2 week old 2021 Model Y - SHUT DOWN while driving

[AnaS]

WARNING TO DRIVERS: Last night I was driving on a local street when suddenly a warning came up on the screen saying "VEHICLE SHUTTING DOWN - pull over safely". While I was TRYING to pull over safely, the car just shook and stopped. I had less than 5 seconds to react and was still partially in the traffic lane. I couldn't even put the car in neutral to push it to a safe spot. Luckily this did not happen on the freeway or I for sure would have been stalled in the middle of whatever lane and more than likely been hit.

I put my hazards on and my husband looked up what could be the issue. He read that it could help to get out, walk away from the car and return. I tried this twice and it didn't work so I contacted "Roadside Assistance" on my app. Another alarming thing was that among options like "flat tire", there was an option to push "Car shut down while driving". What?! I haven't even had the car for 2 weeks and it just shuts down without any warning??? It took 10 minutes for a random number to text me and ask about the issue. I was prompted to troubleshoot, which did not work. I tried it 3 times. Finally, a tow truck arrived 1 hour later. When I asked if it could be quicker because I was in a lane of traffic, I was told that if I felt unsafe to call 911 and nothing else could be done by Tesla. All through random text.

I have had no leaks, and no service warnings. Nothing. This can't be normal and now I feel completely unsafe. What if it happens again on the freeway? I'm scared for my life in this car. To make matters worse, the service center is closed today and the dealership was less than helpful. I need to get to work this week and they told me that they could either reimburse me for Uber rides or "try" to give me a loaner fleet vehicle for 24 hours. That doesn't do me any good.

I'm in complete disbelief at the entire situation. It's absurd and the car I received is clearly defective and doesn't meet minimum safety standards in this condition. They are luck no one has died as a result of this. I feel helpless and so disappointed.

 

[Carbonfiber]

That sucks. Thanks for sharing. I haven’t been too happy with Tesla service either, though the things I encountered were very minor. Please keep us updated on how things play out.

 

[Tdriver]

Unfortunately you have a major failure. It had nothing to do with the car only being two weeks old. Any car can fail at any time including when its new. You were very unlucky. This type of failure is extremely, extremely rare. Tesla will fix the car and you will drive it for another 100k miles without problems. And no, Tesla did not sell you a flawed car.

 

[AnaS]

Unfortunately you have a major failure. It had nothing to do with the car only being two weeks old. Any car can fail at any time including when its new. You were very unlucky. This type of failure is extremely, extremely rare. Tesla will fix the car and you will drive it for another 100k miles without problems. And no, Tesla did not sell you a flawed car.

What type of failure are you referring to? Is it "easy" to fix? I hope you're right, but it's just hard to believe that I didn't get a flawed car, considering the experience thus far. I don't feel safe or confident in something that broke after 2 weeks and has to already be repaired. At the very least, I want it to be replaced, not repaired.

 

[Lerxt]

So something went wrong and it will be fixed. No need to flip out, equipment breaks.

 

[glide]

If you don’t feel safe you may as well get rid of it. Nothing Tesla has to say is going to make you feel any better about why it happened or whether it will happen again.

But then again, that goes for any car. So maybe you should stop driving all together.

 

[el-guapin]

Sure hope you get this resolved. Please do share findings when available.

 

[AnaS]

So something went wrong and it will be fixed. No need to flip out, equipment breaks.

So it's acceptable to you that 2 week old equipment breaks? I spent a considerable amount of money on something that broke down, left me stranded, and put me in an unsafe situation. Considering the issue and the current runaround I'm getting, I think I'm staying pretty calm.

 

[AnaS]

If you don’t feel safe you may as well get rid of it. Nothing Tesla has to say is going to make you feel any better about why it happened or whether it will happen again.

But then again, that goes for any car. So maybe you should stop driving all together.

That's pretty insensitive. "Any other car" would allow you to go into neutral and push out of oncoming traffic. "Any other car" wouldn't break 2 weeks after purchasing it. I've owned many cars and this has never happened to me before.

 

[EVDRVN]

So it's acceptable to you that 2 week old equipment breaks? I spent a considerable amount of money on something that broke down, left me stranded, and put me in an unsafe situation. Considering the issue and the current runaround I'm getting, I think I'm staying pretty calm.

Cars and car parts can fail, this happens on all sorts of vehicles. You were just unlucky to get one with an issue. It could be a loose connection, or something simple. Get it serviced and find out. There is no car made on earth that has not had an issue like this.

