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Aptera service, repair and warranty
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Aptera service, repair and warranty
updated 1 month, 4 weeks ago
60 Members
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103
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New to this community……I just ordered and I am wondering, where would you take it for service if it is required? Mfg is in San Diego…….will we have to go there?
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Hi there!
Wishing you the warmest welcome to the Aptera community!
We are designing Aptera to be very modular, require very little routine maintenance, and be easy to service anywhere in the world through simple design. Our goal is affordability and 24-hour parts, shipping, and mobile service will make most service tasks a breeze. We will open-source all of our services and build documentation that allows people to buy outside our service network, do service themselves, or with a local shop. We think the “right to repair” should be applied to every large purchase and we are very supportive of “do it yourself” rights.
You can learn more about it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y5VWOaSXCc
We are building out our network of support technicians and our service documentation as we get further into full-scale manufacturing. Many more updates to come as we push the efficiency envelope on mobility. There are no limits to where we can go on a journey powered by the sun. We have some very exciting announcements on the horizon! Stay tuned – you’ll want to hear about what the team is accomplishing around Aptera. 🙂
Driving solar mobility forward,
Audra
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This, of course, presumes a wiki for this purpose. It is actually a pretty good fit; the wiki being a digital form of the encyclopedia.
And right to repair is basically a concept that says that the company will seek to use common tools for repair and share information on various aspects of the vehicle allowing one to repair or possibly even improve their personal vehicle. Right to repair is part consumer friendly movement and part slogan but I’m personally unaware of any particular successful manifestation of the concept.
So let me suggest this as a starting point: The Aptera right to repair wiki, which is simply the suggestion that Aptera start from this point to compiling in a usable digital format, an all-encompassing knowledge base. This information is ‘around’ all complex manufactured products but the Right to Repair provides the imperative to openly publish this data in encyclopedic organization online.
By expanding to the wiki format, it becomes easy to incorporate content such as a “How to remove and replace doors” or change a tire video … the same stuff you’ve seen on youtube.
It could become the place to look for ‘qualified’ repair centers in various states, territories and even overseas.
The hardware section of the wiki might go so far as to include 3-D printing instructions for trim pieces or other parts, connectors, etc.
The point is addressing right to repair is a complex job and I don’t know if there is even an example for any product.
That means that however this necessary documentary resource is brought to market, it becomes the model on which all other similar efforts are derived.
My gut is there are folks out there in the consumer movement that have the credentials and interest to play head wiki librarian for the world’s first right to repair site. Sounds to me like there maybe some money out there for, say a doctoral candidate in library science with this as their project.
Depending on the timing of the IPO, a significant effort is this area that seeks to be a public rallying point for right to repair values in the flesh.
I mean it is totally ‘possible’ to connect the wifi from the Aptera with access to its programming to the net including one’s own computer/phone/laptop/tablet/watch/implant. We’ve all seen and probably used the troubleshooter on our personal computers … imagine the same access to diagnostic apps as you would have through your computer to your Aptera through the right to repair wiki.
And wouldn’t it be so cool if the videos and all those diagnostic apps, etc. were were available to invoke right there on the Aptera’s screen 🙂
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I have not been able to find anything official concerning what kind of Vehicle Warranty Aptera is planning to offer. Anyone have a link to an official source or someone from the company that can comment. Especially with an early production vehicle there could be some fixes or upgrades that need doing. Perhaps there is no decision yet, but us early adopters will want some support from the company for teething issues that come up.
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Too early to have something official and I don’t recall reading anything specific as of yet. But, they will need to be competitive with warranties particularly for the battery.
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Hello.. can you explain the plans you have for these two items: Warranty and Servicing the Car in case it breaks or needs maintanence. thanks.
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Most of that will likely be handled by the mobile tech infrastructure Aptera plans. For more involved work, they’ll like have to make service agreements with regional shops. Might be quite a while till they have organic service centers.
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My son in law just bought a major automotive repair center in Marin County, CA. Major being it’s been in business for 40+ years. He tells me he’ll offer services if they turn out to be legitimately putting out a quantity of vehicles.
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I live in Colorado and we have a large amount of stones on roads around here. Large rocks getting flung up by tires and hitting my windshield is a regular occurrence.
