Tesla Model 3 reliability
Discussion
I'm thinking about getting a brand new Long Range RWD to keep for 10 years, however many forums show that there real issues across the range with various faults, electrical, mechanical and bodywork.
I appreciate forums attract negative comments and complaints but it's a bit unnerving thinking that after 4 years there could be some large ticket item repairs required.
What are your real world experiences?
I appreciate forums attract negative comments and complaints but it's a bit unnerving thinking that after 4 years there could be some large ticket item repairs required.
What are your real world experiences?
I’ve got a 3 year old Tesla model 3
As transport it just works. Really well
The button that winds down the drivers window broke. Tesla came out and fixed on my driveway under warranty
Front suspension control arms packed up. Common fault. Tesla fixed under warranty
I talked to the technician chap. Loads of parts can be replaced and are available. It’s just like any other car
Something goes wrong and if it’s out of warranty you can buy parts and fix
Obvs if the battery fails that’s a different issue but from what I’ve read, it’s more likely that the few normal car parts like suspension arms are more likely to be treated as consumables and need sorting
As transport it just works. Really well
The button that winds down the drivers window broke. Tesla came out and fixed on my driveway under warranty
Front suspension control arms packed up. Common fault. Tesla fixed under warranty
I talked to the technician chap. Loads of parts can be replaced and are available. It’s just like any other car
Something goes wrong and if it’s out of warranty you can buy parts and fix
Obvs if the battery fails that’s a different issue but from what I’ve read, it’s more likely that the few normal car parts like suspension arms are more likely to be treated as consumables and need sorting
My experience of their reliability has been very good over 4 cars and 8 years. Currently running a pair of Model Ys at 50k miles each. None of our cars have spent any significant time off the road and warranty support has been excellent.
They are cars, so things can go wrong. But if I was going to run an EV for 10 years, Tesla would be among the lowest risk imo. My oldest Tesla is just coming up to 4 years old at 53k miles and has had no reliability issues whatsoever. I did have some suspension bushes replaced after an independent end of warranty inspection, which they didn’t even question. It was in the service centre for just 1 day. The interior looks like new too, very hard wearing materials.
Our other Tesla had a windscreen replaced last year after a rock strike. Autoglass fitted the new screen snd Tesla re-calibrated the front camera remotely. A totally painless experience.
Our first Model 3 (2021) had a rear camera failure and they replaced it on my driveway within a week of reporting it.
That’s it for over 150k miles in these cars. We probably will run one of our Model Ys for 10 years unless it suddenly becomes unreliable, but iI doubt it will.
They are cars, so things can go wrong. But if I was going to run an EV for 10 years, Tesla would be among the lowest risk imo. My oldest Tesla is just coming up to 4 years old at 53k miles and has had no reliability issues whatsoever. I did have some suspension bushes replaced after an independent end of warranty inspection, which they didn’t even question. It was in the service centre for just 1 day. The interior looks like new too, very hard wearing materials.
Our other Tesla had a windscreen replaced last year after a rock strike. Autoglass fitted the new screen snd Tesla re-calibrated the front camera remotely. A totally painless experience.
Our first Model 3 (2021) had a rear camera failure and they replaced it on my driveway within a week of reporting it.
That’s it for over 150k miles in these cars. We probably will run one of our Model Ys for 10 years unless it suddenly becomes unreliable, but iI doubt it will.
I've dealt with quire a few high mileage ones and they are generally pretty solid.
Any car, a Model 3 included, can throw a big bill. It is just as or more likely on a 10 year old BMW, Audi or whatever.
There are few common major issues except suspension can be a bit weak (but might be better on current examples, time will tell). There are plenty of used parts available, Tesla parts prices aren't actually too bad, the entire workshop manual is available to anyone free and most diagnostics are built-in so Teslas are actually easy to DIY or use third parties on. It isn't as if they are a rare car.
As they are sold in huge numbers in China you can also often find cheap equivalents on Ali Express if you want to go that route as well.
Any car can go wrong and Teslas certainly do sometimes but they are, on the whole, really pretty good on the Model 3/Y.
Any car, a Model 3 included, can throw a big bill. It is just as or more likely on a 10 year old BMW, Audi or whatever.
There are few common major issues except suspension can be a bit weak (but might be better on current examples, time will tell). There are plenty of used parts available, Tesla parts prices aren't actually too bad, the entire workshop manual is available to anyone free and most diagnostics are built-in so Teslas are actually easy to DIY or use third parties on. It isn't as if they are a rare car.
As they are sold in huge numbers in China you can also often find cheap equivalents on Ali Express if you want to go that route as well.
