Service and Winter Driving

[Beatrice]

Hello, I am researching purchasing a model s, but I have two questions and hopefully someone can help. I live outside of Rochester New York and the closest service centers are in Canada. My husband is very apprehensive about purchasing a car without a service center close by. I have read that Tesla will do mobile service. Is this true and how reliable are they?.
Secondly, how well does the car perform in the winter? Rochester is known for some pretty terrble winters. My last car was was Mercedes E350 AWD 2010 and it performed very well in the winter. I just purchased a Prius Hybrid and hate driving it in the winter. Does anyone know how well the Tesla S performs compared to a car like the Mercedes E360?
Thank you.

 

[Dax279]

Welcome and good luck with your purchase. I would Look up a guy named a Bjorn on this site and watch his winter videos with his old rear wheel drive model S. I think you will be surprised given that you can now get dual motors which will perform even better. Of course having proper winter tires is key just like with any car or truck.

I would also encourage you to research a little on the effects cold weather has on the battery, so you know what happens going into your purchase, as some are complaining. Not sure how far you drive daily, but this will be something you need to keep in mind. Also, what sort of charging would you have at home? As this can also make a difference.

I live in Calgary and have a S85d and can report that I have had no issues over two pretty bad winters and really enjoy the car when in the snow and cold.

 

[mrElbe]

Now in my 4th winter with Model S P85D ( duel motors ) and the snow, slush and ice handling is phenomenal. Acceleration on snow packed road is straight as an arrow. BUT proper winter tires are a must because no matter what when it comes to braking all cars are in the same boat.

 

[YauKwan]

Beatrice,

My second home is Ithaca NY. I have snow tires on the car and they perform better than any other AWD car I've had. including my 4wd Yukon and my Subaru.

Mobile service is reliable and do a good job. Overall had no troubles with the car and once you get it, you'll want to drive it all the time so going to Canada wouldnt be any trouble.

PM me if you have any question or concerns.

 

[Beatrice]

Beatrice,

My second home is Ithaca NY. I have snow tires on the car and they perform better than any other AWD car I've had. including my 4wd Yukon and my Subaru.

Mobile service is reliable and do a good job. Overall had no troubles with the car and once you get it, you'll want to drive it all the time so going to Canada wouldnt be any trouble.

PM me if you have any question or concerns.

Thank you. This is so helpful regarding the driving and service. I hope I can convince my husband about the mobile service.

 

[YauKwan]

I'm surprised he needs convincing. Just put him in the car to test drive, that was enough to convince me, i wasnt even in the market for a car...

 

[jlv1]

My 75D did pretty well in the snow, and that was before I put Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 snow tires on it. With them, it went through 7" of new snow (in Buffalo, over Christmas) like it wasn't there.

Unfortunately, NYS has restricted the number of locations Tesla can have in the state, and Tesla has chosen to have them all near NYC. There have been several threads about it before:

Tesla Needs a Service Center in Syracuse, NY
Rochester, NY Tesla worries

Some of the posters in those threads are upstate NY owners, so you might want to PM them about how mobile service has been.

Supposedly NYS was going to allow Tesla more locations "soon":

Tesla would bring five dealerships to Upstate NY if legislators approve new bill

 

[TLej]

Hello, I am researching purchasing a model s, but I have two questions and hopefully someone can help. I live outside of Rochester New York and the closest service centers are in Canada. My husband is very apprehensive about purchasing a car without a service center close by.

Hi Beatrice, welcome to the forum. I can offer an alternative view; I have had my Model S for over 2 years now and never needed service of any kind. I did wind up taking it in to my closest service center (over 300km away) for a 2-year inspection just for peace of mind. The inspection found no issues. Now, I'm not saying my experience is the norm -- you can find plenty of threads on this forum from people that have had laundry lists of issues. However, I would say that the need to have a dealer/service centre nearby is not nearly the same with the Model S as with a regular car. Most of the other Edmonton owners have had Ranger service at some point or another, and that experience seems have been good for them.

Best of luck with your decision-making!