Starting March 15th, Tesla Forums will become read only. To continue the conversation with the Tesla community visit engage.tesla.com.
The T turns Six...Any Signs of Aging?
From 2019 on, I will follow @sblank's format, listing repairs by year as a summary for those who don't want to read a lot of detail. Will research our work orders to make sure we have captured all non routine maintenance.
2014 Car delivered March 12, 2014. Passenger front door handle replaced July.
2015 Same passenger door handle replaced
2016 Upgraded to LTE. UMC failed to charge, replaced Sept.
2018 Drive unit replaced with ceramic bearing equipped unit, car taken back for adjustment in front end alignment after it drifted to the right.
2019 July 14, 2019 performed air bag , steering bolt, liftgate drainplug service bulletins, torqued front/rear suspension, untangled seat belt. $273.
Nov 6 and 11, 2019, low coolant warning, purged system. Replace 12V battery soon warning. Palm Springs Tesla Service replaced our 12V battery . First time it has been replaced. 69 months. 35,303 miles. $205
2020 Replaced main battery coolant hose and rapid mate (coolant assembly, cx vehicle side mdls) $557 (they reduced it by amount paid in November for purging coolant, which did not permanently resolve leak/alerts)
Original Post -2016
This Saturday, March 12, our S85 turned two years old. Just shy of 20,000 miles, with original 19" Michelin Primacies. 90% charge is still 236 and 100% full has dropped from 265 to 261 miles. I see that 100,000 VINs have been issued since 32723 was made. To date, the only problem our car has had was passenger front door handle stuck in open position. However, we deliberately avoided most options, both for avoidance of cost and mechanical complexity. Only options on our Classic T were dual chargers, Tech Package and (original) blue paint. All this was pre autopilot, pre dual motors, of course. We reflect that if ordering today, autopilot would be of interest.
2018 Drive Unit Replacement Detail
February 28, 2018, we took the T in for its Fourth Annual Service. It's at 30,000 miles, and a year ago we replaced the tires with the same Michelin Primacies. About 6 months ago we noticed some chirping noises from the rear, so Tesla replaced the drive unit with the ceramic bearing rebuilt unit. We enjoyed Model X P100DL VIN 81103 with 3000 miles on it, which we named "Jonah the Loanah". Our car is holding 260 miles range full, 235 at 90% still. 200,000 more Model S cars have been produced since we took delivery of ours.
And you?
How has yours been doing, at the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8th year anniversary? It will be interesting to see which signs of aging crop up as we drive on down the road. I guess I am not referring to the things that immediately go wrong soon after delivery and were made right by Tesla.
We have many happy memories, of our trips from San Diego: West Coast/Canada trip, Utah Parks, Desert Southwest, California Wine/Mountain trips and various trips to LA, Idyllwild and Palm Springs. 11,000 miles have been on Superchargers or otherwise free charging. We look forward to the upcoming Great Lakes trip, hopefully in a new Model 3! Not! Canceled Model 3 at 8 week mark, after delivery could not be pinned down even to the 11th or 12th week, thus invalidating our whole itinerary.
Still smiling every day...no regrets!
2014 Car delivered March 12, 2014. Passenger front door handle replaced July.
2015 Same passenger door handle replaced
2016 Upgraded to LTE. UMC failed to charge, replaced Sept.
2018 Drive unit replaced with ceramic bearing equipped unit, car taken back for adjustment in front end alignment after it drifted to the right.
2019 July 14, 2019 performed air bag , steering bolt, liftgate drainplug service bulletins, torqued front/rear suspension, untangled seat belt. $273.
