Need Advice: Out of Warranty Tesla 2013 Model S P85 110K Miles

[Black_P85]

Hi All,

So last week I got a TON of scary error messages on my 2013 Tesla MS P85. After much anxiety, a tow to local SC and 48 hours of waiting I am starring at an invoice of $11k to
replace Drivetrain, AC Compressor, V12 Battery, and Coolant Heater. My MS has 110k miles and I am not sure if I should scrap it or pay the bill and hope battery and other moving parts last me another couple years as I am out of warranty.!!

The car still has the original battery and I am not sure how long it will last. Not showing any signs of stopping soon but not sure what symptoms I should be looking for or if there is a real known life to the battery on older MS. My biggest fear is I pay the $11k and in 2-6 months I'm back in the shop starring at another 10k to 20k bill...

Any advice or thoughts would be helpful as I make my decision. Thanks All!

 

[dwbv]

If it makes you feel any better, I lost $700 within 9 miles of my owning my first ever EV (search my name and you'll find the thread).

There's nobody here that will have a crystal ball for you. It really comes down to how deep your pockets are or how much you're willing to risk. It's not about how much money you are wanting to save but how much you are willing to spend/lose. On the brighter side, $11k might afford you another 110k miles of happiness with your MS or it might afford you another 10k miles towards another $11k in a HV battery too. Nobody knows...

 

[SoCal Buzz]

Those are some common failures on older cars. It seems a bit odd they would all go at same time, but perhaps SC just found pending issues with some parts? What’s the root cause of errors?

You didn’t mention mileage and condition of car. With $11K repair, what’s current market to sell and make back more? Perhaps it can help you get into a newer Tesla.

The battery and AC/DC charger are the remaining larger ticket items, but hard to predict. And with battery, there are options for less expensive non-Tesla repair these days.

 

[Black_P85]

Those are some common failures on older cars. It seems a bit odd they would all go at same time, but perhaps SC just found pending issues with some parts? What’s the root cause of errors?

You didn’t mention mileage and condition of car. With $11K repair, what’s current market to sell and make back more? Perhaps it can help you get into a newer Tesla.

The battery and AC/DC charger are the remaining larger ticket items, but hard to predict. And with battery, there are options for less expensive non-Tesla repair these days.

Cause of errors was/is due to moisture getting into drivetrain and the water in there overtime wreaking havoc on the all the other electrical problems. Seems all these parts aren't passing the diagnosis test and need to be replaced at same time. I too thought it was odd all went bad at once but them all being older and being exposed to water seems like they all need to be replaced as they are all connected and were exposed to the moisture...

Mileage is 110k and condition of car is excellent really. Havent had ANY issues until now...10 years later. Prob not a large market to sell. Guessing I could get 20k or 25k maybe?

Good to know there are other options with battery. I thought I might be stuck with tesla paying 12k-20k for new battery,,...

 

[SoCal Buzz]

Got it, I thought the coolant intrusion in motor might be the worst of it. I had 2013 for my first Tesla; I’m curious if you ever had yours repaired under warranty for the milling noise?

If car’s in great shape it seems the $11K is reasonable repair to keep it going. The question then is do you flip or ride it out and see how battery does. When they fail it tends to be a module, which some shops have found ways to repair rather than replace.

You didn’t mention air suspension, but that’s another big ticket item that can go on any older car.

I spent close to $8,000 on Audi A8 at 95,000 miles; expensive stuff happens on complex cars when you get 10 years and 100K down the road.

 

[NewbyMaybe]

A car under warranty is the solution but more expensive than repairs.

 

[dwbv]

I spent close to $8,000 on Audi A8 at 95,000 miles; expensive stuff happens on complex cars when you get 10 years and 100K down the road.

I also have an A8 and I've spent about 3x that thus far, still running after 200k+ miles. Expensive cars = expensive repairs minus whatever you can DIY.

 

[Boeingpilot]

If you think you’ll recoup your money no. If you like driving it, it’s less expensive than replacing and you are willing to risk a battery pack in the future, worth it

 

[SoCal Buzz]

I also have an A8 and I've spent about 3x that thus far, still running after 200k+ miles. Expensive cars = expensive repairs minus whatever you can DIY.

LoL, I think my favorite was something like $1,600 to replace $30 plastic connector between the block and oil cooler. The placement (and cheap part / material) required removing entire front of car, radiator and motor mounts to access. 20 minute repair requiring 8 hours of labor.

 

[Crutonius]

Hi All,

So last week I got a TON of scary error messages on my 2013 Tesla MS P85. After much anxiety, a tow to local SC and 48 hours of waiting I am starring at an invoice of $11k to
replace Drivetrain, AC Compressor, V12 Battery, and Coolant Heater. My MS has 110k miles and I am not sure if I should scrap it or pay the bill and hope battery and other moving parts last me another couple years as I am out of warranty.!!

