Enjoyed Model Y 3 years now, going to be out of warranty soon, and issues are starting to happen left and right. How is everyone else's experience?

[Tha_Ape]

My issue with the warranty is that it's only 2yr/24k(not sure on miles, but close). So you're basically betting $2k that you're going to have problems that the warranty would cover in a small 2yr window that will be more than $2k.

Make that 5k for 5yrs and you may get my money.

 

[BroncoAZ]

Say it louder for the people that didn't hear it the first time.

Companies in general sell products & services solely because it generates a profit. If they can't make money selling it.. why bother offering it? The idea that extended warranty is guaranteed to pay for itself is a terrible bet. Granted if we are talking about Range Rover.. then yeah it's a great idea. But on Tesla or most modern vehicles it's a poor bet.

Take the $2,500 you would have spent on an extended warranty and put it in a savings account. Any minor issues popup.. the $2,500 should be more than enough to fix them. Any major issues popup and it's probably drivetrain related.. which would already be covered by the 8yr/125K high voltage battery + motor warranty. Chances are a few years now.. you will still have most of that $2,500 still sitting in the bank.

Extended warranties generate profit for the company and give buyers peace of mind. If I get to the end of the term and the warranty paid for nothing then I won because I got a very reliable car and I didn’t worry about anything along the way. Sure I spent 4% of the cost of the vehicle on that peace of mind and it was wasted. On the other hand if I got a lemon and the warranty paid out then I also won because I saved money. My personal experience is that the warranty has more than paid for itself on a variety of brands, but I’d be just as happy if the car was dead nuts reliable and the warranty was a waste of money. I know the odds and choose to spend the money. There is no reason for you to be offended at how I spend my money

The problem with the powertrain warranty is it doesn’t cover the giant iPad on the dashboard, the HVAC system, the power seats or steering column, all the cameras, rear liftgate motors, or a bunch of other expensive stuff that can go wrong and cost thousands. On the work fleet I see all kinds of things break. As the trucks I manage are getting more complex and advanced the repairs on oddball stuff like radios, HVAC controls, safety sensor systems, etc. The radio screen in most conventional vehicles is over $1000, LED headlights are $950 each, diag time for a nuisance electrical gremlin adds up when the labor rate at the local Chevy dealer is $200 per hour. That $2500 you speak of can get eaten up pretty quick. Let’s not pretend that Tesla makes a better quality car then every traditional OEM manufacturer.

 

[brkaus]

For better or worse, I paid $4,047 to cover our March 2017 S100D drive unit and battery for an additional 96 months (to 12/30/2031) & additional 150k miles (to 245k miles)

I'm curious how this bet is going to play out. I do still really like the car, but at this point that's ~20% of the cars trade in value (being generous).

Edit to add $500 deduct.

 

[mborkow]

The problem with the powertrain warranty is it doesn’t cover the giant iPad on the dashboard, the HVAC system, the power seats or steering column, all the cameras, rear liftgate motors, or a bunch of other expensive stuff that can go wrong and cost thousands. On the work fleet I see all kinds of things break. As the trucks I manage are getting more complex and advanced the repairs on oddball stuff like radios, HVAC controls, safety sensor systems, etc. The radio screen in most conventional vehicles is over $1000, LED headlights are $950 each, diag time for a nuisance electrical gremlin adds up when the labor rate at the local Chevy dealer is $200 per hour. That $2500 you speak of can get eaten up pretty quick. Let’s not pretend that Tesla makes a better quality car than every traditional OEM manufacturer.

Not everything you mention there is covered…like the headlights; they are specifically excluded. And the motors you mention (in the lift gate, seats, steering column, etc, etc) will only be covered if the failure is due to defect…if it’s just due to wear and tear…they aren’t covered. If the Extended Service Agreement was actually an extension of the bumper-to-bumper warranty (and here I want to point out the ESA isn’t a warranty…it’s a service agreement) then I’d prob consider it for $2k…but it’s not.

 

[Daekwan]

Extended warranties generate profit for the company and give buyers peace of mind. If I get to the end of the term and the warranty paid for nothing then I won because I got a very reliable car and I didn’t worry about anything along the way. Sure I spent 4% of the cost of the vehicle on that peace of mind and it was wasted. On the other hand if I got a lemon and the warranty paid out then I also won because I saved money. My personal experience is that the warranty has more than paid for itself on a variety of brands, but I’d be just as happy if the car was dead nuts reliable and the warranty was a waste of money. I know the odds and choose to spend the money. There is no reason for you to be offended at how I spend my money

The problem with the powertrain warranty is it doesn’t cover the giant iPad on the dashboard, the HVAC system, the power seats or steering column, all the cameras, rear liftgate motors, or a bunch of other expensive stuff that can go wrong and cost thousands. On the work fleet I see all kinds of things break. As the trucks I manage are getting more complex and advanced the repairs on oddball stuff like radios, HVAC controls, safety sensor systems, etc. The radio screen in most conventional vehicles is over $1000, LED headlights are $950 each, diag time for a nuisance electrical gremlin adds up when the labor rate at the local Chevy dealer is $200 per hour. That $2500 you speak of can get eaten up pretty quick. Let’s not pretend that Tesla makes a better quality car then every traditional OEM manufacturer.

