[toomuchtodo]

Miles are irrelevant, they’ll last forever (based on fleet powertrain reliability stats). It’s a great deal if you’re going to drive it until it dies and you need mobility, assuming for whatever reason you don’t qualify for incentives or credits that would get a new one to the used price.

(have over 200k miles collectively on three Teslas)

[lnsru]

Miles are very relevant. The suspension and steering components are wearing out quickly in these heavy cars.

[thebruce87m]

> Tesla Model S - Curb weight 4,647 lbs Audi A8 - Curb weight 4,751 lbs BMW 7 series - Curb weight 4,244 - 4,848 lbs

Tesla Model 3 - Curb weight 3,627 to 4,072 lbs Audi A4 - Curb weight 3,450 to 3,627 lbs BMW 3 series - 3,582 to 4,010 lbs

From here: https://www.quora.com/Is-a-Tesla-heavier-than-an-ICE-car-of-....

They are equal in weight to a lot of ICE cars. Surely components will be spec’ed according to weight requirements?

[toomuchtodo]

Not my experience in a 2018 S and a 2019 X. Wiper fluid, tires, brake fluid, air filters are the only work done, over 100k miles on both. Paid inspections done at ~100k miles to confirm for proactive replacement if needed. Intend to operate them until the powertrain fails.

I earn too much to receive any incentives, so keeping an eye on the used market to buy another Tesla or two (preferably Ys, but would take a 3).

Edit: I enjoy spirited driving, and do so frequently on roads of many different quality across the eastern US and Midwest.

[dporter]

Going 100,000 miles is not the same thing as lasting "forever," which is around 250,000 miles in my opinion.

[talldatethrow]

I have a 266k mile 04 4Runner, a 250k mile 04 F250, and a 188k mile 13 Chevy Volt. 'Forever' is starting to be 350k miles in crowds that don't buy new vehicles.

[2OEH8eoCRo0]

100,000 miles is essentially the bare minimum I'd expect from a car. I enjoy spirited driving as well (rumbly subie owner) and I'm over 100,000 miles and only had to replace wear items.

[lnsru]

You must be very careful driver then. And the roads must be very good around you. I am pretty sure, I will need to replace something in suspension of my model Y before 60000 miles.

[ce4]

I assume your (probably more carefully driven) 100k did less wear than the 70k done via rental.

[iancmceachern]

Bearings, they have bearings

[talldatethrow]

Almost every car my family owns is over 200k miles, and we recently got rid of a 290k mile Volvo S80. I do all the work on all of our cars, and I've never had to replace a wheel bearing.

[iancmceachern]

We usually get 80-100k out of them on them:

https://www.bellandbell.com/service/service-and-parts-tips/h....

I too have had cars that went far longer than this without replacement, but they probably should have been replaced.

Just because you didn't have to, doesn't mean you shouldn't have.

[talldatethrow]

If a dealership's marketing says they last 100k, you can be certain they'll go 200k. They don't call them stealerships for nothing.

I'm as good of a mechanic as a diy gets. I've rebuilt entire auto transmissions instead of just sticking in another unit. I've regearied rear ends (which did get interior bearings while there). I do head gaskets as favors to friends.

I'm fairly certain all of my 200k+ mile vehicles have had perfectly safe and functional bearings.

[iancmceachern]

When was the last time you had the alignment checked?

[talldatethrow]

Never because I don't trust 90% of alignment jobs done by regular shops.

When we lifted our 4runner I did it myself with tape measures. 40k miles later tires wearing better than most new vehicles.

But are you implying that a bearing can be so bad that it throws off alignment, yet I wouldn't feel that massive play while it's going down the road??

[rightbyte]

You got lucky. Wheel bearing failure is usually a damage (pot holes) or manufacturing defect that slowly propagates.

[talldatethrow]

That's some great luck. 4 corners * 6+ cars between mine and parents * 200k each. Only advantage I guess could be that it's in California without rust or salt splashing everywhere.

[toomuchtodo]

https://www.kbb.com/tesla/wheel-bearing-replacement/

> In theory, wheel bearings could last as long as your Tesla. Unlike oil changes or tire rotations, there’s no standard maintenance schedule for replacing them.

I do not disagree that inspections should be done to ensure things that move between motor and road are in good repair, but all vehicles in the used car market experience this. EVs have less moving parts, less than 20 typically for propulsion, leading to higher reliability.

When was the last time you had your wheel bearings inspected? Probably never. You know when it’s time to replace them when they fail.

[kgwgk]

> they’ll last forever

> You know when it’s time to replace [bearings] when they fail.

Fail? They last forever!

[toomuchtodo]

Vehicles do occasionally need parts replaced. This does not diminish that these vehicles will last hundreds of thousands of miles cost effectively. The nuance is clear, or so I assumed. Replace parts as needed (either scheduled maintenance or ad hoc), but the powertrain will likely last the life of the vehicle, and that is the material cost concern of a vehicle.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2022/08/01/electric...

> “It’s the complete opposite of what people feared when we first launched EVs—that the batteries would only last a short time,” he reflected.

> It’s clear that most EV batteries will outlast the vehicles they were installed in, and even then, they have a worthwhile second life before they need to be stripped down for recycling.

> “At the end of the vehicle’s life—15 or 20 years down the road—you take the battery out of the car, and it’s still healthy, with perhaps 60 or 70% of usable charge,” said Thomas.

-- Nissan executive Nic Thomas.

(and these are early gen battery pack designs that were, frankly, not very good compared to Tesla's)

[iancmceachern]

I dont know where you get this, but it's not ended up being true.

[iancmceachern]

Not true.

Your car will go way out of alignment first. It will handle like crap, and if you try to align it at an alignment shop they won't be able to.

You can easily test yourself, jack the car up, see of there is slop in the wheel.

[bombcar]

200k over three vehicles is 66k, about where this guy just started, on a car that was driving like it was a rental.