Service Price Increase

[ev-now]

Profit center or not, the ongoing costs of Tesla Model S or X are absurd high. It shouldn't be, given the low cost of ownership EV promise, but anyone considering buying a Tesla needs to get one thing clear - it's not a cheap car to own.

I agree strongly with this sentiment. The vehicle is essentially 5 model years old, so there has been plenty of time to learn the cost of warranty (to Tesla) and the required service intervals to ensure the car runs well. I have also heard of SCs saying 25-50K before the first service is fine, no expected issues. So where's the disconnect between marketing, warranty and service??

The promise, still at large, is that due to the massively reduced number of moving parts - maintenance of the vehicle will be much cheaper. This is simply not looking like the case based on high labor costs ($175 is up there, for techs who have to learn far less due to the reduced number of parts, and who are not actually 'servicing' much but running and reviewing computer diagnostics and following their guidance). Don't get me wrong, I am sure the techs are all awesome - but we're talking about a vehicle where things are simply module replacements - so where the inflated labor rate comes from I don't know.

The argument that other premium brands have those kinds of rates, and more, doe not reconcile with "SCs are not profit centers".

I want my low maintenance promise kept - my last two GMs have 120K miles and both have been very low maintenance cost - despite their ICE complexity. Of course they both do less than 16 MPG, so that EV promise is being well delivered upon!

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

@ev-now "I want my low maintenance promise kept"

Exactly. I don't know why people get so defensive about this. But Tesla's EV low cost of ownership promise is not being kept.

The way I see it,

Tesla promises kept,
- Car looks sexy, drives amazing
- EV charging at home is awesome
- No haggle experience was awesome
- Not polluting
- AP rocks, I use it a lot.
- Safest car on the road (big deal)

Tesla promises not kept,
- Reliability - it is a shame that with 80% fewer moving parts than an ICE, they make a car far less reliable than Lexus. C'mon Tesla, 5 years on the road, figure it out!
- Incredibly expensive repairs, should you get unlucky.
- Service centers, I don't know what people rave about. They do their job fine, but so did my Lexus dealer. Except my Lexus dealer doesn't make me wait 2 months for a 12v battery replacement that goes bad every year.
- And yes, low cost of EV ownership, that was a big fat lie.

Yeah go on flame me, but you know it's true!

 

[larmor]

Interesting comment. I think letter of the law service vs. what is really reasonable services for the vehicle are still shaking out...Tesla is selling and operating as a profit center. Good for them, but buyer beware...IMHO the annual service is a plain and simple cash grab.

From what I can see, you could EASILY stretch service intervals to every 2 years and that would include a replacement of fluids and filters...pretty standard for regular ICE cars too - brakes and anti freeze recommended service intervals are about the same for all cars. In the case of Tesla, both of these have far less stress applied to them in every day driving, so I would expect timed intervals rather than mileage based intervals would be the right move, but that doesn't create services revenue stream.

So when you look at it like that, its far less than an ICE ride. And, I won't struggle to sell my rickshaw.

I'll buy your rickshaw.... Someone in Tesla(motors) should make a EV scooter with rickshaw, would be big help with exhaust and sound pollution in Pakistan/India.

 

[larmor]

Sure, so your point is Tesla is as pricey as those other cars - I thought Tesla was better? My point is, it is not.
And before someone chimes in and says 8years, 100k miles, zero services - dude, good luck selling your rickshaw.

Most cars that last a long time 100k to 200k miles are not valuable for money, but they have a big transportation value. If we can get an MS/MX to 200 to 300k that would be compelling. There is anecdotal data, including some from T(M)C members and tesloop, on teslas' going up to 200k miles.

 

[davinci2017]

4 year service plans on Audi were around 1k, (I think $1200 the last time I paid mine). I seriously don't understand how it can be more for a non ICE car. I think thats reasonable.

Adding alignment on top, can make the price go up by a few hundred, so $1500 for 4 years should be the rate IMO. 1st year should be free, its sort of silly to ask the owner to pay 500 bucks in a year for a simple check and wiper change/fob battery change.

