According to my service center you can expect rear tires that wear after 5000 miles to be normal. Even if they are worn on the innermost centimeter with only the cords showing as we have all seen in numerous threads including at Edmunds.
Here is what my SA sent me today (note that my cords were already showing after 5k miles):
"I just wanted to drop you a line with regards to the tire wear on your Model S. In your previous email you had indicated that you didn’t understand my statement with regards to average tire longevity and rotation on the non plus suspension. To clarify, the tires that currently on the rear axle of your Model S have been there for 6,141 miles (Replaced January 21 @ 9,355 miles), in the case of the Non-Plus suspension cars, we can perform a rotation at 5 k to extend the life of those tires and subsequently subject the front tire to the rigors of being in the rear.
I see that you also seemed to be very concerned with the toe setting, looking at your previous alignment, it is perfect and I do not see how that would give you the acute edge wear with which you are concerned. The toe setting being grossly out would typically yield an uneven or chopped wear pattern over the tread of the tire. The product (Adjustable upper link)in the thread you sent, is designed to give a greater degree of camber adjustment. While our rear camber setting may seem high, it is equivocal to other high performance sedans (BMW 5 Series) on the market. We feel that this setting is integral to the handling and traction attributes of the Model S.
Our stance would never be that you have to bring your car to an aftermarket repair facility to fix anything on it. With that being said We are not at liberty to augment the camber & toe settings beyond factory tolerance or install aftermarket pieces. We feel that ”fix” is not necessarily the best label for what you are proposing. It would probably be more correct to call it Modifying your car in an attempt to potentially trade off greater tire longevity for diminished handling and emergency maneuverability.
We can certainly replace the tires and proactively confirm that your alignment is still as we left it from your previous visit. What we can’t do is set the false expectation of a different result. The projected longevity of the tires from the manufacturer is 20,000 miles of normal driving before you half that due to the staggered fitment. So realistically, the best case, if you absolutely baby this thing is 10,000 miles. Most people do not drive our car with the performance drive train in such a manner, so you start working backwards from that potential 10,000 mile mark."
So basically if you buy a P+ be forewarned that you will see uneven tire wear in the rear, you will be liable for the tires, and there's basically nothing that can be done (engineering wise) to fix this.
I know there are many threads on this topic but they are scattered and we haven't gotten anything official from Tesla. I do think it's misleading that they don't inform owners that their tires will be toast in 5k miles since it offsets some of the positive environmental impact of the car. For some people they will be changing tires every 2 months....
That said it's still worth it and wouldn't trade my car for anything else out there...
NOTE: The service center has been incredibly kind and patient with me and in fact changed the tires out twice already due to misalignment. My inquiry was due to the threads on this forum where some people claimed (lolachampar) to have solved this problem.
Here is what my SA sent me today (note that my cords were already showing after 5k miles):
"I just wanted to drop you a line with regards to the tire wear on your Model S. In your previous email you had indicated that you didn’t understand my statement with regards to average tire longevity and rotation on the non plus suspension. To clarify, the tires that currently on the rear axle of your Model S have been there for 6,141 miles (Replaced January 21 @ 9,355 miles), in the case of the Non-Plus suspension cars, we can perform a rotation at 5 k to extend the life of those tires and subsequently subject the front tire to the rigors of being in the rear.
I see that you also seemed to be very concerned with the toe setting, looking at your previous alignment, it is perfect and I do not see how that would give you the acute edge wear with which you are concerned. The toe setting being grossly out would typically yield an uneven or chopped wear pattern over the tread of the tire. The product (Adjustable upper link)in the thread you sent, is designed to give a greater degree of camber adjustment. While our rear camber setting may seem high, it is equivocal to other high performance sedans (BMW 5 Series) on the market. We feel that this setting is integral to the handling and traction attributes of the Model S.
Our stance would never be that you have to bring your car to an aftermarket repair facility to fix anything on it. With that being said We are not at liberty to augment the camber & toe settings beyond factory tolerance or install aftermarket pieces. We feel that ”fix” is not necessarily the best label for what you are proposing. It would probably be more correct to call it Modifying your car in an attempt to potentially trade off greater tire longevity for diminished handling and emergency maneuverability.
We can certainly replace the tires and proactively confirm that your alignment is still as we left it from your previous visit. What we can’t do is set the false expectation of a different result. The projected longevity of the tires from the manufacturer is 20,000 miles of normal driving before you half that due to the staggered fitment. So realistically, the best case, if you absolutely baby this thing is 10,000 miles. Most people do not drive our car with the performance drive train in such a manner, so you start working backwards from that potential 10,000 mile mark."
So basically if you buy a P+ be forewarned that you will see uneven tire wear in the rear, you will be liable for the tires, and there's basically nothing that can be done (engineering wise) to fix this.
I know there are many threads on this topic but they are scattered and we haven't gotten anything official from Tesla. I do think it's misleading that they don't inform owners that their tires will be toast in 5k miles since it offsets some of the positive environmental impact of the car. For some people they will be changing tires every 2 months....
That said it's still worth it and wouldn't trade my car for anything else out there...
NOTE: The service center has been incredibly kind and patient with me and in fact changed the tires out twice already due to misalignment. My inquiry was due to the threads on this forum where some people claimed (lolachampar) to have solved this problem.
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