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Roadster Extended Warranty

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Has anyone seen (or actually purchased) an extended warranty for this car? My wife (and I to some extent) is concerned about issues down the line on the 2010 Roadster Sport we just purchased. I'd prefer to get one directly from Tesla (but apparently they don't have one - yet!), but would settle for a third party warranty from somewhere else.
 
Wow - no responses!
What is going to happen to all of these roadsters that are already off-warranty as well as the ones coming off?
I normally would never have considered an extended warranty, but when we bought our Sienna van, it was loaded with electronics and my wife insisted we get a warranty. I bought one directly from Toyota (not the GE warranty fronted by the local dealer) and it paid for itself several times over. I felt very confident that the warranty had "TOYOTA" embossed on it. Now, we are in a similar boat (and my wife is insisting...)
Don't get me wrong - the Ranger came last week and knocked my socks off. I am not concerned about their competence, I am worried about the cost of that competence when I have to foot the entire bill!

I am a very new owner - what do others with previous Roadster/Tesla experience have to say about out-of-warranty repairs? Are you concerned about keeping the car and maintaining it through a sole-source?
 
I'd like to see a maintenance contract similar to other computer equipment. You pay an annual fee and they just fix it. Of course, accident damage would be excluded.
 
To the best of my knowledge, they are planning both a 'certified used Roadster' program and offering extended warranty for those Roadsters and also for current Roadster owners. I'd expect to see information about that in the next couple of months.

No need to pressure (unless you enjoy that :) ) - it's clear from conversations that Tesla is aware and is already planning an extended warranty options (along with many other items). I talked with Joost de Vries, Tesla's VP of Worldwide service, at the Santana Row event & he shared a list of plans for current Roadster owners. Roadster - new options.

Some other forum members have also talked with him or exchanged emails, and received consistent information.

(And welcome to a Buckaroo Banzai fan! "You're just like Jerry Lewis, you give me hope to carry on.")
 
With new models coming out, Tesla can't afford to have the value of cars going out of warranty drop like a stone because they are too expensive to repair.
 
What is going to happen to all of these roadsters that are already off-warranty as well as the ones coming off?
Like any other car after the warranty period, the owner pays for repairs. Simple.

... the Ranger came last week and knocked my socks off. I am not concerned about their competence, I am worried about the cost of that competence when I have to foot the entire bill!
Presumably, someone who buys a hundred-thousand-dollar car can afford to pay for repairs. And presumably, a hand-built car like the Roadster, from a company that is serious about creating a public perception that EVs are practical, will have built them well enough that repairs will be uncommon.

I was/am more concerned about the cost of the annual maintenance ($600 + $600 for ranger mileage to my location = $1,200 per year) because that's something I have to pay regardless. But I accepted that in order to drive this car.

I wonder if the upcoming extended warranty will cover mileage or not. I guess we'll find out when they offer it.
 
This just in... I got this email from Graham at the Dania Beach store (I have a request for more details (deductible, ranger, what is included, etc.) Will post as soon as I get more details.):

I have some good news for you! Our Global Service Manager announced yesterday that we will be offering extended warranties for purchase on all Roadsters provided they are current with their maintenance regime (which I believe yours is). Here is the breakdown of offerings/costs:

BatteryVehicle (exl. battery)
1 yr / 12k miles$3,000$2,000
2 yr / 24k miles$5,500$3,300
3 yr / 36k miles$7,500$4,000
 
This just in... I got this email from Graham at the Dania Beach store (I have a request for more details (deductible, ranger, what is included, etc.) Will post as soon as I get more details.):



BatteryVehicle (exl. battery)
1 yr / 12k miles$3,000$2,000
2 yr / 24k miles$5,500$3,300
3 yr / 36k miles$7,500$4,000

That sounds like a deal! I bet all roadster owners jump on this. The cost of 1 PEM would pay many times over.
 
So if I read this right, for total protection (not sure of the deductible or what is actually covered), the prices are $5,000 for 1 year and $11,500 for 3 years. To be honest, I don't know if this is a good deal or not... I have had my Roadster for only a few weeks, but I went back over the previous owner's records. It seems that (besides the gearbox being replaced!) there was very little "expensive" work done (outside of retrofits, which most car companies cover regardless of the age or mileage.)

  • I would assume that at 3 years, I am well inside the "bathtub curve" of electronic component failures. When I spoke with the Road Ranger that came to do some work on the car, he told me there was significantly less electronics in the Roadster than the newer BMW's.

  • It may be more cost-effective to "self-insure" and put this money aside every year.

  • I got a chip in my windshield and am having it replaced (covered my insurance company as required by Florida's laws - we actually got something right in this state!) and it is going to run about $1,500. If it were coming out of my pocket and I had something like this every year, that's only $4,500 for three years (less than half of the cost of the warranty.)

  • Also, consider the cost and size of the battery can only go down over the next few years as the technology improves (I envision that I will either be able to go farther and/or faster with newer battery designs) so repair or replacing the existing battery in a few years may not be an option I'd want to take.

Let me ask this of original Roadster owners who have had their cars for 3-4 years: Is the extended warranty worth what Tesla is asking?
 
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This just in... I got this email from Graham at the Dania Beach store (I have a request for more details (deductible, ranger, what is included, etc.) Will post as soon as I get more details.):



BatteryVehicle (exl. battery)
1 yr / 12k miles$3,000$2,000
2 yr / 24k miles$5,500$3,300
3 yr / 36k miles$7,500$4,000
That's a lot of money. Yes, a PEM is expensive. But what are the real odds that yours will fail within the extended warranty period if it has not failed within the standard warranty period? I'll be interested to see what others decide, once the extended warranty is officially offered.
 
That's a lot of money. Yes, a PEM is expensive. But what are the real odds that yours will fail within the extended warranty period if it has not failed within the standard warranty period? I'll be interested to see what others decide, once the extended warranty is officially offered.

From my experience its worth the gamble, I think it is quite possible (perhaps likely in my experience) that an air cooled PEM fails in 3 years....not fun to pay 12k+ bill when this is an option. Plus you get a full bumper to bumper warranty. Say a PEM fan fails or Tesla decides to change something that only vehicles in warranty are eligible for...You are SOL if your car is out of warranty. I would just re-up every year for 3k every 12k miles/year...too bad they do not include maintenance in this extended warranty scheme..
 
To date most of big car fixes (not counting accidents) have been under warranty so we don't actually know what these repairs cost. In order to make an informed decision there should be an accounting of the exact price of a battery, PEM. and a list of the 10 highest priced warranty covered car repairs.

In writing, from Tesla, and inclusive of parts and labor.
 
From the "bricking" incident we know that Tesla offered a new battery, including labor, for $40k. I don't see falling cell prices helping much here, since refurbishing a pack is a lot of manual work. Right now Tesla's main source of new packs seem to be totaled cars.
 
Interesting correleation between the cost of the Battery warranty & the (remainder of) Vehicle warranty.

Although a PEM failure is very expensive, considering all of the other components that may fail on the rest of the vehicle, the cost of the "vehicle" warranty is still only around half of the battery warranty when considering the 3 yr / 36,000 mile option.

I know the battery costs prohibitively more than any other component and would partially justify a higher premium, but it might be interesting to know the frequency of battery failures vs. "vehicle" failures...