Tesla Model S waffling

[kognito]

Originally Posted by ZBB

They sell an extended warranty already -- an extra 4 year / 50k. Cost is $4k. Just has to be bought within 30 days of the original warranty expiring. I can just go to the MyTesla sight and buy it any time until then...

does this apply to 2nd or 3rd owners?

[John V]

Originally Posted by JST

The out-of-warranty service issue is one of the big question marks hovering around Tesla. It's one that they will have to solve. At this point, I am giving them the (limited) benefit of the doubt, because they have a lot of plates spinning and for a while they'll be able to fudge it--many of their cars are still under warranty, the drive units will all be warrantied for quite a while (or nearly all), and they can probably deal with most of the outlier cases on a case-by-case basis.

But.

They don't have service manuals. They don't sell access to any of the fancy electronic tools you need to diagnose the car. They don't sell those tools themselves. They don't even sell *parts* without a VIN, and forget about buying them wholesale. If you have a salvage car, they won't sell you parts.

There are some nuances here that I am not getting into, but the bottom line is that it would be impossible, at this point, to keep a Tesla on the road without using "dealer" service. And what that service will cost is very much open to question.

This is a major problem for me, and if it stays that way it'll be a deal killer for me ever buying a Tesla. I just can't see myself ever being OK with being at the mercy of a dealership for service. I have to be able to work on it myself.

As on-board diagnostics have gotten more comprehensive on cars, they've gotten easier to work on.

[bren]

Originally Posted by John V

This is a major problem for me, and if it stays that way it'll be a deal killer for me ever buying a Tesla. I just can't see myself ever being OK with being at the mercy of a dealership for service. I have to be able to work on it myself.

As on-board diagnostics have gotten more comprehensive on cars, they've gotten easier to work on.

http://www.righttorepair.org/main/default.aspx

[Sharp11]

Originally Posted by JST

The out-of-warranty service issue is one of the big question marks hovering around Tesla. It's one that they will have to solve. At this point, I am giving them the (limited) benefit of the doubt, because they have a lot of plates spinning and for a while they'll be able to fudge it--many of their cars are still under warranty, the drive units will all be warrantied for quite a while (or nearly all), and they can probably deal with most of the outlier cases on a case-by-case basis.

But.

They don't have service manuals. They don't sell access to any of the fancy electronic tools you need to diagnose the car. They don't sell those tools themselves. They don't even sell *parts* without a VIN, and forget about buying them wholesale. If you have a salvage car, they won't sell you parts.

There are some nuances here that I am not getting into, but the bottom line is that it would be impossible, at this point, to keep a Tesla on the road without using "dealer" service. And what that service will cost is very much open to question.

All of which is my way of saying, I agree with you, JV. I wouldn't own this car out of warranty, either.

As for the drive unit, mine is still set to be replaced at some point, but I don't have any idea when that will be.

EDIT: No 6.1 yet. Most of those features are kind of a yawn, but I do like the idea of range prediction with nav.

EDIT: One touch dialing in Calendar is nice, as is smart pre-conditioning.

Just speculation, but I'm thinking the company's goal is to move forward with new tech and systems, and probably not to keep old models on the road. Will the old cars be bought back? Or refitted with newer tech?

Who knows ...

It'll be interesting to see how Tesla deals with this in what's becoming a quickly changing landscape.

As an aside, I was thinking of this in my never ending imagining of what car will be next for me - when I consider diesels; falling gas prices make them less desirable, but perhaps not in a few years .... it's tough to look ahead more than three or four years these days.

[JST]

Originally Posted by bren

http://www.righttorepair.org/main/default.aspx

Yes. Except that Tesla isn't a signatory to the settlement, and even if it were, it doesn't have franchised dealers and the settlement (and MA's law) speaks in terms of providing access equal to that given to franchised dealers.

Disclaimer: I have spent all of about 20 minutes poking around on this issue on Google, so I may not be fully conversant in the details, but that's my surface level read of it.

To Ed's point: Teslas are much more software upgradeable than any other car out there right now, and the company has to date shown a real interest in making sure that the entire fleet receives these upgrades. Of course, there have also been hardware changes which aren't really retrofittable, but I wouldn't conclude that Tesla is interested in planned obsolescence as a strategy.

[ZBB]

Originally Posted by kognito

does this apply to 2nd or 3rd owners?

Yes. I just double-checked the terms... Transferrable to a new owner with a $100 fee.

Used buyers can get access to MyTesla (the account info is used for the Tesla mobile app...), so I'd assume that the extra services are available also.

Tesla also has the prepaid service plan -- $1900 for 4 years / 50k miles. Another $1900 gets you an extension (so covers up to 8 years / 100k miles). If this isn't purchased, the cost of each scheduled service is $600 at that time.

I bought the prepaid service a month after getting the car -- you have 30 days from delivery to purchase it (and I can buy the extension up to 30 days after the original plan expiring).

I should have bought the extended warranty back then -- the price was $2400 or $2500 early on, then raised later. Oh well... When I get to 50k miles, I'll decide what to do -- right now I'm thinking of buying it...

[lemming]

i don't need to waffle on this anymore.

http://jalopnik.com/the-chevy-bolt-c...ium=socialflow

[bren]

[lemming]

Skeptical or not, it will have the full weight of a real dealer network behind it. Which matters to me.

[John V]

1) That thing is hideous
2) I hate Jalopnik. It's like clickbait for cars.