Not that many years ago Tesla refused to give out any details of part numbers etc. Any repairs had to be done at dealers as they were the only ones who could source parts.

It meant vehicles which could be repaired by any competent DIYer were written off as dealers charged eyewatering labour rates.

As a result spare parts from written off vehicles became very valuable!

Insurance cost will rise first which will either have the result of Teslas becoming unaffordable, like Range Rovers, or Tesla changing their spare parts policy.

Cleveley Electric Cars based in Cheltenham will attempt to repair EVs down to component level but they are I understand finding it difficult to engage Main Dealers in allowing access to their software to register used parts onto the vehicles system. They are building up a stock of used parts and now have a mobile service operating Nationwide.

On one occasion involving an I3 with a battery fuse fault, they replaced the main fuse , saving the customer thousands due to a wrong diagnosis only to be refused assistance in allowing the part to talk to the cars main computer.

A call to the companies Head Office solved the problem eventually.

I don't know how I've managed to get through life without a headrest motor :-)

...and a steering wheel position adjustment motor :-)

Isn't part of the problem the lack of ability within the workshop? The seat would presumably need dismantling, motor fitted and then reassembled. Replacement seat is probably a connector or two and four bolts.

Your headlamp fix Adampr, would require finding a technician who was capable of using the repair kit. The dealer is on the hook if they cock it up and the headlamp falls out after two weeks.

Headrest motor indeed!

Still, these prices are stupid. After the alarm of my £900 headlamp (story to be completed at hopefully much less cost in the near future), I am considering ditching my Karoq and buying something older and cheaper that costs normal money to fix.

I have no objection at all to paying labour, but parts costing crazy money is problematic for me. So are motorised headrests...

They all have their oddities and downsides.

Just had an MOT failure on the ageing Forester, rear shock absorber leaking.

Not a great issue except these appear to have one off self levelling shockers (i've found these before on Volvos and they cost a fortune) which are made to order in Japan for Subaru and there are no self levelling aftermarket parts available, the self leveller allows weaker springs to be used as they have a spring effect of their own.

So i'm now waiting for two new standard rear shockers to arrive, the stronger springs to suit and new dust covers and bump stops (£250 so far), the other issue is our model is the facelift, the last 3 years of that shape and comes with Xenon lights which have a rheostat sensor attached to the rear suspension, here's hoping i can sort something out if the necessary fittings are missing from the replacement shock absorbers.

The other shocker (hoho) is that the indy we've used for years refused completely to repair the vehicle, we would have left it there for them to fix, the woman behind the desk (whom my wife hasn't laid eyes on before) said to SWMBO they've had trouble with people who've never turned up when they've ordered parts in etc...as if we were total strangers, so one size fits all and all our previous custom means nothing, rather insulting.

I don't think they had time to suss out the parts involved, either way with the attitude they've lost a customer.

I've got to fix it or the car is effectively sc***, the XT (2.5 turbocharged versons) are still worth decent money, they are more or less an Imprezza in a box shaped estate frock.

Rare cars can be a headache, had to replace the exhaust on the Forester, must be 4 years ago, OE is out of the question 4 figure sum, aftermarket mild steel are all wrong despite being sold as suitable, the turbo versions have a 2.5" bore system, all of the aftermarket are 2" only and meant for the more common 2.0 litre NA version, we ended up getting a cat back stainless system custom made and fitted, which incidentally was cheaper than the wrong mild steel system would have been.

Sometimes you can see why people go PCP/lease and effectively rent cars for 3 years and hand them back.