Tesla Warranty UK: What Is Covered, and What Is Not

“Is it under warranty?” is the wrong first question. A UK buyer is covered by three separate regimes that overlap, run for different lengths of time, and are enforced against different parties. Picking the wrong one is why some perfectly valid complaints go nowhere. This entry defines all three and says which to reach for.

Regime 1 — the manufacturer’s warranty (against Tesla, as manufacturer)

Tesla’s New Vehicle Limited Warranty is a promise from the manufacturer to repair defects in materials or workmanship. It is split into separate cover with different limits:

• Basic vehicle cover — a shorter term with a mileage cap, whichever comes first. Covers most of the car.
• Battery and drive unit cover — a substantially longer term with a higher mileage cap, and, importantly, a minimum battery-capacity retention figure. A pack that degrades below that stated percentage within the term is a warranty matter; one that degrades normally above it is not, however disappointing the range feels.
• Parts fitted under warranty — typically carry their own shorter cover from the date of fitting.

The exact terms, mileage caps and retention percentage vary by model, variant, model year and market, and Tesla revises them. The document that governs your car is the warranty supplied with it and shown in your Tesla account — not a figure from a US forum, and not a figure from this page. We are describing the shape, not quoting your terms.

What a manufacturer warranty structurally does not cover, in any market: wear items (tyres, wiper blades, brake pads, 12 V or low-voltage auxiliary batteries in normal service), damage from collision or misuse, cosmetic deterioration reported outside the stated window, and consequential costs such as a hire car unless separately provided.

Regime 2 — the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (against the seller)

This is the one most often overlooked, and it is frequently the stronger route. The Act requires goods sold to a consumer to be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. It gives you a defined escalation:

• First 30 days — the short-term right to reject. A fault that makes the car fall short of satisfactory quality entitles you to reject it and get your money back. Thirty days is short and it starts running at delivery, which is precisely why delivery-day faults should be logged in writing the same day.
• After 30 days — one repair or replacement. The seller gets a single opportunity to put it right. If that repair fails, you move on.
• Then — a price reduction, or the final right to reject. Note the motor-vehicle carve-out: for cars, the refund may be reduced to reflect the use you have had, and that deduction can apply even inside the first six months.

The most valuable provision is about evidence, not remedy. In the first six months, the burden of proof sits with the seller: a fault that appears is presumed to have been present at delivery unless the seller can show otherwise. After six months, that reverses and you have to demonstrate it. This asymmetry is the single strongest argument for reporting anything unusual early and in writing, even if you are willing to live with it for now.

These rights are against the seller. They exist regardless of what the manufacturer warranty says, and a warranty cannot sign them away.

Regime 3 — your finance agreement (against the lender)

If the car is on hire purchase or a PCP, the finance company — not you — owns it until the agreement ends, and it is a party to the supply. That changes who you complain to: your Consumer Rights Act claim generally runs against the finance provider as supplier, and their complaints process, and ultimately the Financial Ombudsman Service, are open to you. Buyers who spend months arguing with a delivery centre while ignoring the lender are using the weaker channel.

Separately, if any part of the price went on a credit card — a deposit is enough — section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act can make the card issuer jointly liable for the whole transaction, subject to the Act’s value thresholds. It is an underused route.

Which one to use, in order

1. A fault in the first 30 days: Consumer Rights Act, in writing, immediately. Do not let it be handled purely as a service booking — a booking is not a rejection, and the clock does not pause.
2. A defect after 30 days that is clearly a component failure: the manufacturer warranty, via the Tesla app. Fastest route, no argument needed.
3. A repeated fault that has already been “fixed” once: Consumer Rights Act again, against the seller or the finance company, referencing the failed repair.
4. Battery range that disappoints: check the retention figure in your own warranty document first. Normal degradation above the stated threshold is not a claim under any of the three regimes, and pursuing it as one wastes the six-month evidential window on something else.

What this has to do with the referral

Nothing, and that is the point worth making. The 650 free Supercharging miles are a marketing benefit attached to your Tesla account at order time. They are not a warranty, they confer no rights over the car, and no warranty or consumer-law claim affects them. If you are here because something has gone wrong with a car you referred someone to, or that you bought through a link, the three regimes above are unchanged by how the order was placed. The referral is settled at checkout — see the how-to — and everything on this page begins after that.

Authoritative starting points: the warranty document in your own Tesla account, and the government’s summary of consumer rights on goods. Where those two disagree, the Act wins — it is law, and the warranty is a contract sitting on top of it.

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Disclosure: the links above are referral links — using one credits the owner with Tesla Credits at no cost to you, and gives you the buyer benefit. The Emerald Mile is an independent guide and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Tesla, Inc. “Tesla” and “Supercharger” are trademarks of Tesla, Inc., used here nominatively.