Nov 6 and 11, 2019, low coolant warning, purged system. Replace 12V battery soon warning. Palm Springs Tesla Service replaced our 12V battery . First time it has been replaced. 69 months. 35,303 miles. $205
2020 Replaced main battery coolant hose and rapid mate (coolant assembly, cx vehicle side mdls) $557 (they reduced it by amount paid in November for purging coolant, which did not permanently resolve leak/alerts)
Original Post -2016
This Saturday, March 12, our S85 turned two years old. Just shy of 20,000 miles, with original 19" Michelin Primacies. 90% charge is still 236 and 100% full has dropped from 265 to 261 miles. I see that 100,000 VINs have been issued since 32723 was made. To date, the only problem our car has had was passenger front door handle stuck in open position. However, we deliberately avoided most options, both for avoidance of cost and mechanical complexity. Only options on our Classic T were dual chargers, Tech Package and (original) blue paint. All this was pre autopilot, pre dual motors, of course. We reflect that if ordering today, autopilot would be of interest.
2018 Drive Unit Replacement Detail
February 28, 2018, we took the T in for its Fourth Annual Service. It's at 30,000 miles, and a year ago we replaced the tires with the same Michelin Primacies. About 6 months ago we noticed some chirping noises from the rear, so Tesla replaced the drive unit with the ceramic bearing rebuilt unit. We enjoyed Model X P100DL VIN 81103 with 3000 miles on it, which we named "Jonah the Loanah". Our car is holding 260 miles range full, 235 at 90% still. 200,000 more Model S cars have been produced since we took delivery of ours.
And you?
How has yours been doing, at the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8th year anniversary? It will be interesting to see which signs of aging crop up as we drive on down the road. I guess I am not referring to the things that immediately go wrong soon after delivery and were made right by Tesla.
We have many happy memories, of our trips from San Diego: West Coast/Canada trip, Utah Parks, Desert Southwest, California Wine/Mountain trips and various trips to LA, Idyllwild and Palm Springs. 11,000 miles have been on Superchargers or otherwise free charging. We look forward to the upcoming Great Lakes trip, hopefully in a new Model 3! Not! Canceled Model 3 at 8 week mark, after delivery could not be pinned down even to the 11th or 12th week, thus invalidating our whole itinerary.
Still smiling every day...no regrets!
0
Comments
Hope to see a big crowd at the Black Hills, Custer SD "sound of silence" rally in May.
"Milling" noise: replaced drive train.
Creaking noise when suspension moves up or down: replaced front control arm.
Clanking noise in rear: parking brake pad detached: replaced pad and brake rotors.
12V battery replaced after issuing warning.
It's feeling much better now that the rate of repairs has dropped dramatically, but it's still a couple in the past year.
At about 35,000 miles I got the dreaded milling sound. The DU was replaced without hesitation.
In between these infrequent difficulties I have enjoyed the drive. Overall, a wonderful car.
"Don't feel as safe driving any thing else." +1
At delivery, there was a clip broken on a wiring harness in the door, so auto-present handles wouldn't present. They fixed that in the first week or two. Then, it didn't need anything at all for the next year and a half. At that point, I had a rear window motor regular that had gone out. I'm going at the end of April for the two year service.
I also got it fairly basic, with no air suspension and no pano roof, because I didn't want those maintenance hassles, being 300+ miles from a service center and planning to own the car for a very long time.
I continue to love everything about the car, feel better about life when driving it. Appreciate the stream of OTA upgrades, didn't think the auto garage door opening would be a big deal, but I really like it. Reminds me daily how cool the car and the company are.
If I weren't such an old guy and new grandfather I might well take a dive into a P85D, having driven one recently. But I'm as happy with my 85 today as I was when I got it.
Also original 12V and drive unit but with most options on a standard 85.
To all the others with anniversaries, congrats as well. It's a pretty fun topic to talk about, especially when you hear the number of miles.
I sure spend a fair amount on tires, tho. :-)
The only bothersome issue is the persistent loss of RM range. I'm not usually one to fret this stuff, but with max down to 235 miles, it's gotten my attention... And with many long trip legs, noting has been reclaimed, even with Tesla's direct input... At my request, Tesla has reviewed this at each visit and so far they haven't called it out-of-spec. ...Not yet.
Still the best vehicle I've ever owned (by large measure). :-)