For the first four years I owned my Roadster I dutifully took it in for its annual service every year because it was still under warranty, and it seemed smart to get it serviced because I didn’t want warranty repairs denied because of lack of required service. The annual service cost $600.
Now that it’s out of warranty and due for its fifth year annual service, the price has gone up to $720. I asked for a breakdown of what Tesla does for that price, and got a list that included checking a bunch of things like transmission fluid. I didn’t even know a Roadster had transmission fluid.
One of the selling points of electric vehicles is that they don’t need oil changes, replacement of spark plugs, oil filters, air filters, timing belts, and the like. My Volvo needs all those things, and the annual service costs about $200. What is Tesla really doing for $720?
It seems to me that the best case scenario is that for $720 Tesla looks at my Roadster and tells me everything is fine and I didn’t really need to bring it in. The worst case scenario is that they look at it and then call me back saying that they recommend repairs (like battery pack sheet replacements) that cost even more.
At this stage I’m inclined to just keep driving my Roadster until I notice something obviously wrong with it, and then ask how much Tesla will charge to fix it.
What do other Roadster owners do about this? Pay Tesla $720 a year for peace of mind, or believe the mantra that electric vehicles don’t have consumable parts that need regular replacement?
Now that it’s out of warranty and due for its fifth year annual service, the price has gone up to $720. I asked for a breakdown of what Tesla does for that price, and got a list that included checking a bunch of things like transmission fluid. I didn’t even know a Roadster had transmission fluid.
One of the selling points of electric vehicles is that they don’t need oil changes, replacement of spark plugs, oil filters, air filters, timing belts, and the like. My Volvo needs all those things, and the annual service costs about $200. What is Tesla really doing for $720?
It seems to me that the best case scenario is that for $720 Tesla looks at my Roadster and tells me everything is fine and I didn’t really need to bring it in. The worst case scenario is that they look at it and then call me back saying that they recommend repairs (like battery pack sheet replacements) that cost even more.
At this stage I’m inclined to just keep driving my Roadster until I notice something obviously wrong with it, and then ask how much Tesla will charge to fix it.
What do other Roadster owners do about this? Pay Tesla $720 a year for peace of mind, or believe the mantra that electric vehicles don’t have consumable parts that need regular replacement?
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