But then you can't skip it either because then you won't be eligible to get the extended warranty, but then their wording on the sevice plan page is like "the service on year one is optional", thats just scheming IMO. Someone is laughing in the background on how smart their plan is.

Tesla really needs to simply make the 3yr agreement into the 4 year plan and make yr one free

 

[Sonny Daze]

But then you can't skip it either because then you won't be eligible to get the extended warranty...

Don't think that's true: Extended warranty denied because I did not do the scheduled inspections

 

[davinci2017]

Don't think that's true: Extended warranty denied because I did not do the scheduled inspections

I suppose thats not true based on that thread, so I'll correct myself on that

But with the number of changes being thrown at us, I won't be surprised if they deny it later because you didn't follow "manufacturer recommendation"

 

[skilly]

4 year service plans on Audi were around 1k, (I think $1200 the last time I paid mine). I seriously don't understand how it can be more for a non ICE car. I think thats reasonable.

Its comparing an apple to an orange. Both fruit, but thats it...Audi builds the price of service into their cars - think of it like standard equipment; sure you get the radio, you just have to buy the car. In BMWs case, they fold it completely into the car and you have zero service costs. Funny how that was the same time that they sealed the transmissions so they required no service for the lifetime of the car and oil change intervals changed to 1 year or 12,000 miles.

The point is this...you either pay for it in the up front cost of the car, or you pay it later....in Tesla's case, they clearly nail you later. That said, these cars simply don't require the service that they recommend. And, as I mentioned earlier, even the Service Center will agree - these cars just need less service, and now their marketing department is trying to manage this very lucrative revenue source.

My guess is that they are kicking themselves on that 8 year unlimited mileage for the wear parts that most people should be concerned about (driveline and battery). Outside of that, the $8,000.00 invest to extend "service" for 4 years beyond the 4y4/50K mile warranty seems WAY excessive. We should certainly do the majors that they recommend at the 25K intervals but the ones in between are really suspect in my book...change wipers; rotate tires (all P cars delete that option); visual inspection; replace cabin filter...thats a whole lotta nothing.

 

[Sonny Daze]

I have no problem with paying for some required maintenance and inspection once a year (or two) but if my choice is between performing no maintenance and $500-$800 per visit, I will choose no maintenance. I try to do most of the maintenance myself but there are some things I can't or don't know how to inspect.

The dealership I currently deal with from time to time has two separate plans. One where they perform the service required in the manual for a certain price, and an upscale service where they do all kinds of craziness for a higher fee. Of course, if you show up for the lesser service they keep trying to up-sell you the whole time you're there.

 

[William13]

As I have a Signature Model S, I must report many problems for which the extended service and warranties have been well worth the money. I hope this has become much less so with newer vintages but one must remember that no one else can do a good job at repair. The other alternative is to trade in if major problems occur but then the trade in value will be lowered.

I do not believe that service is a profit center. Far, far ,far from it. I believe they spend a huge amount on warranty repairs. Refurbished parts may be used but I expect a lot goes into the trash. I expect that the financials do not reflect the true costs. If I were the CFO, I would hide the cost of refurbishing motors,batteries, and drive trains in factory costs. ( Yes, I am a hopeful cynic.) As a way to push the company forward. I expect those costs have since been factored in to determine the new warranty costs.

 

[bob_p]

It cost me $6300 for my 4-year old S P85 - to get 8 years of service and the extra 4 years of extended warranty.

Since our order was confirmed for our new S 100D, Tesla changed the service/extended warranty plans. The new plans (assuming you can order 2 4 year service plans), will cost us $9050 - almost a $3000 increase since 4 years ago.

Compared to our S P85, the S 100D will have many new features (which could increase the service/warranty costs). How often will the new Bioweapon Defense Mode HEPA filter be replaced? If that's replaced every 2 years, it's likely much more expensive than the original cabin filters...