You pretend as if you are the only person who has ever owned a vehicle. While extended warranties may have worked for you or your fleet.. common sense says that the typical extended warranty will not cover enough repairs to support the purchase. This is exactly why companies love selling extended warranties.. it’s a huge profit maker.

Since you share your personal experience.. I’ll share mine. My 2021 Model Y is the 15th vehicle I have owned in the past 24 years. In that time I have never purchased an extended warranty. The Model Y was also only the 2nd new car purchase.. the other 13 were used purchases with no warranty whatsoever.

I’m honestly not sure if I’ve spent $2,500 in repairs over that entire purchase history. I’m not talking about maintenance items.. tires, brakes, fluid and filter changes. I’m talking about something breaks and needs to be fixed. Granted 4 of these vehicles were Honda and 4 were Lexus.. which have a pretty good reputation for reliability and I’ve stayed away from German vehicles. But one was Lincoln Navigator I bought used the day Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl.. then drove for the next 18 years with no major repairs. Another was Corvette I drove daily for 7 years and sold with 98,000 miles.

Nothing from my personal experience matches anything you have described. Our experiences could not be any more polarizing. As far as me being offended how you spend your money. I have no idea who you are. My advice was speaking in general.. not to anyone specifically. If you want to buy a million mile warranty.. knock yourself out!

 

[ucmndd]

I always enjoy seeing other peoples’ rationalizations for their personal risk tolerances. Confirmation bias runs deep deep in these conversations.

As I get older and more financially secure it’s hard to look at this as anything other than an actuarial decision, at least for me.

Doesn’t take much to predict the odds and understand how you’re most likely to come out ahead. As for “peace of mind”, I have much more peace of mind with money in my account than I do paying for someone else to hold that money for me in exchange for peace of mind.

Play by the rules, no emotion, always split aces and 8s and double down on 11. That doesn’t guarantee you win every hand but mathematically maximizes your odds of success.

I think extended warranties are much more valuable to people of less means. If a surprise $5,000 repair would be a financial catastrophe for you, I can see a lot of value in spending some fraction of that proactively and in a controlled way to ensure that doesn’t happen.

If a surprise $5k repair bill is just an annoyance and not a Life Changing Event, then I’ll play the odds knowing I might not have won the hand but succeeded at the long game. That's real peace of mind.

 

[mborkow]

As I get older and more financially secure it’s hard to look at this as anything other than an actuarial decision, at least for me.

Doesn’t take much to predict the odds and understand how you’re most likely to come out ahead. As for “peace of mind”, I have much more peace of mind with money in my account than I do paying for someone else to hold that money for me in exchange for peace of mind.

Play by the rules, no emotion, always split aces and 8s and double down on 11. That doesn’t guarantee you win every hand but mathematically maximizes your odds of success.

I think extended warranties are much more valuable to people of less means. If a surprise $5,000 repair would be a financial catastrophe for you, I can see a lot of value in spending some fraction of that proactively and in a controlled way to ensure that doesn’t happen.

If a surprise $5k repair bill is just an annoyance and not a Life Changing Event, then I’ll play the odds knowing I might not have won the hand but succeeded at the long game. Thats real peace of mind.

100%…having funds to insulate you when you end up on the wrong side of the probability distribution and happen to roll snake eyes allows you to make the best financial decisions. Another example of the rich getting richer.

I was talking to an extremely successful health care executive that retired in his late 40s. I asked him what he did about health insurance (now that he doesn’t have a job or employer based health insurance). His strategy was simple; he had a catastrophic policy in place that gave him access to network rates and to cover anything huge (more than $20k). Everything else he self-insured…I prob spent more than he did most years with my employer based plan for the same net benefits.

 

[BroncoAZ]

You pretend as if you are the only person who has ever owned a vehicle. While extended warranties may have worked for you or your fleet.. common sense says that the typical extended warranty will not cover enough repairs to support the purchase. This is exactly why companies love selling extended warranties.. it’s a huge profit maker.

Dealing with vehicle repairs on a large scale and working in/around the auto industry for almost 20 years has allowed me to see a diverse number of vehicle repair scenarios across all brands (except Tesla). I pointed out that extended warranties don’t make sense for the work fleet and the cost difference between warranties and just paying repairs. In our case going without warranties saves up about 70% over the 5 year turnover of the fleet. For me personally with a sample size of one unit I choose to buy the warranty, I haven’t gotten as lucky as you have.

I think extended warranties are much more valuable to people of less means. If a surprise $5,000 repair would be a financial catastrophe for you, I can see a lot of value in spending some fraction of that proactively and in a controlled way to ensure that doesn’t happen.

