Official: Model S Service Plans

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Okay, so obvious but had to be spoon fed to me for me to believe it. So we can wait on the extended service agreement - but the price seems likely to increase...

My approach is going to be to wait till Tesla's about to increase the price, if at all, and then commit to purchasing the extended warranty, nay service agreement at that time.

I'm sure Tesla will give us a heads-up and offer us a chance to buy at the current price at that time.

 

[kevincwelch]

Here's a quote from the Tesla MS website regarding when you can purchase the ESA:

EXTENDED SERVICE AGREEMENT
Tesla’s extended service program covers the repair or replacement of Model S parts due to defects in materials or workmanship provided by Tesla. Coverage lasts for four years or 50,000 miles (whichever comes first) and begins on the date your warranty expires, as long as you purchase this service within 30 days of your warranty’s expiration.

I wonder if the unraveling of the B pillar stitching would be considered a defect in workmanship.

Sent via Tapatalk.

 

[kevincwelch]

My approach is going to be to wait till Tesla's about to increase the price, if at all, and then commit to purchasing the extended warranty, nay service agreement at that time.

I'm sure Tesla will give us a heads-up and offer us a chance to buy at the current price at that time.

I'm waiting until 30 days prior or as long as possible on this one. No extended warranty had ever been with it in my opinion.

I think we'll have plenty of time to figure out if we'll need that extended warranty.

Sent via Tapatalk.

 

[Owner]

So we can wait on the extended service agreement - but the price seems likely to increase...

Yes, but I had my financial people look at the numbers -- too lazy to figure it out myself. The first four years make sense, the next four not so much.

Here's what the numbers are:

$1900 up front vs the $600/year for the first 4 years -- you would need to earn 18% on your money to make up that $500.
For the next 4 year (years 5-8) you only need to make 4.3% to make up the $500 that you are paying upfront.





​

 

[ModelS1079]

I love the fact that you put an accountant on this. I think I may buy the eight years of annual service updates, as the price may increase and I just don't want to think about that. Still, as you point out above, if the price stays the same inflation itself almost eats up the savings of paying ahead for those years 5-8. Perhaps, though, the numbers fall apart when I see that I am likely to be driving more like 18-20K miles/year, which means I'll eat up those eight "annual" service updates in just 5 to 5 1/2 years, which means I'd need to make more than 4.3% interest on that second "four years" of service to break even.

So 8 years of Service for me. I think. The EXTENDED Service agreement, which is really an extended warranty, is a harder decision. Assuming the cost will remain the same - big assumption - then waiting to buy that until just over 30 days prior to 50K miles/4 Years makes sense. If we find that the price goes up to say 4K for this extension, we may regret waiting. Dunno. Thought welcome.

 

[Nathan Smith]

So...

The only problem with Owner's numbers is that it assumes there is a year 5 - 8. For high mileage drivers (like myself) who will pass the 100K mark much sooner, inflation isn't a factor.

 

[Owner]

So...

The only problem with Owner's numbers is that it assumes there is a year 5 - 8. For high mileage drivers (like myself) who will pass the 100K mark much sooner, inflation isn't a factor.

Yes, may not be applicable to high mileage drivers.

but I was not referring to inflation but opportunity cost of your dollars in other investments.

 

[teslasguy]

I love the fact that you put an accountant on this. I think I may buy the eight years of annual service updates, as the price may increase and I just don't want to think about that. Still, as you point out above, if the price stays the same inflation itself almost eats up the savings of paying ahead for those years 5-8. Perhaps, though, the numbers fall apart when I see that I am likely to be driving more like 18-20K miles/year, which means I'll eat up those eight "annual" service updates in just 5 to 5 1/2 years, which means I'd need to make more than 4.3% interest on that second "four years" of service to break even.

So 8 years of Service for me. I think. The EXTENDED Service agreement, which is really an extended warranty, is a harder decision. Assuming the cost will remain the same - big assumption - then waiting to buy that until just over 30 days prior to 50K miles/4 Years makes sense. If we find that the price goes up to say 4K for this extension, we may regret waiting. Dunno. Thought welcome.