 

[Hexo09]

I definitely empathize and it must have been a very scary situation. Not to be an apologist, as Tesla has a ton of flaws, but that being said, it happened to me once in an ICE car, and it happened to my mother once as well. They weren’t 2 week old cars, but they weren’t old cars. Unfortunately these massive pieces of equipment sometimes fail. Like I said, I understand the nervousness of trusting the very car that put you in a not-so-safe situation, but you can either get rid of it, or trust that the company that puts hundred of thousands of cars on the streets every year somewhat knows what they’re doing and will fix your issue.

What software version were you on?

 

[AnaS]

I definitely empathize and it must have been a very scary situation. Not to be an apologist, as Tesla has a ton of flaws, but that being said, it happened to me once in an ICE car, and it happened to my mother once as well. They weren’t 2 week old cars, but they weren’t old cars. Unfortunately these massive pieces of equipment sometimes fail. Like I said, I understand the nervousness of trusting the very car that put you in a not-so-safe situation, but you can either get rid of it, or trust that the company that puts hundred of thousands of cars on the streets every year somewhat knows what they’re doing and will fix your issue.

What software version were you on?

Thanks - I can appreciate your perspective. I'm definitely not naive to think that this is the only car make out there that has issues but just the fact that it's brand new and already giving me issues is unnerving. Like I said, if we had been on the freeway when this happened, we could have been seriously injured or worse.

I was on the most recent software version. It had updated earlier in the week.

 

[GeekyDoc]

That is quite scary. I don’t know of any brand ICE car where this is common nowadays. So I’m surprised at some of the nonchalant comments on here to suck it up and just accept it. This is quite unacceptable actually. But glad to know you were safe.

Kindly do update this thread and let us know what they find out happened. Gives me pause as I rely on my car heavily for daily work and commute on the highway mainly; it would be dreadful if this happened to me on my way to or from work.

 

[VaxAce]

Certainly nobody wants to be in your situation and its unfortunate it happened to you. Having said that - realize all new cars go through a period of time where anything can happen. BMW - Mercedes - etc - can and have done exactly what happened to you - I bought a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee - and - wow - what a mess that model year was -- would shut down the instrument panel and just stall.. So - you may not feel safe - but once they fix it - it won't happen again - and realize it can happen to any vehicle as I said. Good luck!

 

[AnaS]

That is quite scary. I don’t know of any brand ICE car where this is common nowadays. So I’m surprised at some of the nonchalant comments on here to suck it up and just accept it. This is quite unacceptable actually. But glad to know you were safe.

Kindly do update this thread and let us know what they find out happened. Gives me pause as I rely on my car heavily for daily work and commute on the highway mainly; it would be dreadful if this happened to me on my way to or from work.

Thank you. I appreciate that...I was starting to regret posting on this forum.

 

[Carbonfiber]

So something went wrong and it will be fixed. No need to flip out, equipment breaks.

It’s not like a light bulb went out. OP has every right to flip out over sometime like this and I would feel the same if this happened to me. These cars ain’t cheap.

 

[gcsutton]

I definitely empathize and it must have been a very scary situation. Not to be an apologist, as Tesla has a ton of flaws, but that being said, it happened to me once in an ICE car, and it happened to my mother once as well. They weren’t 2 week old cars, but they weren’t old cars. Unfortunately these massive pieces of equipment sometimes fail. Like I said, I understand the nervousness of trusting the very car that put you in a not-so-safe situation, but you can either get rid of it, or trust that the company that puts hundred of thousands of cars on the streets every year somewhat knows what they’re doing and will fix your issue.

What software version were you on?

Happened to me in a Ford minivan in the middle of nowhere New Mexico at 1am

 

[Hexo09]

Happened to me in a Ford minivan in the middle of nowhere New Mexico at 1am

Actually happened to me in a Ford as well. I was a young driver at the time, and getting on the freeway. Super scary situation, but made it out.

I actually don’t even know what the problem ended up being, but I didn’t know any better, so they fixed it and I kept the car for a few years after that, without any more issues of that nature.

 

[WADan]

Thank you. I appreciate that...I was starting to regret posting on this forum.

Please don’t regret, and thanks for letting us know. If you search youtube, you will find some similar situations. I do recall one case virtually like yours (model Y just a few weeks old too), and if I remember correctly the situation turned out to be no major issue. Good luck and please keep us posted.

 

[EchoDelta]

Thanks - I can appreciate your perspective. I'm definitely not naive to think that this is the only car make out there that has issues but just the fact that it's brand new and already giving me issues is unnerving. Like I said, if we had been on the freeway when this happened, we could have been seriously injured or worse.

What a horrible situation, so sorry. Totally understandable you are shaken up. Hopefully the next steps Tesla takes rebuild your confidence. Please keep us posted or ask for information and support.
(Your confidence is a very subjective thing, even when you can intellectualize the experience- the internet is full of people that will tell you how you should feel, this forum is not an exception)