Owning a Tesla Model 3 After 111,000 Miles

An Owner of a Model 3 With Over 111,000 Miles

The owner of a Tesla Model 3, from 2018, shares his experience after 5 years and 111,000 miles. Can a Tesla Model 3 go a long ways and last a long time like a reliable car from the past?

Most of the cost of maintenance for this owner was tired, an air filter change, and washer fluid change. He says you don't have to worry about oil changes like a gas car driver does.

Tesla has a warranty for repairs that are Tesla's fault for 50,000 miles or 4 years. You can also purchase an extended warranty on this.

The main high voltage battery has an 8-year warranty with 100,000 miles or 70% degradation.

For the owner of this Model 3 after 111,000 miles, this was a 2018 long range Model 3. It has a black interior and 18-inch wheels.

You May Also Be Interested In: Tesla wraps and PPF for Model 3 and Model Y now available.

Service Issues, Charging, and Everything Else

The car has held up very well. He doesn't wash the car regularly and doesn't do anything to the interior, only cleaning it a few times a year.

The car has an Intel-Atom processor and has a very responsive user interface. The software looks and feels the same.

The exterior of the car looks about the same. This user installed PPF and there was no real damage from any rock chips on the front.

One time, he got rear ended while driving and that took him a few months to get fixed.

The car doesn't have any strange sounds coming from it or squeaking. The door handles worked fine, and the mirrors fold without issue. The alignment was great. He had to replace the tires every so often, but that was it.

In 2018, the estimated range was about 325 miles. At 100% charge, the car showed about 290 miles of range, which is about 10.8% degradation. And this is with an older battery, so not too bad. I expect that my Model 3 RWD from 2022 will experience a similar curve.

He charged 90% at home and 10% at Superchargers. He had some things done under warranty, such as fixing the low voltage battery and charge port. He also had his tires rotated by Tesla and changed his air filter.

For paid repairs, here is what he did:

The tire rotation was $78, the wheel alignment he got done was $147, the A/C odor removal filter change was $138, the brake fluid replacement was $205, cleaning and lubricating the brake calipers was $68.

A lot of this stuff isn't necessary for Tesla to do, and you can do it yourself.

After his warranty expired, he needed a rear camera replacement for $121. He had his brake pads fixed for $61. He had cabin filters replaced for $142.75.

Tires replaced from Tesla cost $1,400 and from Costco, $1,300.

Maintenance costs were about $300 to $400 per year, and it's important to note, that he was driving about 25,000 miles per year.

In total, over the 5 years and 111,000 miles, his service costs with tires replaced were $4,132. His charging costs from home were about $6,300. A gas car would have cost about $15,000 in fuel.

What do you think about this owner's experience with his 2018 Model 3?

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Jeremy Johnson is a Tesla investor and supporter. He first invested in Tesla in 2017 after years of following Elon Musk and admiring his work ethic and intelligence. Since then, he's become a Tesla bull, covering anything about Tesla he can find, while also dabbling in other electric vehicle companies. Jeremy covers Tesla developments at Torque News. You can follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn to stay in touch and follow his Tesla news coverage on Torque News. Image Credit, Tesla, Screenshot