BertL
Active Member
Phewww. That reminds me of the $475 I had to pay for an alignment on my former 335i with less than 1-year and 5K on the ODO. (Glad I have my 8-year prepaid MS service policy in place!
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Tesla 4 year service plan - do we need it? Is it worth it?
- Thread starter vchadha
- Start date
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HankLloydRight
No Roads
It was grouped together with mounting and balancing my tires for 525. Verbally they told me 455 for the alignment itself.
BertL
Active Member
$475 on my former BMW for an alignment was due to it having "Active Steering"; I was told more than 5 years ago when I owned my 335i, that if I didn't have that specific option, my service cost would have been roughly half. I'm unsure to what degree a MS with Air Suspension perhaps add some of complexity that causes a normally pretty simple alignment process to become more complex and perhaps time consuming. IDK, but I'm sure there are plenty of folks here that will. :wink:
2krazykats
Member
Does the alignment have to be done thru Tesla service? That seems like a really steep price for alignments! How often would it need to be done?
Depends on how many potholes you hit. This actually settles the value question. Sounds like a ridiculous price, but, if it requires very sophisticated equipment, it makes sense. Just stinks that the maintenance costs are basically the same as an ICE vehicle.
BertL
Active Member
The challenge is, even with a Tesla, and an EV in general, some technologies are still the same or very much like ICE vehicles -- and require some amount of maintenance as time goes on, e.g. brake line flushes (recommended every 2 years on a MS and most vehicles), occasional fill-up of wiper fluid and replacement of wiper blades, alignments and tires as needed, perhaps new door seals or various gaskets over time, and even brake pads -- even though hybrids and EVs don't need them replaced as much since they are used so much more infrequently. We're just spoiled with our EVs and MS in particular, that doesn't have an ICE itself with all the traditional maintenance that goes into maintaining that part of an automobile.
Be happy!
Personally, the service on the S (and I suspect the X) has cost more than comparable service on my previous vehicles. Additionally, with the new valet service fees, I now have to shell out over $200 or drive an hour and a half in one direction to get that service. On the other hand, I have at least 2 Audi dealers within 30 minutes that I know of (one is less than 8 minutes from my office and do free pickup/dropoff).
I love my car, but it grinds my gears when folks run around spouting about how cheap it is to maintain vs an ICE. Nonsense IMO.
I agree. I do think the claim is true in the hypothetical, though. I'm hopeful that in 10 years when Tesla (and others, hopefully) have greater scale both of vehicles and service centers, we'll start to see actual real-world maintenance savings.
Well, if even if you don't, it's OK because not going to the gas pump will save you even more money if your time is worth $XXX per hour! Just don't count those pesky 45 minute stops at SCs.
ArtInCT
Always Learning
Some thoughts on the service....
Just scheduled my 30K mile service on our 2013 Toyota Prius 4.... estimate cost is $495 plus taxes and incidental parts and supplies...
My 2011 Volvo XC60 came with a bumper to bumper (tires and wipers) service plan of 5 years or 60,000 miles. On that car, to date I have not paid one cent on any service visit.
However, essentially this plan was added to the cost of the car when purchased new.... Volvo simply hid that from the buyer as best as they could.
I shall be buying the 4 year service plan on my Model S. I put about 15K miles on my car each year and suspect I will do the same with the S.
The part I am confused about is the warranty extension plan that starts after year 4... but I have time to figure that out.
Just scheduled my 30K mile service on our 2013 Toyota Prius 4.... estimate cost is $495 plus taxes and incidental parts and supplies...
My 2011 Volvo XC60 came with a bumper to bumper (tires and wipers) service plan of 5 years or 60,000 miles. On that car, to date I have not paid one cent on any service visit.
However, essentially this plan was added to the cost of the car when purchased new.... Volvo simply hid that from the buyer as best as they could.
I shall be buying the 4 year service plan on my Model S. I put about 15K miles on my car each year and suspect I will do the same with the S.
The part I am confused about is the warranty extension plan that starts after year 4... but I have time to figure that out.
FWIW, as a dual-Prius owner with a bunch of miles on the older one, the dealer service 'packages' are a scam. Your Prius needs an oil change, a couple of air filters, and a tire rotation along with an inspection. Perhaps $100-$125 at a non-dealer mechanic. My 2007 has a bit over 130k miles on it, and I have to add up my services back through the 100k mark (which include a spark plug replacement at 120k) to get close to a total of $495.
Sorry for the derail.
HankLloydRight
No Roads
What's confusing? It extends the standard warranty 4 years/50k miles, but has a $200/repair deductible (which is a rip-off, but I'll likely buy the extended warranty anyway).
ArtInCT
Always Learning
Hank:
What is confusing are the fine details in the warranty extension... example... if a wheel bearing wears out the spindle, is that covered under the warranty? Or is that normal wear and tare? Lets say the wiper motor breaks... what is covered and what is not? Is labor covered? Or just the part minus the decuctable? I have not looked into this warranty in detail yet nor have I read it as it just appeared in MY TESLA two days ago when my order was confirmed. So the confusion is on my part having not done suffiecient leg work to understand it... first step will be to print it out and see just what and what is not covered.
Recently, TESLA LIVING did a blog on this aspect of the extended warranty. However he is in the very high mileage group on a yearly basis so I am not sure if his analysis fits me...
HankLloydRight
No Roads
Ah, ok. Naively, I just assumed it covered everything the regular warranty covered (no tires, brakes, etc), plus a $200/repair deductible.
Let us know what you find out. thanks.
Let us know what you find out. thanks.
grichard
Member De-Luxe
That's an interesting point. I imagine that the difference is dealer service vs. Tesla's factory-direct model. If a dealer can dredge up warranty repair, then that's business for his service department, paid for by the auto maker. (Isn't it?) So I'm not surprised that dealers are happy to look for trouble. For Tesla, on the other hand, warranty repairs are simply an expense against TSLA's bottom line. So they have no financial motive to inspect the vehicles. So they charge for the inspection.
I am picking up my CPO on Monday, I don't know if this service plan applies to CPO or not. But here is what I understand you get if you purchase the plan, that you would not get if you didn't:
-4 Inspections
-Wiper Fluid change
-Inverter Fluid change?
-Maybe alignments?
IMO it doesn't sound worth $450 or $600 to me. Considering that it doesn't cover anything warranty doesn't already cover. As I see it, I could pay $600 to have them inspect and replace faulty contactors, or I could wait until I notice the problem myself and have it replaced for free. It seems like a lot for convenience. Am I missing something?
-4 Inspections
-Wiper Fluid change
-Inverter Fluid change?
-Maybe alignments?
IMO it doesn't sound worth $450 or $600 to me. Considering that it doesn't cover anything warranty doesn't already cover. As I see it, I could pay $600 to have them inspect and replace faulty contactors, or I could wait until I notice the problem myself and have it replaced for free. It seems like a lot for convenience. Am I missing something?
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