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The Issues With Tesla's 2012 Model S - Repair

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2012 Tesla Model S owner JT Stukes shares the many, MANY vehicle repairs he's had, ranging from battery replacements to SIX drivetrains. Thank goodness for Tesla's design improvements over the years.

This is a clip from TMC Podcast #11.

 
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Our Jan 2013 built Model S (vin #~6000) has had one motor "replacement". Tesla chose to replace with a refurbished motor from a similar car with new bearings, and took my motor back to factory to replace it's bearings and put that motor in someone else's Model S. It was for convenience of owners and Tesla and it worked out perfectly, our Motor is SILENT after 150,000km.

Our original battery reported 96% capacity until recently, when a firmware update changed that to 92% original but now we get full regen at 100%, which means Tesla is reserving a bit more of a buffer, which is fine with me, I charge to 100% all the time and never worry.

We've had a cabin heater, battery heater core, coolant pump and air suspension repairs and a few door handles, all under warranty.

Total out of pocket repairs $300 CAD for a 9 year old car. Sure, tires are thousands $, but all cars need those.
 
Our Jan 2013 built Model S (vin #~6000) has had one motor "replacement". Tesla chose to replace with a refurbished motor from a similar car with new bearings, and took my motor back to factory to replace it's bearings and put that motor in someone else's Model S. It was for convenience of owners and Tesla and it worked out perfectly, our Motor is SILENT after 150,000km.

Our original battery reported 96% capacity until recently, when a firmware update changed that to 92% original but now we get full regen at 100%, which means Tesla is reserving a bit more of a buffer, which is fine with me, I charge to 100% all the time and never worry.

We've had a cabin heater, battery heater core, coolant pump and air suspension repairs and a few door handles, all under warranty.

Total out of pocket repairs $300 CAD for a 9 year old car. Sure, tires are thousands $, but all cars need those.
In a RWD full regen declines beginning at 92%, optimistically. Typically more like 90%. Full regen at 100% isn’t a bragging right. It’s confirmation of battery gate.
My 2012 (2,800) has had three battery packs, three drive units, and I’ll stop there bc nothing else matters. Money pit. 400,000+ Km and I’ve owned since day one.

For every story if blind adherence to Elon, you’ll find twenty reality checks demonstrating otherwise. :)
 
Our Jan 2013 built Model S (vin #~6000) has had one motor "replacement". Tesla chose to replace with a refurbished motor from a similar car with new bearings, and took my motor back to factory to replace it's bearings and put that motor in someone else's Model S. It was for convenience of owners and Tesla and it worked out perfectly, our Motor is SILENT after 150,000km.

Our original battery reported 96% capacity until recently, when a firmware update changed that to 92% original but now we get full regen at 100%, which means Tesla is reserving a bit more of a buffer, which is fine with me, I charge to 100% all the time and never worry.

We've had a cabin heater, battery heater core, coolant pump and air suspension repairs and a few door handles, all under warranty.

Total out of pocket repairs $300 CAD for a 9 year old car. Sure, tires are thousands $, but all cars need those.
Honest assumption from experience is that the battery % capacity isn’t the actual, does not track battery degradation without emptying battery and then filling to 100%. The software update may have performed a similar process for you.
My 2012 had 14% degradation with 130k miles, when I got the second. Our 2020 S has a range of 387, and at new charged beyond that. At 24k miles I charged to 100% after it died, and got 371. That’s only about 4% degradation, very good considering the steep 3%-5% degradation of lithium batteries in their very early life. But the day before it died I would’ve assumed I had zero degradation. Just food for thought.