Maintenance

Yes BMW includes free service during the warranty period(4 years / 80,000km). Hopefully Tesla will include free annual service with the Model S during the warranty period. (I wouldn't be too happy going from a car that costs me nothing to shelling out 700$/year for what is essentially an inspection)

fwiw, Sbuyer, I love the idrive interface in my 2011 335d. I think it's easy to use, and I never have to look down. (although I usually glance at the screen to use it)

- mnx

strider said:

I've only had my Roadster for 6 months but I am dreading the annual "service." I am perfectly capable of changing key fob batteries and inspecting brakes, wheels, and tires. Do they at least bleed the brakes? At least that requires some actual labor. Otherwise, $700 for running some software diagnostics is ridiculous. It should at least be included during your warranty period. Doesn't BMW give you a couple years of free maintenance?

Click to expand...

BMW service for 80K miles is not free. It is *included* in the price. Tesla of course could do the same thing.

Worth probably more to some folk is the irritating wait at the dealer service department every few months while the dealer checks engine fluids etc. (what, 3 hours?) There is minimal maintenance for any car for 80K miles.

Tesla does the "maintenance" once a year, which normally would be 12-15K miles. Betcha BMW would insist on having the car brought in more often than that.

Milton Friedman..."There's no such thing as a free lunch." :wink:

roblab said:

Tesla does the "maintenance" once a year, which normally would be 12-15K miles. Betcha BMW would insist on having the car brought in more often than that.

Click to expand...

I doubt it. More likely to be 20K miles, at least in Europe.

roblab said:

BMW service for 80K miles is not free. It is *included* in the price. Tesla of course could do the same thing.

Worth probably more to some folk is the irritating wait at the dealer service department every few months while the dealer checks engine fluids etc. (what, 3 hours?) There is minimal maintenance for any car for 80K miles.

Tesla does the "maintenance" once a year, which normally would be 12-15K miles. Betcha BMW would insist on having the car brought in more often than that.

Click to expand...

I never got this type of thinking. If it is included in the pricing how come the price is still cheaper than some of its rivals (aka Mercedes) that do not include free maintenance? Shouldn't the free maintenance make the car significantly more expensive than all of its competitors that do not offer free maintenance?

The Maintenance on modern cars are not really based on a time frame but rather on how the car is used/driven. In my experience modern vehicles go in for service at 12k+ mile intervals. There is no reason for an almost maintenance free Electric Car to have to go into service at more frequent intervals than an ICE car. Its obvious that Tesla is trying to make service a profit center.

Nik said:

I doubt it. More likely to be 20K miles, at least in Europe.

Click to expand...

Don't you at least have oil/filter changes every 5k?

ckessel said:

Don't you at least have oil/filter changes every 5k?

Click to expand...

all luxury cars use synthetic oil and have used synthetic oil for the past 10 years

Neglecting maintenance is not a good idea. The Model S even without and engine will have a cooling system for the battery. It will have coolant and should be checked for leaks and possibly other thing I do not know of. It will have brakes that have exactly the same maintenance issues as other cars, pad wear, fluid level and rotor wear. Every car should go in the air now and then and have the suspension bits looked at for leaky shocks, bent parts, dented or in the case of "mag" wheels like the Tesla cracked rims. Those very low profile rims on the prototype look quite vulnerable to even small pot holes. You do NOT want to be driving a car when it has a rim failure! There may well be other electrical bits and pieces that should be looked at to be sure they are still tight and working correctly. Tires themselves need inspection for wear and embedded bits that could cause failure or leakage. Whether Tesla makes it a gougey profit center is a question of price not the need for maintenance.

Thumper said:

Neglecting maintenance is not a good idea. The Model S even without and engine will have a cooling system for the battery. It will have coolant and should be checked for leaks and possibly other thing I do not know of. It will have brakes that have exactly the same maintenance issues as other cars, pad wear, fluid level and rotor wear. Every car should go in the air now and then and have the suspension bits looked at for leaky shocks, bent parts, dented or in the case of "mag" wheels like the Tesla cracked rims. Those very low profile rims on the prototype look quite vulnerable to even small pot holes. You do NOT want to be driving a car when it has a rim failure! There may well be other electrical bits and pieces that should be looked at to be sure they are still tight and working correctly. Tires themselves need inspection for wear and embedded bits that could cause failure or leakage. Whether Tesla makes it a gougey profit center is a question of price not the need for maintenance.

