UK - are you rotating tyres? + “servicing”

[CMc1]

Over 12k miles now and have seen people mentioning tyre rotations around the 10k mark. Is this just a US thing or worth doing? Was going to hold off to around 15k as mainly do motorway driving.

anything else to keep on top of service wise, now I’m over 10k? (M3 LR)

 

[pgkevet]

I discussed this with the SC and my S. Apparently no point if AWD.

I had my brakes serviced at 1yr and they did an alignment check - was out an corrected. ou should be ok t 12mths for those (assuming it was done right before delivery). Visual check on the tyres of course.

 

[Jason71]

I appreciate that the fronts wear out more quickly on an FWD and on the back on an RWD but when that happens I replace them. I have never understood the American obsession with swapping them around. Can someone explain it to me?

 

[webbah]

If you are doing only highway driving I wouldn’t worry about it. if you are doing a lot of spirited drives in the twisties or on a track you will find that the fronts will wear quicker on the outer edges and in this case you can swap the front to back when needed to balance tire wear. other than that I would definitely look at flushing the brakes, changing the air filter, and wipers.

 

[webbah]

It’s also recommended to clean and lubricate the brake calipers every 12 months or so. Especially in rainy and snowy climates.

 

[Mark_T]

It’s also recommended to clean and lubricate the brake calipers every 12 months or so. Especially in rainy and snowy climates.

This is the UK section though and according to Tesla this is not a requirement for the UK.

 

[ewoodrick]

Over 12k miles now and have seen people mentioning tyre rotations around the 10k mark. Is this just a US thing or worth doing? Was going to hold off to around 15k as mainly do motorway driving.

anything else to keep on top of service wise, now I’m over 10k? (M3 LR)

Rotating tires are a recommendation anywhere. Sure, maybe you don't need it as much on AWD, but it doesn't hurt and it's a great time for someone to look and make sure that the tires are wearing evenly. Here in the states, many places do it for free.

Originally the car's first service was 24 months, but that got dropped, no regular service. So no need to worry until 2 years.

 

[pgkevet]

This is the UK section though and according to Tesla this is not a requirement for the UK.

I had Tesla service my brakes at 12mths - not an item I want to compromise on,

 

[ProfessorK]

May I query how much folks are getting charged for wheel and break services at the SCs? Or does it depend on vehicle to vehicle?

 

[webbah]

@Mark_T I know it’s the UK section and I was simply offering advice based on my experience and also the Tesla manual itself. Anyone can read the manual in their car or download it from their Tesla account. Most people don’t though and post questions here. Perhaps you can download the UK manual and post it here so we can compare? In mine it’s on page 152. I seriously doubt the UK has received unique Model 3’s with specialized components compared to the rest of the world. Nor do I believe that the weather is much different than many places for such normal service requirements.

Ff

 

[MrBadger]

Irrespective of whether a car has an engine or not, there are plenty of other parts that will need a regular checkup and/or service. Nothing stopping competent third parties doing this though.

 

[Mark_T]

@Mark_T I know it’s the UK section and I was simply offering advice based on my experience and also the Tesla manual itself. Anyone can read the manual in their car or download it from their Tesla account. Most people don’t though and post questions here. Perhaps you can download the UK manual and post it here so we can compare? In mine it’s on page 152. I seriously doubt the UK has received unique Model 3’s with specialized components compared to the rest of the world. Nor do I believe that the weather is much different than many places for such normal service requirements. View attachment 498174 Ff

No difference at all in the manuals for the 3/S/X in this regard, but when I tried to book the 'Clean & lubricate' service for my S last year Tesla wrote to me and confirmed that it was not a requirement for the UK.

Hard to argue with a specific written statement from a UK Tesla service department...

As with anything Tesla related, I have no doubt that different answers can be obtained to the same question, but there was no lack of clarity on their stance at the time, they cancelled the service appointment as 'not required' and wrote to confirm...

 

[webbah]

No difference at all in the manuals for the 3/S/X in this regard, but when I tried to book the 'Clean & lubricate' service for my S last year Tesla wrote to me and confirmed that it was not a requirement for the UK.

