High maintenance car ever I owned

[whitex]

There needs to be more “Electrified garages” around. Rich from rich rebuilds Needs to open more locations.
But seeing as how the media and so many people are quick to pile on to any and every hiccup of a Tesla, I can understand why Tesla wants to keep repairs close to the chest. In time this will change. I suspect in another 10 years when EVs are possibly the majority of sales, the service methods will change. EVs are still just a small percentage of sales.

And until all that happens, we can only use Tesla official price to calculate expected cost of ownership - which was my original point.

 

[nimesh71]

Thanks for all the responses. I certainly appreciate your comments.

I was told that they cannot replace MCU with MCU2 in 2013 Model S because it is still under testing for 2013 models car. I asked if any replacement credits when MCU2 comes in the market for 2013 models. So that I don't have to pay entire cost of upgrade.

I understood from service rep that MCU comes with following parts:
Antenna
Bluetooth
computer / CPU
Touch Screen

My argument was I already have spent $1000 for touch screen replacement due to air bubble in the corner of the screen. Why don't they keep same touchscreen and save my 1000 bucks. He didn't agree.

I asked him to give me diagnose code and/or report of MCU failure but there was none.

I felt not comfortable with the conversation and requested to speak to manager. Yet waiting for manager to call.

Am I being unreasonable?

[Symptoms before I handed over my car to Tesla service: I had frequent navigation command issues and then wifi connection issues. I rebooted car computer as it was not installing recent update. Thought, it would fix all issues.]

 

[TSLA Pilot]

Just a chime in... On a 2018 s75D in less than 2 years I got 5 headlamps, 4 struts, yellow screens(both fixed), one door handle fixed twice and 3 ghosting windshields. And I still have front rattle...most likely struts.
All these are bad parts, bad design by 3rd party or Tesla. I am amazed that after so many years these parts and many others are not rock solid.
It is an amazing car. Very hard to go back to an ICE... Unfortunately the competition is still far ...
But I agree with the post message- owning out of warranty is a big question mark.

What are "3 ghosting windshields?"

As for the rest, just trade it in and get a new one, or buy the ESA.

 

[EV-Fixme]

Thanks for all the responses. I certainly appreciate your comments.

I was told that they cannot replace MCU with MCU2 in 2013 Model S because it is still under testing for 2013 models car. I asked if any replacement credits when MCU2 comes in the market for 2013 models. So that I don't have to pay entire cost of upgrade.

I understood from service rep that MCU comes with following parts:
Antenna
Bluetooth
computer / CPU
Touch Screen

My argument was I already have spent $1000 for touch screen replacement due to air bubble in the corner of the screen. Why don't they keep same touchscreen and save my 1000 bucks. He didn't agree.

I asked him to give me diagnose code and/or report of MCU failure but there was none.

I felt not comfortable with the conversation and requested to speak to manager. Yet waiting for manager to call.

Am I being unreasonable?

[Symptoms before I handed over my car to Tesla service: I had frequent navigation command issues and then wifi connection issues. I rebooted car computer as it was not installing recent update. Thought, it would fix all issues.]

They dont really piece out things. Guess not their model. Would you be able to buy the mcu2 now and have them use that screen in your mcu1, and wait for the testing to complete. Keep in mind you would not be able to use the mcu2 as it would sit in a box till testing completed, you would also be using up your 4 year warranty while it sits in the box. It's not a unreasonable ask. They sell and change screen only, in theory some labor costs to do this should be fair...

 

[Silicon Desert]

Elon’s proclamation that EV’s are virtually maintenance free is a flat out lie.

My P85D has been far and away the most problematic and expensive to repair vehicle I have ever owned. Yes, most repairs have been covered under warranty but I will *never* own one of these things outside the warranty period.

Sorry to hear that. For my 4 year old X100, it isn't a lie. 100% maintenance free...…. so far. It's just far the least expensive car I have owned ever (11 of them). Wishing you to have better luck.

 

[buzescu]

What are "3 ghosting windshields?"

As for the rest, just trade it in and get a new one, or buy the ESA.

Right, just trade in and lose 40k with that.
The windshield has ghosting. If you look at lights at night, stop lights of other cars in particular, you see them double. Windshield is not uniform either. They changed e first one then got a much better one but it was not installed well. They had to replace it again and they replaced it with one that had worse ghosting. This one now is ok ... But still has the problem. SC has a tool to measure this problem and as anything else they show you how the windshield is within parameters.

