quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
You are asking about two trucks that don’t exist yet for the consumer basically. How should anyone answer your questions. It’s like asking sedan owners how they think the reliability of the next generation truck which isn’t available will be based on their car. You want to know cost but not in price or electricity just maintenance. Well for the period of the warranty it will cost you brakes, tires, and apparently washer fluid.

What response do you feel your query will garner? Nobody but Elon has one of these. Of course you are getting nonsensical responses because no one can tell you what maintenance costs or associated reliability will be for a fucking truck that doesn’t exist yet in consumer hands. Might as well ask how reliable the new Ford Bronco is.

The answer for both is buy one and you tell us. Then you can ask us what rims dad should put on.

I've no dog in this tussle. However Black92LX's post asked for Tesla owners, who have real world experience with an electric vehicle, to chime in. The premise of his query seems reasonable. Those that have first hand experience... what's the real cost of ownership and what limitations have you been confronted with. We all know it's not prudent to guess at the performance of yet to be built truck.

FWIW, I've got a good friend that's on his second Telsa. They have a second gas powered car as well. He loves the Telsa's and has made a number of trips driving from Texas to Colorado with zero issues as to finding charging stations or any reliability issues. Admittedly, the vast majority of his driving is around town. That's my total experience with with electrics, but I'd like having one as my driving is mostly short trips and it would suite my needs quite well.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:

What kind of brakes do Teslas have? Electric or hydraulic? I would think brakes pads are still a maintenance item.

Not a Tesla, but my wife is on her second hybrid now.

Yes, brake pads are a wear item, but compared to the same vehicle with a conventional power train, driven by the same driver with same driving habits, brake pads will last a heck of a lot longer in the hybrid, as a significant amount of braking action is supplied by regenerative battery charging. I.e., the drive train becomes a generator when the brake pedal is depressed, and quite a bit of the kinetic energy is used this way, instead of being converted to heat by the friction created between brake pads and rotors.

I'm sure that an all-electric vehicle is similar to a hybrid in this respect.

Yup. So I stand by the answer. Tires, brakes, wiper fluid. We all can do the math. No one can answer what the first Tesla truck with bullet proof glass, steel panels, ability to squat the bed, etc will cost in maintenance items beyond the above noted items. We can go 10 pages and the end result will get tires and brakes. We have had a dozen threads on this subject and similar. And they all devolve into the rainbows, unicorns, and realities. You want an electric truck soon? Good luck. Rivian isn’t anywhere near where I would bet on them and Tesla rarely makes a deadline. Not a great set of choices.

And no I think the Cybertruck brings a lot of novel features and perhaps completely different maintenance issues to the table. They share the power train which everyone basically agrees is solid. Everyone also agrees if you get in a fender bender you could be in for a longish wait. Parts are not Tesla’s forte.

At no time did I ask for anything related to the Cybertruck.
I asked what current Tesla vehicle owners have come across. I have zero personal experience with them so figured I would ask here. And many of the major components will be seen in the Cybertruck. I did not ask about the armor or any Cybertruck specifics.

It is not expected to have a truck tomorrow or anytime soon but a deposit is very well likely to be put it.

And just because the Cybertruck is not out does not mean asking of current Tesla models is not prudent.
It seems quite prudent to know about a company’s track record or common issues that come into play for their entire line of product.


So just move along and muddy up someone else’s thread.

I don't know why there are so many members on here that interject all sorts of other information that has absolutely nothing to do with the question asked.

I've heard they're very low on maintenance aside from the normal tires/brakes. I have heard that body panels if you wreck one are very expensive compared to other cars and take a very long time to get.

quote:

I've heard they're very low on maintenance aside from

....my buddy's new Y hasn't turned 1000 miles yet, he informs me he's got a loaner while waiting for some mysterious A/C failure. Considering he's in the middle of a massive ice/snow traffic holiday, I'm unsure of the problem.

I'm seriously looking at a Tesla model Y to replace our extra SUV, so been quizzing neighbors who own a model S and a model 3.

He says that in 7 years he's had the Model S, he's had the brakes done once. His 3 year old model 3 is still on it's first set. He attribute the lack of wear to the regenerative braking system.

He says the greatest thing about maintenance is that you never have to worry about oil changes and never have to go to a gas station. He charges at how and is at 80% every morning...he also has Tesla Solar panels so there is no increased in electricity cost.