Hey Jim, I bought the 8 years of service plan but deferred on the extra 4 years of extended warranty. I agree. I just couldn't rationalize buying the extended warranty at this time. Also not sure the 8 year subscription for the service plan is a good deal as well, but just wanted to get it out of the way for peace of mind. I'm also passing on the wheel/tire hazard plan as well, but may regret it since half the year I'm running my 21" wheels. The deal breaker for me was that it doesn't cover curb rash. Give me a shout out when you head south towards DC.

 

[Apoclyps]

Huh... the Service Plan button disappeared from the My Tesla page.... did I miss something?

 

[ShortArc]

Discussed on the other forum.
Button is gone for me too. So is the financing link. For now at least....

 

[Btrflyl8e]

Huh... the Service Plan button disappeared from the My Tesla page.... did I miss something?

Mine too...it was there earlier, before the site was taken down

 

[EarlyAdopter]

Mine too...it was there earlier, before the site was taken down

You can still access the page directly:

https://www.teslamotors.com/servicesignup/start

 

[Robert.Boston]

Yes, but I had my financial people look at the numbers -- too lazy to figure it out myself. The first four years make sense, the next four not so much.

Here's what the numbers are:

$1900 up front vs the $600/year for the first 4 years -- you would need to earn 18% on your money to make up that $500.
For the next 4 year (years 5-8) you only need to make 4.3% to make up the $500 that you are paying upfront.​

The critical question is, how much will the periodic service cost (bought year-to-year)? Your calculation assumes it will always cost $600/year.

FWIW, here's my calculation, based on a paying for the service plan one month after delivery:

I assume that the nominal price of the periodic service will increase 2.5%/year. Here are the break-even (nominal, post-tax) rates of return I need to achieve to balance the pre-purchase discount:

	12k m/year	16k m/year	20k m/year	24k m/year
4-year plan	12.1%	15.4%	19.4%	23.6%
4+4 plan	7.7%	9.4%	11.4%	13.5%

So unless you're a very savvy investor, able to achieve 12.1% or better returns, after tax, on average over 4 years, the 4-year plan is a good investment; if you drive a lot, you have to be even savvier. The 4+4 is a less obvious choice, but still a better return, even in the worst case, than most people realize (after tax) on their savings.

One important feature of the plans is the ability to add on unlimited ranger visits for $125/year extra. Depending on where you live or travel, this could be a big savings. Even though I live close to a service center, it always seems that cars break when I'm not at home but somewhere incredibly inconvenient.

 

[kevincwelch]

Still can't access the plans on the website. Wonder if they are changing the options/plans/wording of the agreements, etc.

 

[ckessel]

Still can't access the plans on the website. Wonder if they are changing the options/plans/wording of the agreements, etc.

Heh, yea. The conversation here convinced me to go for the 4+4. I'm not an active investor, so this looks like the better bet to me. Then I go to purchase the plan and the button is gone

 

[neroden]

One important feature of the plans is the ability to add on unlimited ranger visits for $125/year extra.

This was the deciding factor for me, up here in Ithaca. I need to call the rangers just to get annual service (getting to a service center in February is stretching the limits of the car's range). I don't expect the car to break down, but if I do start having problems, I will need to call in the Rangers pretty much every single time. This could add up really quickly. But not after I bought the service plan.

---
Note that since I'm assuming that I have to pay $100 per annual service for the Ranger visits anyway, then with the prepaid plan, I'm paying an incremental $25/year for all other Ranger service, versus $100 per call. I find it hard to imagine a rate of return which can beat that, unless this car has the best repair record in world history.

Regarding the second four years of service, *when the Ranger issue is figured in*, I still doubt I could get a better return on my money.