 

[Kitchenchem]

2015 Model S 85D armrest repaired under warranty, loose screw, replaced 12V battery, two sets of tires.
2018 Model S 75D replaced 12 V Battery, One set of tires.
Most trouble free cars we’ve ever owned.
Of course I have owned five Alfa Romeos, and one Jaguar, plus many more.

 

[trm2]

Oh good, you’re back. I was thinking this thread might end up staying on topic, and we can’t have that when there’s a planet to save and literally every post counts!

every post seriously inconveniences electrons, so somewhere there is a drop of water shedding a tear that you are being so careless with electrons. And drops of water shedding tears? Well, that is the true water cycle.

 

[Gumball]

2014 P85+ here, two doorhandles were replaced under warranty, and the airbag recall that is warranty anyway. Nothing else. Cheapest car to own I ever had, and most fun to drive.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

Right, just trade in and lose 40k with that.
The windshield has ghosting. If you look at lights at night, stop lights of other cars in particular, you see them double. Windshield is not uniform either. They changed e first one then got a much better one but it was not installed well. They had to replace it again and they replaced it with one that had worse ghosting. This one now is ok ... But still has the problem. SC has a tool to measure this problem and as anything else they show you how the windshield is within parameters.

Interesting.

I'd never heard of this defect, but now we know. Am surprised there's even a way to measure and document this, which begs the question: why doesn't the windshield supplier do this prior to shipping the windshields to Tesla?!?

Very odd.

As for the trade-in, well, I hate be the bearer of bad news, but used computers, used cars, and even used Teslas, tend to be worth a bit less than when new after several years. The good news is that your new Tesla will have more features, more range, for equal or less money that you spent when you purchased your other car . . . and buying another Tesla puts your old one in the pool of used Teslas for someone with less cash flow.

Net result: another ICE vehicle NOT purchased, and better odds our planet will survive the human species.

But don't take my word for it, see what NASA JPL has to say about it:

Thwaites glacier in Antarctica melting could impact sea levels: NASA

 

[Knightowl]

I own a 2013 and a 2014 S85, and yeah they are the highest maintenance cost vehicles I have ever owned. But I had a 2005 dodge neon and a 2003 vw bug before as points of reference so totally different class and price point.

oh hey and know what else? my emmc chip is about to die in my 2013 S85's mcu, so just got better and no other option available to a preAP car but to replace it with the same terminally faulted unit, I would happily pay an extra $500 for the mcu2 unit upgrade instead of shelling out for the same garbage. Yes I am ranting, stopping now.

 

[SO16]

oh hey and know what else? my emmc chip is about to die in my 2013 S85's mcu, so just got better and no other option available to a preAP car but to replace it with the same terminally faulted unit, I would happily pay an extra $500 for the mcu2 unit upgrade instead of shelling out for the same garbage. Yes I am ranting, stopping now.

View attachment 548681 View attachment 548683

I believe there is another option for you. There are posts on here about people replacing the EMMC chip for much less.

 

[Knightowl]

I believe there is another option for you. There are posts on here about people replacing the EMMC chip for much less.

thanks, talking to them now on another thread.

 

[Rider668]

2015 Model S 85D
Of course I have owned five Alfa Romeos, and one Jaguar, plus many more.

Loving that - of course half the story in this thread is what other cars you have owned. My Model S has been trouble free, but I previously owned a Maserati Quattroporte IV and a long time ago a Maserati 425, so perhaps I am easily impressed in this regard! I loved those vehicles - but I ain’t never going back. Gas, oil, sparkplugs - no thanks.

 

[whitex]

Calculate however you want. All those factory workers would be working somewhere else and therefore likely not contributing to the reduction. The guy has his faults but flying in a private jet is not one of them. Conducting meetings in the back of a Model X doesn’t exactly work too well if reviewing physical attributes at a site.

Elon is no saint. He’s human. But he’s definitely a harder worker than I am so I cut him some slack. It would be a total waste for me to fly around in a private jet. Although I certainly wouldn’t complain.

Ok, however I want? So I'll just calculate that for every Tesla sold the carbon credit is sold by Tesla to enable a gas guzzler to be sold, leaving Tesla with zero carbon credits, so nothing to offset Elon's 20 mile jet trips. Yep, @TSLA Pilot, every Tesla you ever bought enabled a new gas guzzler to hit the streets, which would not have been feasible without those. Heck, buying a reasonable economical ICE might actually result in less pollution than buying a Tesla and therefore enabling an ICE with half the mpg that it would have had to have otherwise.