Any car can go wrong and Teslas certainly do sometimes but they are, on the whole, really pretty good on the Model 3/Y.
confused_buyer said:
Tesla parts prices aren't actually too bad, the entire workshop manual is available to anyone free and most diagnostics are built-in so Teslas are actually easy to DIY or use third parties on.
That's interesting to hear and not something I'd heard before. Do you know if this includes wiring diagrams/service info etc? Do you have any links to where it can be downloaded?paradigital said:
The only issue my 2022 Model 3 Perf has suffered was a rear drive unit failure, which were pretty common for the particular year of manufacture.
It was replaced under warranty last year.
It doesn't seem a hugely common issue and mainly it seems on the Perfornance.It was replaced under warranty last year.
If worse case scenario it happened out of warranty and you fancied doing it on the cheap you can get used rear drive units for about £600 and the "book time" to replace is just over 4 hours. So it would probably cost you a grand but that's less than a clutch and DMF on an Insignia.
confused_buyer said:
Richard-D said:
That's interesting to hear and not something I'd heard before. Do you know if this includes wiring diagrams/service info etc? Do you have any links to where it can be downloaded?
https://service.tesla.com/docs/Model3/ServiceManual/en-us/Richard-D said:
Thank you. It may be my unfamiliarity with that system but I'm not finding anything you'd need for fault diagnostics (wiring diagrams and service info etc). It seems to be little more than remove/install procedures. Handy of course but not enough to chase a fault.
Go to the top menu (i.e. https://service.tesla.com/en-US/) and start from there, you can get the complete parts list and prices as well. The electrical schematics here https://service.tesla.com/docs/Model3/ElectricalRe...There's loads of stuff on there. You can even order the parts direct from Tesla if you go to the correct UK part.
Edited by confused_buyer on Sunday 11th January 17:52
Our Model X is 9 years old. Far more complicated than the 3, every door is powered as well as every seat, air suspension, 2 HVACs, and 2 screens. First few years of ownership was awful, it spent more time at Tesla than on the road at one point, mainly because Tesla was still figuring out how to build things. But since all the problem parts have been replaced with upgraded ones last few years it's needed essentially no maintenance.
Battery health is at around 90-92% for our small battery version at 97k miles. If it wasn't for the Tesla badge I would happily keep it for another 5-6 years, probably would have been happy to pay for a new battery once it hits 150k ish. But we don't want to own the brand anymore so will get rid of it soon.
If you don't care about the brand, there is very little to worry about owing something like a Model 3 for 10 years, I suspect even 15-20 years wouldn't be an issue given how many of them there are and therefore the supply of 3rd party parts.
Battery health is at around 90-92% for our small battery version at 97k miles. If it wasn't for the Tesla badge I would happily keep it for another 5-6 years, probably would have been happy to pay for a new battery once it hits 150k ish. But we don't want to own the brand anymore so will get rid of it soon.
If you don't care about the brand, there is very little to worry about owing something like a Model 3 for 10 years, I suspect even 15-20 years wouldn't be an issue given how many of them there are and therefore the supply of 3rd party parts.
I've got a Model 3 (LFP battery, 2021) I bought second hand, I am pretty sure it was an ex-Hertz rental and it is coming up to 60,000 miles and has been great. It had some suspension arms fron and rear replaced under warranty and the charge door also fixed but other than that it has been great.
The only wear it has is from scratches on the B pillar, I assume from intensive key card use being an ex-rental. It also has the white interior. Bought from a dealer but log book had to be applied for which adds even more to the ex-rental theory. My local Tesla centre said it spent most of its earlier life at heathrow airport too.
It shows 262 miles on 100% charge, believe it was rated 278 when brand new. The 262 figure has not changed in the year I have had it. It has probably had a hard life and has seen some paintwork, though aside from rear bumber all to high standard and you wouldn't know unless you knew what you were looking for. It was one of the cheapest in the UK and intended as a run around. I bought it when everyone really hated Elon so the price was very good.
I also have Model Y on a lease that I am hoping to buy if the price is right (lex autolease, they have a process you can go through). That has equally been great but only 10,000 miles on it.
The only wear it has is from scratches on the B pillar, I assume from intensive key card use being an ex-rental. It also has the white interior. Bought from a dealer but log book had to be applied for which adds even more to the ex-rental theory. My local Tesla centre said it spent most of its earlier life at heathrow airport too.
It shows 262 miles on 100% charge, believe it was rated 278 when brand new. The 262 figure has not changed in the year I have had it. It has probably had a hard life and has seen some paintwork, though aside from rear bumber all to high standard and you wouldn't know unless you knew what you were looking for. It was one of the cheapest in the UK and intended as a run around. I bought it when everyone really hated Elon so the price was very good.
