Should I do annual service??

[Tacket]

Howdy Folks,

I'm going to get to my 12,500 mi annual service within about 5 months of owning the car. I don't anticipate the monthly miles I drive to decrease any time soon. I was planning on doing the annual service every 10 months (25,000 mi interval) rather than 2x a year at $600 a pop. I know $600 on an $80k car isn't much, but twice that a year will add up. Am I crazy? I don't mind holding off on annual service upgrades, etc. and so far aside from some interior rattles/squeaks I don't have any issues with the vehicle that need addressing.

Opinions/Advice welcome!

 

[Doug_G]

Personally I would do the annual service once a year. Ignore the mileage limit. But keep an eye on your tire wear!

 

[Tacket]

Indeed - I'm still going to stick to 6500 mi tire rotations. I drive like a granny usually and apparently had very very little wear my first 6500 mi rotation (on 19s).

 

[yobigd20]

I was planning on doing the annual service every 10 months (25,000 mi interval) rather than 2x a year at $600 a pop.

this is the plan that I was on.

I rotated first at 6500.

Had first "service" at 24k miles (including 2nd rotation).

Telsa applied a few TSBs that I did not care for nor had any problems with.

Every item I complained about remained unfixed.

After receiving the car back, there were scuff marks on the rear bumper that need to be detailed out (probably from them backing into something), and one of they TSBs they applied was for wind noise that I did not have prior to the service visit, but I do have as soon as I drove it away from the SC. So in essence, I paid $600 for pure crap service and more problems than I had went in with.

I doubt I am ever going to bring it in for service again unless something breaks (though I still want all the other stuff I complained about fixed still, and I want this damn wind noise fixed).

oh yeah, they also lied about tire treads on the report. I keep close measure so I know when to rotate. I checked the day of when I dropped it off. When they handed the report to me, all 4 tires said 9/32" which I know was a flat out lie - they never even bothered to check. I immediately brought that to the attention of their manager who went outside and measured himself on the spot and sure enough he came back and wrote the correct measurements in. It's like I paid $600 for absolutely NOTHING. A waste IMO.

 

[huntjo]

That sounds like a bad experience

 

[ibcs]

Howdy Folks,

I'm going to get to my 12,500 mi annual service within about 5 months of owning the car. I don't anticipate the monthly miles I drive to decrease any time soon. I was planning on doing the annual service every 10 months (25,000 mi interval) rather than 2x a year at $600 a pop. I know $600 on an $80k car isn't much, but twice that a year will add up. Am I crazy? I don't mind holding off on annual service upgrades, etc. and so far aside from some interior rattles/squeaks I don't have any issues with the vehicle that need addressing.

Opinions/Advice welcome!

The annual service is much more than rotating tires. After my last service 13 items were addressed including upgrading pillar joints and panoramic roof upgrades. The list was quite extensive and the car came back much quieter with an almost new feeling. That's after 17,000 miles the service is simply top notch in Columbus, Ohio.

I highly recommend staying with all recommended service on such a great vehicle. The improvements simply keep coming to make the car the best ever.

That's my thought process. I did prepay for all 8 years and 100,000 miles to save on the cost.

---Kent

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

One thing to note is that TSBs and any other fixes for rattles, squeaks, etc. do not have to wait till the annual service. They are all covered under warranty and will be taken care of for free at any time (assuming you can get an appointment when you need one).

I'm going at about 16k miles/year and will wait till about 24-25k miles / 18 months for the $600 visit. The 19" tires are holding up well in the meanwhile.

 

[kendallpb]

That's after 17,000 miles the service is simply top notch in Columbus, Ohio.

I highly recommend staying with all recommended service on such a great vehicle. The improvements simply keep coming to make the car the best ever.

That's my thought process. I did prepay for all 8 years and 100,000 miles to save on the cost.

So you're driving more than 12,000 a year...but are you just going in annually? What did they say about that? From what I recall, now one can go in more than 12,500 miles, but it seems like the 4 service visits in the first 50,000 miles still "expire" after 50,000 miles...so might as well go in every 12,5000 miles? I have 1,000 miles left but that'll only be 9 months, so I'm trying to decide what to do. It's the only thing I kinda regret, in retrospect; this car doesn't need much (and I've already had some TSBs done, when the car was in for another reason), so I'd rather just go in annually. Yeah, I'm driving my car more than my last one...I think...

...on the other paw, I just went in when I was "supposed to" with my old car (more often than needed, probably). So I should probably just do what Tesla recommends, like I did with my last car.

But @Tacket - I can definitely see not going in every 5 months! 9ish months for me is one thing--basically one extra service--but you'd be having 9 services in 4 years if you went every 12.5K miles.

- - - Updated - - -

One thing to note is that TSBs and any other fixes for rattles, squeaks, etc. do not have to wait till the annual service. They are all covered under warranty and will be taken care of for free at any time (assuming you can get an appointment when you need one).

I was "lucky"--I had a problem (rear window dropped and wouldn't go up), so they squeezed me in the same day, and while I was there, did like 4-5 things, including one that fixed something I'd just started experiencing (steering wheel clicking), plus gave me the new matts.