Click to expand...

I just had my roadster in for service so I can speak to some of the points you bring up (that is of course if the Model S will use the same maintenance model as the roadster).

On the Roadster the coolant should be changed every 2 years and I am assuming this will add to the cost of the normal yearly maintenance fee. The sales agent who sold me the Roadster made it a point to tell me that tires/brakes etc all can be serviced at any normal tire and brake service center and the maintenance of these items does not require a Tesla Service Center to perform these functions. The Model S is quite a bit heavier than the Roadster so I think you will be going through brakes a bit quicker, but on these cars you rarely use the brakes (until the last second) as regenerative braking slows you down pretty quickly. Honestly I think the brakes should last at least 40k miles. I do not see how these components of the Model S are any different than any other car in the Model S' class or are Model S specific? 90% of the Roadster's maintenance is inspections with a coolant change thrown in every other year.

smoothoperator said:

There is no question the Roadster is cheaper to maintain from a theory standpoint, but from the recommended maintenance intervals Tesla has implemented the difference in cost is not as large as one would think. I wonder how much closer the gap will get if you amortize the cost of the battery etc in the yearly maintenance costs. I am pretty sure it is not necessary to take the Roadster in every year to get "maintained". Most every other manufacturer has a variable maintenance system based on real world data.

Click to expand...

Ah, true, true. But I've generally been considering the battery against the per mile cost, and amortizing it that way, but that's not really correct either. And should I account for the charges at work? Running through all the numbers, things pull just about even. In which case the Roadster is a bargain, 'cause it's a heck of a lot more fun and relaxing than the 911.

As for annual service, I'm not going to miss it while the car is under warranty. Firmware upgrades (which I completely understand Tesla's position to not let the end-user risk bricking their car, and doing OTA upgrades has very, very serious security implications), opportunities for upgrades, and, of course, battery testing and 'tune up' - I've had 1 sheet replaced last year and 3 this year. This is still new tech, a yearly check-up isn't a bad idea.

smoothoperator said:

all luxury cars use synthetic oil and have used synthetic oil for the past 10 years

Click to expand...

My 2004 RX8 still expects maintenance every 5k miles even with synthetic oil. I suppose maybe that's too often, but that's what's recommended.

ckessel said:

My 2004 RX8 still expects maintenance every 5k miles even with synthetic oil. I suppose maybe that's too often, but that's what's recommended.

Click to expand...

Perhaps it's a rotary thing.

ckessel said:

My 2004 RX8 still expects maintenance every 5k miles even with synthetic oil. I suppose maybe that's too often, but that's what's recommended.

Click to expand...

Don't rotary engines consume oil since they run at such high rpm's? I know this was the case with some of the older RX's. I think the way a rotary engine is lubricated/cooled is a bit different than a normal piston driven engine (maybe that is why they have the shorter maintenance interval?) Does the RX8 have a maintenance computer which prompts you to take the car in for service or are these pre-determined maintenance intervals?


Mercedes, BMW & Audi etc all have variable maintenance schedule based on the duty cycle. I usually go 15-20k miles on my ICE car before it requires a service, which I think is normal. I think consumers in this class are expecting a similar type of maintenance interval (one of the major benefits of an EV that has been touted by Tesla for years now is maintenance advantage that Electric Motors have over ICE). If consumers have to bring in their Tesla every 10k miles or yearly it kind of defeats the purpose.

smoothoperator said:

Mercedes, BMW & Audi etc all have variable maintenance schedule based on the duty cycle. I usually go 15-20k miles on my ICE car before it requires a service, which I think is normal.

Click to expand...

I don't know that that's normal. My wife's 2008 Acura RDX goes in every 6 months or so for an oil change at a minimum, which is about every 7500 miles. Its little reminder computer goes off and displays a message when you start the car. My 2004 RX8 is just preset based on mileage.

While we're on the topic of ICE oil changes I thought I'd share this. A 30$ gadget to check the quality of your oil. No more short interval oil changes! (at least once your car is out of warranty).

lubricheck
Lubricheck, the digital 'blood tester' for your car by WaveOn Technologies Kickstarter

ckessel said:

Don't you at least have oil/filter changes every 5k?

Click to expand...

No. Peugeot recommend a *top-up* of oil at 10K miles, but they will do this for free if you take it to a main dealer, so it's probably more of a tactic to keep you on their mailing lists.

My car is a 2001 406 Coupe, so it's not exactly new.