Hey everyone, it’s Car Guru here and today we’re going to talk about out of warranty costs for a Tesla Model S. I have some footage of me and my buddy Sean here making some cuts in the test so that we were trying to use for scrap. I figured you guys didn’t want to see my ugly mug all day, so I have this video playing in the background.
Now, I want to bring up this topic because it’s a discussion that comes up very frequently. It’s something that’s really factored into the overall cost of owning a Tesla because the cars that have been sold so far still have the eight-year battery and motor warranty. Eight years have not passed yet since the first Model S in 2012 have been built. However, those cars will be coming out of warranty soon, and this is especially important for two reasons.
First, Teslas are getting cheaper, and in a short order of time, the older Model S’s can be had for the mid to upper 20s, which makes it easily accessible for the masses. Second, the basis of this channel so far is I have an out-of-warranty Tesla, and Tesla will not service it. This channel is loosely based on how to work on and service your own Tesla, as well as other various shenanigans and tasteless humor.
Deena, a subscriber from Louisiana, is the one that prompted me to make this video. She purchased the CPO Tesla about a year and a half ago, and she said it’s been pretty good so far. She’s had three door handles replaced, a computer screen, and the drive unit were all replaced and covered under warranty. However, she was wondering how much these seemingly minor things would cost out of warranty and what are the other failure points in these cars.
She was sold on this car because it has fewer moving parts than a gas-powered car and therefore less to break. Also, the fact that she never had to do an oil change or replace brake pads are the things that helped her buy the car in the first place. However, she feels that these small things could add up very quickly, and she wanted to know what my thoughts were on that.
Before I get into the answer, this discussion will primarily focus on the Model S and not the Model X because quite frankly, the Model X’s issues warrant its very own video. Deena, that’s a great question, and that’s actually something I want to repeat. A lot of people say that the cars are virtually maintenance-free, which they are because they don’t require you to change the oil or the brakes. However, you do need to keep in mind that they’re very expensive cars and they have very expensive parts.
People ask, “How much has gone wrong so far?” He said the car’s been holding up great, and he spent approximately $7,000 on the car in maintenance for 230,000 miles. People are like, “Wow, that’s great!” Well, it’s because the car was covered under the eight-year unlimited mileage warranty. But the real question is, what has he brought the car back to Tesla for?
In 230,000 miles, he went through three drive units or three of the actual motors that drive the car in the first place, two battery packs, one media control unit (the car’s main computer), one charge port door, and one charger. Not bad. Those things are under warranty. Here’s what wasn’t under warranty: nine door handles he replaced, which makes sense as people are constantly getting in and out of the car, four shocks to replace, both rear axles, windshield wiper linkage, rear taillights due to condensation, and four rotors.
The saddest part about this whole thing is that the third drive unit started making a grinding noise, and even though these issues can be fixed by a good transmission shop, Tesla isn’t willing to crack open these drive units at your local Tesla service center. The whole unit was replaced, and it was not covered under warranty because Tesla found out his car is being used for commercial purposes. So his total cost of replacement out-of-pocket was $6,000. Yes, that adds up to a grand total of $24,000. This car has had $24,000 in motors replaced on this single vehicle.
Now, here’s the thing that frustrates him. It’s not that he was denied any further service or warranty from Tesla because it says in the fine print, “Hey, if you want the warranty, you can’t use the car for commercial purposes.” However, what does frustrate him is that there’s another Tesla taxi company that Tesla services, maintains, and is covered under Tesla‘s warranty. His thought is since that other Tesla is better known, Tesla rolls out the red carpet for it because it’s good PR for the company. Tesla doesn’t want his car in the mainstream because it had four motors replaced, and they don’t want that car in the public eye.
Let’s see a few more well-known examples in the public eye. Edmunds’ first test drive of a Tesla Model S 2013 model. Yes, it’s an older car, but let’s not forget that there are tens of thousands of these cars on the road. They’ll be coming off warranty very soon. Now, here are some of the issues that they’ve encountered in the 2013 car. If you look at these columns here, you’ll see the drive unit was replaced three times and a laundry list of other miscellaneous issues. A lot of these things you could see were covered either under warranty or replaced under goodwill. But just think, after this car’s out of warranty, these line items will go from warranty and goodwill to actual out-of-pocket expenses.
This next article is a great hindsight machine. He actually loved it. He talks about his Tesla after a hundred thousand miles. The annual service was $2,300. Not bad. A thousand dollar door handle repair? Okay, no problem. That’s $3,800 in a hundred thousand miles, which is fantastic. Now, in the article, he states, “I’d love to hear about any other hundred thousand dollar car that can go this far and cost less than $4,000 all in.” Oh, and I probably spent less than a thousand dollars in electricity as well. Let’s get to the good part here. Oh yeah, I did have to have my entire motor replaced, and yes, I did have to have my battery pack replaced as well. But other than having to replace the two components that make the car move, it’s been pretty reliable. Remember, if a door handle is $800 to a thousand, how much do you think replacing a battery is? And will he still be singing the same song if he had to foot the bill for the motor replacement?
