What else can break on my 2014 Model S?

[sonofagunn]

Interesting. Thank you.

A bit off topic, but do you know how to pull on the option codes on your car? Super curious if you got a DU01 drive unit that would update that code. More on my curiousity here.

I'm not even sure what an option code is, lol. But if it's easy I can give it a shot. The part number was DU(1025598-00-T) both times.

Edit - figured out how to do it. My motor code is

X024	Performance Motor

I don't have any DUxx code.

 

[Cooloke]

Its a private insurer in Québec, called Garantie Avantage Plus... Dont know if they do business outside Canada.

P.S. My 2014 had much more issues, I was at the garage at least once each two months.. all under warranty at least.

We're in Ontario. Maybe there's something similar. And gotcha about the frequency of repairs.

 

[Cooloke]

Just to add to this point our 2nd car is a Subaru Forester 2010. Last year we replaced the front suspension, the brakes, the 12v battery, the starter and the exhaust (all of it). Also, the radiator suddently malfunctioned for no apparent reason and the engine bay caught fire so we've had the replace the radiator and transmission. The car is old but in my mind the Forester is much less reliable then the Tesla.

Gotcha. I am sorry to hear about the Subaru car problems. Our experience with them have been non-eventful. They've just run. Luck???

And I guess, at a certain point, a car is a car with things that can break.

 

[NewbyMaybe]

My past 2 years with my 2014 has been great. From the free level 2 charging in the several towns I've worked in to the camp mode when there's no practical place to stay, it's paid for itself.

 

[Cooloke]

You need to find a third party repair shop in your area. Maintaining an older car at Tesla service centers will get expensive quick.

Thanks for bringing this up. This has been a major point of frustration. There's no one in our community that wants to touch a Tesla. So we have to tow it to a Tesla service center. We've got a CAA membership because it gives us 200 km's of towing per year without additional costs. Nearest service center is over 100 km's away.

 

[Cooloke]

Knock on wood, but I'm driving a 2014 P85+ and the only out-of-pocket costs I've had so far have been a 12v battery. The drive unit was replaced twice under warranty though...

Thats great! I wish we had the same experience.

 

[Cooloke]

My past 2 years with my 2014 has been great. From the free level 2 charging in the several towns I've worked in to the camp mode when there's no practical place to stay, it's paid for itself.

That's awesome! Due to our lifestyle and having young kids, we haven't taken full advantage of the free super charging. Once the car is fixed, we'll be doing a long road trip this summer and then trading it in.

 

[Cooloke]

UPDATE: Car is getting fixed at a Tesla service center. Here's the cost of repairs (all prices in CAD) :
Drive unit: $8K
AC: $1k
Door handle: $500

In total, with taxes =$11.4k

 

[TLLMRRJ]

And I guess, at a certain point, a car is a car with things that can break.

The biggest issues are plastic and rubber parts that go bad with time. Plastic and rubber never stops curing, so it gets dry and brittle.

The problem is car manufacturers are using more and more plastic parts to save money and weight, so these items literally become maintenance items, but owners don't want to treat them that way. That's why things like radiators fail out of the blue and cause collateral damage because owners wait for them to fail instead of proactively replacing them before they do.

Tesla is no exception with using lots of plastic and rubber parts, so they will have all the same things fail, like window regulator, suspension components, blend door actuators in the dash, etc, etc...

 

[brainhouston]

I personally think the only reasonable way to own old Tesla out of warranty is to learn how to DIY.
Only other way, maybe if the car comes with all service records and most common things were fixed...
There's only few things you can't fix/replace yourself, like things that require special tools or Toolbox, but everything else is like any other car.
Plus, dealers always afraid of liability so they replace more than needed in most cases...

 

[NV Ray]

I personally think the only reasonable way to own old Tesla out of warranty is to learn how to DIY.
Only other way, maybe if the car comes with all service records and most common things were fixed...
There's only few things you can't fix/replace yourself, like things that require special tools or Toolbox, but everything else is like any other car.
Plus, dealers always afraid of liability so they replace more than needed in most cases...

You're right. I'll handle all DIY less anything with high voltage and proper equipment. 350-400V is very unforgiving.

 

[brainhouston]

You're right. I'll handle all DIY less anything with high voltage and proper equipment. 350-400V is very unforgiving.

honestly only opening HV pack would be somewhat dangerous if ur not familiar with electricity.
otherwise every other HV component gets disconnected when u pull Firemans loop, unless u have welded contactors which is pretty rare..

 

[jjvan]

Its a private insurer in Québec, called Garantie Avantage Plus... Dont know if they do business outside Canada.

