Tesla

[DoctorSpouse]

What are your thoughts on long term Tesla ownership, especially beyond the warranty period? Specifically the model 3, which I know is still young. Certainly lots of unknowns out there right now. Any of you planning on keeping this car 10+yrs? What do you think will be it's reliability, issues, costs, etc.? I read a lot of speculation, optimism, or pessimism, and it's hard to gauge what to really expect.

[Kamban]

What are your thoughts on long term Tesla ownership, especially beyond the warranty period? Specifically the model 3, which I know is still young. Certainly lots of unknowns out there right now. Any of you planning on keeping this car 10+yrs? What do you think will be it's reliability, issues, costs, etc.? I read a lot of speculation, optimism, or pessimism, and it's hard to gauge what to really expect.

No one really knows.. The most expensive items are the battery and drive units. The battery is warranted for 100 or 120K miles ( short vs long range Model 3) / 8 years. There is history of Model S batteries lasting a long time and the technology in the Model 3 battery is newer and supposed to last longer. The power train is similar warranty.

If it gives relatively trouble free service for 8 years, I will take my chances after that. If major repair is needed, I might trade it in with Tesla for that year's model.

[ENT Doc]

I refuse to look over 44 pages of this thread but recently looked into a Tesla for $hits and giggles, specifically to see what their driverless features are. I couldn't really tell when selecting the $7000 (now $8k I think) option of driverless package. Is this something that is put in the car that requires updates down the road to enable more features? Do you have to buy these updates down the road? Is the incentive to buy this early and now so you don't have to pay $100k down the road for a fully driverless Tesla? I'm not seriously interested in buying one - more just curious about the finance aspect of this decision for would-be owners.

[Kamban]

I couldn't really tell when selecting the $7000 (now $8k I think) option of driverless package. Is this something that is put in the car that requires updates down the road to enable more features? Do you have to buy these updates down the road? Is the incentive to buy this early and now so you don't have to pay $100k down the road for a fully driverless Tesla? I'm not seriously interested in buying one - more just curious about the finance aspect of this decision for would-be owners.

The FSD (full self drive) feature is there in every Model 3. Only that it is locked. It used to cost 5K more to unlock it when I got the car 8 months ago. It is now 8 K.
Right now it has more gimmicks than self drive. All future updates are free for the life of that car after you buy it. Elon is hoping that by raising prices, people buy it now at 5K or 8K or whatever so that they don't regret not buying it at that price when in the future it is 15K and fully functional ( kinda how I thought about buying Amazon at $27 in 2000 but could not pull the trigger and now it is in the thousands).

[Nysoz]

I like him as CEO but I wish he would take a step back from spouting random things on twitter.

But as for FSD, I've yet to purchase it. I've instead bought tesla stock and options with the $7k. Until it has features I want/need I'll keep the money invested. I wish EAP was still an option as I'd get that. Main things I want are auto lane switch and summon the car backwards or forwards to get into/out of tight spots.

I did think about buying the speed boost or a roadster model to help out profitability but invested all that money instead too lol.

[White.Beard.Doc]

What are your thoughts on long term Tesla ownership, especially beyond the warranty period? Specifically the model 3, which I know is still young. Certainly lots of unknowns out there right now. Any of you planning on keeping this car 10+yrs? What do you think will be it's reliability, issues, costs, etc.? I read a lot of speculation, optimism, or pessimism, and it's hard to gauge what to really expect.

Battery wise, the longevity is impressive. I was worried about that in the beginning, but we take good care of our batteries and they will very likely last for 20 years if I extrapolate based on our first 8 years of ownership. I have one of the earliest Model S vehicles. There were some issues. The first generation door handles had issues. All were replaced under warranty. The tail lights got condensation inside. Both were replaced under warranty. The early screens had the glue under the glass start to degrade after several years. They gave me a new computer screen under warranty. The new screen got some yellowish tinge around the margins of the screen. They used a UV light treatment to bleach it back to new condition. That was also under courtesy warranty despite the car being far out of warranty.

