MS ownership in 6-7 years time

You are right, these cars will not age like an ICE car because of their proprietary computer systems and battery packs.

These cars are better off as leased vehicles or to be purchased and driven until they need to be junked, due to the pricey battery packs, technology that wont be able to be retrofitted down the road, and expensive drive units that will be so expensive after warranty it will be cheaper to just buy a new car.

Basically the Tesla is like a TV. When it is too old and broken you just toss it in the trash and buy a new TV. Before you could fix a TV cheaper than new, when it depreciates down to $25-30K and needs a new drive unit + battery it will exceed the cost of the actual car.

Tesla claims it needs $600 a year in maintenance plans, yet a BMW comes with 4 years free. For $2250 you can extend that warranty to 8 years, 100K miles. To get a full 8 year service plan and warranty you need to pay $8,000 to Tesla.

I love the car but to me, purchasing it is stupid.

Perfect_Flaw said:

You are right, these cars will not age like an ICE car because of their proprietary computer systems and battery packs.

These cars are better off as leased vehicles or to be purchased and driven until they need to be junked, due to the pricey battery packs, technology that wont be able to be retrofitted down the road, and expensive drive units that will be so expensive after warranty it will be cheaper to just buy a new car.

Basically the Tesla is like a TV. When it is too old and broken you just toss it in the trash and buy a new TV. Before you could fix a TV cheaper than new, when it depreciates down to $25-30K and needs a new drive unit + battery it will exceed the cost of the actual car.

Tesla claims it needs $600 a year in maintenance plans, yet a BMW comes with 4 years free. For $2250 you can extend that warranty to 8 years, 100K miles. To get a full 8 year service plan and warranty you need to pay $8,000 to Tesla.

I love the car but to me, purchasing it is stupid.

Click to expand...

What's your VIN number?

Perfect_Flaw said:

You are right, these cars will not age like an ICE car because of their proprietary computer systems and battery packs.

These cars are better off as leased vehicles or to be purchased and driven until they need to be junked, due to the pricey battery packs, technology that wont be able to be retrofitted down the road, and expensive drive units that will be so expensive after warranty it will be cheaper to just buy a new car.

Basically the Tesla is like a TV. When it is too old and broken you just toss it in the trash and buy a new TV. Before you could fix a TV cheaper than new, when it depreciates down to $25-30K and needs a new drive unit + battery it will exceed the cost of the actual car.

Tesla claims it needs $600 a year in maintenance plans, yet a BMW comes with 4 years free. For $2250 you can extend that warranty to 8 years, 100K miles. To get a full 8 year service plan and warranty you need to pay $8,000 to Tesla.

I love the car but to me, purchasing it is stupid.

Click to expand...

Wow....BMW fooled you. Do you really think that the BMW comes with 4 years of "free" maintenance? Don't you think that is in the price of the car? I guess marketing does work! Oh, and what is included in that maintenance? Couple of oil changes, checking liquid levels and maybe tire rotations?

LucM said:

Wow....BMW fooled you. Do you really think that the BMW comes with 4 years of "free" maintenance? Don't you think that is in the price of the car? I guess marketing does work! Oh, and what is included in that maintenance? Couple of oil changes, checking liquid levels and maybe tire rotations?

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Huh? My 750Li was $88,000 and in the past 4 years they have replaced my brakes 3 times, transmission, oil, and all necessary services and provided a loaner car to me each time.

Tesla rotates your tires for $600 a year and checks things.. most of the times, not needing anything other than tire rotation.

For $2250 they are going to do the same thing for another 4 years.

My Tesla Model S is a great car but their claim of not needing to be serviced like an ICE is a joke because maintenance has and will be cheaper with my 7 than with my MS.

Perfect_Flaw said:

You are right, these cars will not age like an ICE car because of their proprietary computer systems and battery packs.

These cars are better off as leased vehicles or to be purchased and driven until they need to be junked, due to the pricey battery packs, technology that wont be able to be retrofitted down the road, and expensive drive units that will be so expensive after warranty it will be cheaper to just buy a new car.

Basically the Tesla is like a TV. When it is too old and broken you just toss it in the trash and buy a new TV. Before you could fix a TV cheaper than new, when it depreciates down to $25-30K and needs a new drive unit + battery it will exceed the cost of the actual car.

Tesla claims it needs $600 a year in maintenance plans, yet a BMW comes with 4 years free. For $2250 you can extend that warranty to 8 years, 100K miles. To get a full 8 year service plan and warranty you need to pay $8,000 to Tesla.

I love the car but to me, purchasing it is stupid.

Click to expand...

Ummm. Tesla model S price point is already on par with its competitors in its class on initial purchase price. Then, when you consider total cost of ownership (vs. fuel and maintenance) it's cheaper. Finally, the longevity of the drive train is hundreds of thousand of miles.

