Repair costs Model X

[Dutchie]

We bought our Model X in 2017. It was an huge investment for us but thought that the running costs would be lower due to it being electric. Last year we had some big ticket repair costs with new front suspension, upper- and lower arms etc mounting to $10,000.
before that we had some items like new brakes of more than $1000

We thought it was just bad luck and that this year would be different. However, we started of the year with the car needing new brake calipers + disks and pads mounting to Over $3,000. Yesterday we drove and found out that the heater stopped working. We just received an estimate for another $2200.

I know we have driven quite a lot with the car and we enjoy it very much. However, these bills get out of hand and are unsustainable at this rate. We are now thinking of getting rid of the car and drive a simpler car. we just look at some input. Is this really out of the ordinary?

We have a cast with free supercharging and FSD. We we sold on the nice stories of Elon that the car would be an appreciating asset and that we could deploy it as a Robotax. It is now 2023 and Robotaxi is nowhere near in sight and our bills are mounting.

 

[scottf200]

I'm very sorry for your run of bad luck with your '17 X. We have a June '17 X and (knock on wood) have not had any serious problems and cost.

How many miles do you have on it? Lot of roadtrips? Lot of potholes or harsh roads where you are at?

We had a pre Aug'17 model so we ended up getting the MCU1 replaced fro $2500 USD when it first was introduced. I recently had the cameras upgraded to AP2.5 level and am testing FSDbeta currently.

Aside: I don't think "HW3" will ever meet "FSD" but will be X times safer than humans and that will be the "sell" to use early FSD buyers.

I did replace my front rotors and brakes but I blame myself for not getting them cleaned and lubed at least every other year, if not annually. Too much wet and cold weather in Chicagoland caused them to have build up and not slide well on the pins ... thus wear the pads and rotors normally. I spent a fair amount of money on brakes and rotors on previous cars (ie. Ford Expedition, etc).

If I were you, I'd keep it. It is an expensive vehicle to start with and you are likely over the bumps (fingers crossed for you).

P.S. I am a little worried about my air suspension system as I saw some errors in service mode but after resetting them they never came back.

 

[Sandiegodoug]

We have a 6/17 x since new and other than a 12 volt battery and replacing mcu to upgrade, had no cost . We have almost 60k. Maybe San Diego weather has been kind to car. (Always garaged when not in use)

 

[TespaceX]

Older X here also, and thankfully, a lot of problems were repaired by the time warranty ended. Seriously, not buying another S and X again after these experiences. And, 3 and Y road noise is just too much. The S and X are too costly to hold beyond warranty in my experience.

Here’s a list of what were replaced:
- window regulators on all doors
- pretty much every suspension component you can think of on the front half (half shafts, air suspensions, sway bar, control arms, etc., literally everything)
- main HV battery
- front drive unit
- falcon wing door hinge
- door lock switch on driver
- trunk shock
- driver side front wheel hub and brakes (technician messed these up during one of the suspension repair appointments and they blamed me for it initially).

The crappy thing is Tesla will not provide any additional warranty on the material and labor on any repair done while in warranty even if it’s just 1 day past warranty expiration.

 

[scottf200]

Older X here also, and thankfully, a lot of problems were repaired by the time warranty ended. Seriously, not buying another S and X again after these experiences. And, 3 and Y road noise is just too much. The S and X are too costly to hold beyond warranty in my experience.

Here’s a list of what were replaced:
- window regulators on all doors
- pretty much every suspension component you can think of on the front half (half shafts, air suspensions, sway bar, control arms, etc., literally everything)
- main HV battery
- front drive unit
- falcon wing door hinge
- door lock switch on driver
- trunk shock
- driver side front wheel hub and brakes (technician messed these up during one of the suspension repair appointments and they blamed me for it initially).

The crappy thing is Tesla will not provide any additional warranty on the material and labor on any repair done while in warranty even if it’s just 1 day past warranty expiration.

Your post did remind me that I did get some more things fixed under warrenty.

