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Tesla X parts that had to be replaced after 400k miles
- serf 7y agoThis is out of the context of the article, but how does someone spend the cash on a Tesla X and then put Nexen tires on it as soon as possible? I can't think of a company that makes cheaper rubber. Might just be my own opinion, but talk about out-of-whack priorities. I wouldn't want to drive even the world's safest car if it had tires on it that I wouldn't put on a mid 90s beater car.
- stirlo 7y agoMost of this seems to be cosmetic (various switches breaking, noisy seat mechanisms) that the typical buyer would not bother fixing on a car with 100's of thousands of miles. Also interesting how much they got covered under warranty. I'd assume Tesla is doing these repairs for free as they are getting valuable data on the real world durability of their cars. I don't think the average owner would get a free battery or CV joints when they reach a couple of hundred thousand miles in 10+ years.
- threeseed 7y agoThe fact that the battery had to be replaced 3 times in 3 years seems very odd. An average owner would likely never have it replaced.
- jsight 7y agoI only noticed one. Can you note the mileages when it was replaced two other times? I agree with you that most owners wouldn't have been able to get that warranteed at the 300k mile mark. Unfortunately, the battery warranty is one of Tesla's weakest points.
- drusepth 7y agoThe other battery replacement occurred at 158k miles. I'm guessing the third replacement that comment is referring to was actually the line item for refunding the 355k mile battery replacement, which (as I understand) isn't a third replacement. So, two battery replacements in 400k miles.
- jsight 7y agoThe ones at 158k and 355k were the 12v battery. Those are annoying, but probably not exceptionally high for 400k miles. It looks like 317,037 was the only high voltage battery replacement. That wouldn't be too bad, IMO.
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- bound008 7y agoThis is just a guess from reading the article, but the A/C that was running non stop for years runs off of the 12V battery instead of being belt driven. There are many issues that occur when people take affordable passenger cars, (e.g. Camry) and drive them as taxis, that stem from not being used as designed.
- greglindahl 7y agoThe 12V battery is the tiny one that doesn't cost much, similar to the one that every ICE car has. Teslas do need a marine grade 12V battery, which costs a bit extra.
- reportingsjr 7y agoThe article states that the A/C compressor runs off of the high voltage battery, not the 12V. I'm curious what is running off of the 12v to cause such wear, but considering the miles traveled having to replace it 3 times isn't actual that crazy.
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- endorphone 7y agoNote that they’re talking about the 12v battery, not the battery pack. The 12v battery is like an accessory battery.
- greglindahl 7y agoYes. It’s the same size battery that every ICE car has.
- toomuchtodo 7y agoNot odd. Tesla’s are notorious for being hard on the 12V battery due to all of the non-traction loads in the vehicle. We replaced ours with deep cycle 12V lithium packs to prevent early mortality.
- greglindahl 7y agoTesla replaced mine with a deep cycle marine battery. Which aren't that much more expensive than a conventional ICE 12V battery. This is apparently now standard equipment.
- toomuchtodo 7y agoThis is great to hear.
- ranit 7y agoThe article mentioned which repairs are done for free - warranty or good will.
- _bxg1 7y agoThe free batteries really must've skewed the data, assuming a regular consumer couldn't work out the same deal. Batteries are supposed to be a significant fraction of the cost of an electric car; analogous to replacing the engine in a combustion car.
- xbmcuser 7y agoBattery prices are still falling by about 10% a year. I don't think the cost of battery replacement would be that big a cost if it needs to be replaced after 10 years. You would get some money for your old battery as well.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- secabeen 7y agoThe big question with any battery replacement is what the core credit is for the expended battery. If the battery costs $20k, but you get an $18k credit for surrendering the used battery, then it's not so bad. In theory, used car batteries would still be in fine shape to be used in fixed systems (like a whole-house battery, etc.) thus generating a nice core credit, but there just isn't enough data to know what that will look like in 10 years.
- _bxg1 7y ago> would still be in fine shape to be used in fixed systems I don't understand what you mean; if the charge they hold is a fraction of the original charge, or worse, who's going to be using them as-is? I'm sure there's value in recycling the various exotic materials they're made of, but I don't see how that would be anywhere near 90% of the original value
- dahfizz 7y agoIf space is not at a premium, then it's perfectly reasonable to buy twice as many half-efficient used batteries if you get them for cheap.
- clouddrover 7y ago> I don't think the average owner would get a free battery Tesla's old Model X battery warranty was 8 years, unlimited miles, 70% of original capacity. The new battery warranty is 8 years or 150,000 miles, 70% retention: https://www.tesla.com/support/vehicle-warranty https://www.tesla.com/support/vehicle-warranty So had they bought the Model X under the new warranty they would have had to pay for the new battery since the car was beyond 150,000 miles.
