Is This Normal? Need Feedback & Advice

[@Makai_Side]

Please advise. New brake pads @ 55,000 miles? 12V battery breakdown. Purchased my 2018 Model X 100D Dual Motor from Carmax in July of 2022. At the time of purchase it had 42K miles and in the past 18 months I put 12,500 miles on it. During these 18 months of ownership I have experienced quite a bit of 'maintenance' for a vehicle that presumably required very little. In July I was told by Tesla service I should replace all 4 tires; done at the Tesla service center for $2K (yes it was $500 for each tire.) While there I requested tire rotation & balance due to the 'shudder' at higher speeds to which they explained it needed to be repaired per the Model X Service Bulletin which went was prior to my ownership - but it was never fixed - and so I got the pleasure of paying for that. Two weeks ago I got the 'low voltage' warning while out running errands and 10 minutes later the vehicle shut down in the grocery store parking lot. Literally black screens, doors shut, couldn't communicate with the car through the app, and so it was towed to service center. Since then the car has been in service because even replacing the 12V battery did not fix it and now the DCDC converter needs to be replaced. I am easily over $3K for the battery repair and whilst there the service advisor advised me; it needed brake pads and rotors. At 55,000 miles? Maybe it is my fault for not doing my homework but it was my understanding that Tesla's require very little maintenance and rarely break down. To date, at 18 months in, I am looking at $10K in repairs, maintenance, etc.

• July 2022 Purchased 2018 Model X 100D Dual Motor
• July 2023 Service: Replace 4 Tires $4,000
• July 2023 Service: 'Shudder' Service Advisory $500
• September 2023 Service: PSI alerts continually warning $700
• October 2023 Service: Low voltage alert - 12V Battery Replacement $1,500
• October 2023 Service: Brake pads & Rotors $2,300
• November 2023 Service: DCDC Converter remove & replace $1100
• Total To Date = $10,100

Is this normal? Feedback and/or advice would be greatly appreciated. Yes - this is spendy - thank you California pricing I have considered contacting the Service Manager and pursuing the buy back program. In all my years of combustion car ownership a vehicle has never cost me this much at 55K miles.

 

[awd_rails]

Tires and brake pads are wear and tear items. The brake pads will depend on the previous owner's driving habits; however the 2018 MXs do not have strong regen braking that would allow you to drive with just 1 pedal and minimal use of the brakes. So you have to use your brakes like normal ICE cars on these. So I think for these 2 items, probably normal.

Interesting that the low volt battery costs so much to replace on your X. On my previous M3, it was only ~$120 to replace the low volt battery.

The service bulletin for the shudder, that's just poor upkeep by the previous owner to do service recalls. Though it's possible that the shudder problem did not exhibit at that time. Tesla would not have done that repair if it was never brought in for that specific issue as I don't believe it was a mandatory recall and just a service bulletin.

DC converter failure, sounds like just bad luck.

 

[Tam]

Please advise. New brake pads @ 55,000 miles? 12V battery breakdown. Purchased my 2018 Model X 100D Dual Motor from Carmax in July of 2022. At the time of purchase it had 42K miles and in the past 18 months I put 12,500 miles on it. During these 18 months of ownership I have experienced quite a bit of 'maintenance' for a vehicle that presumably required very little. In July I was told by Tesla service I should replace all 4 tires; done at the Tesla service center for $2K (yes it was $500 for each tire.) While there I requested tire rotation & balance due to the 'shudder' at higher speeds to which they explained it needed to be repaired per the Model X Service Bulletin which went was prior to my ownership - but it was never fixed - and so I got the pleasure of paying for that. Two weeks ago I got the 'low voltage' warning while out running errands and 10 minutes later the vehicle shut down in the grocery store parking lot. Literally black screens, doors shut, couldn't communicate with the car through the app, and so it was towed to service center. Since then the car has been in service because even replacing the 12V battery did not fix it and now the DCDC converter needs to be replaced. I am easily over $3K for the battery repair and whilst there the service advisor advised me; it needed brake pads and rotors. At 55,000 miles? Maybe it is my fault for not doing my homework but it was my understanding that Tesla's require very little maintenance and rarely break down. To date, at 18 months in, I am looking at $10K in repairs, maintenance, etc.

