hmmm, maybe I should drive my i-MiEV the 1500 miles up to Vancouver to try it out... :roll:
OMG, I must be doing something wrong! So far my Tesla has proven to have the same maintenance costs as my i-MiEV: ZERO! I take it back, if tire replacement counts as maintenance then I've replaced tires on the i-MiEVs but haven't done that on the Tesla yet.
Right now I'm sitting at just-short-of 50,000 miles when the original warranty expires (except for the battery and drivetrain).
Let's see, when I bought the car (which had never been in for routine maintenance) I should have gone and done that for $600+
Now, after my 20,000 miles racked up in six months I should have taken it in for the 48K-mile maintenance at $1200+
Then I should have signed up for the extended warranty at $4000 (although there's some question of my eligibility for this).
Now, Tesla has given my luxury car free fuel for over 20,000 miles … figure that was worth $3,000 savings compared to an ICE vehicle.
Also, I haven't gone in for routine oil changes and all that other malarkey associated with ICEs … good for at least another $500.
Thus, adding it all up I have $9,300 in my pocket to cover the future costs of my present transgressions.
Now, what do you get when you take the car in for the annual 'maintenance'? Umm, they give you a new battery for your keychain and a new set of windshield wipers and a cabin filter… and inspect a whole bunch of the usual stuff, but no wheel alignment.
For the major maintenance, there are three significant items - brake fluid replacement, a/c recharge. and battery coolant replacement. I understand the brake fluid and will probably do it myself on a nice day one of these years (but intend to have a brake fluid analysis performed first), the a/c is still working fine, thank you, so nothing needs to be recharged, but the battery coolant replacement has me perplexed: since nothing has leaked out, what is there in that fluid to 'wear out' and so why touch it? I really am worried about someone damaging seals in each of those procedures.
The few rare times I've had 'professionals' touch any of my cars they inevitably managed to damage something.
One of the biggest disillusionments in my life was maybe 25 years ago when I was retrieving my parents' Buick from the shop for a ridiculously-expensive fuel pump replacement and I inadvertently stumbled into the back workers' area and there saw this huge sign admonishing/asking the staff if they had recommended additional work and parts on the car related to the issue the car was in the shop for … sure enough, they had been talked into a wiring harness! Gawd, was I naive!
I'm still researching the Tesla Motors Club website for maintenance-related information to find out just how misguided my perspective is.