Cost of a remanufactured drive train in 8 years is cheaper than a ICE engine/drive train. It's vastly simpler. Tons less moving parts.

Cost of a battery in 8 years will also be very low. You can buy a new battery for your model S today when you buy your car for $10k from tesla. Owners will also be able to get remanufactured and/or used packs in the future. Battery costs are dropping at an historical Avg of 8% per year and the GF in Nevada will only drop the cost of batteries further. Elon has said the factory will result in a 30% drop.

Oh, and as battery cell technology changes is CAN and WILL be retrofitted into Model S. As example, tesla is about to do this with the roadster.

Tesla doesn't require customers to purchase the annual maintenance plan. Throw out that $600/yr.
Tesla warrentees the car battery and drive train for 8 years and Unlimited miles (recent press release). Throw out that extended warrantee cost. You don't need it for the drive train.

AmpedRealtor said:

What's your VIN number?

Click to expand...

55971, delivered yesterday

Perfect_Flaw said:

You are right, these cars will not age like an ICE car because of their proprietary computer systems and battery packs.

These cars are better off as leased vehicles or to be purchased and driven until they need to be junked, due to the pricey battery packs, technology that wont be able to be retrofitted down the road, and expensive drive units that will be so expensive after warranty it will be cheaper to just buy a new car.

Basically the Tesla is like a TV. When it is too old and broken you just toss it in the trash and buy a new TV. Before you could fix a TV cheaper than new, when it depreciates down to $25-30K and needs a new drive unit + battery it will exceed the cost of the actual car.

Tesla claims it needs $600 a year in maintenance plans, yet a BMW comes with 4 years free. For $2250 you can extend that warranty to 8 years, 100K miles. To get a full 8 year service plan and warranty you need to pay $8,000 to Tesla.

I love the car but to me, purchasing it is stupid.

Click to expand...

Couldn't disagree more, I look forward to buying a used Model S in a couple years to replace the ICE vehicles still in my fleet. My experience with my purchase of a new model S gives me a lot more perspective and comfort in buying a used and out of warranty model S. It's just a little too new right now.

Your assuming a lot of things such as drive units and batteries not lasting more than their warranties. Initial manufacturing problems aside, they will likely hold up very well long term (200K miles). I think your misconstruing Tesla's propensity to replace whole units (drive units & batteries) for simple or fixable failures for the customer's convenience with being unable to do so. For drive units and batteries that do fail, my prediction is drive units will be easily and economically replaceable via core exchange and same goes for the batteries themselves. Battery packs on the Model S are clearly replaceable/swappable. New cell chemistries/technologies will very likely make their way into the existing model S fleet. At some point there will be money to be made refurbishing battery packs and drive units. Even if Tesla doesn't do this themselves aftermarket companies will get in the game. The more Model S produced, the more lucrative the market. Its just a really early time for Tesla and electric cars. In time repairs and maintenance will be as easy as any other car.

I think the $600 annual/12,000 mile service is unnecessary. I drive 30K+ miles per year and I struggle to find a need to take the car into the SC. The car is actually a lot less complicated than I feared. Just need a lift in my garage to work on it (battery and drive unit). Battery failures due to bad contactors or blown pyro fuses should a straight forward fix. A few bad cells in a module that is taking the rest of the pack down could be fixed via a module swap instead the whole pack. Again, these things will take time and there just aren't enough of the cars on the road yet.

FredTMC said:

Ummm. Tesla model S price point is already on par with its competitors in its class on initial purchase price. Then, when you consider total cost of ownership (vs. fuel and maintenance) it's cheaper. Finally, the longevity of the drive train is hundreds of thousand of miles.

Cost of a remanufactured drive train in 8 years is cheaper than a ICE engine/drive train. It's vastly simpler. Tons less moving parts.

Cost of a battery in 8 years will also be very low. You can buy a new battery for your model S today when you buy your car for $10k from tesla. Owners will also be able to get remanufactured and/or used packs in the future. Battery costs are dropping at an historical Avg of 8% per year and the GF in Nevada will only drop the cost of batteries further. Elon has said the factory will result in a 30% drop.

Tesla doesn't require customers to purchase the annual maintenance plan. Throw out that $600/yr.
Tesla warrentees the car battery and drive train for 8 years and Unlimited miles (recent press release). Throw out that extended warrantee.

Click to expand...

Polls have shown 75% of MS owners have had 1 or more (some even with 6!) drive units replaced during ownership of their Tesla. I am onboard because of the new warranty only.

Drive units are estimated to cost $15,000 to replace post-warranty, where is your info about it being cheaper than a $6500 engine replacement for my 750Li ?

Battery packs are also estimated at $12-15K to replace. Source of your info again? $12-15K for a battery pack would be many years of gas in my BMW.

