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"Christian’s old Subaru had to have its engine rebuilt two or three times over the course of about 330,000 miles." Which is it? An engine rebuild is a signifi

"Christian’s old Subaru had to have its engine rebuilt two or three times over the course of about 330,000 miles." Which is it? An engine rebuild is a significant cost and down time and he's not sure how many times it has been rebuilt? Makes me question the validity of the rest of the article's data when you don't know your own basic facts/history especially for is a major repair item.

honkhonkpants 10y ago
"Rebuilt" is also pretty vague. Bottom end? Top end? Rings? Whole engine out of the vehicle? It does seem like this gentleman simply assigns some value to driving around in a Tesla all day, which is fine with me but the article should not try to make it seem economically rational.
- Grishnakh 10y ago
  That's a good point. I "rebuilt" the engine in my ex-wife's car years ago because she got stuck in a flash-flood and hydrolocked the engine. All I did was take off the head, give that to a shop that specialized in heads for them to replace the valves on one cylinder and clean up, then I replaced one piston and conrod and all the rings. It worked great for another 80-90k miles until we sold it, and I suspect it's still working fine now. But I never had to pull the engine out, and most of the head wasn't touched (except cleaning up all the carbon deposits on the valves). However, if Tesla has worked the bugs out of their drive units, these cars would make some sense for use as cabs, especially if you're able to charge more than regular cabs: an EV should have much lower maintenance costs than a regular car, plus much lower fuel/energy costs (cabs are driven in the city all the time so they get lousy fuel economy compared to most regular cars). The main problem I see is Tesla's high maintenance charges (e.g., they'll probably charge you a lot more to change a wheel bearing at a Tesla service center than a Toyota dealership would for a Camry), however things like wheel bearings are things that an independent mechanic should be able to handle just fine, assuming they can get their hands on a compatible part and Tesla didn't use some odd-ball part. It'd be even cheaper if this cab driver can do his own repairs like that; wheel bearings are not that hard to change, though some of them require a hydraulic press, but you can get one of those at Harbor Freight for about $60. Others are simple bolt-in affairs that anyone can do with some simple hand tools in their garage.
  - dsfyu404ed 10y ago
    I just checked RockAuto. They basically only had brake parts. Pads are an off the shelf item that fit stuff from the big three as well as imports. I'd wager that front and rear calipers from one of those apps works or could be made to work. Caliper rebuild kits would be easier. Control arms are probably Tesla specific and CVs likely are as well. Knowing how important leveraging off the shelf tech is to a company of Tesla's size I'd bet that CVs are Tesla specific but are simply an assembly of components from other apps. Wheel bearings aren't listed but I bet you could go to a pick-n-pull junkyard and find one. It would be stupid not to use an off the shelf bearing in their case. Bolt pattern is 5x120mm. I don't know if it's a true 120. A bunch of GM stuff used 120.7mm (not enough that it won't fit in a pinch but enough that you're going to be stretching the studs a tiny bit and all the people who think only dealers are qualified to rotate tires and change oil will complain). I wouldn't be surprised if they Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V'd everything outside the knuckle from a GM vehicle (it's not patent infringement if they're off the shelf parts) and designed their own knuckles.
    - Grishnakh 10y ago
      www.driveshaftshop.com makes custom-size axles; they can probably build ones for Teslas pretty easily. The calipers are probably made by some supplier like Brembo anyway; it'd be nonsensical for Tesla to build their own. The trick is finding which brand/model they really are and what's compatible, like you said. This taxi guy should start his own webpage about Tesla-compatible repair parts.
- JoelBennett 10y ago
  Knowing Subaru, it would likely be a head gasket issue. They will continue to run with bad head gaskets for a while, but it's a pain to keep topping up the oil and coolant.
  - smnscu 10y ago
    I have the exact same problem on my car. Thanks! Now to translate this for my (quasi-incompetent) German mechanic...
- dsfyu404ed 10y ago
  "Rebuilt" to anyone who does cars means the bottom end was done (which means the heads came off and were hopefully at least checked if not refreshed with new valve seals and guides). On a Subaru engine you basically have to pull the engine to do anything more than timing. People joke about having to pull the engine to do spark plugs but it's close to true. If the engine is already pulled nobody skips the opportunity to do plugs.
Anasufovic 10y ago
For someone only driving 50k miles a year paying over $1000 a month in maintenance for a Subaru is also questionable unless Subarus are really that unreliable. What kind of car needs at least two rebuilds within 330k? Now he's done the same with the Tesla at only 100k. This taxi driver must be a race car driver in disguise. Or this article is indeed questionable.
- mrtron 10y ago
  So far I have $0 a month in maintenance on a Subaru, with 20k miles.
  - chrisper 10y ago
    You are not changing oil and replacing the air filter?
- dsfyu404ed 10y ago
  x2 on 1k/month being really high. He might be dumb and getting screwed hard by a dealership though. I've owned more than one Subaru of similar age, do my own wrenching, read the forums, etc. The transmissions are solid, not a TH400 but not a turd either and the EJ engine series is very reliable. It's possible that he was just paying out the a$$ to chase rust issues. A control arm here, a strut there, etc. They also get crap fuel economy so if he's doing lots of longer airport to hotel runs and not much stop an go a crown vic would probably be better (I wish I was joking).

honkhonkpants 10y ago

"Rebuilt" is also pretty vague. Bottom end? Top end? Rings? Whole engine out of the vehicle? It does seem like this gentleman simply assigns some value to driving around in a Tesla all day, which is fine with me but the article should not try to make it seem economically rational.

