The DMV needs a third-party EV shop
 

Just a little rant. Our area has one of the highest concentrations of EVs in the country outside of California. Many of them are now beyond manufacturer warranty coverage. It's super frustrating that there isn't yet an ecosystem of independent EV repair/maintenance shops on the East Coast like there is in California. This seems like a huge business opportunity that's only going to keep growing.

My 2013 Model S has a bunch of small issues:

• Door handle needs recalibration
• Window sensor is going bad
• Loose exterior trim
• One stereo speaker is dead
• Instrument Cluster screen is on the verge of failing

My options right now are to deal with the Tesla service center (slow and expensive) or get on YouTube & eBay and try to DIY, probably saving $1000 for the full list of things. Just would be nice to have another option.

Have you asked Craftsman/ Curry's? They jumped in on battery work a decade or more ago. They may do a bit more these days.

Rule #1 in Tesla Club: No one talks about Teslas having problems.

Rule #2: Tesla doesn't like anyone else touching their cars.

Rule #3: Tesla doesn't like touching their cars.

Interesting you bring something like this up this luddite is considering adding an EV to the fleet (used, most likely) and a used Tesla is under consideration.

My concern, like many, stems from battery life as the early cars approach 10 years old and replacement battery packs are 10-20K depending on model and whether "new" or not.

Is there a regional Tesla service center? where?
the old me recalls reading Tesla aligning with GM for "local" service locations.. but maybe that's not right anymore (or any better?)

That said, you mean not everything that goes wrong is not just an over the air update away from working ;)

Feel free to DM me for more detail, but:

I bought a used Model S in 2016. It had 41K miles. Came with 4 years of bumper-to-bumper coverage; back then Tesla had a true CPO program. Since it's an early car, it also came with free Supercharging for life and free Premium Connectivity (data streaming) for life.

A lot of the over-engineered Tesla stuff has needed repairs, like the door handles and pano roof. Got pretty good use of that 4 year warranty.

There are Service Centers in Tysons, Sterling, Silver Spring, Rockville and Arlington. In addition, they sometimes offer a Service Ranger to come perform service in your driveway or office parking lot, depending how much equipment is required.

My battery, at 10 years and 102K miles, has lost about 15% of original capacity.

POST OF THE DAY!! Thanks for the laugh, DD

For what it's worth, I submitted a request to the Tesla Service Center... the estimate for [not even all] of the things I listed above is $2500+

I also submitted a Contact form on the Currys/Craftsman website but they have not responded.

YouTube/eBay, here I come...

old school, but very effective....pick up the phone and call Curry's.