 

[tomas]

The annual service is much more than rotating tires. After my last service 13 items were addressed including upgrading pillar joints and panoramic roof upgrades. The list was quite extensive and the car came back much quieter with an almost new feeling. That's after 17,000 miles the service is simply top notch in Columbus, Ohio.

I highly recommend staying with all recommended service on such a great vehicle. The improvements simply keep coming to make the car the best ever.

That's my thought process. I did prepay for all 8 years and 100,000 miles to save on the cost.

---Kent

Just came back from first annual service today - Chicago SC. Went in concerned about value for money. Was very pleasantly surprised. Long list of TSBs applied (granted many probably would have been done under warranty), all kinds of things tested and tweaked (alignment, steering feel tighter, car seems quieter). All of my items addressed except a slightly visible weld spot that I'm not sure I really want fixed… too inconspicuous to merit body work and paint. It's still a little unclear how much/what was above and beyond warranty, but for me it was a very positive and thorough checkup. Saw from prior post someone had troubles… please make sure if you do that you tell ownership. I'm going to tell them about my positives, I'm sure they don't hear that much! Important they hear because the whole network is so new they need to understand which SCs are a credit to the brand, and which ones… ahem...

 

[jerry33]

One thing to note is that TSBs and any other fixes for rattles, squeaks, etc. do not have to wait till the annual service. They are all covered under warranty and will be taken care of for free at any time (assuming you can get an appointment when you need one).

Right. I got all those done when they were working on another issue.

 

[kendallpb]

So you're driving more than 12,000 a year...but are you just going in annually? What did they say about that? From what I recall, now one can go in more than 12,500 miles, but it seems like the 4 service visits in the first 50,000 miles still "expire" after 50,000 miles...so might as well go in every 12,5000 miles? I have 1,000 miles left but that'll only be 9 months, so I'm trying to decide what to do. It's the only thing I kinda regret, in retrospect; this car doesn't need much (and I've already had some TSBs done, when the car was in for another reason), so I'd rather just go in annually. Yeah, I'm driving my car more than my last one...I think...

...on the other paw, I just went in when I was "supposed to" with my old car (more often than needed, probably). So I should probably just do what Tesla recommends, like I did with my last car.

But @Tacket - I can definitely see not going in every 5 months! 9ish months for me is one thing--basically one extra service--but you'd be having 9 services in 4 years if you went every 12.5K miles.

CORRECTION: I knew something had changed but misremembered just what...I thought they'd lifted part of the milage limitation, at least, but the mileage limitation was completely lifted. Please see this thread at TM's forums, where someone quotes e-mail confirmation from Tesla's Ownership Experience team. Yay! I was hoping to just go in once a year, mostly (but was okay with more frequent if needed--not a huge big deal).

(From the thread, it's not clear that the service centers are all fully aware of this, though?)

 

[tdiggity]

I came in for a separate issue and had a whole slew of things fixed because of warranty: rear regulator, front bumper center bolt, rear floor mat, to name a few things. What I'm getting at is you don't have to pay for the annual service to get warranty work done. This probably won't be a popular answer, but just call and ask what updated warranty items your car is due for and bring it in for free.

 

[tomas]

I came in for a separate issue and had a whole slew of things fixed because of warranty: rear regulator, front bumper center bolt, rear floor mat, to name a few things. What I'm getting at is you don't have to pay for the annual service to get warranty work done. This probably won't be a popular answer, but just call and ask what updated warranty items your car is due for and bring it in for free.

From my experience with every other car I've ever owned: a few TSBs (e.g., recalls and other serious items) are applied unsolicited when you bring car in for whatever reason. Other TSBs are applied under warranty, but only if you are experiencing symptoms of the underlying problem. Tesla's apparent policy of applying all major TSBs under warranty if you just ask is unusual. I'd guess that they do this out of desire to develop a reputation for excellent service. I'm not sure it is sustainable, and I would not be surprised to see them revert to normal auto manufacturer behavior at some point: warranty fixes only for a recall level problem, or if something is demonstrably malfunctioning.

There remains the question: exactly what is the value proposition of the annual service? If it is wiper, remote batteries, tire rotation, alignment, 12 v battery, end-to-end checkup, then the price tag may be a bit high. If, at some point, service subscribers get all TSBs applied and non-service subscribers get them only if they have problem, then I'd say price tag is more than fair. I suspect Tesla still has to sort this out… those of us who purchased annual service will probably only know after 4 years whether we got a good deal or not.

 

[liuping]

CORRECTION: I knew something had changed but misremembered just what...I thought they'd lifted part of the milage limitation, at least, but the mileage limitation was completely lifted. Please see this thread at TM's forums, where someone quotes e-mail confirmation from Tesla's Ownership Experience team. Yay! I was hoping to just go in once a year, mostly (but was okay with more frequent if needed--not a huge big deal).

(From the thread, it's not clear that the service centers are all fully aware of this, though?)

This is great news. I really wish they would update the terms in the service agreement to reflect that. I feel strange paying $3800 for a service contract that states something different than the actual policy.