 

[SO16]

Ok, however I want? So I'll just calculate that for every Tesla sold the carbon credit is sold by Tesla to enable a gas guzzler to be sold, leaving Tesla with zero carbon credits, so nothing to offset Elon's 20 mile jet trips. Yep, @TSLA Pilot, every Tesla you ever bought enabled a new gas guzzler to hit the streets, which would not have been feasible without those. Heck, buying a reasonable economical ICE might actually result in less pollution than buying a Tesla and therefore enabling an ICE with half the mpg that it would have had to have otherwise.

Somehow I’m it surprised you would choose the absolute worst case.

 

[SmartElectric]

I was told that they cannot replace MCU with MCU2 in 2013 Model S because it is still under testing for 2013 models car. I asked if any replacement credits when MCU2 comes in the market for 2013 models

I had not heard any rumour of 2013 Model S getting MCU2 upgrade, have been watching for this and this is the first time I have seen any post on the subject! Please do elaborate, who told you that MCU2 would even come to our old 2013's?! Thanks!

 

[BrownOuttaSpec]

I had not heard any rumour of 2013 Model S getting MCU2 upgrade, have been watching for this and this is the first time I have seen any post on the subject! Please do elaborate, who told you that MCU2 would even come to our old 2013's?! Thanks!

"Coming Soon" Infotainment Upgrade

I've had my 2016 90D for about a year and have put on about 10K miles, it came with a 4yr/50k mile warranty. I've had to replace the tires but they were kind of low when I received the car from Tesla and I've had 2 repairs under warranty that a Mobile Ranger was easily able to fix by driving to me via scheduling with the phone app (How freaking cool is that?!?).

• Driver side door handle (~42,000 miles)
• 12v battery (~46,000 miles)

I do see a eMMC failure in the next 1-2 years since it is inevitable although it will still be under warranty however I do plan to do the $2500 upgrade when it is available for AP1 cars just to keep everything snappy (I know the upgraded 32 gig Swissbit chip by TonyT will run faster than stock in all cases and even run as fast as MCU2 in just about everything but web browsing but I am interested in the faster refresh of the Instrument Cluster(IC), additional games/services that are offered to Model 3/Y and other MCU2 vehicles, and a new MCU screen that wont get yellow boarder over time.)

 

[TSLA Pilot]

Ok, however I want? So I'll just calculate that for every Tesla sold the carbon credit is sold by Tesla to enable a gas guzzler to be sold, leaving Tesla with zero carbon credits, so nothing to offset Elon's 20 mile jet trips. Yep, @TSLA Pilot, every Tesla you ever bought enabled a new gas guzzler to hit the streets, which would not have been feasible without those. Heck, buying a reasonable economical ICE might actually result in less pollution than buying a Tesla and therefore enabling an ICE with half the mpg that it would have had to have otherwise.

Such a remarkably uninformed reply. Using your "logic," no one should ever buy a Tesla, ever.

Here are a few better reasoned statements which we all hope will help:

1. Tesla has sold "green" credits to ICE/legacy brands, and continues to do so.

2. These are highly lucrative to Tesla, and damaging to legacy brands, especially those that persist in hoping that any issues from ~150 years of unchecked GHG dumping will "just go away."

3. Buying Teslas helps Tesla, and harms legacy brands selling millions of GHG-spewing vehicles, vehicles which threaten our planet's future with each passing mile.

4. Our planet's future is at risk; we haven't any time to waste:

‘Like Trash in a Landfill’: Carbon Dioxide Keeps Piling Up in the Atmosphere

And:

climate.nasa.gov

Being better informed will help avoid "low information" posts.

Thank you.

 

[SmartElectric]

"Coming Soon" Infotainment Upgrade

Sorry, I knew that, that's not what I was looking for.

That page says : "Model S and Model X owners will be invited in groups based on their Autopilot Computer and feature configurations."

Should have been more clear, the old 2013 MCU1 cars were built before AP1 , and I've seen no details of pre auto pilot offering from Tesla for MCU2, if anyone knows more details of pre-autopilot MCU2, please do reply. I've seen notes on AP2.0 and 2.5 cars getting MCU2, but nothing for pre-AP cars...