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Annual Service, whats the deal?

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Hi folks, trying to figure out what the real story is since i'm getting mixed messages here in MA. About a month after I took delivery I reached out to Tesla service and explained that I drive 30K miles a year and do they really want to see me "every 12,500 miles or 12 months, whichever is less" since they'd be seeing me for an "annual" service every 5 months or so. Their response (it was a phone call) was that I should have the "annual" service done every 24K miles.

I just crossed 24K miles, so I called to schedule the annual. The person on the other end was shocked I had waited so long for my first service (it was in for a 12V battery check but nobody asked about the other) and gave me the distinct impression that the guidance I had received before (May 2014) was incorrect.

So whats the deal? What have you heard? What are you doing (if you drive well over 12,500 miles a year)?
 
Thanks for raising this issue again.

Tesla is all over the place on this issue. And it's very frustrating. First it was every 12,500 miles. Then they said you are free to bring it in whenever to want. Then they said, wait, what, who told you that?

Most recently AmpedRealtor IIRC received a written statement from Jerome saying you can bring it in whenever the hell you want and it doesn't matter. I had just contacted Tesla the week before and they told me the mileage was strictly enforced. Nobody knows the answer!

Attention Tesla: You need to reconcile the differences in the various explanations people have received and specifically clarify the contradiction introduced by your VP of service.
 
FWIW, my SC told me to just bring it in every year for the full checkup and bring it in for tire rotations as needed. That's what I've been doing and so far so good (then again I've been in for a bunch of other service items over the year and a half of ownership, so by the time it was time for the annual service, there was really not much to actually do).
 
FWIW, my SC told me to just bring it in every year for the full checkup and bring it in for tire rotations as needed. That's what I've been doing and so far so good (then again I've been in for a bunch of other service items over the year and a half of ownership, so by the time it was time for the annual service, there was really not much to actually do).

If you're driving high miles you're not likely using them for rotations. My SC wanted nothing to do with the rotations. I didn't buy the service plans as they have no provisions for high mileage drivers and they actually told me not to buy them.

So i'm diligently taking care of my 2 sets of tires and doing fine after a lot of tire learning I never had to do before.

Now I'm trying to figure out what I need to get serviced and when and the OEM can't give me a clear story. Its great that it doesn't seem to need it but concerning that they can't answer a simple question.
 
I purchased the 4 year/50,000 mile maintenance plan. Brought my car in every 12,500. Ran through the plan in 18 months. My car was a first year model, built over the X-mas rush. I've had a number of minor issues dealt with all under warranty. In the last 6 months I've had very few problems and since I have the extended warranty I have had all of them covered under that. My husband purchased a Model S last year. Our plan is now to bring each car in once a year for maintenance, regardless of the mileage. Obviously, you need to assess your own risk threshold.
 
My impression is the OP is just interested in the service interval. Not how the service plan works if you're doing more than 12,500 miles in a year, which I agree they've been inconsistent and confusing on and they should fix.

The deal is the technology is new and Tesla doesn't really know what the service intervals should be. I think they've found you can get away with less service than they originally expected so some employees are saying as much. While other employees are just going by the book. There really is no hard and fast rule on this stuff. Even in ICE vehicles if you ask different employees you're probably going to get a different answer. Everyone is going to make their own decision as far as what maintenance interval they are comfortable with. More is always going to be better, but it'll have diminishing returns.

A big part of the reason I believe that is they picked 12,500 miles as the service interval, which is almost exactly the yearly average miles for US drivers. In my own personal situation I'm planning a once a year maintenance and that's it even if I go beyond 12,500 miles.
 
I too, would like a definitive answer on this. Almost 5 months of ownership and I'm at 13k miles. Now, the car has been in multiple times for my list of issues and they did a rotation back at 10k. But as far as the remainder of items that are called for at 12,500, I just don't know. There is no way I can justify $1800 per year in services if no one can really say definitivly that they are a necessity or a requirement. But if you stretch that out to every 24k or even 30k per 12 months, that seems a lot more reasonable.

Furthermore, one of the attractive bits about the maintenance was "hardware upgrades” which no one ever anywhere had been able to define.
 
If you're driving high miles you're not likely using them for rotations. My SC wanted nothing to do with the rotations. I didn't buy the service plans as they have no provisions for high mileage drivers and they actually told me not to buy them.

So i'm diligently taking care of my 2 sets of tires and doing fine after a lot of tire learning I never had to do before.

Now I'm trying to figure out what I need to get serviced and when and the OEM can't give me a clear story. Its great that it doesn't seem to need it but concerning that they can't answer a simple question.

I should have mentioned I drive about 25k miles / year. So far SC has had no issues doing my rotations.
 
Has anyone been able to figure out what they are actually doing for the annual service? It sounded like they were just doing a bunch of inspections, without any actual 'service'.

On my first service , they did a lot. Tesla makes it sound like they just change the wiper blades, and top up the windshield washer fluid. But my first service had 2 pages worth of items they checked. I'll try to find the detailed service report and post it.
 
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Aren't we supposed to rotate the tires every 5K? If the car's been in a lot, why did they wait until 10K?

You sir, are correct. I just checked my records and rotation was done at 5k. Then I had snow tires put on at 10.5k which means when I put the primacys back on, I'll need to make sure they reverse them from their previous position (they were labeled on removal).
 
From Jerome Guillen, Tesla Senior VP of Sales & Service...

Dear Mr. [AmpedRealtor]:

Any customer who has paid for a 4-year service plan is entitled to 4 “annual service” visits. The customer can elect to bring the car whenever they desire: we recommend every year or every 12,500 miles (whichever comes first), but the customer are free to do whatever they essentially desire. They can bring the car every 18 months or every 6 months. In the end, they will receive the 4 “annual service” they have paid for. I hope this clarifies the situation.

Many thanks for your continued support. Best regards,

Jerome Guillen | VP, WW sales and service
 
I did not pay for a service plan and I'm not following any specific service interval. What I am doing is bringing the car in about every 6 months or less for the latest "bugs" to get worked out. At these visits Tesla seems to perform many other tasks to ensure my vehicle is working properly. None of these visits have cost me anything yet and nobody at the service center or at Tesla corporate has contacted me suggesting I should come in for service. I'm currently at about 15 months and 34,000 kms (21,000 miles) and do not yet see a need for a "service" visit. The key here is the definition of what a paid service visit includes compared with Tesla fixing issues with the car that should be free under warranty. I'm going with Elon's statement that the only wear items are brakes and tires and I'll know when each of these needs service from personal inspection. I also rotate my own tires.

Anyone else avoiding the paid service visits on purpose?