After just replacing my model 3 windshield (again), I’ve had two big rocks hit the new windshield within 2 weeks of having new glass. So far I just have new pits in the glass but not cracks yet.
Has anyone heard how Aptera will handle windshield replacement? Will they ship the glass to us and if we want to replace it ourselves, we’ll have to get the proper tools and watch some training videos on how to do it?
I’m looking forward to being able to repair my aptera myself 🙂
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I have not heard any specifics on this.
They say they can overnight parts.
I am guessing it would be easy to overnight an OEM Aptera windshield to place like Safelite too?
In my fifty years of driving in differents states/ environments most of my windshield repairs were by filler holding up very well
Only two windshields replaced , to date, and if you have a model vehicle with technology on your windshield ( IMHO ) getting the OEM grade windshield can be best if technology recalibration is needed.
Given the aerodynamic design I 🤞 there will be more “ glances “ that hits? As they say …bugs don’t even accumulate on the windshield like a conventional windshield? The laminar flow tends to sweep over
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I would take the car to a window replacement shop. I’ve replaced a few windshields when I worked at a glass company. There is definitely some talent needed to do that. Even if you decide to do it yourself, you may end up spending just as much on the tools as the windshield.
I’ve learned there are just some jobs that are easier and better to let someone else do.
If you’re anticipating replacing the glass multiple times, you may eventually get good at doing it and it may be worthwhile.
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The Right To Repair pledge is great, but for those of us without the shop tools (or experience a breakdown while on the road), it’d be nevertheless nice to have a directory of mechanics who are willing and able to work on an Aptera. Or, better yet, have had some experience doing so. Maybe initially it could be informal or semi-formal in nature, eventually with Aptera owners writing reviews, but I would imagine such to be an empty list to start — hopefully few vehicles will need repairs immediately after launch, so who’s going to review? — and outreach to mechanics to seed such a directory would be nice.
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Assuming that they set things up this way, will independent mechanics be allowed to handle warranty repairs? Traditional car companies have dealer networks which handle warranty repairs, Tesla has service centers and mobile service. The Tesla model sucks, the service centers aren’t conveniently located, wait times are very long and you can’t talk to a human being all, communication is through the app. I’m dealing with my first Tesla repair now, the squeaking upper control arm problem. They won’t handle this with mobile service so I have to take it to a service center. My appointment is a month away. There is nobody to talk to so the only info I can get is through forums. With traditional car companies there are usually three dealers in a 15 minute radius, when you have a problem like this you call your dealer and talk to a service manager who will triage the issue. If it’s serious they will find a way to get you in within a couple of days, if it’s not it might be a week but it’s never a month as with Tesla.
Aptera won’t have service centers, at least not enough to be useful. If they maintain a list of mechanics, as Bennet suggests, or if you find a local mechanic who is willing to do the work, it would be nice if they would treat these independent shops the way regular companies treat their dealers. The parts and labor would be handled under the warranty and they’ll be able to bill Aptera directly. The other thing that will be necessary is that Aptera have a support team that be able to help these mechanics many of whom might have never worked on an Aptera before.
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My apologies if this has been brought up before-
It is my understanding that aptera will be big on rights to self repair and provide parts and information to do so. However, my question is regarding repairing damage from collisions. From what I’ve seen, the aptera looks to be a solid tub and doesn’t really have the body panel construction of traditional cars. How will repairs work on those and would the cost be substantially higher?
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Aptera will be quite elastic with low speed collisions (no damage). Videos of the original Aptera being hit by a sledge hammer are comprable to the cybertruck.
If damaged it may be tricky/expensive to repair (like fixing a fibreglass boat) the main body sections short sections short of complete replacement of the body section. Since the vehicle is light/simple it should be possible to spend a few days transplanting parts and rewrapping the section. Hopefully lots more information on procedures will come out as they get to release.
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I would like to know what type of service the Aptera 400 will need, how often and where would I go for service.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 9 months ago by
Norman Roberts.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 9 months ago by Gabriel Kemeny.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 9 months ago by
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Where and how does one get body work in case of a crash?
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Good question. Hopefully Aptera will have that kind of information when they detail their Right to Repair service model. I am not sure I would trust it to a body shop even with very detailed instruction from Aptera on how to accomplish it. I am sure expensive as well with most being totaled by insurance companies as the repair cost may be too high. A lot of that happens to Teslas. The reason my insurance company tells me why my Tesla Model 3 insurance is so high.
