Are Teslas Easier to Maintain? (We Checked)

Tesla is a big player in the EV world. It is one of the popular brands EV lovers patronize owing to a lot of factors.

However, do these factors include easy maintenance?

Join us as we discuss if Teslas are easy to maintain, how often they need repair, how quickly owners can access repair, and if they are less prone to breakdowns because they have fewer parts and others.

This Is the Answer to Whether Teslas Are Easier to Maintain:

Teslas are easier to maintain than gas-powered cars and even some electric vehicles. While gas cars require routine checks and servicing of many parts, your EV only demands an occasional maintenance schedule that is easy, affordable, and limited to a few parts. 

Can Normal Car Repair Shops Fix a Tesla?

Normal car repair shops that are not certified by Tesla can’t repair the company’s vehicles. You’d find out more about that in our article about why Teslas are so expensive to repair.

Every repair shop that works on Tesla has undergone training and educational programs to handle your car. This means these shops have special skills unique to mainly Tesla parts to repair your car successfully.

While you can go to regular shops to fix your Tesla, perfection may not be attainable. However, with Tesla-approved repair centers, even the worst car condition can get restoration to its original state without issues.

Also, repairing your EV with regular shops may damage your car further. One of such instance is where you need to restore your car to factory settings. Employing a non-Tesla factory scanner for this procedure can damage the operating system of your car when a regular shop attends to it.

Note that the Tesla warranty may not cover any problem that occurs when you take your EV to a regular service center. Thus, we recommend you only use Tesla-approved shops for any repair your car needs.

Also, for convenience and the best result, Tesla has provided online repair services that customers can employ in situations where there is an emergency. These services include software updates, remote diagnostics, and online support.

How Often Do Teslas Need to Be Repaired?

EVs, unlike gas cars, don’t require regular repairs. In most cases, it takes a few years before any of the parts break down. However, as Tesla has recommended, here is how long it takes to repair each of your car parts:

Battery

The battery of your car can last over 20 years before it will need any repair or require a change.

Also, the battery comes with a warranty that covers up to 8 years or 100,000 miles, depending on which comes first.

Cabin Air Filter

The cabin air filter in the car prevents pollen, industrial fallout dust, and others from entering.

According to Tesla, owners need to change this part of their cars in the:

• Model 3 and Model Y, every 2 years.
• Model X and Model S, every 3 years.

Brake Fluid Test

You should check the brake fluid of your Tesla for contamination every 2 years, then replace it when the need arises.

Tire Rotation, Balance, and Wheel Alignment

Tesla recommends you rotate your tires every 6,250 miles, or when the thread depth difference is 2/32 in or more, depending on which one comes first.

The alignment, however, should take place every 13,000 miles or when the steering wheel is at least 10 degrees off the center. While balancing should occur every 12,000 miles.

High-Efficiency Particulate Air Filter

For Teslas with HEPA filters, Tesla recommends owners replace them after every 3 years.

Air Conditioning Service

Servicing your air conditioner involves replacing the desiccant bag, so that the system can perform for a lasting period.

• Model S and Model X require desiccant bag replacement every 3 years.
• The Model Y every 4 years.
• And the Model 3 every 6 years.

Note that for Model S Tesla produced from 2012 to 2020, the desiccant bag needs a replacement every 2 years. The Model Y produced during the same period needs a replacement every 4 years.

Winter Care

Brake calipers need cleaning and lubricating every 12 months 0r 12,500 miles. Note that this is for car owners in cold regions.

Are Teslas Less Prone to Breakdowns Due to Having Fewer Parts?

Unlike gas cars that have reported higher breakdowns owing to their many body parts, Teslas are less prone to breakdowns because they have fewer parts. 

So far, from research, gas cars have about 30,000 parts. This is mainly because they have an engine that takes most of these parts to function. Thus, the reason for their low-reliability rate.

Your Tesla, however, has around 15,000 parts. These fewer body parts have not only contributed to its reliability but also make it easy to maintain.