If a surprise $5k repair bill is just an annoyance and not a Life Changing Event, then I’ll play the odds knowing I might not have won the hand but succeeded at the long game. That's real peace of mind.

I remember the days of being a people of less means, although I am no longer one of them it does affect my mindset at times. A surprise $5K bill is an annoyance at this point in life, but if I can spend $2K and avoid it for a certain number of years I might choose to do that.

My 2009 Jetta TDI $2300 warranty paid out over $11K in repairs at a time I couldn’t really afford it. My 2011 Touareg $1800 warranty paid out $9K. The VW issues were mainly diesel emissions and electrical gremlins. My 2006 Dodge 2500 diesel $1650 warranty paid out $4K. That Dodge 2500 was the best truck I ever owned, very reliable for 10 years and 100K miles with a lot of towing. Warranty still paid for a new power seat motor, AC compressor, wiper motor, etc. Even if I buy warranties on my next couple of cars and don’t use them I’m still ahead. The 10 year 125K warranty on our 2021 Tacoma was $1400, Toyotas are solid vehicles but that is only 1-2 major repairs these days. I’m betting $1400 that the truck will have more than $1400 in warrantable repairs over the next 7 years. My 2021 Bronco was $1950 for 8 years 100K miles. Ford decided to install an undersized power steering rack and a manual transmission that sounds like it’s chewing on gravel when cold, so I think that gamble will pay off. I’m not emotionally invested in it, it makes financial sense to me.

I do self insure on many things now that I have the means. My dad purchases those ridiculous AHS home warranties every year. When we got our new home last year he recommended it, I told him I’d be money ahead by saving that money each year and paying out of pocket. Good luck getting that company to pay for anything.

 

[Daekwan]

I'm honestly not surprised that majority of warranty claims you've made is almost exclusively German and/or diesel vehicles. Every vehicle you listed with major issues has a pretty poor record for reliability. Yes Dodge is also on the list.

And I would bet actual money that you will never get back that $1,400 ROI on purchase of that extended warranty for that Tacoma. Reliability is the #1 reason to purchase a Toyota.

Reliability is also the #1 reason to avoid German vehicles. Nobody wants to own a German car without a warranty.. most people know better! Hence why most people just lease them.

 

[gx9901]

Bought my 2021 almost exactly 3 years ago and now at the 62K mark im getting a little concerned. In December it started creaking noise really bad when steering left or right pulling out of a driveway or parking space.. was pretty sure that the car needed control arms replaced. Also 2 weeks ago the passenger air bag sensor started throwing errors. Made an appt last week for the Tesla Service Center and shockingly they couldn't reproduce any of these issues.

Apparently the creaking noise started/ended with with freezing temperatures.. the mechanic said its probably some suspension parts that need to be lubed. And said the air bag sensor they could replace for $165.. but said its no guarantee to fix the issue, since the sensor light was not currently on. If I had fixed all these issues as precautionary action.. would have been about $450 out of pocket. That said Im not paying for something that's not currently broken. So will keep driving and just hope nothing else goes wrong.

I drive about 2,000 miles a month so the miles have really piled up here. I should break the 100K mark sometime next year and if any major issues popup Im probably getting rid of the car. Minor issues.. I'll certainly fix as needed and keep piling up the miles. The entire reason I purchased the car is that I drive so much.. I was spending more in gas, than what I currently pay as a monthly car payment on my Model Y!

You're scaring me, as I bought my 2021 MYP in Sept of 2021 and have 58k miles now. LOL!

I haven't had any suspension creaks, but according to some around here, it's inevitable that the control arm bushings are going to be shot somewhere between 30~60k miles. I'm about to order some MPP coilovers and am wondering if I should also get some control arm bushings in case I need to replace mine soon.

I'm hoping the MYP will make it through 5~6 years without major issues, but maybe that's wishful thinking? I've never actually had a car that had a major issue (3 Hondas and 1 Infiniti over 23 years), with the worst problem probably being dead batteries, so hopefully the streak doesn't end here.

 

[jay1122]

Extended warranty for a tesla? Nah. Should just set a side that cash. Warranty for a Range Rover? Now that requires some thoughts. But then again, RR warranty costs $5K-$7K. And the manufacturer only offer up to 7 year 100K miles. And past 100K is usually when you need your warranty in ICE cars. You just can't beat them in this game.

 

[Chrushev]

Going to poke my head in here amidst the extended warranty discussion to just say that 2 days later and that APP_w303_imulrational fault has cleared on its own. This leads me to conclude that my theory was correct, it was triggered due to car slamming on the brakes and going into park mid backing out due to seat sensor thinking noone was in the car.

Also update on the seat weight sensor, no issues so far, I drove the car 4 times in the last 2 days and every time sensor worked perfectly. Also that rattling sound must have been from the dangling wire, now that its plugged back into the seat fold buttons I no longer hear the rattling.

 

[Tha_Ape]

I love when posters follow up with their issues. I cant tell you the number of times I've searched for an issue (not always car related) and see someone else had that same problem... says they're going to try something, then never reports back.