- ScottFree 7y agoI'd really like to see a write-up like this on one of the model S's from northern europe. The biggest longevity concern for me is rust and corrosion of the frame due to winter road salt.
- agumonkey 7y agoAllow me to ask a stupid question: isn't there a simple cleaning routine to do to ensure long term corrosion free ?
- derekp7 7y agoIf you are referring to a car wash, well the problem there is that car washes recycle their water. They filter out the dirt, but not the salt. So the salt water gets pressure fed into crack and crevices making things worse.
- barry-cotter 7y agoNo. Not if you’re using a car normally. Water and salt will both cause corrosion and the longer salty water is in contact with the underbody of the car the faster corrosion will work. Even if you washed the underside of your car every evening after returning from work there would still be the corrosion from the eight or so hours since you left for work in the morning and that would accumulate.
- nextos 7y ago
- gibsonf1 7y agoThat equates to $60 per month maintenance if the car had been driven 10K miles per year ($29K / 400K miles = $.0725 per mile) which seems extremely good.
- Someone1234 7y ago> That equates to $60 per month maintenance You mean $600/month? $29,000/48 = $604.16. And that doesn't include Tesla's free (outside of warranty) battery replacement.
- Ottolay 7y agoYour number assumes the car is driven 100,000 miles a year, which would get it to 400,000 miles in 48 months (4 years). The original comment assumed 10,000 miles a year, which is on the light end.
- Someone1234 7y agoThe car is only 4 years old, it couldn't have been driven longer than it has existed.
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- deleted 7y ago
- throw0101a 7y agoI've heard that the LeMans 24-Hour race is very gruelling on vehicles: how practical would having a Tesla (or any other EV) try doing it? (Or has it been tried?)
- rrrhys 7y agoWith battery swaps?
- Gibbon1 7y agoProbably could run the whole race but the need to recharge often would hinder it substantially. Notable Toyota entered a hybrid car in 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_TS050_Hybrid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_TS050_Hybrid
- MivLives 7y agoThere is Formula E, but they swap cars at pitstops. For LeMans, I think you'd have to do something similar to bumper cars with an electrified grid above it.
- clouddrover 7y agoFormula E no longer does car swaps with the Gen2 car. The races are 45 minutes plus one lap. You can watch the recent Mexico race on the Formula E YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDjw0AWiVX8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDjw0AWiVX8
- clouddrover 7y agoHere's a 24 hour run Porsche did with the Taycan. They covered 3,425km in 24 hours: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jSG_10_JRg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jSG_10_JRg EVs are uncompetitive with ICE cars in 24 hour races at the moment due to the time lost in recharging. Much faster charging or fast battery swaps would be needed to match ICE vehicles.
- Gibbon1 7y ago> They covered 3,425km in 24 hours That's amusing. I tried doing a rough calc when researching the answer below and came up with about 2000 miles or 3200 km for an electric. Close! If batteries got 50% better they'd be competitive.
- sremani 7y agohttps://www.voltstats.net/Stats/Details/1579 https://www.voltstats.net/Stats/Details/1579 This Volt made it over 475K miles -- not sure of the current status. I think it had couple repairs or so. some more backstory : https://insideevs.com/news/334835/this-chevy-volt-has-400000-miles-on-odometer-with-no-noticeable-battery-degradation/ https://insideevs.com/news/334835/this-chevy-volt-has-400000...
- justinph 7y agoI want to say this is fairly reasonable for a 400k vehicle, but two AC compressors before 120k miles is crappy. An electric-driven compressor has a muuuuuch easier life than one driven by serpentine belt that with a clutch. It should be essentially a forever part. That's some shitty design on Tesla's part. Going that long on factory brakes shouldn't be too surprising either; hybrids have been doing that for decades.
- intopieces 7y agoIt ought to be a forever part under normal use. This car got to 400k by being used all day, every day.
- m463 7y ago> electric-driven compressor has a muuuuuch easier life I disagree. Tesla cars run the compressor more often. - There's a setting most people leave enabled that will cool the car anytime it reaches 104 (when parked). - you can also leave the ac going while you're away from the car, like in a restaurant. - you can cool the car from your phone - this was a service vehicle, so they probably left it going so customers would get a cool car. - This specific tesla was going across the desert between vegas/palm springs/los angeles
- jws 7y agoOf the $29k in repairs, over a quarter of it is just periodic new tires yet they don't break that out in the article. I was saddened to see that key fobs are about $150 (and he needed 6 of them). That's the kind of pricing jackassery that I would not expect from Tesla. The number of fobs is about right, I've worn my Ford's fob button out in about 120k miles, but 3rd party chip keys are $5 and 3rd party fobs are $5. It seems like a 15x markup for a required, consumable item is bit "Detroit".