You need not worry about traditional oil changes, emission checks, filters, spark plugs, and many others that can lead to faults.

Instead, you need only concentrate on a few parts, namely the battery, the tires, the brakes, the coolant replacement, and a few others.

Do Tesla Owners Typically Fix Smaller Issues Themselves?

For basic procedures and maintenance that don’t need special skills, Tesla owners can fix them themselves. However, even if the procedures are simple to carry out, ensure you only work on those you are comfortable with. 

If not comfortable, endeavor to seek help. For most of the problems your Tesla may develop, Tesla has some guidelines that you can follow to fix them on your own.

Issues you can handle yourself, like restarting the touch screens, pairing a Bluetooth device, burnishing the brakes, power cycling, and others have instructions you can access through the company’s Support page.

We suggest you consult it for details regarding the issue you are trying to fix. And if unable to fix it, you should not hesitate to seek help from capable personnel.

They can be another Tesla owner, Tesla approved repair shop or Tesla customer support personnel.

Can You Always Have a Tesla Repaired Immediately?

You can not always have your Tesla repaired immediately depending on certain factors.

For issues that are minor, especially related to the software settings, you may not experience a delay. This is because they are issues that may not require the presence of a technician.

However, for serious repairs, especially those that occurred from accidents and require you to take them to a service center, your car may take longer to repair.

So far, some owners have had to wait a few days to weeks to get their cars fixed, when the issue only takes a few hours to repair. Others have waited for many months, some over 6 months and still counting.

In most situations, the reason for most of these delays is that the car will need to wait for its turn where there is a queue.

From research, the lack of qualified personnel has been a major reason for these queues. Most centers have a long queue of cars to work on, but lack qualified employees to work on them.

So far, some Tesla owners have reported waiting months for a certain Tesla repair shop to get their suspension fixed, mainly because it doesn’t have an expert available.

Another reason that can be responsible for long queues is issues with parts supply. Tesla has been having issues with their supply chain for a while, which is causing delays in fixing certain problems.

However, from reports, Tesla has improved on this as most service centers now keep some popular parts in store.

Also, another way Tesla improved this was by handling minor dents, scratches, bolt-on replacement, and other minor issues themselves. Thus, where car owners have had to wait for weeks, they may get their cars in a few days.

Do Teslas Require Less Repairing and Service?

Compared to gas cars, Teslas require less repair and service. The reason is mainly that your EV has fewer body parts, as we mentioned above.

However, as recommended by Tesla, your car requires routine maintenance checks, just like any other car. This is because they have some unique systems present that will need special servicing.

Ensure you abide by the maintenance schedule Tesla has specified for each part of your car. While these schedules are unique to your Tesla model, and some are quite easy to carry out.

You can carry out some of them on your own when you have the right tools and skills available. However, ensure they are maintenance services that will not affect your Tesla warranty.

Please also read our article about reasons Teslas have been recalled.

Are Tesla Problems Typically Fixed With Software Updates?

Software updates can typically fix some issues in your Tesla. This is because Tesla regularly fixes problems with over-the-air software updates. The updates are available remotely to add new features and enhance the existing ones while fixing some issues.

So far, Tesla has issued software updates that control the performance of your vehicle, the braking, the infotainment function, and the battery.

Thus, you can fix issues relating to these parts of your EV when you update your software. Note that Tesla itself has used this method to fix some issues in their car for past recalls.

According to Reuters, Tesla has employed over-the-air software updates to fix 37% of its recall rates since January 2020. The data further stated how Tesla is the leading auto company using this method to fix most recall issues.

As the car owner, all you have to do is to enable the update by connecting to Wi-Fi to fix the problem Tesla intended it to.

For more information about this, please read this article on common questions about Teslas & software updates. 

Sources

• Car Maintenance | Tesla
• Software Updates | Tesla
• Analysis: Tesla software updates allow quick fixes – and taking risks | Reuters