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I think the biggest problem for Aptera Motors not technical, but rather providing service for repair. We have not heard much from Aptera Motors on this but they need to have something in place because they will be selling in early 2023.
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Have they announced a VP for service yet? For the first few months that they ship they’ll mostly be delivering in Southern CA where the factory can act as a service center. After that they need a service strategy. Right to Repair is not a strategy, it’s just a meme, they’ll need a real strategy. It could be rangers, it could be partner garages, it could be service centers. Someone has to figure that out.
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Some of the ways Aptera sections would be damaged for the rear, front, and wheel pods are discussed (speculation) in the Aptera Owners Club video. It appears that many mid speed collisions will not damage the main body but instead separate front or rear modules. In the event of a front offset collision a single wheel pod may be effectively sacrificed to minimize main body damage.
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Will it be easy to change the coolant and how often will it need to be done?
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I have 3 coolant systems in my 2011 Volt and have not needed to change any of them. I have had the brake fluid changed, as that can become contaminated over time with moisture.
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While on a several thousand mile trip in my Tesla MY, we were t-boned by a pickup in a slow speed crash. I’ve thought about how this would have worked in my Aptera.
– Heavy Tesla hardly budged. Aptera would have “bounced” a bit. More risk with the lighter car, but not a big deal in this case. At higher speed would be a significant difference.
– Tesla’s front wheel disabled. Aptera’s front left pod would have been disabled. Making the car untowable has been one of the largest complications to tow and store problems. Four-wheel car can be lifted by three, three-wheels car reduced to two is simply a pile of pieces. Tow truck drivers will be challenged by disabled Aptera in a way unlike much of their experience. I would worry about damage during lift-and-tow. Any ideas?
– Tesla body damage consisted of tears in fender and door. I can imagine nothing more than heavy scratches on Aptera. Big repair cost advantage to strong and resilient composite. At higher speed, it might be different. Will we be OK with scratches? Patina.
– Finding a shop to repair Tesla has been a nightmare. Car will be unavailable for months. In principle, right-to-repair would be better, as long as one finds a collision shop willing to take on a car they have never worked on. Outreach to potential repair shops is important for Aptera to do before and after launch.
– insurance claim is a hassle, but probably not specifically different for Aptera, especially if the company has been approached in some sort of fashion by Aptera ahead of time. Do we need a “preferred insurer” to lay out the claim process before the need?
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I was a collision tech for 17 years and an insurance appraiser after that. I wondered this same thing more about Teslas. Anything using a giant casting would require replacing the whole casting (probably resulting in a total loss with all the additional damage). A Cybertruck with exoskeleton would be impossible to repair in any shop I ever worked at without replacing the entire body. Maybe you could fix minor damage but would have to paint the whole truck afterwards.
I think it would be difficult at best to repair the Aptera body while maintaining structural integrity, and it would have to be dealt with the same way as the Tesla castings.
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If the monocoque composite has been hit hard, it likely suffered deep internal damage and, like a motorcycle helmet involved in a serious crash, should be discarded. It is going to take a pretty good smack down to whack the Aptera into totality … I’m figuring most everything under 25 or 30 mph will be a gimme but 35+ mph collisions will be almost automatically totalled.
But you folks need to remember how Aptera is assembled … it is assembled with subsystem components.
So, while the front wheel may be ripped from the front suspension frame, the repair would remove the entire front cap – if the balance of the body was un-damaged and had not experienced a terminal event over 30-35 mph.
The body itself is four large bits of composite that, altogether, weight less than 200lbs.
Among the subsystems to be removed are the interior, the doors, the hatch and the electronics. A single motor may be replaced, or as rugged as the motors are, may be reclaimed along with the solar cells, battery and the like which are not likely to be damaged or destroyed in an accident.
The really cool thing is that because these subsystems are entire pieces – kind of like the dash, the roof solar cells or the interior (seats, carpets, headliner) and the goal is safety, it may be the residual value of a wrecked Aptera is mainly is the subsystems that were not compromised.
These subsystems ‘went in’ the Aptera in one piece and you kind of get the idea they may come out ‘in one piece’ as in isn’t that cool.
Someone will make a ton of money in the scrap Aptera parts business. Maybe by making bodies for all the good parts.
