every other race weekend at a minimum. With proper tools it is an easy job for competent mechanics.

 

[pkalhan]

Question, do you have to buy the extended warranty at the time you purchase the car or cab you buy it within the 4 year/50,000 mile original warranty?

 

[206er]

hold up - so we only put about 6,000 per year on our cars. Does this mean we can probably wait until we hit 12,500 miles for the first service on the 3, or will doing so invalidate the standard warranty?

 

[Sawyer8888]

hold up - so we only put about 6,000 per year on our cars. Does this mean we can probably wait until we hit 12,500 miles for the first service on the 3, or will doing so invalidate the standard warranty?

See post #13 in this thread for an answer to your question.

On a few occasions, my SC has given me the impression that adhering to the recommended service time frames is not critical.

For instance, I was just there for a major panel adjustment in recent weeks. At that time, I was already over 12.5K miles after 7 months and all they recommended was a pair of rear tires. I told them no thanks, so they rotated them to the front, free of charge.

 

[DR61]

hold up - so we only put about 6,000 per year on our cars. Does this mean we can probably wait until we hit 12,500 miles for the first service on the 3, or will doing so invalidate the standard warranty?

Take a look at the preliminary owners manual here, p. 112 - Maintenance:
MODEL3-LAownersmanual.pdf

Looks like most items are time-based, not mileage (except tire rotation).

 

[voip-ninja]

Of course it’s a joke. And I would never have done it - except it is required to keep the extended warranty in effect. Warranty repairs since new on my MS would have cost over $8k if out-of-warranty. And that doesn’t include the drive unit replacement that was done and is estimated to cost $18k.

The extended warranty is expensive, requires expensive annual services and still has a $200 per visit deductible. But if your heater and dc/dc converter fail ($3800) or the MCU screen ($4000) or the door handles ($800 each) or the on-board charger ($2400) you might easily recoup the cost. And each of the listed items, as well as several others, are well known failure points.

I guess the real question is what failed on it that would not have been covered under the standard no-frills warranty?

With those kinds of costs on "well known" failure points on the Model S the total-cost of ownership prospects for someone keeping it 8-12 years seem terrible.

They MUST do better with Model 3. John and Jane 6-pack who spring for their base-range Model 3 do not expect things like $10,000 motivator replacements outside of warranty that can only be performed by Imperial, err, Tesla droids.

This also completely blows up the "EVs are cheaper to operate" argument. ICE vehicles are for the most part extremely reliable especially for the first 100K or so miles. Even if I swapped the entire motor in my current 340xi it would not cost $10,000 to do it.

 

[Tforme]

Pretty much everything is covered under the original manufacturers basic four year 50,000 mile warranty. So there is little to worry about for that period of time - other than the annoyance of having to take the car in for any needed repairs.

My model S is a December 13 build. Not really an early car. They had been building them for one and a half years by that point. But it has still required quite a bit of warranty work in the four years since new. It would have cost me about $8k if not covered by warranty. This is why I paid the crazy price for the 4 year service and bought the extended warranty.

Model three is supposed to be a much simpler car and supposedly its reliability will be better than the earlier model S. Lots is riding on Tesla’s ability to produce these cars without major issues.

 

[roblab]

Dang! I forgot to take my S in for service. Again!

Personal opinion here: My S has not needed service, nor the S before it, in near 120,000 miles. I don't count tires or wipers as "needed service". Brakes are hardly used at all, unlike some "European sports cars", and there are only a tiny percentage of moving parts compared to those oil burning, polluting gas cars our there. SERVICE is something that some owners think they need because their last Beemer or Benz needed service several times a year. See that picture over to the left? 62,000 miles. No service.

MANY times "service" can be done by a local repair shop. Tesla can't exclude your car from warranties unless it can be proved the lack of "service" has caused a problem.

 

[Tforme]

The “local repair shop” won’t be replacing the drivers instrument cluster, nor the battery coolant pump #2, nor the PTC cabin heater. Not the dc to dc converter or the left HVAC condenser cooling fan either. This is only a partial list of component failures that have occurred with my car in it’s first four years.

Sounds like you’ve been lucky with yours, but many folks have had more issues.

 

[eSpiritIV]

Has the pricing for the recommended annual service on the model three been announced yet?

I just had the 4 year annual service done on my model S. It’s about $920 with tax. The first three years are a little less - about $650 plus tax, if I recall correctly. Much of the money in gas savings are offset by these annual services. Many potential buyers are going to be unhappy if the Model 3 costs nearly this much.

There are numerious cost analysis done out there. If you compare to a BMW 330 and even Honda Civic LX you get your better savings after about 4-5 years, where the cost of the other cars skyrocket making the Tesla a cheap bargin. If you love to throw money away and get a new car every 2-3 years, and want a car with "free 3 years of maintenance" like BMW does, then you are better off with your gas car. As the post states your first years are offset by electricity being half that of gas cost on a per mile basis.

 

[insaneoctane]

Seems like any competent mechanic could change the break fluid? If so, it certainly isn't a pro/con specific to Tesla.