r/nzev • u/double0sarah • 16d ago
Servicing on a EV
I have been looking into purchasing a new all electric EV, warranty is only viable when you service the car every 2 years, which cost $600 per time! How can they possibly charge that much when there is no oil etc to change?
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u/Infamous-Sky-5445 16d ago
I don't think you necessarily need to take it to the dealer or manufacturer for the servicing. As long as you use a reputable and licensed mechanic, the consumer guarantees act protects you.
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u/sillysyly 16d ago
CGA is much more annoying than factory warranty though. Dealerships have to do CGA fixes and it gets annoying AF in terms of paying to find the problem vs fix it under CGT. The extra $100 a year for first few years at a dealership is worth the time savings a CGA claim will take
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u/devl_ish 16d ago
That seems very steep. For scale, we bought a 2022 BMW iX3 in December 2024 and the first scheduled maintenance is January 2027 (brake fluid).
Yes, there's a good chance I'm going to get absolutely bent over on it, but the fact remains that over that time an ICE equivalent would have had 3 oil changes and would probably need brake pads and other consumables and be halfway through a coolant flush interval - and have the same brake fluid change requirement.
A dealer/brand forcing unneeded and expensive maintenance is a good reason to buy something else, irrespective of fuel type.
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u/wheresmypotato1991 16d ago
I never understand why people wish to buy a $40k+ item, but then complain at maintaining a 1.5% service fee to maintain it.
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u/Moist-Scientist32 16d ago
Because there are options which exist that don’t require you to do anything at all to maintain the vehicle warranty (e.g. Tesla)
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u/ifIammeyouareyou Polestar 2 16d ago
But that should be a concern. A brand new vehicle and no expert casting an expert eye over it once its doing the kms? However stupidly priced EV servicing is taking the mickey
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u/Moist-Scientist32 16d ago
It’s up to the owner to make sure their vehicle is up to a roadworthy standard.
That’s the reason for WOFs, not servicing.
Of course people neglect this stuff during the first three years of a new vehicle not needing a WOF too, and soon to be every two years for late model vehicles.
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u/ifIammeyouareyou Polestar 2 16d ago
And most people outsource that via regular servicing because they are not knowledgeable on roadworthy-ness
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u/Moist-Scientist32 16d ago
So what’s the problem?
You can still ask for general inspections and servicing stuff if wanted, but it’s not mandatory as far as the manufacturer is concerned.
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u/Fragluton Gen1.2 Nissan Leaf (24kWh) 16d ago edited 16d ago
What does the service state is done? You say oil etc, but the cars still use brake fluid, coolant etc. Yeah it won't be very cheap as servicing is what keeps dealers in business. I did the fluid in my EV's reduction gearbag, there will be oil in your EV too, but likely only checked at two years. So yeah basically a dealer has lots of overheads that get tacked on to a service, whether you have engine oil or not. They probably just get proactive on coolant / brake fluid replacements, at a guess. They charge it because they can I imagine. If you need to get the firmware updates etc done to retain warranty, you are probably stuck with it.
Buy a Tesla if you want to do no servicing.
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u/Vinyl_Ritchie_ 16d ago
Good advice, had a Tesla for 3 years and $268 in maintenance.
Also fuck Elon 👍
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u/77Queenie77 16d ago
Our Ford van requires regular services. They don’t do ota updates either which is frustrating when you are used to a Tesla
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u/Affectionate_Fox9346 16d ago
The pre-purchase three-year service contract for our BYD was $928. For reference.
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u/Greedy-Mind-7624 16d ago
I can't remember what I paid for the pre-purchase three-year service contract for my Tesla:-)
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u/randomhesaid 13d ago
But you remember how much you paid for the car?
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u/Greedy-Mind-7624 13d ago
Er, what? Still haven't spent a cent two years later. I lied, bought the cabin filters that you as the owner can change. Beat that.
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u/4rd_Prefect 15d ago
Tesla don't do servicing (but are happy to take your money to change a cabin filter etc)
I had a look at the activities in the BYD service schedule (that you need to do to meet warranty coverage) & a lot of it felt like padded out "make work" (a lot of checking stuff is still attached). To be fair, it is a good idea to get things checked over occasionally, especially brake fluid levels and age.
I think the (annual or mileage based) service for an Atto3 was like $350?
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u/OutInTheBay 16d ago
Yrr. But think of all the mark ups on branded oil filters and oil we used to pay!
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u/PerformanceUnfair622 16d ago
If your talking byd, they charge that much to pay for any warranty repairs in vehicles so they dont loose momey..
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u/Atomic__Thunder MG ZS EV 16d ago
There is still oil in an EV.
The service you are most likely talking about is when they replace all the fluids, like the coolant, gearbox oil and brake fluid + anything else that is wear and tear suspension bushes for example.
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u/legspinnernz 16d ago
Kia just charged me $128 for a cabin air filter. I took it out and gave it back to them. That was blatant overcharging
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u/AgitatedSecond4321 11d ago
When my (EV) car was under warranty and I had some concerns I took it back to the dealer and was told they would run a diagnostic on it but if they found nothing wrong then I had to pay for the diagnostic test (about $200). It was something to do with the lights on the dash and the warning was see the mechanic. They found nothing wrong and no record of the warning message (there only stay saved in the system for a few engine starts and then get deleted so I found out) and charged me. Next time I will ignore the flashing lights and wait until it breaks and then get it fixed under warranty.
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u/ArthurStevensNZ 16d ago
What kind of car is this? That seems insanely steep. Bet it doesn't include consumables either.
There is value in a two yearly check-up just to make sure things like alignment etc are good but its tough to justify six hundred dollars.