7 ms·

As a Model Y owner, the lack of a service interval is really annoying. I want to pay Tesla to make sure my car stays safe and reliable, but I can't.

by naz 3y ago

RomanAlexander 3y ago
did they remove the service plan? My Model S came with a 4 year service plan where every quarter they would flush the coolant, filters, etc
- richx 3y ago
  Seems so, the official owners manual foresees some maintenance, but there is no regular service schedule. https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-E95DAAD9-646E-4249-9930-B109ED7B1D91.html https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-E95DAAD... Edit: interestingly, the German link seems to show something else: https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/de_us/GUID-E95DAAD9-646E-4249-9930-B109ED7B1D91.html https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/de_us/GUID-E95DAAD...
- sitharus 3y ago
  Every quarter? Even when driving a 15 year old combustion car I have never had a car that needed to go for service that often! My new EV has a two-year service interval to check the coolant and brakes.
  - bigbillheck 3y ago
    It wasn't too long ago you were supposed to do an oil change every 3000 miles which for the average American will happen in less than a quarter.
    - hef19898 3y ago
      That stopped in the late 80s / early 90s... Heck, even my V8 (technologically from the 60s) has oil changes every 6k miles...
    - croutonwagon 3y ago
      I generally do my oil every 7500 miles using full synthetic. When I take it in for service I assume they don’t use the expensive stuff and chnage it at 5k miles. Either way, that’s 2x a year for me. I’m probably below average driving at just shy of 15k miles/year. I think the average is around 15k though. That would be 2-3 oil changes if you did them at similar intervals. Some companies (ie: BMW) mandate more frequent chnages and higher octane gas etc etc. I don’t use those cars. If I can’t service them myself I won’t buy it (Tesla included)
lnsru 3y ago
What prohibits you from going to the service center yearly or every 10k miles?
- hef19898 3y ago
  Assuming this, no scheduled services, is Tesla policy, it is very well possible that Tesla doesn't have task lists in place for said checks. Which would be bad...
  - lnsru 3y ago
    Tesla has some recommendations in user manual. I almost bought model y. So I saw, that there is recommendation to check brakes after winter and salty roads or something alike. I also guess, that any other repair shop could do generic check as well. Teslas have brakes, suspensions, brake fluids and many other “normal” parts.
    - hef19898 3y ago
      Sure, Tesla has some things in the user manual. A workshop so needs specific task lists in the workshop manual, otherwise the inspection varies by day and person doing it. Because without said workshop manuals, mechanics are left out in the cold with regards to what has to be done. Propably includes a liability risk, you follow approved check lists from the OEM and you are propably save if something happens. You don't, miss something, an accident happens and the liability question is a lot less clear.
      - AdrianB1 3y ago
        There is no specific task list in the workshop manual. I had cars and motorcycles of various brands and, except for Mazda, nobody has a good list, while Mazda pretends to have one. Even in good car shops, brand or no brand, including the one owned by my family, there is no official list for a "good check", they just ask you: "what do you want checked?". Why? Because if you ask them to check everything, like Mazda says it does, it will cost a lot for little benefits. And car shops will be happy to charge labor for "checks". The best checks I get is when I ask my cousin (owner of a car shop, certified to do inspections): "take my car for a couple of days as your daily driver, if you notice anything wrong then fix it". Otherwise the official testing includes: suspension and direction (includes indirectly wheel bearing), brakes, emissions, headlight alignment, rust or corrosion signs, tire integrity and wear vs indicator, brake fluid level, antifreeze level, washer fluid level, signs of fluid leakage in the engine compartment or at wheels. That's it. I read the instruction manuals from all my cars and motorcycles. They are a minimum, in my opinion, I check myself a lot more, regularly.
m463 3y ago
All this should be recommended in the UI. The car DOES have maintenance needs. Lots of people in models X & S are surprised to find their seemingly ok tires are NOT OK because they wear very quickly on the non-visible inside edge. there are brakes on the car, which have pads and fluid. There is coolant for the battery. Honestly, there should be a maintenance screen in the UI. You should be able to replace tires, or windshield wipers or fluid and the UI should keep track of it. Even if it just says "last replaced 10/11/12 @ 23,456 miles" or "inspected 11/12/13" or something.
- sergiosgc 3y ago
  It should be possible to equip the car with enough sensors to detect or predict maintenance needs. Tesla's approach is, however, still incomplete. The powertrain is sensored enough, suspension/brakes/tires aren't.
  - m463 3y ago
    Just a few data points. :) My direct experience with power train sensors has been a loud noise and lots of red triangle messages that something has failed (drive motor). Another time my direct experience with inside edge wear has been... a pop and a hiss. Then the tire pressure readout gave a red triangle to say the tire had low pressure and the number was dropping to zero. (google "tesla inside edge tire wear") My direct experience with many flat tires has been -- tesla roadside assistance will waste the rest of your day or night. I've considered buying that aftermarket spare. And the battery fuse went once - I got a huge red message: "BMS_u031 Battery Fuse Requires Replacement Soon - OK to drive, schedule service"? Turns out telsa doesn't actually KNOW if the fuse needs to be replaced - you have to bring it in (google BMS_U031) It is several hundred dollars to replace. If your car has a 12v battery, it will eventually die. The battery is fairly expensive. actually, most maintenance stuff is hidden away. Wish I could unhide it, even if tesla only did it when out of warranty.
  - Neikius 3y ago
    Funny experience with vw - is had front brake pad sensors. Ofc rear pads wore off and never tripped any sensor...
speedgoose 3y ago
You could go to a third party garage. The mandatory state inspections will detect the safety issues too.
t0mas88 3y ago
Doesn't it show you when to do some maintenance based on sensors? BMW has a display that has miles on it, but those miles are only rough estimates. It may say 50k miles after replacing brake pads, but 40k miles later that could have changed to zero or it could only reach zero after 60k miles. The indication for service is based on a sensor at the brake pad, not a service interval in miles.
nxm 3y ago
Not sure if sarcasm

