Tesla 4 year service plan - do we need it? Is it worth it?

Yes, because paying $600 for the minor services that require no fluid changes, and now apparently no longer includes alignment, is beyond ridiculous.

Pay for the 4 services in advance so you get a better rate per each service.

 

I got it for the reason MsElectric said. Still haven't gotten the 8 year though, though I will get the 4 year extended warranty.

 

Much tougher choice if you lease with Tesla's 3 year lease. Divided by 4 makes much more sense than by 3.

 

I am taking out a 3 year lease and spoke with DES regarding this. She assures me it will be pro-rated and the balance refunded once the lease is up.

 

How many miles do you drive? If more than 12,500, your "4 years" is going to be less... substantially less.

 

Agreed. For you, it should work out well.

 

how about low-mileage drivers?

what are low-mileage Model S drivers doing re: service plans?

if you typically drive less than 12,500mile/20,000km per year, does it make sense buying the prepaid service plan? what's the general strategy for service visit in such case?

for example do low-mileage MS drivers just bring their car in every other year and pay for service a la carte, or spread the 4 prepaid services over >4yrs, or... what?
still a bit confused what to do if anticipating <12,500miles/20,000km/yr; have not yet taken delivery

 

Can anyone specify what exactly is done during these annual services??
And what happens if you don't do them? I guess part of that question depends on the first question.

Dealers always have theses huge service plans and most are nothing more than inspections. At least with ICE, you get an oil change and occasionally a transmission oil and spark plug change.
.

 

I probably will drive 8-10k per year, so I won't buy the prepaid service. Bring the MS all 2 years to service and pay the 650 fee, means 325 per year. The maintenance will be controlling tires and liquids, replacing some small parts.

 

Personally, I purchased 8 years of service to go along with my S90D delivered on 10/5/2015. We all make different choices, and that's fine. I generally don't respond to very subjective questions like this because I open myself up to sarcastic people with other POVs and those that live to take pot shots at others in public forums. Be that as it may, in the spirit of trying to help what seem to be well-meaning recent posters, and convey at least some of my thoughts, here goes:

My Background: I drive well less than 8K miles per year. I am a risk adverse kinda guy for the most part -- or at least lean to that side of the fence when a breeze blows. My MS is now my single vehicle, replacing 2 ICE vehicles I owned (so backup was never a concern). I have (remote) family dependent upon me if an emergency were to arise, and I need to GO if a call should come in. I had superior reliability from 5 former Lexus over the past 20 years -- all of which had only standard maintenance performed on them at the furthest-out durations given my low mileage to sustain their warranty. Since I purchase my rides, I have kept most of them 5-8 years.

My interpretation of a few key Tesla T&C that stuck with me (I'm not a lawyer, but I did spend years writing and negotiating contract T&Cs in my business days):

• Annual maintenance isn't required to sustain my Tesla MS warranty, but it is "recommended"
• Annual maintenance IS required to sustain an optional Tesla Extended Warranty (that covers years 5-8 up to 100K miles)
• Tesla has left significant leeway for themselves as to what will and won't be done as part of annual maintenance -- there isn't much in the way of contractual specificity
• You can transfer remaining prepaid service appointments (as long as you also don't exceed the mileage) with the vehicle to a future owner by paying a $100 transfer fee, but not a dealer

Now we get to my desire to sustain my warranty, what to do about maintenance, and my desire for high reliability in my new MS -- all of which I spent time thinking and reading about in my 3-months of Tesla MS research before placing my order. In no particular order, and perhaps not all-inclusive as I'm writing this off the top of my head, key considerations why I did buy the 8-year service agreement:

• I generally believe in the value of preventive maintenance to mechanical devices that I have high expectations of with safety and reliability, like my automobiles. As such, I will have annual maintenance performed by a Tesla Service Center. Period.
• From reading hundreds of threads on TMC and over on Tesla Forums, what a SC has done for a particular owner at an annual service appointment varies (see those points above about T&C), but IIRC examples cited included numerous inspections, tire rotations, lube, brake flush, alignments when needed, wiper blades, filters, latest firmware, etc. -- most as needed, not just because of a scheduled list that something needed replacing like all traditional ICE vehicles come with. (I used to hate that with my low mileage in former vehicles, being forced to replace cabin filters, etc at high cost by some mfgrs if I didn't take action to opt-out.)
  • The very subjective related point I picked-up on was there were a number of examples where a SC did even more than what I'd consider the standard things -- proactively replacing other parts that were not in some sort of official publicized program (early door handles and other under-the-cover parts come to mind). That was not an isolated thing I read -- but then again, it's not cited in T&C what may be done either. My thought being, Tesla is continually enhancing components for new builds that we're never told about, so if my MS didn't go into the SC for some reason like annual service, there wouldn't be an opportunity for Tesla to perhaps do additional PM and replace something they felt was the right thing to do. Got it?
• I could lock in the price of future maintenance at a discounted rate by pre-purchasing. Cost of maintenance and in general any service, especially ones involving human labor, goes up over time, never down for an aging product like an automobile.
• The savings ($475 vs $600 today, purchasing for 4 or 8 years) is more than I'd achieve placing the delta in a basic Money Market account at today's rates; perhaps not as much as some investment opportunities if I wanted to play that game and take that risk.
• If one is sold on prepaying for 4 years of service, you can buy 8 at the same relative discount -- but only within the first 60 days of ownership, and there is no assurance the discount may be offered independently for years 5-8 later.
• I can transfer remaining service appointments to a future buyer of my MS (but not to a dealer). That will either add value when it's time for me to sell, or likely set my MS ahead of others without prepaid service.
• Broadly, assuming there is no damage or cosmetic issues I cause to my MS, I effectively will not be paying for anything unexpected related to my MS through the end of basic warranty 4 years from now, and it will be maintained in the best factory-specified way to give me the greatest reliability Tesla offers.

