Avoiding an $80k Mistake: Darren Hill's XCare EV Warranty Story

We All Have a Dream Car

For some, it's the McLaren. For others, a Bugatti. Some of us have humbler aspirations, like a Jaguar or Audi or BMW. In the world of EV's, Tesla stands in a class of its own.

For Darren Hill, a 25-year veteran of the US Air Force, his dream car was the Tesla Model S, Plaid Edition-but not because it was an EV. "It was just a beautiful looking car" he says. "I saw it even before I knew it was an electric vehicle, so I did some research on it. I've loved the Model S ever since. And when they implemented Full Self-Driving, I was just blown away."

But he almost spent $80,000 on the wrong Tesla.

Dodging an $80k bullet

Ironically, what saved Darren from buying the wrong $80,000 EV was talking to the right extended warranty salesperson. Because the cars he was looking at were all pre-owned, Darren had to think about not just what color and features to get, but also how long he could expect the car to last before he'd need to cover repairs and replacements-which can end up in the multiple thousands on a Tesla.

Thankfully, he had the foresight to look into an extended warranty. He did his research and called up Xcelerate Auto. Most warranty salespeople don't consider helping their prospective customers buy cars to be part of their job-and Darren certainly didn't expect that.

But the team at Xcelerate is a little different. The founding team all come from Tesla, and they bring their personal passion for EV's with them to the office every day.

"I was in the process of buying a Model S I'd found online. I thought it had the full self-driving option." says Darren. "When I was talking to Cary [Clark] about XCare, he offered to have a look [at the Tesla] for me." That's when Cary, being familiar with Teslas, realized the model Darren was looking at did not have FSD installed. It was just an option- an option Darren would have had to purchase separately, on top of the $80,000 for the car.

"So from then on, I knew what to look for in my search," a very relieved Darren tells us. "Cary even texted me four or five different cars to look at. His focus wasn't on selling me an extended warranty-it was making sure that I found the vehicle I was going to be satisfied with. I thought that was just incredible."

A Steep Learning Curve

Once Darren found his Model S, the next step was plunging into the EV world: how to drive an EV, how to maintain it, and how charging works. "This is my very first one," he says, referring to his first Tesla and his very first EV. "It was a very steep learning curve."

Once again he turned to Xcelerate.

"I have Cary saved in my phone," Darren confesses, laughing. "I had questions about charging and other aspects of EVs. We sent text messages back and forth, and he answered all of my questions-even in the middle of the night. He's done a fantastic job of helping me understand how the process works. One of my questions was, 'Do I need a [charging] adapter?" And he was like, 'No, you're fine, you can charge at a Tesla station without an adapter.'"

A Better Extended Warranty

New Teslas typically come with a 4-year warranty for the vehicle and an 8-year warranty for the battery and drive unit. Once the car is a few years old, those original warranties come due real fast. For Darren, there was no question he'd need to protect his Model S: "This is a 2022 vehicle," he says. "The manufacturer's warranty will run out in two years. So I wanted to have that coverage and some security."

Considering Darren's location, that kind of peace of mind means a lot. "We live in South Georgia," he says. "The nearest certified Tesla mechanic is about a hundred miles away, outside of Jacksonville. So I'm getting my ducks in a row and...have a plan in place in case I run into any type of mechanical issues."

Without an extended warranty option, he adds, he doubts he would have bought the car.

"I wanted to let Cary and entire XCare team know just how much I appreciated him and the customer service he provided-customer service is too weak of a word. It's the mentorship that he provided. That's something I will never forget. "

- Darren Hill

It wasn't just Cary's helpfulness that made Darren decide to go with Xcelerate and their XCare service. He had done his research, looking into two other companies.

"I looked at the different pricing and what was covered under the warranty," says Darren. "Xcelerate has a longer warranty. Tesla has 8-year warranty on battery, but Xcelerate has a 10-year warranty. I ended up taking the 10-year warranty; having that extra two years of coverage just gave me peace of mind."

To receive the help like Darren received, please reach out to our team here and an EV expert will get in contact with you. We seek to educate all soon-to-be-owners so they can make the right decision like Darren did.