As a Model Y owner, the lack of a service interval is really annoying. I want to pay Tesla to make sure my car stays safe and reliable, but I can't.

by naz 3y ago

As a Model Y owner, the lack of a service interval is really annoying. I want to pay Tesla to make sure my car stays safe and reliable, but I can't.

RomanAlexander 3y ago

did they remove the service plan? My Model S came with a 4 year service plan where every quarter they would flush the coolant, filters, etc

richx 3y ago
Seems so, the official owners manual foresees some maintenance, but there is no regular service schedule. https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-E95DAAD9-646E-4249-9930-B109ED7B1D91.html https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-E95DAAD... Edit: interestingly, the German link seems to show something else: https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/de_us/GUID-E95DAAD9-646E-4249-9930-B109ED7B1D91.html https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/de_us/GUID-E95DAAD...
sitharus 3y ago
Every quarter? Even when driving a 15 year old combustion car I have never had a car that needed to go for service that often! My new EV has a two-year service interval to check the coolant and brakes.
- bigbillheck 3y ago
  It wasn't too long ago you were supposed to do an oil change every 3000 miles which for the average American will happen in less than a quarter.
  - hef19898 3y ago
    That stopped in the late 80s / early 90s... Heck, even my V8 (technologically from the 60s) has oil changes every 6k miles...
  - croutonwagon 3y ago
    I generally do my oil every 7500 miles using full synthetic. When I take it in for service I assume they don’t use the expensive stuff and chnage it at 5k miles. Either way, that’s 2x a year for me. I’m probably below average driving at just shy of 15k miles/year. I think the average is around 15k though. That would be 2-3 oil changes if you did them at similar intervals. Some companies (ie: BMW) mandate more frequent chnages and higher octane gas etc etc. I don’t use those cars. If I can’t service them myself I won’t buy it (Tesla included)

lnsru 3y ago

What prohibits you from going to the service center yearly or every 10k miles?