• July 2022 Purchased 2018 Model X 100D Dual Motor
• July 2023 Service: Replace 4 Tires $4,000
• July 2023 Service: 'Shudder' Service Advisory $500
• September 2023 Service: PSI alerts continually warning $700
• October 2023 Service: Low voltage alert - 12V Battery Replacement $1,500
• October 2023 Service: Brake pads & Rotors $2,300
• November 2023 Service: DCDC Converter remove & replace $1100
• Total To Date = $10,100

Is this normal? Feedback and/or advice would be greatly appreciated. Yes - this is spendy - thank you California pricing I have considered contacting the Service Manager and pursuing the buy back program. In all my years of combustion car ownership a vehicle has never cost me this much at 55K miles. View attachment 989459View attachment 989458

It's expected because it's a car even though it is an EV.

Less maintenance is true for certain things that it is missing:

Air filter
Fuel filter
Spark plugs
Engine oil...

But whatever an EV is not missing: door handles, hvac... these are potential issues when the warranty expires.

 

[DCGOO]

Please advise. New brake pads @ 55,000 miles? 12V battery breakdown. Purchased my 2018 Model X 100D Dual Motor from Carmax in July of 2022. At the time of purchase it had 42K miles and in the past 18 months I put 12,500 miles on it. During these 18 months of ownership I have experienced quite a bit of 'maintenance' for a vehicle that presumably required very little. In July I was told by Tesla service I should replace all 4 tires; done at the Tesla service center for $2K (yes it was $500 for each tire.) While there I requested tire rotation & balance due to the 'shudder' at higher speeds to which they explained it needed to be repaired per the Model X Service Bulletin which went was prior to my ownership - but it was never fixed - and so I got the pleasure of paying for that. Two weeks ago I got the 'low voltage' warning while out running errands and 10 minutes later the vehicle shut down in the grocery store parking lot. Literally black screens, doors shut, couldn't communicate with the car through the app, and so it was towed to service center. Since then the car has been in service because even replacing the 12V battery did not fix it and now the DCDC converter needs to be replaced. I am easily over $3K for the battery repair and whilst there the service advisor advised me; it needed brake pads and rotors. At 55,000 miles? Maybe it is my fault for not doing my homework but it was my understanding that Tesla's require very little maintenance and rarely break down. To date, at 18 months in, I am looking at $10K in repairs, maintenance, etc.

• July 2022 Purchased 2018 Model X 100D Dual Motor
• July 2023 Service: Replace 4 Tires $4,000
• July 2023 Service: 'Shudder' Service Advisory $500
• September 2023 Service: PSI alerts continually warning $700
• October 2023 Service: Low voltage alert - 12V Battery Replacement $1,500
• October 2023 Service: Brake pads & Rotors $2,300
• November 2023 Service: DCDC Converter remove & replace $1100
• Total To Date = $10,100

Is this normal? Feedback and/or advice would be greatly appreciated. Yes - this is spendy - thank you California pricing I have considered contacting the Service Manager and pursuing the buy back program. In all my years of combustion car ownership a vehicle has never cost me this much at 55K miles.

The problem is you do not know how the car was driven and taken care of, before you acquired it. The only thing a little out of the ordinary from your list, is the brakes, because they (most people) do not get used very much, but you don't really know. Everything else is pretty typical. Similar to my 2018. My car kept eating the central body control module, and the left FWD USS. Tire rotation is not really a thing, because the tires are different sizes. The shudder is typically only under hard acceleration. That was fixed twice on my 2018. 12-volt battery was also replaced twice on mine.

 

[@Makai_Side]

Tires and brake pads are wear and tear items. The brake pads will depend on the previous owner's driving habits; however the 2018 MXs do not have strong regen braking that would allow you to drive with just 1 pedal and minimal use of the brakes. So you have to use your brakes like normal ICE cars on these. So I think for these 2 items, probably normal.

Interesting that the low volt battery costs so much to replace on your X. On my previous M3, it was only ~$120 to replace the low volt battery.

The service bulletin for the shudder, that's just poor upkeep by the previous owner to do service recalls. Though it's possible that the shudder problem did not exhibit at that time. Tesla would not have done that repair if it was never brought in for that specific issue as I don't believe it was a mandatory recall and just a service bulletin.

DC converter failure, sounds like just bad luck.

Agree. Sounds like unfortunately the previous owner was not 'up' on service. The reason why the battery replacement was so high was due to the fact that the car was accessibly issues caused more labor. And yes. If I didn't have bad luck I wouldn't have luck at all. Thank you for the reply.

 

[@Makai_Side]

It's expected because it's a car even though it is an EV.