Hard to argue with a specific written statement from a UK Tesla service department...

As with anything Tesla related, I have no doubt that different answers can be obtained to the same question, but there was no lack of clarity on their stance at the time, they cancelled the service appointment as 'not required' and wrote to confirm...

Tesla does that often simply because they are overwhelmed. It’s your car, but any competent shop can do this for fairly cheap. I do it myself and it takes me about an hour.

 

[Mark_T]

I had Tesla service my brakes at 12mths - not an item I want to compromise on,

When many other car manufacturers have already moved to 2-year service intervals, and given the considerably lower use of brakes on the Tesla due to regen, it really doesn't feel like a 'compromise' to skip annual brake checks these days.

 

[khizrs]

Frankly no, the tyre rotation thing is a load of rubbish too as plenty of cars have different sized front/rears (none of my cars had the same tyres all round) and they never needed to be rotated.

The only thing I'd recommend is to get a brake fluid tester and check it every 2 years and get it replaced if it fails.

 

[MrBadger]

and given the considerably lower use of brakes on the Tesla due to regen, it really doesn't feel like a 'compromise' to skip annual brake checks these days.

Lower brake use gives more opportunity for them to seize due to lack of use. Tesla are already blaming brake squeal on lack of use, and told me to use low regen for a period. In addition, the locating pins on the calipers are prone to rusting, so you may struggle getting them out when you most need to.

My own car failed its first MOT/10k miles with brakes - dealer 'service' had never touched them and it caused problems. I've gone back to my regular mechanic and wheels removed, brakes services as a matter of routine. Even though I had supposedly had car serviced 3 times, I went back to my regular and asked him to restart the service regime as if it had never been serviced before.

Servicing is about preventing issues in the first place.

 

[Adopado]

Rotating tires are a recommendation anywhere.

But strangely it's never been a thing here in the UK for people to routinely rotate part worn tyres. Sometimes when having to replace a damaged tyre we may take the opportunity to swap some positions but all other things being equal people just replace the pair that wears out first. At least it means you normally only have to buy 2 tyres at a time rather than all 4 being worn out together. I'm sure there are some marginal benefits to spreading the wear but it's not something I've done over many years of driving and I'm not aware of other people doing it either.

 

[Mark_T]

Lower brake use gives more opportunity for them to seize due to lack of use. Tesla are already blaming brake squeal on lack of use, and told me to use low regen for a period. In addition, the locating pins on the calipers are prone to rusting, so you may struggle getting them out when you most need to.

'Low' isn't no use and yes, if I was suffering from squealing brakes then I'd give them the attention they needed, but fortunately not an issue on my 'S'.

This may be an area where the '3' is a bit more needy than the 'S' and no I'm not going to leave them unchecked year after year, but given there was no other maintenance required in year 1 it didn't make sense to do that last year, this year will be different.

 

[Mark_T]

But strangely it's never been a thing here in the UK for people to routinely rotate part worn tyres.

This falls into the same category as the US fixation with 6 monthly oil changes, it has been promoted by the car dealers over there to get the vehicles back in twice a year and provide an opportunity to up-sell other services at the same time.

 

[Adopado]

'Low' isn't no use and yes, if I was suffering from squealing brakes then I'd give them the attention they needed, but fortunately not an issue on my 'S'.

This may be an area where the '3' is a bit more needy than the 'S' and no I'm not going to leave them unchecked year after year, but given there was no other maintenance required in year 1 it didn't make sense to do that last year, this year will be different.

I'm thinking Tesla specifies discs that don't rust too much. Most other cars I've had the discs get a film of surface rust within hours of parking the car! (Certainly the discs on motorcycles are routinely made more rust resistant ... if only because they are so visible and would look terrible!) I've certainly had cars in the past that have had significant brake seizing issues due to salty winter conditions .. and that was when the brakes got plenty of use ... so I can understand that it would be no bad thing to give them an annual clean and lube.