Grishnakh 10y ago
That's a good point. I "rebuilt" the engine in my ex-wife's car years ago because she got stuck in a flash-flood and hydrolocked the engine. All I did was take off the head, give that to a shop that specialized in heads for them to replace the valves on one cylinder and clean up, then I replaced one piston and conrod and all the rings. It worked great for another 80-90k miles until we sold it, and I suspect it's still working fine now. But I never had to pull the engine out, and most of the head wasn't touched (except cleaning up all the carbon deposits on the valves). However, if Tesla has worked the bugs out of their drive units, these cars would make some sense for use as cabs, especially if you're able to charge more than regular cabs: an EV should have much lower maintenance costs than a regular car, plus much lower fuel/energy costs (cabs are driven in the city all the time so they get lousy fuel economy compared to most regular cars). The main problem I see is Tesla's high maintenance charges (e.g., they'll probably charge you a lot more to change a wheel bearing at a Tesla service center than a Toyota dealership would for a Camry), however things like wheel bearings are things that an independent mechanic should be able to handle just fine, assuming they can get their hands on a compatible part and Tesla didn't use some odd-ball part. It'd be even cheaper if this cab driver can do his own repairs like that; wheel bearings are not that hard to change, though some of them require a hydraulic press, but you can get one of those at Harbor Freight for about $60. Others are simple bolt-in affairs that anyone can do with some simple hand tools in their garage.
- dsfyu404ed 10y ago
  I just checked RockAuto. They basically only had brake parts. Pads are an off the shelf item that fit stuff from the big three as well as imports. I'd wager that front and rear calipers from one of those apps works or could be made to work. Caliper rebuild kits would be easier. Control arms are probably Tesla specific and CVs likely are as well. Knowing how important leveraging off the shelf tech is to a company of Tesla's size I'd bet that CVs are Tesla specific but are simply an assembly of components from other apps. Wheel bearings aren't listed but I bet you could go to a pick-n-pull junkyard and find one. It would be stupid not to use an off the shelf bearing in their case. Bolt pattern is 5x120mm. I don't know if it's a true 120. A bunch of GM stuff used 120.7mm (not enough that it won't fit in a pinch but enough that you're going to be stretching the studs a tiny bit and all the people who think only dealers are qualified to rotate tires and change oil will complain). I wouldn't be surprised if they Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V'd everything outside the knuckle from a GM vehicle (it's not patent infringement if they're off the shelf parts) and designed their own knuckles.
  - Grishnakh 10y ago
    www.driveshaftshop.com makes custom-size axles; they can probably build ones for Teslas pretty easily. The calipers are probably made by some supplier like Brembo anyway; it'd be nonsensical for Tesla to build their own. The trick is finding which brand/model they really are and what's compatible, like you said. This taxi guy should start his own webpage about Tesla-compatible repair parts.
JoelBennett 10y ago
Knowing Subaru, it would likely be a head gasket issue. They will continue to run with bad head gaskets for a while, but it's a pain to keep topping up the oil and coolant.
- smnscu 10y ago
  I have the exact same problem on my car. Thanks! Now to translate this for my (quasi-incompetent) German mechanic...
dsfyu404ed 10y ago
"Rebuilt" to anyone who does cars means the bottom end was done (which means the heads came off and were hopefully at least checked if not refreshed with new valve seals and guides). On a Subaru engine you basically have to pull the engine to do anything more than timing. People joke about having to pull the engine to do spark plugs but it's close to true. If the engine is already pulled nobody skips the opportunity to do plugs.

Anasufovic 10y ago

For someone only driving 50k miles a year paying over $1000 a month in maintenance for a Subaru is also questionable unless Subarus are really that unreliable. What kind of car needs at least two rebuilds within 330k? Now he's done the same with the Tesla at only 100k. This taxi driver must be a race car driver in disguise. Or this article is indeed questionable.

mrtron 10y ago
So far I have $0 a month in maintenance on a Subaru, with 20k miles.
- chrisper 10y ago
  You are not changing oil and replacing the air filter?
dsfyu404ed 10y ago
x2 on 1k/month being really high. He might be dumb and getting screwed hard by a dealership though. I've owned more than one Subaru of similar age, do my own wrenching, read the forums, etc. The transmissions are solid, not a TH400 but not a turd either and the EJ engine series is very reliable. It's possible that he was just paying out the a$$ to chase rust issues. A control arm here, a strut there, etc. They also get crap fuel economy so if he's doing lots of longer airport to hotel runs and not much stop an go a crown vic would probably be better (I wish I was joking).