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Video Summary:
We’re often asked what sort of maintenance schedule we follow with our Teslas, since there are so many who seem to skip annual maintenance visits in favor of taking their vehicles in once every 2 years.
That this pretty much what we’ve followed as well. We did that after we learned that besides changing key fob batteries and re-filling wiper fluid, nothing really came from taking the car in every 12 months.
Well, as of this week Tesla is pretty much saying, you don’t really need to come see us every year….or at all.
Since Model S rolled out in 2012, Tesla has always stood by the service recommendation interval of every 12 months or 12,500 miles. For a car that doesn’t need oil changes, fuel filters, spark plus, emissions tests this seemed like a hassle free enough deal.
But Tesla is now saying, you don’t even need to bring it in once a year as they’re now moving to an as needed service approach.They say that they’ve analyzed billions of miles of real world data from there fleet of over half a million cars worldwide and it shows that the vehicles rarely benefit from those scheduled service visits.
Tesla is also eliminating the long standing 3 and 4 year maintenance plans that it sold for its cars. This is something that people had always contemplated buying in advance but its pretty cool to see that after Elon has gone on record talking about Tesla’s lack of service needs (even going as far as saying you should never need new brake pads for your Tesla) because of regen braking that they are standing by their brand more than ever now when it comes to maintenance needs.
Now even though there are far fewer moving parts in an EV, Tesla does still recommended some basic maintenance, almost all of which that can be done with a mobile technician coming to visit you at your home or work.
They are:
The Cabin Air Filter: Every 2 years
The HEPA Filter: Every 3 Years
Tire Rotation, Balance and Alignment” Check every 10-12,000 miles
Brake Fluid Test: test brake fluid for contamination every 2 years and replace as needed
Tesla recommends an air conditioning service every 2 years for Model S, every 4 years for Model X
and every 6 years for Model 3.
Brake Caliper: Tesla recommends cleaning and lubricating all brake calipers every 12 months or 12,500 mi for cars in cold weather regions.
What are your thoughts on this? Had any of you guys purchased the advanced 3 or 4 year maintenance plans? Have you found the annual service visits worthwhile?
Likes: 2989
Views: 110667
Tesla is still way over priced in Australia and not many electric cars here.
1:09 "Using less water is also WAY better for the environment". This statement is sort of true, there is some significance. Washing your car by hand using about 100 gallons of water (shocking I know), which from a production environmental impact perspective is equivalent to running your cloths dryer for about 30 minutes or driving your average US car for about 1.8 miles. For context, the average difference of driving an EV like a Tesla from an energy consumption perspective saves on average about 18 miles per day (ten times the impact of washing your car by hand in one day).
My thoughts? I will be doing lots of the work myself.
tesla sounds awesome
Ac service? Service what?
Sorry, what is the fuel of the maintenance vehicle.
No wonder why I didn’t find the service plans when I wanted to purchase it last week. Thanks for the update!!!
Here is the real advice: put away at least $500/month for your replacement battery(ies) for as long as you own your car. All Lithium dies in 5-10 years, no exceptions. Tesla batteries cost between $45,000 and $65,000 to replace. The other obvious option is to use your battery fund as a downpayment on a new car and scrap the dead one as a parts car trade-in.
If only it were smart enough to tell you itself when you should take it to get serviced.