hef19898 3y ago
Assuming this, no scheduled services, is Tesla policy, it is very well possible that Tesla doesn't have task lists in place for said checks. Which would be bad...
- lnsru 3y ago
  Tesla has some recommendations in user manual. I almost bought model y. So I saw, that there is recommendation to check brakes after winter and salty roads or something alike. I also guess, that any other repair shop could do generic check as well. Teslas have brakes, suspensions, brake fluids and many other “normal” parts.
  - hef19898 3y ago
    Sure, Tesla has some things in the user manual. A workshop so needs specific task lists in the workshop manual, otherwise the inspection varies by day and person doing it. Because without said workshop manuals, mechanics are left out in the cold with regards to what has to be done. Propably includes a liability risk, you follow approved check lists from the OEM and you are propably save if something happens. You don't, miss something, an accident happens and the liability question is a lot less clear.
    - AdrianB1 3y ago
      There is no specific task list in the workshop manual. I had cars and motorcycles of various brands and, except for Mazda, nobody has a good list, while Mazda pretends to have one. Even in good car shops, brand or no brand, including the one owned by my family, there is no official list for a "good check", they just ask you: "what do you want checked?". Why? Because if you ask them to check everything, like Mazda says it does, it will cost a lot for little benefits. And car shops will be happy to charge labor for "checks". The best checks I get is when I ask my cousin (owner of a car shop, certified to do inspections): "take my car for a couple of days as your daily driver, if you notice anything wrong then fix it". Otherwise the official testing includes: suspension and direction (includes indirectly wheel bearing), brakes, emissions, headlight alignment, rust or corrosion signs, tire integrity and wear vs indicator, brake fluid level, antifreeze level, washer fluid level, signs of fluid leakage in the engine compartment or at wheels. That's it. I read the instruction manuals from all my cars and motorcycles. They are a minimum, in my opinion, I check myself a lot more, regularly.

m463 3y ago

All this should be recommended in the UI. The car DOES have maintenance needs. Lots of people in models X & S are surprised to find their seemingly ok tires are NOT OK because they wear very quickly on the non-visible inside edge. there are brakes on the car, which have pads and fluid. There is coolant for the battery. Honestly, there should be a maintenance screen in the UI. You should be able to replace tires, or windshield wipers or fluid and the UI should keep track of it. Even if it just says "last replaced 10/11/12 @ 23,456 miles" or "inspected 11/12/13" or something.

sergiosgc 3y ago
It should be possible to equip the car with enough sensors to detect or predict maintenance needs. Tesla's approach is, however, still incomplete. The powertrain is sensored enough, suspension/brakes/tires aren't.
- m463 3y ago
  Just a few data points. :) My direct experience with power train sensors has been a loud noise and lots of red triangle messages that something has failed (drive motor). Another time my direct experience with inside edge wear has been... a pop and a hiss. Then the tire pressure readout gave a red triangle to say the tire had low pressure and the number was dropping to zero. (google "tesla inside edge tire wear") My direct experience with many flat tires has been -- tesla roadside assistance will waste the rest of your day or night. I've considered buying that aftermarket spare. And the battery fuse went once - I got a huge red message: "BMS_u031 Battery Fuse Requires Replacement Soon - OK to drive, schedule service"? Turns out telsa doesn't actually KNOW if the fuse needs to be replaced - you have to bring it in (google BMS_U031) It is several hundred dollars to replace. If your car has a 12v battery, it will eventually die. The battery is fairly expensive. actually, most maintenance stuff is hidden away. Wish I could unhide it, even if tesla only did it when out of warranty.
- Neikius 3y ago
  Funny experience with vw - is had front brake pad sensors. Ofc rear pads wore off and never tripped any sensor...

speedgoose 3y ago

You could go to a third party garage. The mandatory state inspections will detect the safety issues too.

t0mas88 3y ago

Doesn't it show you when to do some maintenance based on sensors? BMW has a display that has miles on it, but those miles are only rough estimates. It may say 50k miles after replacing brake pads, but 40k miles later that could have changed to zero or it could only reach zero after 60k miles. The indication for service is based on a sensor at the brake pad, not a service interval in miles.

nxm 3y ago

Not sure if sarcasm