I test drove a Tesla model S a few days ago and fell in love with it. Problem is, I live a 1500 km drive from the nearest Tesla service centre in Vancouver.
I assumed it would be a no-go due to service and warrantee issues (the issues around lack of public chargers are not a concern to me as it would be used in-town or for occasional highway drives of < 300 km round trip). However I asked the salesperson, as well as they guy who took me on a test drive, about service and warranty issues at a distance. If I bought this car I would purchase the full 8 year extended coverage.
Verbally they told me that if I needed warranty work, a Tesla Ranger would be sent to me for only a $100.00 charge. They advised me that for tire changes I would be OK using a local mechanic at my cost. And they told me that if I needed service which required the vehicle to be put up on a lift to work under the car, the Ranger would rent a local auto service place to use for the repair. And they told me that if my car needed work which could not be done locally, they would give me a loaner car while they shipped my car to Vancouver and back for service at their cost.
I found all this a little hard to believe since the cost for a Ranger to travel from Vancouver to my town (2 days drive or 2 hour flight) far exceeds the $100.00 charge. No one else in my town or anywhere within a days drive has a Tesla, to my knowledge, so there would be no cost savings in sharing a service trip So I asked them for assurances about this in writing. They referred me to the Tesla Canada website where no such assurances were found. I also e-mailed Tesla about this but received no response.
Bottom line is, if I can be assured that the Ranger service in conjunction with the extended warrantee will cover me, so that I will not be obliged to drive 1500 km for service, and I will not have to pay round-trip freight to send my car in for service, then I will buy this vehicle now. (I would be fine with an annual road trip to Vancouver for regular scheduled annual service). If as I suspect this is all too good to be true, then I will buy an electric vehicle in 2025 when they become more mainstream.
If anyone with experience owning a Tesla in a remote location can advise me on this, or if anyone has a contact address for a Tesla representative who will respond to my inquiry, I would appreciate it.
I assumed it would be a no-go due to service and warrantee issues (the issues around lack of public chargers are not a concern to me as it would be used in-town or for occasional highway drives of < 300 km round trip). However I asked the salesperson, as well as they guy who took me on a test drive, about service and warranty issues at a distance. If I bought this car I would purchase the full 8 year extended coverage.
Verbally they told me that if I needed warranty work, a Tesla Ranger would be sent to me for only a $100.00 charge. They advised me that for tire changes I would be OK using a local mechanic at my cost. And they told me that if I needed service which required the vehicle to be put up on a lift to work under the car, the Ranger would rent a local auto service place to use for the repair. And they told me that if my car needed work which could not be done locally, they would give me a loaner car while they shipped my car to Vancouver and back for service at their cost.
I found all this a little hard to believe since the cost for a Ranger to travel from Vancouver to my town (2 days drive or 2 hour flight) far exceeds the $100.00 charge. No one else in my town or anywhere within a days drive has a Tesla, to my knowledge, so there would be no cost savings in sharing a service trip So I asked them for assurances about this in writing. They referred me to the Tesla Canada website where no such assurances were found. I also e-mailed Tesla about this but received no response.
Bottom line is, if I can be assured that the Ranger service in conjunction with the extended warrantee will cover me, so that I will not be obliged to drive 1500 km for service, and I will not have to pay round-trip freight to send my car in for service, then I will buy this vehicle now. (I would be fine with an annual road trip to Vancouver for regular scheduled annual service). If as I suspect this is all too good to be true, then I will buy an electric vehicle in 2025 when they become more mainstream.
If anyone with experience owning a Tesla in a remote location can advise me on this, or if anyone has a contact address for a Tesla representative who will respond to my inquiry, I would appreciate it.
