I am at the stage of almost pulling the trigger on ordering. Test drive is tomorrow. One concern I have is covering the risk of investing in the car from a still new company. I am considering buying the Extended Service Agreement for $4000, which would cover defects for an additional 4yrs/50K miles. Of course, that only helps me if Tesla stays in business. In the worst case scenario, Tesla goes bankrupt and my Extended Service Agreement is worthless. Has anyone tried to find a third party to sell an extended warranty on the Model S? I suppose there are few Model S cars that are reaching warranty expiration, but I plan to keep the car for a long time. I am justifying the expense of the car by the savings over what I expect to be a long use lifetime. I am most concerned about the major failures, such as drive train problems that a few owners have experienced. An Extended Service Agreement would cover that.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Extended Warranty
- Thread starter AZBoomer
- Start date
SCW-Greg
Active Member
Welcome to the forums!
Tesla has enough critical mass behind it now, that it won't completely shut it's doors, even if it performs horribly. Some other auto company (Toyota or Mercedes) would pick them up... and continue to support its customers.
Elon and his crew know how to execute like no other. Fear not, and jump in with both feet.
Tesla has enough critical mass behind it now, that it won't completely shut it's doors, even if it performs horribly. Some other auto company (Toyota or Mercedes) would pick them up... and continue to support its customers.
Elon and his crew know how to execute like no other. Fear not, and jump in with both feet.
And they will give notice ( highly probable) once again, just like they did with the annual service plan.
Hard for me to say what to do with newer cars coming off the line. For mine, P2310, it was a no brainer at the previous $2500 price. My car has had probably close to a double digit number of things fixed just in the first 15 months or so. Lots of small stuff and a couple huge things (like the drive unit or maybe it was the inverter), but I'd guess the parts are crazy expensive. Heck, it was $1200 just for a new front headlight after someone backed into my car. Granted, that's a collision, but if a headlight failed that's presumably what it'd cost.
Consequently, I expect I'll be making fairly good use of the extended warranty.
However, at $4000 now plus the fact Tesla's had 1.5 years to improve build quality makes it a much harder decision. I'd probably still get it because the rule of thumb in any insurance is buy it if the cost without it would be a killer for you. I skip insurance on a blender, I can pay that out of pocket if I get unlucky and it breaks. I'd imagine a inverter, drive unit, air suspension, etc are all on an entirely different scale of cost though.
Consequently, I expect I'll be making fairly good use of the extended warranty.
However, at $4000 now plus the fact Tesla's had 1.5 years to improve build quality makes it a much harder decision. I'd probably still get it because the rule of thumb in any insurance is buy it if the cost without it would be a killer for you. I skip insurance on a blender, I can pay that out of pocket if I get unlucky and it breaks. I'd imagine a inverter, drive unit, air suspension, etc are all on an entirely different scale of cost though.
+1 to all of this; wish it had been available in CT before the price increase happened.
Newscutter
Member
On another thread it was quoted that the part cost for the drive unit was $1500, labor @ about an hour to replace.
I know the battery is the biggest expense but it also has the longest warranty and greatest redundancy (as I understand the cell loads).
The inverter is a complete unknown to me re: costs as are the two display screens. My guess is that those 5 parts constitute the majority of the expensive components with most everything else adapted (or capable of BEING adapted from) standard car parts. Is that a correct guess?
Having said that, with the possible exception of the battery, the other 4 parts also seem most likely to survive the vast majority of car-totaling accidents and long storage periods. I would suspect that even in a worst case scenario (Tesla goes bankrupt, no one picks up the parts chain) there should be ample supply of used/salvage parts ending up on warehouse shelves all over the place. Thoughts?
If you consider the battery has an 8 yr warranty and that will be the most likely be the biggest cost on the car, I think for $4000 you can just pay out of pocket for possible future expenses. If you read what's covered in the warranty, it is hard to determine exactly what is covered... at least it was for me. I struggled with the decision too and decided against it. I decided not to purchase because of the price and lack of specificity in the warranty material. I figured if there was warranty required beyond the included coverage, I would have a lot of runway to get to $4000.
Wow, I was not aware there was a deductible on top of the $4000. That seems awfully high, considering you also have to pay a deductible and that deductible applies to every different repair. I don't remember what the cost was for my $0 deductible 8 yr/120k miles on my last car, but I don't think it was anywhere near $4k.
Wish it was available in WA at all.
- - - Updated - - -
I think you're missing a digit.
I too had concerns about Tesla going under. As was mentioned on 60 Minutes, there hasn't been a successful new automobile maker startup in over 70 years.