The car still has the original battery and I am not sure how long it will last. Not showing any signs of stopping soon but not sure what symptoms I should be looking for or if there is a real known life to the battery on older MS. My biggest fear is I pay the $11k and in 2-6 months I'm back in the shop starring at another 10k to 20k bill...

Any advice or thoughts would be helpful as I make my decision. Thanks All!

This seems like a strange list of parts. I suspect your SC might be bad at troubleshooting and have gone with a shotgun approach.

In your position I would look into a second opinion.

 

[SoCal Buzz]

This seems like a strange list of parts. I suspect your SC might be bad at troubleshooting and have gone with a shotgun approach.

In your position I would look into a second opinion.

That’s what I was thinking. I was waiting at Service Center desk once, and overheard staff talking with manager about how they had replaced several parts on someone’s car before getting to root cause. I think local tech. diagnostics are hit/miss, exacerbated by Tesla replacing entire components rather than repairing. That can be expensive way to “fix” a problem.

 

[Crutonius]

I think it's a hangover from the days when every repair was a warranty repair. They don't have the institutional knowledge to fix their cars efficiently.

 

[tesluv108]

I think it's a hangover from the days when every repair was a warranty repair. They don't have the institutional knowledge to fix their cars efficiently.

Which is scary, considering they are supposed to be the experts isn’t it?

 

[electricar]

It's that way with all high end cars - I have seen repairs on ICE cars requiring 3 and 4 seemingly unrelated parts needing to be replaced to get the check engine light to go out even when the car runs perfectly. When the light was finally out replacing even one of the parts with the old one caused the light to go back on. Even the field techs from the manufacturer who come to the dealership to work on the car under warranty that nobody can fix start with the usual suspects and replace parts until the problem goes away or the clock runs out and the car is bought back, and they have access to all the top secret information ( shadow memory, repair results from all the units in operation, etc ) that the manufacturer doesn't disclose to the dealers.

 

[dwbv]

It's that way with all high end cars - I have seen repairs on ICE cars requiring 3 and 4 seemingly unrelated parts needing to be replaced to get the check engine light to go out even when the car runs perfectly. When the light was finally out replacing even one of the parts with the old one caused the light to go back on. Even the field techs from the manufacturer who come to the dealership to work on the car under warranty that nobody can fix start with the usual suspects and replace parts until the problem goes away or the clock runs out and the car is bought back, and they have access to all the top secret information ( shadow memory, repair results from all the units in operation, etc ) that the manufacturer doesn't disclose to the dealers.

I've experienced this myself owning many higher-expensive ICE cars in my life thus far. I'm gonna revert back to the old saying "if you want to play with expensive toys then be ready for expensive problems". In my short time in the EV world and perusing various online forums and facebook groups, there's a resounding pattern when it comes to Tesla vehicle ownership regardless of which model and that is: when warranty is nearing its end-of-life, it's time to replace or sell. Even advice towards new prospective owners is to buy new or in-warranty only and many forewarnings to those whom disregard this advice.

What I've been telling everyone who is introduced to my P85D is: buy the experience, and if you buy out of warranty then keep a healthy emergency fund readily available for those rainy days. It's not an "if" but a "when".

 

[electricar]

The happiest high-end car drivers for the most part are the people who lease the cars. Granted even that is not paradise ( making monthly payments while your car is in the shop can really bring you down ) but you do know exactly how much it is going to cost because the car is never out of warranty and you are driving the latest and greatest all the time.

 

[mr_hyde]

I think it's a hangover from the days when every repair was a warranty repair. They don't have the institutional knowledge to fix their cars efficiently.

This is a good point and also related - 3rd party independent repair facilities for Tesla (and EV in general) are in their infancy. If we were talking about high-end German ICE cars out of warranty, the forums would be screaming to find a good independent shop and save 50% on the repair bill.

Along those lines, there seem to be fewer 'gearheads' in the Tesla community that DIY as the first option. I also have a Cayenne S that was also a $100,000+ car new and the Porsche forums are full of DIY threads to do pretty much everything. I've done a lot of the 'everything' on the Cayenne and everything else I've ever owned but I'm nervous when I need to do something major to the MS that there won't be a DIY in the forums or an independent shop that will take on the project.

 

[electricar]

I agree about fewer gear heads on the Tesla forums and speaking of DIY of high-end German cars, those of us old enough remember the service manuals for those cars which had little to do with the actual car you were working on. A favorite of mine was a Porsche procedure starting with " remove the steering column " with no reference anywhere about how to do that because, of course, all Germans were born with that knowledge. Well, the Tesla service manual that you buy online makes those look well thought out. I have had the Tesla techs tell me that the service manual is so detached from reality that service operations are passed from tech to tech in oral history fashion.

 

[brainhouston]

OP, post errors, it'll help identify better.
My guess, Tesla wants to replace all those components since all of them have bad track record for high mileage but def not all went out rn but could later.
My approach would be (DIY biased):
Take speed sensor out of LDU n ck for coolant, if wet, replace/fix LDU n see if errors come back.
If dry, replace in this order: 12v > Battery heater > AC (test for errors after each)