I love the Model S, don't get me wrong- but it seems Tesla has people fooled with the gas savings argument. After warranty, the Model S is a gigantic financial risk to own and the depreciated amount will reflect that.

Three brake jobs in four years? You either drive a ton or since the weight of the 7 is so high the brakes must really be stressed. With regen braking, you won't have to worry about that with the S. I bet you will need zero brake jobs in four years!

LucM said:

Three brake jobs in four years? You either drive a ton or since the weight of the 7 is so high the brakes must really be stressed. With regen braking, you won't have to worry about that with the S. I bet you will need zero brake jobs in four years!

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Don't care because they replace for free.

They only replaced them because of a squeak, pads were ok - but I didn't like how they sounded.

Squeaky brakes don't seem like a maintenance item to me. You must of found one of the few ICE dealers that go above and beyond. Congrats. Anyway, I hope the Tesla lives up to your expecations (somehow I doubt it but I hope I am wrong). Mine is coming next week and I am rather excited.

Perfect_Flaw said:

Polls have shown 75% of MS owners have had 1 or more (some even with 6!) drive units replaced during ownership of their Tesla. I am onboard because of the new warranty only.

Drive units are estimated to cost $15,000 to replace post-warranty, where is your info about it being cheaper than a $6500 engine replacement for my 750Li ?

Battery packs are also estimated at $12-15K to replace. Source of your info again? $12-15K for a battery pack would be many years of gas in my BMW.

I love the Model S, don't get me wrong- but it seems Tesla has people fooled with the gas savings argument. After warranty, the Model S is a gigantic financial risk to own and the depreciated amount will reflect that.

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My sources:

Drive unit replacement issues was fully addressed on last earnings call. Initial quality problem. Not persistent problem.

As as I said below you can buy a replacement battery today with your models purchase for $10k. Ask your DS.

LucM said:

Squeaky brakes don't seem like a maintenance item to me. You must of found one of the few ICE dealers that go above and beyond. Congrats. Anyway, I hope the Tesla lives up to your expecations (somehow I doubt it but I hope I am wrong). Mine is coming next week and I am rather excited.

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Yes it is covered under warranty with BMW.

It will cost me more to maintain the Tesla than the BMW, but gas savings should offset that a little.

I am happy with the Model S except a rattle happening in the dash and my center dash screen needing 2 reboots in 1 total day of owning it (frozen in Nav screen). Not happy about that, but I'm sure it will be fixed and this car will be fine. I do miss my massaging drivers seat I have in my BMW though, along with other things (motorized shades, night vision, etc)

Perfect_Flaw said:

Tesla claims it needs $600 a year in maintenance plans, yet a BMW comes with 4 years free. For $2250 you can extend that warranty to 8 years, 100K miles. To get a full 8 year service plan and warranty you need to pay $8,000 to Tesla.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I still don't understand why the maintenance plan is so expensive with Tesla. That is one of the great advantages (and talking points) for other EV's (like the LEAF or even the RAV4 with Tesla's drivetrain/battery): inexpensive and very minimal maintenance. That $600/year is more than even many non-EV's and yet some Tesla supporters will strongly defend that pricing.

Perfect_Flaw said:

Polls have shown 75% of MS owners have had 1 or more (some even with 6!) drive units replaced during ownership of their Tesla. I am onboard because of the new warranty only.

Drive units are estimated to cost $15,000 to replace post-warranty, where is your info about it being cheaper than a $6500 engine replacement for my 750Li ?

Battery packs are also estimated at $12-15K to replace. Source of your info again? $12-15K for a battery pack would be many years of gas in my BMW.

I love the Model S, don't get me wrong- but it seems Tesla has people fooled with the gas savings argument. After warranty, the Model S is a gigantic financial risk to own and the depreciated amount will reflect that.

Click to expand...

Repair parts from Tesla right now are overpriced, certainly. Once aftermarket companies get in the game these prices will come down considerably. There is nothing inside the drive unit that is magic or un-reproducible. It's just that your paying for OEM Tesla right now. That will change.

I suspect a lot of drive units will get replaced on early model S cars (2012 - 2013 years) even for simple little noise issues, just to keep customers happy. Tesla replaced my drive unit at 21,000 miles. I didn't ask them to, but it was making just a slightest noise at low throttle. They did this during my one and only $600 annual. And considering the amount of effort they put into the car I consider I got my money's worth out that experience. But because my car has since been operating flawlessly I just don't see the need for these 12,000 mile service intervals. There is just nothing to do on the car. I think they should bump this up to 30,000 miles between service and that's just to be proactive (replace 12volt battery, check coolant and drive unit lubricant levels).

Perfect_Flaw said:

Polls have shown 75% of MS owners have had 1 or more (some even with 6!) drive units replaced during ownership of their Tesla. I am onboard because of the new warranty only.

