I don't think there have been a lot of PEM failures. If a replacement costs $12K (your figure) and the warranty costs $4K for 3 years without battery coverage, you are assuming one PEM failure for every 3 cars between years 3 and 6 as a break-even. That seems like a bad bet to me. And I doubt the extended warranty will be renewable. Or if it is, the price will go up as the car gets older.
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Roadster Extended Warranty
- Thread starter jordanthompson
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Jaff
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Remember though that it's not just a PEM covered for the $4,000 cost...it's everything other than the battery (rest of vehicle)...frequency of loss can enter into the picture even if it's not a big ticket item like a PEM that's failed...
But I do agree, given limited resources, I think the odds would favour the battery warranty being a better buy.
But I do agree, given limited resources, I think the odds would favour the battery warranty being a better buy.
I would consider the battery warranty to be an insurance policy - a low probability of an expensive repair. You're probably never going to use it, but if you do it'll be worth it. (That's your business Jaff... on that basis would you recommend it for the price?)
For the rest of the car, I think it's probably inevitable that you would use the service plan to some degree. I've had a bunch of little things repaired that would probably add up over time. (It's been mostly Lotus stuff that's needed fixing.)
Tesla seems to be improving roadster components etc fairly frequently...If the warranty were to expire it would also be unlikely that you would get these "improvements."
True.
But that's $7,500. I have a lot of confidence in the battery pack. Especially given that I don't do road trips in it, almost never go below 50%, and always charge in Standard mode.
That's a good point. Yet, if you're paying $600 for the annual service, they might keep giving you the improvements. It's a good question to ask.
The only issues I've ever had with the battery have been knock-on effects of upstream issues. Blown fuses.
But, as the car ages, sheets will go bad. Despite being 1/11th the cost of the whole battery, getting them in and out means a lot of labour cost.
But, as the car ages, sheets will go bad. Despite being 1/11th the cost of the whole battery, getting them in and out means a lot of labour cost.
Only if something goes wrong with the battery. I expect that to be a very rare event. It's true however, that $12,000 for a battery replacement in 7 years regardless of battery condition or function, is a much better deal that $7,500 for a warranty that repairs defects that occur between years 3 and 6. The difference is that the former had to be purchased very soon after getting the car, before you had time to assess all the information, while the latter will be available, in some cases, 3 or 4 years after buying the car.
Of course they are different things but there is some overlap. Yes if a sheet went bad after 5 yrs you could replace it under the agreement but you would have to pay $2000 extra to exercise your replacement option 2 yrs early. It still looks like a good deal to me compared to the extended battery warranty.
Yes that's one difference. The biggest difference is that one is a warranty, the other is a replacement plan. Buy the warranty and you will still have to replace your battery a couple years later. The reason I ultimately decided to purchase the battery replacement program was when an experienced tech told me it takes a full day to swap a battery out of a car if he gets help periodically throughout the day. Regardless of cell costs 6 - 9 yrs from now, the labor to replace your battery will be a major part of the cost.
What happens to the prepaid portion of a warranty if the car is totaled and the car does not exist anymore?
I decided against the replacement plan because I'm betting that nothing goes wrong with my battery pack, and that in a decade I'll still have plenty of range for my needs, and I'll probably want another car by then, which will likely have features we have not thought of yet, possibly making the car far safer.
This is my thinking as well... only I think as an American convertible with a very low production run, I'm betting the car will quickly become a classic and appreciate (ha! that only happens to OTHER people's cars!!) Seriously, I think I am willing to take the bet at this time, but I am very interested to know how many PEM's motors, gearbox's, A/C's etc everyone has had to replace in the last 4-5 years.
W8MM
R1.5 #325 + Mdl S #01380
Our 1.5 (delivered March 2009) just had its battery swapped out by Tesla service under warranty. One of the sheets was failing some sort of "bleed" test and tripped the "fault" light in the instrument cluster and issued a "Battery Service Required" warning message on the flexible display. After a test log dump, it was determined that the problem was beyond a Ranger visit and Tesla sent Plycar to pick it up.
The swap battery pack is guaranteed to be in as good or better condition than the pack removed from the car. I expect this means the condition of the non-problem other sheets as in % degradation from new.
I'm surprised to hear that. Other than people on this forum I've never met anybody who's had work on their battery pack. Sure would be nice to have some real data before we're asked to plunk down a chunk of change for an extended warranty.
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