And the 4 year extended warranty now appears to include Roadside Assistance - if that means Tesla will cover towing to the nearest service center, that's a good reason to increase the cost. Last summer, we were responsible for the cost of towing our car from the middle of Kansas to the KC Service Center.

It's disappointing that Tesla changed the plans and increased the costs between the time our 100D order was confirmed and the car was manufactured. They really should provide a transition period (similar to what they did with the supercharger fees), allowing recent owners (first 30 days after delivery) and future owners with pending orders to purchase the service plans before the price increase.

 

[Max*]

I think people are sticking to what Elon said a long time ago "Service centers are not going to be profit centers". This is a business, things change.

Just like they were touting free lifetime supercharging, that changed too.

So while I stated my opinion upthread that the servicing costs are outrageous, I think people should move on from "But Elon tweeted/said/emailed/whatever 4 years ago that service centers wont be profit centers!"

 

[pjoseph]

I believe they spend a huge amount on warranty repairs.

That points to poor manufacturing on expensive cars with simplified EV technology.

Just a reference point. The only times i have taken in my 5+ yr Leaf (cost me ~ 1/3rd of the Tesla) was to replace the onboard charger (3rd month, under warranty) and the traction battery (again under warranty, the original batteries degraded quickly and Nissan handled it poorly at first before coming through). And yes, the periodic battery checks for which the dealer charged $0

Anybody know why Tesla will not let independent shops service their cars? They are after all much simpler and Elon even made all of the patents public domain.

 

[Az_Rael]

And the 4 year extended warranty now appears to include Roadside Assistance - if that means Tesla will cover towing to the nearest service center, that's a good reason to increase the cost. Last summer, we were responsible for the cost of towing our car from the middle of Kansas to the KC Service Center.

Did you get a copy of the new agreement? I don't think we have seen the new one yet, so if you cost post it, that would be helpful. The only one I can find is from Feb 2016 and doesn't include free roadside assistance

In the event of the need for emergency repairs outside of business hours:
• Dial 1-877-798-3752 to arrange for roadside assistance that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• If necessary, Your Vehicle will be transported to the nearest Tesla Authorized Service Center by roadside assistance.
The cost of transporting Your Vehicle is not included in this Vehicle ESA and You are solely responsible for the cost of transporting Your Vehicle to the Tesla Authorized Service Center.

https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/blog_attachments/na_tesla_warranty_plan_agreement_ot.pdf

 

[sdorn]

. . . my 5+ yr Leaf (cost me ~ 1/3rd of the Tesla) . . .

The lease on my Tesla costs me as much in one month as my Leaf lease cost for the entire 2 year term, and that ignores the taxes, fees and down payment I made on the Tesla all of which was rolled into the Leaf lease.

 

[bob_p]

We need the details on the new service agreements - especially for those of us in a position to place orders - and affected by the recent price change.

In the My Tesla account, there is a "Roadside Assistance Policy" document, dated 8/31/16. It states that Roadside Assistance is only fir the first 4 years & 50K miles, and includes towing up to 500 miles away from a service center, if the car is not drivable (which happened to us last summer). Roadside events not related to the battery or drive unit after 4 years/50K miles are the owner's responsibility.

The Tesla website now states that "24/7 Roadside Assistance is covered during your Extended Service Agreement period."

Since towing up to 500 miles is included in Roadside Assistance, until we get more details from Tesla (like an agreement), it does appear that towing and the rest of Roadside Assistance is included in the extended warranty - which is something that wasn't the case for the 4 year extended warranty I purchased 4 years ago.

 

[AnitaToronto]

Does anyone have an itemized checklist of the things done at each service appointment from before the price increase? I just got quoted $300 more for the 2yr service than prior to Feb 2017. I wanted to compare what this increase in fee is covering exactly.

 

[Max*]

Does anyone have an itemized checklist of the things done at each service appointment from before the price increase? I just got quoted $300 more for the 2yr service than prior to Feb 2017. I wanted to compare what this increase in fee is covering exactly.

Tesla is a private business. They run a monopoly on repairs. They can charge you anything that want, without justifying the price.

So the $300 might have added something, it might not have.