2021 Model 3 LR broke down and wouldn’t drive

[pure9]

Hi guys, I took delivery of my 2021 model 3 long range 4 days ago. Long story short, 450 miles in I pull up to a super charger for the second time ever and start charging. 5-10 mins in it stops charging and reports the following three errors BMS_a035, BMS_a151 and VCFRONT_a192. The car wouldn’t go into drive and after about 1 hour of waiting for the tow truck car completely turns off including the screen and won’t even go into tow mode. Car is still not charging and solid red Tesla logo shows up when trying to charge. SOC is at 28% after few mins of charging. Initial SOC was 25% when I got to supercharger and the battery was preheating for fast charging. The car also starting making weird clicking noises from the back.

called the service center to see what’s going on but no one helped me since it’s Sunday and the service center opens tomorrow. Do you guys know anything I can do or ask the SC tomorrow? This is my first Tesla and I’m super disappointed and I’d really want to get a new car since i feel like mine is a defective car and will always give me problems (When I first accepted delivery and got inside the car the screen turned off completely for a min or two which was super weird idk if this has to do anything with what happened) I didn’t even get the chance to get my panel gals resolved since my appointment for that was another couple days in but Tesla service said they will merge both appointments and take care of it in one.
Has anyone else experienced this? Is this a recall or a bunch of defective cars? I picked up my car from Costa Mesa, CA location on March 24 around 4:00PM. Can I use the lemon law to my advantage here? Any tips or suggestions will be appreciated. I’m super upset since I was loving the car and it’s my first Tesla and I’ve heard their customer service is bad but I didn’t know the quality of the car is this bad. There was a major panel gap in the back door where water would leak inside the car and cause a lot of wind noise and I was already scheduled to get this fixed but my car broke down before that.
I’ve attached pictures of the error codes.

 

[P-Lo801]

Dang. Very sorry you are having to experience this. I've read about similar situations being reported in this forum, but, your situation seems worse because the ones I've read happened at least after a couple thousand miles, not at 450.

I hope you can claim lemon law for this one as I would very much feel the same as you. I'm no expert, but I thought I recall reading that it mostly applies if you reported that the manufacturer, after attempting to fix or resolve "an or "the" issue(s) at least three times, the issue(s) still persist.

 

[jjrandorin]

No, you can not use lemon law, you are no where near close to being able to do that. The lemon law in california requires either 3 documented attempts to fix the same issue, or 30 days of the vehicle being in service, or a verifiable safety defect that the manufacturer / or their representative is unable to fix (with documented attempt to fix it).

No, there is no run of defective cars that we have heard of, you basically need to let the service center tell you what is wrong with the car. It happens, it sucks that something happened to your brand new car, but you are not the first (nor will you be the last) to have something happen to their brand new car, tesla or otherwise.

I got a brand new BMW X5 in 2015 tha had tons of electrical issues, that ended up having to get bought back, after 4 attempts and 45 days in service within its first 3 months of ownership.

If you go to tesla and start talking about "lemon law" before they have even attempted to repair the car even once, you will only accomplish 2 things.

1. You will let them know you dont know what lemon law procedures are, and they will likely tell you
2. You will be telling them " I am going to be a problem".

It would be advisable to wait to be mad at the people who are going to attempt to fix your car, after (not before or during) they attempt to fix it.

It sucks, I get it, but take a deep breath, and before you call them make sure you are calm and can talk to them without being angry. If you are not capable of doing that because you are too angry, dont call them until you CAN talk to them without being angry (or at least hide it well enough that they dont know).

 

[john94si]

Same as mine did. They fixed it and been perfect. Sorry it happened but demand a loaner at least.

 

[MikeyC]

Wow, really looking forward to that with my 9 day old 2021. OK, seriously, let's hope it's a rare thing. If it happened to me, I'd be super bummed but probably the best thing is to let service handle it and see what they can do for you. Mention any other things (like gaps) and let them fix everything at once. My guess is you'll be back in it in a few days as good as new. Good luck and let us know what happens!