The official agreement document still clearly states that you have to bring it in withing 1000 miles of each 12k interval, or you forfeit that service:

maintenance inspections must be performed within 1,000 miles or 30 days of the specified maintenance intervals
for Your selected Plan. Any scheduled maintenance not completed within such time will be excluded
and no maintenance inspections will be added as a replacement for any such excluded maintenance inspections.
​

 

[kendallpb]

This is great news. I really wish they would update the terms in the service agreement to reflect that. I feel strange paying $3800 for a service contract that states something different than the actual policy.

The official agreement document still clearly states that you have to bring it in withing 1000 miles of each 12k interval, or you forfeit that service:

A couple of people in the thread said they were e-mailing to get it stated in e-mail to them directly, probably because of this exact issue. I'm not concerned, but if you are, then I recommend e-mailing (perhaps to the same person mentioned in the thread?). Hopefully this won't create a flurry of 500 identical e-mails to this guy (or Tesla in general . . . although . . . that would probably prompt them to post something official or update the agreement or what-not, so maybe that's not such a bad thing. ;-)

This kind of clarification would be great for Telsa's "Bulletin Board" as well; that's unfortunately languished for over 4 months (last post: June 28th, 2013).

 

[walla2]

I live off the beaten path a bit and am interested in how my prepaid 4 year ranger service will work at this range. I plan to call Tesla this week and see what will happen. I have a sneaking suspicion I will be asked when I will be in Portland or Seattle next even though its supposed to be an anywhere plan . . . we shall see. I'll update you all soon as hear back from service as it is due next month even though I'm only at 3,175 miles in my Sig P85.

 

[neroden]

From my experience with every other car I've ever owned: a few TSBs (e.g., recalls and other serious items) are applied unsolicited when you bring car in for whatever reason. Other TSBs are applied under warranty, but only if you are experiencing symptoms of the underlying problem. Tesla's apparent policy of applying all major TSBs under warranty if you just ask is unusual.

This is not Tesla's policy. There are several already-identified issues which Tesla will fix under warranty *if and only if you report a problem*. You can go through this forum to find some of them.

I'd guess that they do this out of desire to develop a reputation for excellent service. I'm not sure it is sustainable, and I would not be surprised to see them revert to normal auto manufacturer behavior at some point: warranty fixes only for a recall level problem, or if something is demonstrably malfunctioning.

I'd guess the TSBs which are applied preemptively are ones where Tesla expects that the problem will get worse, or cause further problems, if it isn't addressed. A significant percentage of the customers have 8-year service plans, so it makes sense for Tesla to eliminate problems before they create more work for the service centers.

There remains the question: exactly what is the value proposition of the annual service? If it is wiper, remote batteries, tire rotation, alignment, 12 v battery, end-to-end checkup, then the price tag may be a bit high.

Way too high.

If, at some point, service subscribers get all TSBs applied and non-service subscribers get them only if they have problem, then I'd say price tag is more than fair.

Absolutely, I'd agree with that....

I suspect Tesla still has to sort this out… those of us who purchased annual service will probably only know after 4 years whether we got a good deal or not.

Yeah.

 

[billlanger]

Value in annual service?

I am not seeing the value in the $600 annual service. If I look at the Tesla annual service chart, I see that little is replaced and not much adjusted. Lots of visual, functional checks. Most are trivial ( like seat belts, horn, lighting, tread depth etc. ). I am reasonably in touch with the mechanical condition of my machines. I would rotate my own tires and monitor their wear. Changing the wiper blades and key fob battery don't really need a trained technician. Changing brake fluid every 24000 miles seems a little often, but I would pay to have that done as well as tire alignment.

View attachment ModelS_Annual_Service-1.pdf

Nevertheless, one could say why worry about $600 annually on a $100k car? My answer to that is that I got the $100k by worrying about expenses at the $600 level.

As a whole, the model S seems like it should not have many of the service issues that an ICE car has.

As other readers have noted, updates are provided at no charge under warranty.

So what are the thoughts of the forum? Is the value of the service plan that you just don't worry and leave yourself more time to enjoy the model S?

 

[jerry33]

So what are the thoughts of the forum? Is the value of the service plan that you just don't worry and leave yourself more time to enjoy the model S?

I would assume they do things such as checking the metal content of the reduction gear lubricant and that the torque specifications of the suspension are correct. Having the service performed (as in purchasing the prepaid plan) means that you don't have to worry whether the particular item is covered by warranty or not.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

I received an email from ownership, as follows:

Hi ...,

Thank you for contacting Tesla Motors. We have loosened the mileage interval limitations. We have set the expectation that a 4 service plan is free of any type of mileage limitation but each annual service must be used in its given year. That is to say, to maximize the benefit of your plan, you would be best served by bringing your vehicle in annually to utilize all 4 visits. While we still recommend servicing the car every 12.5k miles, annual service is not a stipulation for maintaining your warranty, or extended warranty. If you have any other questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to reach out to me directly at ...

Best,

Derek Shu | Ownership Experience Advocate
3500 Deer Creek Road | Palo Alto, CA 94304
[email protected] | (877)79-TESLA