...and again, everyone makes their choices. We can all take shots at everyone's logic, but in the end, I'm happy with my decision. Good luck with yours Enjoy that MS!

 

thanks @BertL for your detailed and thoughtful reply.
I purchase and typically keep my cars a long time (my last 2 were each ~15yrs), and I also follow recommended maintenance required by the warranty. My wife will still have her ICE vehicle but I imagine we'll use that less and less once I get my MS. But still overall I expect to be pretty low annual mileage for the two cars, maybe combined total will still be a little under 20,000km(12,500mi), unless we start doing more long roadtrips with the MS. Too early to say how long I will keep the MS, but at least 4yrs, possibly 8yrs, so I need to consider the available service plans and also possibility to extend the service agreement in addition to the service plans.

I'm guessing there may be some differences between the service plan T&Cs between here in Canada and the U.S. - I'm reading the Canadian agreement and it seems to say I can buy the +4 extension to the pre-paid service any time no later than 30days after the expiration of the original 4 yr prepaid service plan. However in the service section of MyTesla page, it says the 4yr extension plans are "only available in combination with an initial four year service plan at this time. Extension plans may be available for individual purchase in the future". Seems to be contrary to what's written in the agreement itself that can be downloaded from the same page, although the PDF seems to have a "032013" date in the footer. I also notice that the service plan is transferrable to a new private owner, but is subject to a $100 transfer fee. But good to know it can be transferred, I wasn't aware of that before you mentioned it. The PDF also clearly says that wheel alignments ARE included in the service, but again maybe the PDF is out of date if the discussions in TMC forums on that particular topic are any indication.

anyhow thanks again for your comments, some good things to consider.

 

NP.

T&C may always vary between countries, but here in the US from the docs I read and were in effect when I purchased the agreements, issue is one can only buy the extended SERVICE agreement (4 or 8 version) within first 60 days after MS purchase. ...BUT, the extended WARRANTY, you can get as long as the basic warranty for the vehicle is in effect (and of course, the price of it can change between now and then.) When I first read both docs, I questioned myself on the same thing until I read them both another time and kept them separate in my head.

Also, whenever I see the words "may be available", to me, it means just that -- Tesla has not decided if they are going to give owners the ability to opt-in after the fact. In this case, I'd put different non-lawyer terms there for your consideration: "Don't count on being able to buy years 5-8 later if it's important to you now. If you think prepaying service for years 1-4 are right for you in the first 60 days after you bring home your MS, you may well want to also consider locking in years 5-8 at the same time."

 

After 3 years and 55,000 miles, I am very happy to have BOTH the 4-Year Plan + 4-Year Extension Service Plan AND the Extended Service Agreement for an original total cost of $6,300. Why? Because now that the Signature Model S has a Tesla Motors trade-in value of HALF the original cost, it will be more marketable to a private party because of my 100,000 mile, 8 year warranty that is transferable.

If I decided to the Tesla trade-in, I would get a pro-rated refund for the unused portion of the extended service according to the Tesla Motors personnel I talked to.

Based on the state or country you purchase the Tesla, your experiences with extended warranty may be different. Read the agreement carefully.

Here are the details of transfer to another private party:

I. Transfer of this Agreement
Contact Tesla and submit the following:

1. A letter requesting that Tesla transfer this Agreement to the new owner.
2. $100 transfer fee.
3. This Agreement.
4. Written evidence verifying all maintenance requirements have been met.
5. A copy of documentation evidencing change of ownership and mileage at date of sale.
6. Documents verifying transference of the Agreement, if applicable.

Conditions:

1. This Agreement cannot be transferred to another vehicle. It can only be transferred to a different
   private owner of the same Vehicle.
2. The Vehicle is subject to inspection.
3. Transfer must take place within 30 days of change of ownership.
4. You may not transfer this Agreement to a vehicle dealer or to the customer of a vehicle dealer.
5. All remaining underlying warranties also must be transferred to the new owner.

There is a separate agreement for the Vehicle ESA. So it appears that another $100 and similar documentation would be required to transfer BOTH to a new owner.

 

So you have to make a choice and pay for the service within 60 days of delivery or no deal?

 

That's correct for the SERVICE agreement. When you take delivery, the service and extended warranty options will open up on your My Tesla page, and you'll see a countdown of how much longer you have to make your decision for 0, 4, or 8 prepaid services.

 

All that's listed on the Tesla yearly service is a possible wheel alignment and new wiper blades. For $600, no thanks!