Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

How many of you bought Tesla's ESA / Service Plans ?

Which Service / Warranty option did you go with?

  • Some form of service plan with ESA

    Votes: 70 57.9%
  • ESA without any service plan

    Votes: 13 10.7%
  • No service plan or ESA

    Votes: 38 31.4%

  • Total voters
    121
This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
I'm curious on how many people bought Tesla's service plans, ESA, or didn't get either? Was reading the contracts on TM, & seems like the service plans may not be all that worth it given most repairs people have had were either covered by warranty or were official bulletin repairs that would have been done regardless of service plans. I then read through the ESA terms, and their clause about the ESA being void without following Tesla's service recommendations also made it seem not worth it. I am going to visit a SC annually to have my S inspected, but what if I drive >12500 miles in one year? Does that mean my $4000 ESA plan goes out the door, since I missed a service within 1000 miles of 12500? With terms like that, and the cost of the plans, I'm thinking no plan at all may be the best option. If I need a large repair from year 5-8, how likely is it going to be >$8800 (if you get 4+4 ranger plan with ESA)? What are your thoughts?
 
You missed a poll option: Service plan without ESA.

I did the 4 year pre-paid service. It covers some wear items that you'd otherwise be on the hook for (essentially everything but tires), offers a modest discount on your yearly service when purchased within 30 days of delivery, and kind of buys you in to the ability to extend your service plan later. If you buy the 4 year pre-paid, you can upgrade to 8 years or add ranger service after the 30 days have expired, though presumably at the current rate.

Regarding the ESA, I decided to wait and see what I thought about the reliability before making a decision. This just needs to be purchased within 30 days of expiring. Initial quality hasn't been great, I'm getting a big batch of things fixed in a few weeks, but hopefully it settles in after that.

Elon has said the ESA does not mandate the yearly services, but I don't think they ever actually changed the contract wording to reflect that statement. In any case, unless your lack of maintenance caused the issue, by law in the US at least they can't deny a warranty repair just because you didn't bring it in for a checkup every year.

This thread just a few down from your own has more answers:
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/show...-quot-service-plan-quot-vs-quot-warranty-quot
 
Thanks Gizmotoy & jvonbokel for the info & thoughts. I didn't think about it that way, so I forgot to include the 4th option. I figured anyone getting the Service plan would get the ESA as well. I didn't know the ESA could be purchased within 30 days of the 4 year New Car Warranty expiration. That totally changes everything then.

By wear & tear items that the Service Plan covers, you're referring to things like light bulbs, brake pads, windshield wipers, alignment? Anything else I'm forgetting? Because if it's just those items, I'd consider taking my chances & change them myself, than fork out $600 annually just for that. Rest can be covered by warranty.

PS: any way I can add the 4th option to the poll? Couldn't find that when I tried editing the original post.
 
Last edited:
Don't forget that certain states (including mine) don't permit a prepaid service plan. I intend to service the car annually and would have welcomed the $500 savings (essentially getting the fourth at no charge). My understanding (though I could be wrong) is that doing a la carte service provides essentially the same benefits as the prepaid service just at a higher cost.
 
Don't forget that certain states (including mine) don't permit a prepaid service plan. I intend to service the car annually and would have welcomed the $500 savings (essentially getting the fourth at no charge). My understanding (though I could be wrong) is that doing a la carte service provides essentially the same benefits as the prepaid service just at a higher cost.
The Fremont service center told me the difference is that a la carte service just involves all the scheduled maintenance items and checks. The pre-paid service plan adds wear and tear items not included on the maintenance schedule. And the discount, of course. That said, in a state where pre-paid isn't permitted Tesla might just include those items in the annual service as a nice gesture.
 
The Fremont service center told me the difference is that a la carte service just involves all the scheduled maintenance items and checks. The pre-paid service plan adds wear and tear items not included on the maintenance schedule. And the discount, of course. That said, in a state where pre-paid isn't permitted Tesla might just include those items in the annual service as a nice gesture.

Prepaid service is only a discount. No different than paying the $600 annually. You prepaid for it, that is it. Annual service is an annual service, no matter how you pay.
 
I can tell you it doesn't include the rear tail light assembly when rocks from trucks chip at it. :(

I don't think tail lights are generally considered wear items :)

Capt601: There have been a bunch of threads on the supposed differences between the prepaid and standard annual services. A search should turn them up. I can't confirm myself since I haven't used it yet, but when a bunch of other members confirmed it, and the guys actually doing service at the factory confirm it, I'll believe them.
 
Last edited:
I went with the 8 year service plan because I know I will keep the car for that long.
Because it includes the annual service for the last 4 years (which I probably would have done) the extra expense is not that much, especially relative to the price of the car.
I will also get Hardware Upgrades, if there are any.
 
It would be nice, but they don't call anything out specifically. It just says everything except the battery and tires.

Hmmm, if they don't explicitly detail what it includes, then they can deny anything at anytime. Smart on their part as a company, but bad for us. That's the reason why I opted not to purchase the service plan, too vague on what they cover.

I went with the 8 year service plan because I know I will keep the car for that long.
Because it includes the annual service for the last 4 years (which I probably would have done) the extra expense is not that much, especially relative to the price of the car.
I will also get Hardware Upgrades, if there are any.

Has anyone actually had any hardware upgrade that was covered by the service plan & not the warranty? If so what hardware did Tesla upgrade?
 
Hmmm, if they don't explicitly detail what it includes, then they can deny anything at anytime. Smart on their part as a company, but bad for us. That's the reason why I opted not to purchase the service plan, too vague on what they cover.

I mean, they say it includes all wear items but the battery and tires. I guess they could list everything explicitly, but it seems easier to just say it covers everything but these two things. *shrugs* The language is pretty strongly in the buyer's favor.

Edit: That said, they probably feel pretty safe given the relatively small number of wear items relative to an ICE vehicle.
 
Last edited:
Hmmm, if they don't explicitly detail what it includes, then they can deny anything at anytime. Smart on their part as a company, but bad for us. That's the reason why I opted not to purchase the service plan, too vague on what they cover.



Has anyone actually had any hardware upgrade that was covered by the service plan & not the warranty? If so what hardware did Tesla upgrade?

I haven't heard of any hardware upgrades yet, but I would assume the 3G - 4G would be one of those. Either way, any upgrade I assume is going to be at least $500 and a pure guess would mean I would get a $1000 minimum value from it. (Sure I may not have actually paid for the upgrades if I didn't have the warranty)
 
As with others, I just bought the 4 yr prepaid service. I live 15 minutes from a service center, so I didn't opt for the ranger service. At $100/per I would have to use it more than 5 times to make it worth it, which feels very unlikely.

Although, I intend to keep the car for more than 4 years and have frequently done that with other cars, anything could happen in the next 4 years that would prevent me from keeping it or I might simply change my mind (as I did with the car I sold to buy the MS!). In any case, if I do keep it more than 4 years I can always buy the prepaid service and ESA within 30 days of the 4 yr anniversary date. I'm willing to risk the price increase vs I might not want/need them.
 
FYI to those who don't know and who did not intend to have their cars serviced for the first few years...

Tesla recommends changing your brake fluid every 2 years or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Tesla recommends changing your battery coolant every 4 years or 48,000 miles, whichever comes first.