Less maintenance is true for certain things that it is missing:

Air filter
Fuel filter
Spark plugs
Engine oil...

But whatever an EV is not missing: door handles, hvac... these are potential issues when the warranty expires.

Thank you for the reply. Like I said: I probably didn't do enough homework before purchasing. This is showing me however that I need to spend more time familiarizing myself with the car, maintenance schedules, etc. I do love how the manual and anything I ever wanted to know about the vehicle is so easily accessible.

 

[@Makai_Side]

The problem is you do not know how the car was driven and taken care of, before you acquired it. The only thing a little out of the ordinary from your list, is the brakes, because they (most people) do not get used very much, but you don't really know. Everything else is pretty typical. Similar to my 2018. My car kept eating the central body control module, and the left FWD USS. Tire rotation is not really a thing, because the tires are different sizes. The shudder is typically only under hard acceleration. That was fixed twice on my 2018. 12-volt battery was also replaced twice on mine.

Agree. The brakes seem a little early because from a lot of other posters on this forum have stated theirs lasted at least to 100K miles. I am going to talk to the service team about future 'servicing' for the brakes to possible extend the life. I guess I have a heavy foot (aka hard acceleration) because I discovered the shudder early on! Thank you for the reply.

 

[Tam]

...I probably didn't do enough homework before purchasing...

You might save money with your local tire shop for tires and brake services.

The problem is some shops can't afford the wheel alignment software for Model X, so you are stuck with Tesla for that particular task.

 

[ngng]

You might save money with your local tire shop for tires and brake services.

The problem is some shops can't afford the wheel alignment software for Model X, so you are stuck with Tesla for that particular task.

There’s nothing special about a Tesla alignment. Many just choose not to do it

 

[ngng]

Please advise. New brake pads @ 55,000 miles? 12V battery breakdown. Purchased my 2018 Model X 100D Dual Motor from Carmax in July of 2022. At the time of purchase it had 42K miles and in the past 18 months I put 12,500 miles on it. During these 18 months of ownership I have experienced quite a bit of 'maintenance' for a vehicle that presumably required very little. In July I was told by Tesla service I should replace all 4 tires; done at the Tesla service center for $2K (yes it was $500 for each tire.) While there I requested tire rotation & balance due to the 'shudder' at higher speeds to which they explained it needed to be repaired per the Model X Service Bulletin which went was prior to my ownership - but it was never fixed - and so I got the pleasure of paying for that. Two weeks ago I got the 'low voltage' warning while out running errands and 10 minutes later the vehicle shut down in the grocery store parking lot. Literally black screens, doors shut, couldn't communicate with the car through the app, and so it was towed to service center. Since then the car has been in service because even replacing the 12V battery did not fix it and now the DCDC converter needs to be replaced. I am easily over $3K for the battery repair and whilst there the service advisor advised me; it needed brake pads and rotors. At 55,000 miles? Maybe it is my fault for not doing my homework but it was my understanding that Tesla's require very little maintenance and rarely break down. To date, at 18 months in, I am looking at $10K in repairs, maintenance, etc.

• July 2022 Purchased 2018 Model X 100D Dual Motor
• July 2023 Service: Replace 4 Tires $4,000
• July 2023 Service: 'Shudder' Service Advisory $500
• September 2023 Service: PSI alerts continually warning $700
• October 2023 Service: Low voltage alert - 12V Battery Replacement $1,500
• October 2023 Service: Brake pads & Rotors $2,300
• November 2023 Service: DCDC Converter remove & replace $1100
• Total To Date = $10,100

Is this normal? Feedback and/or advice would be greatly appreciated. Yes - this is spendy - thank you California pricing I have considered contacting the Service Manager and pursuing the buy back program. In all my years of combustion car ownership a vehicle has never cost me this much at 55K miles. View attachment 989459View attachment 989458

I would highly recommend you do not use Tesla for items like tires, brakes, alignments. I’d also recommend picking ip an XCare warranty (no affiliation) if you plan on keeping the car.

 

[IvesSM]

October 2023 Service: Low voltage alert - 12V Battery Replacement $1,500

I would be curious about this charge and would like to see a copy of the service report/invoice outlining this charge. $1,500 for the battery is grossly high.

 

[ngng]

I would be curious about this charge and would like to see a copy of the service report/invoice outlining this charge. $1,500 for the battery is grossly high.

Battery is around 200 from Tesla and labor is maybe one hour. Nowhere near 1500!