P.S. My 2014 had much more issues, I was at the garage at least once each two months.. all under warranty at least.

@Nick B How did you sign up for Garantie Avantage Plus? Did you get it through a dealer or contact them directly? I wonder if they offer the warranty to the rest of Canada outside of Quebec. Seems like a great deal.

 

[Nick B]

@Nick B How did you sign up for Garantie Avantage Plus? Did you get it through a dealer or contact them directly? I wonder if they offer the warranty to the rest of Canada outside of Quebec. Seems like a great deal.

Hi, directly with them. You can search online, they have been in business for 30+ years if I remember correctly. They have a deal for tesla owners specifically. Let me know if you ever want a point or contact.

 

[Cooloke]

The biggest issues are plastic and rubber parts that go bad with time. Plastic and rubber never stops curing, so it gets dry and brittle.

The problem is car manufacturers are using more and more plastic parts to save money and weight, so these items literally become maintenance items, but owners don't want to treat them that way. That's why things like radiators fail out of the blue and cause collateral damage because owners wait for them to fail instead of proactively replacing them before they do.

Tesla is no exception with using lots of plastic and rubber parts, so they will have all the same things fail, like window regulator, suspension components, blend door actuators in the dash, etc, etc...

Interesting...

 

[Cooloke]

I personally think the only reasonable way to own old Tesla out of warranty is to learn how to DIY.
Only other way, maybe if the car comes with all service records and most common things were fixed...
There's only few things you can't fix/replace yourself, like things that require special tools or Toolbox, but everything else is like any other car.
Plus, dealers always afraid of liability so they replace more than needed in most cases...

I'm pretty useless with my hands so the DIY approach is out of reach for me. But I get what you're saying.

Again, the issue is we had no idea the car could have these failures when we bought it. The control arm breaking and the drive unit failing are big and costly repairs.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

I'm pretty useless with my hands so the DIY approach is out of reach for me. But I get what you're saying.

Again, the issue is we had no idea the car could have these failures when we bought it. The control arm breaking and the drive unit failing are big and costly repairs.

Those fanboys that claim there’s only one moving part on a Tesla compared to hundreds on ICE cars so there’s literally nothing to fail on a Tesla did a big disservice to car buyers setting them up for failure.

And even at one point Tesla was saying their cars were built to last a million miles and that didn’t help keep it real either. They got people thinking their cars were made with new alien parts that never fail versus the reality of many substandard parts, often selected from the parts bins of other mere mortal cars. Any car can last a million miles if you replace all the parts several times.

 

[15mpg]

My Model S hasn't been to bad at all, just the 12v battery, and the stupid door handles that seem to fail, the new updated handles are much better lol.

 

[Russell]

The old ones are continuous money pits. I feel sorry for owners that bought them used cheap and thought they were making out like bandits because of the savings in gasoline. They will break the backs of those on tight budgets.

Since when are new Plaids cheaper than fixing an older S?

Sorry to hear that. And there are so many people that normally buy $20k Civics and drive them for 15 years without much expense for repairs that are setting themselves up for failure stretching themselves for $40k EV’s that will be out of battery and drive unit warranty within 5 years with all their driving. They will be in a lot of pain when the battery and drive unit repair bills hit after paying double or triple for all the normal stuff like tires and windshields and all the stuff that will break after the 4 year/50k mile warranty is gone after 3 year of their driving.

If you are going to compare Model S to other cars, you should at least compare them to the similar cars in its price range/class like a BMW, Lexus, Mercedes...
As with any new or used car purchase they need to do their homework.

 

[Russell]

UPDATE: Car is getting fixed at a Tesla service center. Here's the cost of repairs (all prices in CAD) :
Drive unit: $8K
AC: $1k
Door handle: $500

In total, with taxes =$11.4k

As with any used car purchase, you should first know what the common problems are for the car you looking at then ask the owner if they already fixed them.

My car, that I've owned since 2018, the drive unit was replaced last year and the AC compressor the year before that. Both under warranty. Both should be good for another 7-8yrs.
Haven't done any door handles.
I did the Infotainment Upgrade w/tuner last year.
Two weeks ago I paid $3.7k for the steering rack. That should be good for another 8-9yrs.
I'm anticipating I will need the to have the HV Battery replaced in 2-3 yrs. I have a $2k 057 warranty for that.

The money I save for not having to pay for fuel or data helps pays for the repairs.

What else can go wrong? I don't know, maybe the Pano? I'm not worried about it because even if I spend $5k a year for the next 10yrs it's still going to be far cheaper than buying a new S.