I have not done any maintenance over the last 2 years on the oldest Tesla. Well actually, that is not correct. I put washer fluid in the reservoir last fall to get through the winter, and I changed the front wiper blade inserts about 2 years ago.

I have read that some early Teslas have blown a chip that had to be replaced, and that is supposed to be costly, but although I know many Tesla owners, I don't know anyone who has had any serious issues. I am on my 4th Tesla since 2012, and I still have the oldest one. I would not hesitate to buy one. They will have less scheduled maintenance than any ICE vehicle. Just the same, there will probably be a few issues that come up over time. So far Tesla has been very good about covering any issues that come up under warranty.

[Nysoz]

yeah you can't pay attention to the outliers because people will hype that up out of proportion. people will have bad experiences, but by far the majority of people have a good experience with the car.

when people talk about battery packs going bad, it just holds less energy due to degradation. it doesn't die and not work anymore except in extreme cases. I've only had my model 3 for a year, but the battery pack is supposed to be better than the old model s which still got 300k+ miles out of them. personally I'll never buy another ICE car and unless another company comes out with a better product, it'll be another tesla.

[Kamban]

I like him as CEO but I wish he would take a step back from spouting random things on twitter.

Reminds me of another person :-)

[Tim]

“Originally posted by Nysoz View Post
I like him as CEO but I wish he would take a step back from spouting random things on twitter.
Reminds me of another person :-)”

The question becomes how effectively Musk can attract and retain talent. Most of the Jobs stories completely ignore the IPHONE. Cook handled the manufacturing and logistics and organization building for that. Without IPhone, Apple is probably another Yahoo.

[StarTrekDoc]

90,000 cars for the quarter -- we're part of that statistic with our new Y. Tesla is the iphone equivalent for cars. Cell phone industry was relative well established when Apple flipped it on its head with the iphone screen and OS. Same for auto industry. Tesla has brought tech and personal entertainment and merged it with transportation/driving experience.

It certainly isn't the great manufacturer. neither is apple. but tesla has accomplished something very disruptive in the most unlikely sector and that's pretty remarkable. Takes a guy that imagines landing rockets on a moving barge or makes flamethrowers just for fun to dare to dream and walk it. --- I'll take his schisms for that trade.

[Kamban]

Takes a guy that imagines landing rockets on a moving barge or makes flamethrowers just for fun to dare to dream and walk it. --- I'll take his schisms for that trade.

George Bernard Shaw: “Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people.” Unreasonable people see the world as it should be and not how it is today.

This applies to both Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. And without Musk we will still be relying on the Soviets to hitch a ride to ISS. I will take Elon with all his rants ( even though I wish he would tone it a little) than an ordinary CEO of another ordinary company surrounded by bean counters. For $38K the Model3 SR+ is a bargain and marvel in EV technology.

[burritos]

When picking up, do you make the cashier's check out to Tesla Motors Inc? No identification number or anything?

[White.Beard.Doc]

When picking up, do you make the cashier's check out to Tesla Motors Inc? No identification number or anything?

Just make the check out to Tesla, Inc.

I have a serious Tesla addiction and have been such a good customer that they now take my personal check for a new Tesla.

They also will take an ACH transfer prior to pick up on their website. I would recommend the ACH method if you are paying cash, so you can avoid the hassle of going to the bank for a cashier's check. That is, unless they let you simply write a personal check.

[burritos]

Just make the check out to Tesla, Inc.

I have a serious Tesla addiction and have been such a good customer that they now take my personal check for a new Tesla.

They also will take an ACH transfer prior to pick up on their website. I would recommend the ACH method if you are paying cash, so you can avoid the hassle of going to the bank for a cashier's check. That is, unless they let you simply write a personal check.

does each individual have to download the tesla app and create a separate account or can we use the same email linked account?

[Kamban]

does each individual have to download the tesla app and create a separate account or can we use the same email linked account?

You name the car. And each person downloads the Tesla app. And can link that app to that car. I think initially one needs the card key to make that initial link and you need to get into the car's display menu to do it ( it has been long ago since I set it up for my wife and daughter) but it is super easy.

And one app can control 2 or more Teslas.