After doing some research (not as much as many on this board), I came to the conclusion that TMC is just as much an IP company as it is a builder of automobiles. Should the unthinkable happen, other auto makers (Toyota and Mercedes most likely) would very likely come in to purchase the assets and IP and therefore keep a servicing agreement going with Tesla owners.
Elon Musk is clearly a risk-taker, so I don't think your concerns are invalid at all. But his calculated risks seem to have paid off pretty much every time...
Oh, and I confirmed my reservation on 3/31/14. In case that helps...
After doing some research (not as much as many on this board), I came to the conclusion that TMC is just as much an IP company as it is a builder of automobiles. Should the unthinkable happen, other auto makers (Toyota and Mercedes most likely) would very likely come in to purchase the assets and IP and therefore keep a servicing agreement going with Tesla owners.
Elon Musk is clearly a risk-taker, so I don't think your concerns are invalid at all. But his calculated risks seem to have paid off pretty much every time...
Oh, and I confirmed my reservation on 3/31/14. In case that helps...
SCW-Greg
Active Member
Put the $4000 into TSLA and 4 years from now it should be worth enough to cover multiple repairs
+1 to this!
ModelS1079
Member
I still struggle with whether to purchase the extended warranty. And I can not recall if our warranty covers the first 40K or 50K miles - will need to check on that - will hit 35K this month.
1. Is there really a $200 per repair deductible with the extended warranty?
2. What does it NOT cover? - take a minute to read the extended warranty 9not the extended service) - seems like a lot is not covered.
3. Feedback welcome.
1. Is there really a $200 per repair deductible with the extended warranty?
2. What does it NOT cover? - take a minute to read the extended warranty 9not the extended service) - seems like a lot is not covered.
3. Feedback welcome.
At this point, I've decided not to purchase the extended warranty. (I do have until the current warranty expires.)
My main reasons are, it's looking like the mileage of 100k is going to be a problem for me, as I suspect I will get there in about 5 years. If it was a 120k miles, I'd consider it.
Also, the deductible just throws the whole thing for a loop. So yes, $200 for each different warranty repair. The only good thing is, once you pay for that $200 for whatever item, you don't have to pay it again for that item/system. I've purchased warranty for all 3 of my previous cars, but they had no costs and I've used them all, so normally I would buy it, but not with deductible and at $4k.
I've ended up buying the 4 year service because of the "removal" of mileage limit, but looks like the no extended warranty for me both because of mileage, cost, and deductible. In my case I would want it, because I've already been in for 5 services in under 2 months to resolve issues.
My main reasons are, it's looking like the mileage of 100k is going to be a problem for me, as I suspect I will get there in about 5 years. If it was a 120k miles, I'd consider it.
Also, the deductible just throws the whole thing for a loop. So yes, $200 for each different warranty repair. The only good thing is, once you pay for that $200 for whatever item, you don't have to pay it again for that item/system. I've purchased warranty for all 3 of my previous cars, but they had no costs and I've used them all, so normally I would buy it, but not with deductible and at $4k.
I've ended up buying the 4 year service because of the "removal" of mileage limit, but looks like the no extended warranty for me both because of mileage, cost, and deductible. In my case I would want it, because I've already been in for 5 services in under 2 months to resolve issues.
the lack of a warranty in WA state is disturbing. It can't be a legal issue with the state, lots of manufacturers offer them yet every time I've asked I've gotten the same "maybe someday, think it's stuck in negotiations with the state" answer. WA is one of the top markets, it's just lame not to have the peace of mind. then again, I've heard some folks say it excludes so much anyway, it's just not worth it, which may be why their is an issue with the state, maybe too many exclusions? if anyone knows more about why WA isn't allowed to purchase the extended warranty, I'd love to hear more details.
as for the $200 deductible, my sense is that as more folks run over on the miles warranty and have to start paying for visits to the SC's, that that $200 is going to seem like a deal compared to the bills people are going to be hit with when say, an inverter goes and they have to replace the entire battery pack with it (which is the standard now).
as for the $200 deductible, my sense is that as more folks run over on the miles warranty and have to start paying for visits to the SC's, that that $200 is going to seem like a deal compared to the bills people are going to be hit with when say, an inverter goes and they have to replace the entire battery pack with it (which is the standard now).
Last edited:
Can you expand on this? What limit was removed? I just looked at the service agreement and 4 year extension and both still talk about 4 years/50,000 miles.
Similar threads
- Marketplace listing