The extended warranty is an interesting question -- I went ahead and got it. Normally extended warranties are a waste of money, but I think this is a special situation. Under normal circumstances, you're buying something which is *well understood*; anything due to a manufacturing defect is likely to show up quickly. But this is an entirely new car with untested parts. There could be some serious latent error in the design or in the factory setup which will only show up after five years, and they haven't been testing long enough to have found such an error. The extended warranty is insurance against that.

If I bought a Model S eight years from now, I probably wouldn't get the extended warranty. But buying it so early in the production run, I decided it was worth it.

 

[Robert.Boston]

Still can't access the plans on the website. Wonder if they are changing the options/plans/wording of the agreements, etc.

Log on to your account at Tesla Motors, then follow this link:
https://www.teslamotors.com/servicesignup/start

 

[neroden]

FWIW, the thing I did *not* get was the wheel and tire policy. Seems overpriced... *and* given my location, any wheel and tire work is gonna be done by a local shop anyway, not by Tesla, so why have a middleman?

- - - Updated - - -

I think we need to be very careful about assuming all big ticket items listed here are covered by the ESA regardless of how the part fails. Reading the ESA closely indicates that failure due to normal wear and tear is not covered. ESA covers items that fail due to manufacturing defects. Also many items are specifically excluded such as shock absorbers.

Because of this I do not have an comfort that an air suspension that fails due to parts normally wearing out, for example, will be covered. In fact, most of the things that have failed on my previous cars after 4 years have been things that just wore out, not because of manufacturing defects. Such things are not covered by the ESA.

Here's something to think about: for high-mileage drivers, most of what fails after 4 years *will* be stuff which wears out. All the manufacturing defects will show up quickly.

Not so for low-mileage drivers. There's only a few things which ought to wear out on a "by years" basis (rubber gaskets, seals, and hoses, mostly). Most things should only wear out on a by-miles basis. Low-mileage drivers are much more likely to see the failure of defective parts after 4 years -- defective parts may operate for a certain number of miles before failing, and for low-mileage drivers, that number of miles may be reached much later. (And because of the existence of high-mileage drivers, we will *know* by then that the parts aren't supposed to fail after so few miles.)

 

[bbmertz]

Huh... the Service Plan button disappeared from the My Tesla page.... did I miss something?

You might want to wait until Elon's next series of announcements before purchasing a Service Plan. I think that's why they took down the button, based on a recent comment I heard from a Tesla salesperson.

 

[znino]

I am still a little confused about this 4 year service plan after reading through the agreement and Tesla has not responded to my questions. When I read the agreement it sounds to me like you are basically buying 4 visits for annual maintenance and they will replace wear and tear parts as well but it seems worded like they will only replace them during those 4 visits if they find them to be worn. What happens if in the middle of a year the brake pads wear out? Will they replace them under the agreement? If not, I do not see what UNLIMITED Ranger visits add-on gives you. If you only have 4 times to use them at the annual maintenance, what's the point? Again, it boils down to how things are written but can someone point out to me in the agreement where it says that Wear and Tear parts are replaceable anytime with no limitation on number of times?

In the TESLA RESPNSABILITIES SECTION it says:

Tesla agrees to provide four regularly scheduled maintenance inspections at a Tesla Authorized Service Center or by a Tesla Ranger (subject to certain exceptions, including, without limitation, that Tesla Ranger service may not be immediately available in Your area) at the intervals (whichever occurs first) specified in the “Service” column of the Selection of Plan section of this Agreement.

and

The regularly scheduled maintenance inspections shall include the following (subject to change by Tesla at any time and without notice, in its sole discretion):
• Vehicle inspection;
• Replacement or repair at the time of inspection of normal maintenance items and wear and tear
parts, excluding the Battery and tires;
• Wheel alignment*; and
• Tire rotation*.

I cannot find anything about wear and tear replacements outside of the scheduled annual inspections.

What if you have to have some warranty work done and you have the unlimited Ranger option.... will the ranger visit for the warranty repair be free because you have the unlimited option in the initial service agreement?