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12v battery died 250 miles from SC making me pay for 150 mile towing
- Thread starter Lhagin
- Start date
Right Mike but "to nearest SC" in this and many cases, for a Tesla owner, could be hundreds of miles. BMW, Mercedes, etc are generally just a few miles away. That's the issue.
Just an update on the status of this. The Decatur service center covered the tow to Atlanta. The manager there, Ken, was very, very nice and apologetic that I went through that stress. The car is being checked out now. I also let him know about a strange "clunk" I have been hearing lately when I let off the accelerator. Other posts seem to indicate that it's a bearing issue. Any thoughts on the "clunk" when decelerating?
MikeBur
ManualPilot
I believe we are actually agreeing ;-). I was unaware of any limitation, so was dsm, so I checked "The Google".
TM is unusually great at making things whole again and this appears to be a gray area.
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Great on TM addressing this and reduces potential future stress for all of us, thanks for the update. I've had nothing but great experiences with their roadside assistance.
Unaware of clunk issue, though hopefully this is fixed before you take it back.
Yes we are in agreement and here's a great example of Tesla going above and beyond.
Krugerrand
Meow
Awesome! (But then some of us already knew Tesla would make it right once given a chance.) Now others will be able to put their righteous indignation back in their pocket.
Same for Infiniti towing to the nearest Infiniti dealer
Same for Porsche towing to nearest dealer
Same for Cadillac towing to nearest dealer
and so on. The point is that roadside assistance with towing to the nearest service center is explicitly stated. As has been pointed out earlier, it's quite possible in the US to be on public roads and over 50 (or 200) miles from the nearest dealer. Tesla seems to generally comp these, but as was pointed out earlier, if it's not in the warranty, you don't have it.
I see people wondering about having it replaced by someone other than Tesla, but doesn't the main pack have to be discharged below 30% or so in order to replace it? I know when mine was replaced (I actually think it was just the contactor in my case) they did a huge energy dischargement before working on it as I could see it on my energy monitor. I also thought I read about this on here
boonedocks
MS LR Blk/Blk 19”
Ken is the best. As you probably already know, you are in good hands and he will make it right. Have owned many BMW's from right next door to them and never been treated as well as the Decatur SC and Ken have been to me.
dhanson865
Well-Known Member
with hybrids and EVs the 12v battery doesn't have to do high amps it just needs to provide the correct voltage to get the computers to start up properly.
A heavily sulfated battery can be desulfated by a CTEK or other desulfating charger and between the additional charge and the desulfation the battery might last a few more days.
I once ran a Prius on a degraded 12v for the majority of a year while waiting for Optima to release the new "pencil posts" version of the yellowtop. It makes a huge difference between unusable and usable if you charge the battery with a smart charger that desulfates. I'd still replace the battery ASAP but it might save you a tow.
Cyclone
Cyclonic Member ((.oO))
The 30% discharge is for the traction battery, where the contactors also live. Changing the 12v has no such restriction.
Electricfan
Active Member
Sweet!
Now, why did you get the song and dance of "you must pay the tow bill" bologna? This is what is scaring me about Tesla - they say they are going to do service better than dealerships, but they are showing signs of the dealership disease....
Nobody is asking for free ranger service to everyone's house. But if your Tesla leaves you stranded due to a warranted failure, Tesla should tow you to the nearest service center free of charge. That's only the right thing to do. Tesla claims that 90% of Model S vehicles are within 50 miles of a service center. So by Tesla's own admission, only 10% of vehicles are out of comfortable reach. Of those 10%, how many fail and need a tow? This is a small fraction of the Model S fleet and Tesla can certainly pay the cost. Just my 2¢.
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Why does an owner have to escalate and request a free tow? Why does Tesla have to be given a chance repeatedly in these forums to "make it right" when they already had a chance during the initial call to make it right, but failed? Tesla told the OP he had to pay for a tow, that's why this thread exists. The tow wasn't covered until it rose to the service manager level. It shouldn't have to be this way.
Tesla has been doing this since the beginning, e.g. service plan was mandatory for the warranty to be in effect, limited battery warranty, annual inspections limitations, driving or transporting your car through Mexico voided your warranty. In practice, they've generally relaxing their policies, but often on a case by case basis even if it is every case.
My guess is that their lawyers want to make the company's exposure to service costs less risky because they don't really know what might happen, but as long as things seem to be going OK they will follow best industry standards. Currently Tesla has a monopoly on excellent BEV's so they can get away with this.
My guess is that their lawyers want to make the company's exposure to service costs less risky because they don't really know what might happen, but as long as things seem to be going OK they will follow best industry standards. Currently Tesla has a monopoly on excellent BEV's so they can get away with this.
Candleflame
Active Member
Can someone just clarify here. Does Tesla use deep cyle gel batteries or normal starter batteries?
dhanson865
Well-Known Member
They now use AGM but I don't know if it is deep cycle AGM or regular cycle AGM. They did previously use lead acid.
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