Front door open issue - RWK, MX, FR DR E RELEASE ACTUATOR, LH (1115332-00-B)
Voice commands not consistent - MICROPHONE, ME62 (1047000-00-A)
Chargeport would not close fully - ASSY, MOTORIZED CHARGEPORT DOOR, SAE (1038548-88-G)
Don't recall but AP not consistently working - INLINE TRIPLE CAMERA (1089531-00-C)
Weak light - LAMP ASY, FRT TURN/FOG, SAE UP LEVEL, LH (1034326-00-A)

 

[Dutchie]

I'm very sorry for your run of bad luck with your '17 X. We have a June '17 X and (knock on wood) have not had any serious problems and cost.

How many miles do you have on it? Lot of roadtrips? Lot of potholes or harsh roads where you are at?

We had a pre Aug'17 model so we ended up getting the MCU1 replaced fro $2500 USD when it first was introduced. I recently had the cameras upgraded to AP2.5 level and am testing FSDbeta currently.

Aside: I don't think "HW3" will ever meet "FSD" but will be X times safer than humans and that will be the "sell" to use early FSD buyers.

I did replace my front rotors and brakes but I blame myself for not getting them cleaned and lubed at least every other year, if not annually. Too much wet and cold weather in Chicagoland caused them to have build up and not slide well on the pins ... thus wear the pads and rotors normally. I spent a fair amount of money on brakes and rotors on previous cars (ie. Ford Expedition, etc).

If I were you, I'd keep it. It is an expensive vehicle to start with and you are likely over the bumps (fingers crossed for you).

P.S. I am a little worried about my air suspension system as I saw some errors in service mode but after resetting them they never came back.

Thanks, we do have quite a few miles on it (118,000) the capilers issue might also be due for not cleaning them. It was said that it wasn’t really necessary around her. Apparently not.

We decided to hold off on the repairs for the time being. We will be away in the latter half of February and when we return in March temperature will rise again. In Spring, Summer and Autumn we never uses the heater anyway. We have to prioritize and taxes and brakes are more important.

It was a very expensive car. It was about five times more expensive than our previous car, so we don't have a good comparison to other luxury cars. We had it fully wrapped with paint protection film as our intention was to virtually keep this car forever.

 

[brainhouston]

Who's fixing it for all those hight prices, Tesla? Are u out of warranty?
Sounds like a lot of unnecessary n overpriced repairs... Find a different shop (doesn't have to be Tesla specific) or learn to DIY
Any good mechanic can replace anything besides HV on Tesla n tell u if its really needed

 

[jboy210]

A couple of questions and a thought.

The brakes seem to last forever on these things. Do you use no/low regen?

Are these prices in USD or Canadian?

 

[scottf200]

The brakes seem to last forever on these things. Do you use no/low regen?

Depending on your weather tho as things rust or from street grim and then they don't slide (pins). If the mechanical brakes are not used then things bind. I've replaced the front rotors/pads because of this binding and wearing (Chicagoland weather likely like the OPs).

 

[jboy210]

Depending on your weather tho as things rust or from street grim and then they don't slide (pins). If the mechanical brakes are not used then things bind. I've replaced the front rotors/pads because of this binding and wearing (Chicagoland weather likely like the OPs).

Makes sense. When I worked in a repair shop, we always greased the pins with lithium/silicon hi-temp grease because of this issue.

Have you had to do your brakes on your Tesla because of this sort of weather? We get a lot of rust on the rotors because of disuse but I have not heard of needing to replace the rotors because of that. It just looks ugly and goes away with some pedal application.

 

[Dutchie]

A couple of questions and a thought.

The brakes seem to last forever on these things. Do you use no/low regen?

Are these prices in USD or Canadian?

Thanks, they are CAD. I thought brakes would last also, but the callers are seized. That is why.

 

[jboy210]

Thanks, they are CAD. I thought brakes would last also, but the callers are seized. That is why.

Thanks. I guess the shop would rather replace the calipers than fix them. Perhaps the conditions up there are conducive to brake failures.