I also have Model Y on a lease that I am hoping to buy if the price is right (lex autolease, they have a process you can go through). That has equally been great but only 10,000 miles on it.
_kitt_ said:
The only wear it has is from scratches on the B pillar, I assume from intensive key card use being an ex-rental. It also has the white interior. Bought from a dealer but log book had to be applied for which adds even more to the ex-rental theory. My local Tesla centre said it spent most of its earlier life at heathrow airport too.
That makes sense, as an owner would rarely use a key card. Holdmyhand said:
I'm thinking about getting a brand new Long Range RWD to keep for 10 years, however many forums show that there real issues across the range with various faults, electrical, mechanical and bodywork.
I appreciate forums attract negative comments and complaints but it's a bit unnerving thinking that after 4 years there could be some large ticket item repairs required.
What are your real world experiences?
I've owned 2 Model 3s, 2018 and 2022, now with 60K and 32K miles respectively, no issues with either.I appreciate forums attract negative comments and complaints but it's a bit unnerving thinking that after 4 years there could be some large ticket item repairs required.
What are your real world experiences?
2021 Model 3 LR owned from new, 65k miles.
Steering rack needed replacing (heavy steering, was showing errors, was replaced under warranty).
I guess when they did that they needed to disconnect some of the cooling system and didn't bleed it properly on reassembly. That caused the computer to overheat.
Went back to fix that, and they decided to drain the whole thing down and fit a new octovalve.
More recently the rear drive unit packed up and left the car immobile. Was replaced under warranty (luckily the drivetrain is separately warranted, for longer than the normal 3 year warranty).
Rear charge port/pin is now sticking - need to use the manual override pull in the boot most of the time. I probably need to take it in and get the whole port replaced.
We do like it as our daily driver family car, though, and talking to other owners I think we've been unlucky. Plenty of others have no issues at all. And at least we haven't had to fork out thousands over five years to have main dealer servicing where they'll just give it a five minute visual inspection and top up the washer fluid.
Steering rack needed replacing (heavy steering, was showing errors, was replaced under warranty).
I guess when they did that they needed to disconnect some of the cooling system and didn't bleed it properly on reassembly. That caused the computer to overheat.
Went back to fix that, and they decided to drain the whole thing down and fit a new octovalve.
More recently the rear drive unit packed up and left the car immobile. Was replaced under warranty (luckily the drivetrain is separately warranted, for longer than the normal 3 year warranty).
Rear charge port/pin is now sticking - need to use the manual override pull in the boot most of the time. I probably need to take it in and get the whole port replaced.
We do like it as our daily driver family car, though, and talking to other owners I think we've been unlucky. Plenty of others have no issues at all. And at least we haven't had to fork out thousands over five years to have main dealer servicing where they'll just give it a five minute visual inspection and top up the washer fluid.
I've had a 2020 Model 3 Performance for 3 years. Mileage is 54k.
Both rear lights replaced under warranty.
Wiper and split hose replaced under warranty.
Control arms replaced at a cost of £1000
Boot wiring harness replaced by Tesla at a cost of £200
DIY headlight module replaced at a cost of £50
DIY headlight replaced at a cost of £200
Service wise, it's coming up for its third MOT and second brake fluid change (every 2 years).
This is an early model though which I believe had more quality issues than the more recent ones.
Thankfully, it's never let me down, it just gets on with it.
Worth noting that the warranty on the battery and motors is 8 year or around 100,000 depending on trim level.
Both rear lights replaced under warranty.
Wiper and split hose replaced under warranty.
Control arms replaced at a cost of £1000
Boot wiring harness replaced by Tesla at a cost of £200
DIY headlight module replaced at a cost of £50
DIY headlight replaced at a cost of £200
Service wise, it's coming up for its third MOT and second brake fluid change (every 2 years).
This is an early model though which I believe had more quality issues than the more recent ones.
Thankfully, it's never let me down, it just gets on with it.
Worth noting that the warranty on the battery and motors is 8 year or around 100,000 depending on trim level.
Edited by TheBinarySheep on Tuesday 13th January 06:55
p4cks said:
2021 Model 3 LR with 118,000 miles and no issues at all - it's still on its original pads and discs
I have the same car with 60,000 miles.The only issue was a squeaking suspension at the front last year - £160 for a new something (control arm I think) which fixed it. Otherwise it's been totally reliable - far more than any ICE car I've owned. It's also never had a service, as it doesn't need one. I should probably have the brake fluid changed, although I rarely use the brakes.
It's my go-to car for everything except summer touring in France. I also cannot detect any battery degradation - I never use superchargers and only ever charge to 80%, which probably helps.
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