Now, there are many examples of repair costs that you could expect to pay when your car’s out of warranty. This sheet comes from a 2013 S60 owner with 38,000 miles. Last year, he was hearing a clunk, which the service center said would require half-shaft replacement to the tune of $3,500. Even though he’s been to the service center every year for check-ups, they didn’t catch this issue. It’s $175 per hour, and the half-shafts go for $900 each. And guess what? Tesla has a monopoly on parts. You can’t go anywhere else, so you’re looking at getting the parts used or going right to Tesla, assuming that they let you buy the parts in the first place.
This is one of the reasons why wrecked Teslas go for so much money because the parts are worth a lot of money. And secondly, this would have been far cheaper from an independent shop. However, most other places are not willing to do these kinds of repairs, especially not knowing much about electric vehicles.
Now, this last example comes from an owner. Last year, he started hearing a rattling noise in the right rear. It turned out to be a loose parking brake pad that got fixed this year, and the other side started rattling as well as the brake seemed to be a little bit soft but nowhere concerning. After three weeks of waiting for the appointment, he dropped the car off and got a call saying that all four brake pistons had seized, and it would cost $8,500 to repair. Here are some breakdowns for cost: the brake caliper assembly with piston is $745 each, the rear rotors are $331 each, front rotors are $290 each, parking brake caliper with pads is $1,235. They also replaced the upper control arm of the driver’s side for $261. Tesla managed to salvage one of the pistons, but they had to change out three of them. And good on Tesla, they felt so bad for him they agreed not to charge him labor on the job. So his final bill was about $6,000, which I bet he was not expecting that when he dropped the car off.
That’s another good point. Now, let’s pretend that you bought a certified pre-owned Tesla for $35,000, and a year later, you’re greeted with a repair bill that’s 25% of the price that you paid for the car. Sounds kind of crazy, huh?
Just a couple of common things that can go wrong: a $1,200 media control unit screen, which starts bubbling, or an entire media control unit, which is about $3,800, which only Tesla can replace. The DC to DC converter, which converts high voltage to low voltage, which can blow a fuse, will cost you $450 in labor, and of course, you need $2,100 for a new DC to DC converter. That’s $2,600 plus tax.
I know it seems like I’m picking on Tesla again, but I was thinking about this the other day, and all the Tesla YouTubers out there, there’s only two, maybe three, that don’t have videos of their cars being loaded onto flatbeds. Think about it. Even Marcus Brownlee has a video of his Tesla being carried on a flatbed. My friend Phil expressed these same concerns about Tesla‘s practices to John McNeil, the head of sales and service at Tesla. I support Tesla, but I don’t approve of some of their policies. I’m glad to see John McNeil and Tesla step up and do the right thing here. If we can only get them to allow us to perform our own maintenance, which involves releasing service information as well as software and selling us parts. Also, if you purchase a salvage vehicle, they will not sell you parts at all. This will have to change if Tesla hopes to become mass market.
I completely agree with Phil. John McNeil said it’s in the works. This was in January of 2017, so we’re all still waiting on that. Just to experiment, one of Phil’s points: Tesla does not give people service history on cars, and here’s why that’s bad. If issues are not performed while the car’s under warranty, then it could cost you a bundle post-warranty.
These little things called TSBs (Technical Service Bulletins) are information bulletins to fix specific issues and problems someone’s having with the car, either by replacing a part or doing some form of service. They always fall under a specific warranty, like powertrain, for example. So the car’s age will be for that warranty unless it’s a situation where a warranty is extended on a component, and in that case, it may be covered for a longer period of time. A certain issue will usually be covered by a warranty even without a TSB, but the TSB offers a specific repair procedure for a certain issue. Also, keep in mind, TSBs are for safety campaigns are for the life of the vehicle.
Now, how many TSBs are available for a brand new auto manufacturer in its infancy stages, you ask? A lot. Let’s just say you get a used car now out of warranty. Right there’s a wind buffering or a squeak or a rattle if the previous owner didn’t care about. Now you have to deal with it. Tesla doesn’t give you the service history on cars, so for something like this, you’re on the hook. Let’s just say, “Hey, Tesla, I want to buy this car that you have for sale. Was the leaking sunroof TSB performed?” They would look at you and say, “Every car is fully tested with a multi-point inspection by Tesla.” And you’d say, “Okay.” Then you’d buy the car and then return it back to Tesla a month later to fix that leaking sunroof whose TSB timer has expired, and they will happily charge you $600. This could have been easily avoided by the ability to ask the dealer that car’s history so you have them either perform the service before purchasing the car or you purchase a different car. With that in mind, if you’re planning on buying a Tesla, buy the newest one you can afford, preferably a 2015 plus cars because a lot of the issues that I mentioned earlier have been fixed. However, not all of them, but the cars have been through a few revisions now, and they’re slowly getting better.
Okay, guys, I’ve rambled on enough. In upcoming episodes, I’ll discuss what specifically goes wrong with a Tesla drive unit as well as battery pack failures. Thanks for listening. Tell me what you think in the comments, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe.