- IB885588 7y agoToyota Corolla keyfobs are like $400 CAD, last I checked.
- NotSammyHagar 7y ago$5 seems unrealistically low. The Tesla keys supposably have higher security, I remember they changed the software to address some vulnerability. My fobs each serviced 4 years w.o. breaking over 4 years
- internet_user 7y agobank cards with identical security (secure element) cost well under $5, in bulk maybe even under a dollar.
- greglindahl 7y agoIt's as if price and cost are different! Subaru wanted to charge me too much to replace a fob, last time I asked.
- internet_user 7y agoThe price of bank cards to users is blended into the product, however, some charge a low single dollar digits for frequent replacements. It's not at all unexpected a key card for a Tesla would be low. Seems to be $25, which is much cheaper than most remote keys. https://shop.tesla.com/product/model-3-key-card https://shop.tesla.com/product/model-3-key-card
- peter303 7y agoMy two Honda Civics had similar profile: pretty reasonable to maintain the first 200K miles. Then not so cost effective afterwards.
- Paperweight 7y agoI wish there was a "continually improved" model of car where they gradually tweak every part that fails over time, instead of just throwing it all out with an "all new redesigned" model every 10 years (with all fresh weaknesses).
- vneur 7y agoContinual small improvements is exactly what Tesla does. That's why so many of the small issues listed in the article have since been fixed (as the article points out).
- frosted-flakes 7y agoThere kind of is. The Chevrolet Express/GMC Savannah vans have remained largely the same since the late 1990s. The design of the headlights and grill have changed a few times, and there are several different versions of the engines, but stuff like brake systems, heater controls and fans, seats, instrument panel, etc. are more or less the same. I don't think GM makes passenger versions anymore, but the cargo vans are still super common in my area (southern Ontario).
- Paperweight 7y agoHave they actually improved its weaknesses, though, besides upgrading the engine from time to time? For example, today I replaced a front wheel hub-bearing on a FWD car. These are designed with a cast steering knuckle that the axle goes through. The bearing assembly is mounted on the front of the bore, the axle goes through the bore into the hub-bearing from the back, and there's a little seal on the back of the bore that the axle rides on. Diagram: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Steering_knuckle_diagram.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Steering... The weakness is that water inevitably gets into the bore around the back seal (since the axle moves around a bit) and the only way out is through the bearing out the front. It rusts out. Nobody has improved this design for the past 50 years, as far as I am aware. Perhaps a weep hole? Perhaps they need to be completely filled with grease?
- winrid 7y ago
- nrb 7y agoOne thing to note is that this is a rental/commercial vehicle, which people absolutely do not treat as kindly as their own vehicles. They don't mention how many miles were shuttle vs normal rental, and I'm surprised the article makes only a brief passing mention of that fact at the beginning.
- winrid 7y agoA front axle replacement is $2k? That's insane!
- csharptwdec19 7y agoEhh, the line item says front axle and part of the Halfshaft. I'll admit I don't know all the parts in these cars... but if I see front axle and front halfshaft there's probably a differential and other stuff involved too. Such things can vary pretty wildly in price. As an example, the front diff for my car it is just a couple hundred bucks for the part, on some VW models it's almost a grand. The Tesla part is probably on the lower side of that band, if it was involved. A more detailed breakout would be helpful to find out.
- winrid 7y agoIf the repair included a differential the line item would have said that right? Replacing an axle doesn't mean the differential is involved at all. As someone who's replaced at least a dozen axles.
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- HeyLaughingBoy 7y agoDepends on the design. I was quoted something like that to replace the front axle half-shaft on my Toyota pickup. I ended up doing the work myself, but I can understand the high labor cost: it's a very time-consuming repair.
- winrid 7y agoTime consuming, nah, can do it in less than an hour. We do it at rallies all the time. Maybe your pickup is different...
- HeyLaughingBoy 7y ago1987 Toyota 4x4? The book shows it as (I think, it's been a long time) 6 hours of labor. It took me closer to 12 doing it nights after work.
- winrid 7y agoA comparison to a similarly priced car/mileage/environment would be more interesting.
- ryanmercer 7y agoI mean... 400k miles is a LOT. I've never personally been in a vehicle with that many miles, the most I've seen in a vehicle I've driven/ridden in is about 190k miles and the car really needed to be shot and put out of its misery. The fact the car was still running at 400k miles is amazing.
- british_india 7y agoOh my God! Only 400,000 miles and it needs new parts? What a piece of jumk!!! Or not, considering the performance of the typical ICE engine. Like it or not gasoline partisans: the electric car, especially Teslas, will change the world.