I asked about trips. He said he never really thinks about them because the Tesla App locates available charging stations along his preferred route and figures it into his navigation system. His normal "charging stop" is about 15mins...they would take a bathroom break and grab a coffee/soda. He added that hotels that he stays at usually have charging stations and preferred parking.

I looked at the Mustang Mach E, but the Tesla charging station advantage (locations and mapping) tipped the scales too much

So to review, 2 pages so far, no Tesla owners/drivers, lots of expert prognosticators.

Excellent.

Sorry I read you’re fil was interested in a cyber truck. My bad. Maintenance on one of these will come down to tires. And brakes. The brakes will last longer than ice vehicles. That’s it. Tesla will tell you to do some random stuff like change brake fluid, a/c stuff but the motor requires nothing. So for all intents and purposes you will pay for tires mainly, brakes occasionally. Unless something breaks but that’s not routine maintenance.

You don’t need to own a Tesla to hear all about them. Every guy I fly with who owns a Tesla can’t stop talking about them. It’s like asking your bourbon buddy the difference between scotch and whisky. Stand by to still be talking about it 30 minutes later. In Tesla’s defense, I’ve never personally known anyone who didn’t love theirs. They had an answer that worked for them on every thing I considered a shortcoming. You aren’t going to hear a lot of dissatisfied Tesla owners in my experience. If you buy into the idea, you will probably be happy.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
What kind of brakes do Teslas have? Electric or hydraulic? I would think brakes pads are still a maintenance item.

I'd have to check, but I'd be shocked if they don't do regenerative braking (run the electric motor(s) like a generator and put juice back in the battery. Sorta like jake brakes, except instead of making a lot of noise, they recharge the battery.)

My sister-in-law has the little one (3?) and love it. No maintenance yet in a year and a bit.

Holy shit. The fun got sucked out of this thread faster than a black hole consumes light. For fucks sake, people need to lighten up, and stick to the actual questions asked.

Jeremy, check your email. I don’t really want to join in the Mexican donkey show.

quote:

Originally posted by slabsides45:
So to review, 2 pages so far, no Tesla owners/drivers, lots of expert prognosticators.

Excellent.

At least one owner... me. But new owner. There are others. I suspect they won’t answer because non owners

A) Sorry for the delayed response - this forum, and my iPhone/iPad aren't getting along.

B) Most of y'all are adults, TMK. The threadjacking petty BS is beneath y'all.

C) I have a 3 performance, and I tend to like using the 0-60 time I brought, so I'm a bit hard on tires.

D) Windshield wipers seem good for about 6 months. Maybe MB automatically replaced mine, when it went in for services. Maybe its the salt.

E) The stock wheels on my 3 were made of lead foil. Not sure if the truck ones will be better.

F) $40-60 per month in electric seems about right - and SC has about 50% higher price per KW than the national average.

I usually charge at the plant, as our power is, essentially, bought in blocks.

I've been in about 5 times for build issues - TMK, those causes have since been fixed. (Bad batch of rear window glass, bad batch of computers, bad seat assembly part. When I first got it, there was some assembly glue on a turn signal, which they replaced.)

Overall, its been far better built than our Mercedes, and far worse than our Lincoln Navigators/Dodge Half-Ton, but without the major issues we had with the Dodge 3/4 ton - or the repetitive issues we've have w. the F-350.

So far, a GOOD service center has been able to fix all the issues, and they all seem related to bad initial components, not the "gremlins" which our heavier pick ups seem to have.

A drive-shaft, or something, came off a truck on I-95, and I had to have the battery, rear sub frame, rear connector, front bumper, and a wheel replaced.

The car is modular, so they replaced all that in half a day, once they had all the parts. It took a few weeks to get a battery, and Tesla would not sell me a new one, which I think is BS. (Its a car company, they all engage in BS.)

The bumper was done in a few days, and painted well.

The issue is, Tesla has a TERRIBLE management system for service. They had the car for an extra two weeks, because they didn't look for additional damage, despite my specific request to do so. (Didn't look at the suspension, until after they replaced the battery, etc.)

And, no one drove the car, until I came to pick it up, and immediately noticed the bent wheel. This was the West Palm Beach Service center.

The San Antonio service center was great, and dealt, promptly, with issues the Raleigh one did not resolve.

So, the most irritating thing for me, is no service within 3 hours of Myrtle Beach - and, really, I should try to find a way to book service in Charlotte or Jacksonville, and avoid Raleigh.