 

[Big Dunc]

We have a 2014 Model S in the UK. We have had it for 3 years and the warranty is long gone.
We did rotors and pads, due to corrosion. Despite standing on the brakes numerous times in the week before the test they did not clean up enough Now I stand on them the first time I drive the car each month to keep them fresh.
It is definitely not the best quality car I have owned and has been back to Tesla for work more times than I would like to recall.
BUT (& keep in mind this is in the UK), I have had a lot of "goodwill".
Typically, the car develops a fault. We book service through the app, and get a cost estimate. Wife & I look at each other and curse, but decide we have no choice. Book service. Go to pay and find we are only charged for parts. Labour is "free of charge, good will gesture". Not every time, but perhaps 75% of service visits. On one hand, this is costing them money. On the other hand, I am a happy owner and recommending the product to friends. If we had paid the labour estimates, it would have been sold a while ago and I would be telling everyone I know "don't buy one of those".
no idea how long this service will last for, but as long as it does, we will keep the car. We are currently bracing ourselves for the MCU2 upgrade which I am sure will not be free of charge and which we really need to do.

 

[scottf200]

Have you had to do your brakes on your Tesla because of this sort of weather? We get a lot of rust on the rotors because of disuse but I have not heard of needing to replace the rotors because of that. It just looks ugly and goes away with some pedal application.

Yes, pins were not allowing for good sliding so they were getting stuck close to the rotors. The mobile tech had a hard time removing them and cleaning up. Winters, road grim, lack of "use", lack of heat so when they are wet they rust/bind. etc.

I've taken our other cars (Volts) to get the brakes cleaned and lubed for $100.

 

[jboy210]

Yes, pins were not allowing for good sliding so they were getting stuck close to the rotors. The mobile tech had a hard time removing them and cleaning up. Winters, road grim, lack of "use", lack of heat so when they are wet they rust/bind. etc.

I've taken our other cars (Volts) to get the brakes cleaned and lubed for $100.

When I worked at the shop, I pulled a lot of pins and cleaned them up. We did is part of every brake job. We used to have a soft (copper or brass) awl like driver tool for just this purpose for the stuck ones. Once you got the pin out you could run them quickly over the wire brush wheel to knock of rust. Then put them back in with some new races and the white brake grease. Everything should slide nicely.

I guess this says on our EVs we should do some hard stopping every once in a while, to force use of the brakes. Because anything that is meant to move and does not ever move is going to seize eventually.

 

[brainhouston]

on 2017 brakes are always used below 7mph (no regen) plus on cold days when regen is low or hard stops. this is enough to keep breaks operational.
i don't buy this whole seized calipers.. if they would be truly seized u wouldn't be able to stop fully.
some shops just wanna make more money or trying to avoid potential liability so they rather replace everything...
caliper design hasn't changed in years n i've never seen seized one in a drivable car unless it sat for years in the rain/snow.

 

[jboy210]

on 2017 brakes are always used below 7mph (no regen) plus on cold days when regen is low or hard stops. this is enough to keep breaks operational.
i don't buy this whole seized calipers.. if they would be truly seized u wouldn't be able to stop fully.
some shops just wanna make more money or trying to avoid potential liability so they rather replace everything...
caliper design hasn't changed in years n i've never seen seized one in a drivable car unless it sat for years in the rain/snow.

I wonder if "EV" seized caliper is one where that pad make ANY contact when the disk is rotated. This would cause some drag which would have a small range impact, but would not be any different from how an ICE vehicles works out of the showroom.

 

[Dutchie]

on 2017 brakes are always used below 7mph (no regen) plus on cold days when regen is low or hard stops. this is enough to keep breaks operational.
i don't buy this whole seized calipers.. if they would be truly seized u wouldn't be able to stop fully.
some shops just wanna make more money or trying to avoid potential liability so they rather replace everything...
caliper design hasn't changed in years n i've never seen seized one in a drivable car unless it sat for years in the rain/snow.

Thanks, I was thinking of that today. The car brakes just fine. Sometimes I have an idea it is just “stuck”. The other day I was driving on the highway and there was a loud noise coing from the front passengers side. I was carefully looking for some space to slam the brakes. After a couple of times the noise went away (felt brake Vibrating when I did that) I also saw consumption going down - it was high before that.

We had a check at a particular service centre. I just don’t have a good feeling with them. I have a better connection with the people on Powell Street in Vancouver (I know the lady there for years!) That is a much smaller Service Centre. I think I will make an appointment with them soon to see what they havd to say.