Drive units are estimated to cost $15,000 to replace post-warranty, where is your info about it being cheaper than a $6500 engine replacement for my 750Li ?

Click to expand...

According to Elon most of those situations were incorrectly identifying the drive unit as a problem for something else. By the time cars are coming off warranty they'll have a lot of ideas of how to solve specific problems. If in doubt they'll probably try the cheapest solutions first (which is exactly what happens now with ICE vehicles).

Battery packs are also estimated at $12-15K to replace. Source of your info again? $12-15K for a battery pack would be many years of gas in my BMW.

I love the Model S, don't get me wrong- but it seems Tesla has people fooled with the gas savings argument. After warranty, the Model S is a gigantic financial risk to own and the depreciated amount will reflect that.

Click to expand...

Tesla sells a battery replacement agreement for $12k if I remember correctly. That gives you a new battery in 8 years (this isn't a warranty, it's a pre-purchase). The cost of the battery replacement now is higher than that (but I don't think anyone knows exactly because Tesla hasn't given an actual price to anyone). I view that battery replacement agreement as a short on Tesla's ability to reduce the cost of the battery replacement (from the standpoint of the purchaser). From Tesla's standpoint they're betting on doing better than that price.

The same arguments were made about Hybrid cars when they came out. That in a few years they'd need expensive battery replacements. Turns out enterprising businesses have come along and are selling reconditioned batteries for far less. Something that Tesla could and should do themselves. The battery swap demonstration suggests that they're thinking of doing pretty much exactly this and they can do it as a service more akin to filling the gas tank than taking the car to a mechanic (something that lowers the cost since labor is often the most expensive bit of servicing any car).

I only consider the gas savings as a way to offset the added cost of the car. I probably would have bought a Lexus GS 450h if I wasn't buying the Model S, which I figure is about $12k less than the Model S after accounting for tax benefits. Those gas savings are going to offset that added initial cost. I'm hoping that the maintenance costs will be less. I'll be more than happy if they're roughly the same and I'll be ecstatic if they're less. Given that the Lexus is a hybrid and also has a battery (albeit a smaller one) and a gasoline engine with all the maintenance issues those come with. I suspect I'll do better on maintenance with the Tesla.

The truth is if anyone could guarantee lower Total Cost of Ownership for the Model S they'd be selling even faster. I'm willing to take the risk.

Perfect_Flaw said:

I love the car but to me, purchasing it is stupid.

Click to expand...

AmpedRealtor said:

What's your VIN number?

Click to expand...

Perfect_Flaw said:

55971, delivered yesterday

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So you admit to being stupid?

Perfect_Flaw said:

Polls have shown 75% of MS owners have had 1 or more (some even with 6!) drive units replaced during ownership of their Tesla. I am onboard because of the new warranty only.

Click to expand...

Are you referring to online polls here at TMC where the results are heavily skewed towards owners with problems because most people come here to seek solutions to problems? Quote me a proper poll and then I might take you seriously. Quoting informal TMC polls as a basis for concern about the drive unit is only something a troll would do.

Perfect_Flaw said:

Drive units are estimated to cost $15,000 to replace post-warranty, where is your info about it being cheaper than a $6500 engine replacement for my 750Li ?

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Please point to a bonafide source for that drive unit price of $15,000, and not just here-say. I have an email from Jerome Guillen that states the opposite of what you said above. I'll take Jerome's word, thank you very much.

Perfect_Flaw said:

Battery packs are also estimated at $12-15K to replace. Source of your info again? $12-15K for a battery pack would be many years of gas in my BMW.

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My goodness, it surely was not the smartest move to buy a Model S if you feel that you'll need to replace the battery during your ownership term. I doubt any of us feel this way or are in any way concerned. And by the way, the cost of a new Model S 85 kWh battery is not $12k-$15k. It's actually over $45k. So boy, did you make a huge mistake...

Perfect_Flaw said:

I love the Model S, don't get me wrong- but it seems Tesla has people fooled with the gas savings argument. After warranty, the Model S is a gigantic financial risk to own and the depreciated amount will reflect that.

Click to expand...

With all due respect, you seem to have been fooled by more than just gas savings. When are you selling your fictitious car?

- - - Updated - - -

breser said:

Tesla sells a battery replacement agreement for $12k if I remember correctly.

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No, Tesla does not.

AmpedRealtor said:

No, Tesla does not.

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Tesla's blog disagrees with you:

We have received many requests for a Battery Replacement Option. We are happy to now offer this option for all three battery variants. This option will provide you a new battery anytime after the end of the eighth year at a fixed price. Prices are as follows: $8,000 for the 40 kWh battery, $10,000 for the 60 kWh battery, and $12,000 for the 85 kWh battery. You will be able to purchase this additional option through your MyTesla page in the near future.

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