Mike

 

[Hydrocarbon302]

Sorry to hear about your car, that is definitely disheartening on such a new car.

Our MYP spontaneously started to display bms_a035 when my wife was driving. She was able to get home but the car would not move after she put it in park. A flatbed was dispatched to take the car to El Paso SC 4 hours away. While waiting the car started clicking and the screen went blank. Basically when there is a HV fault the DC to DC converter stops charging the 12v battery that runs the computer and auxiliary systems, and after a few hours it goes flat.

Service was great, although we were without our car for almost a month, we did have a loaner, and it was during the holidays so I could understand the delays. They ended up replacing the rear drive unit assembly and the A/C compressor.


Good luck!

 

[pure9]

Sorry to hear about your car, that is definitely disheartening on such a new car.

Our MYP spontaneously started to display bms_a035 when my wife was driving. She was able to get home but the car would not move after she put it in park. A flatbed was dispatched to take the car to El Paso SC 4 hours away. While waiting the car started clicking and the screen went blank. Basically when there is a HV fault the DC to DC converter stops charging the 12v battery that runs the computer and auxiliary systems, and after a few hours it goes flat.

Service was great, although we were without our car for almost a month, we did have a loaner, and it was during the holidays so I could understand the delays. They ended up replacing the rear drive unit assembly and the A/C compressor.


Good luck!

Was supercharging free on the loaner and were you only stuck in Chill mode like others have reported?

 

[jjrandorin]

@pure9

If I remember correctly from your other thread:, this is the first new car you have ever purchased. You mentioned so in this thread you created when you were investigating what car to buy:

Tesla Model 3 vs. Honda Accord Hybrid

Hey guys, I'm looking to buy my very first car and looking at a 2021 Honda Accord Hybrid vs. a 2021 Model 3 SR+. The honda is costing me about 33k and I'd happily switch to the LR if I get approved for the CVAP 5k grant in CA state that will help me afford the LR. My biggest concern is range...

teslamotorsclub.com

The only reason I mention this is, its relevant in that, you may not have the experience that some of us "older folk" have had in dealing with stuff like this. I am not attempting to shame you or anything, far from it. Just provide clarity to others who might be reading and wondering at why you are so upset. Its a lot of money to spend, and when you spend a lot of money and something doesnt appear right, it can be frustrating.

With that being said, I wanted to let you know again that things like this happen, and you likely will look back on this as a minor annoyance later.

Its fairly common (for example) for tesla not to have loaner tesla vehicles, especially if you are in a busy tesla location like you are. My recommendation for handling that would be to simply take what they have as a loaner, and move on with doing whatever you need to do.

Let them know that "I would prefer a tesla vehicle loaner, if one becomes available will you please contact me so I can swap to it, if this is going to take more than 2-3 days?" Most times loaner vehicles are locked in chill mode. I dont know about supercharging because when I have had tesla loaners I simply charged it at home, or, on the day I was going to turn it in, didnt charge it at all because I knew when I got back to them the vehicle would have 30-40% left, and figured they could charge it from there.

I know its a lot of money, but this is an experience you were likely to have at some point during your life of buying and driving vehicles, its just unfortunate that this is that time.

 

[JCtx]

Hey OP, I'm super anal too (probably more than you. Ha ha), but remember this is a Tesla, which has 17 moving parts, and one computer (vs dozens on ICE cars with this level of tech). And the drivetrain and battery are super easy to get replaced, at least compared to an ICE vehicle, so whatever it is, should be like new after it's fixed. This is my first Tesla too ('21 M3 LR as well), so did a lot of research before buying it. And I really liked how simple it is, in case of something like what happened to you... which is the FIRST TIME I ever heard of that, so it's not like there are many such failures. By the way, I'd carry a Lithium battery pack in the frunk, and a 9V battery inside the tow-hook compartment (like I do), so you can get the car started if the 12V battery ever runs out of juice. Not sure if it'd have helped you, so you could make it home, but just wanted to mention it. Good luck brother. And keep us posted.

 

[Mark2018s]

If you go to tesla and start talking about "lemon law" before they have even attempted to repair the car even once, you will only accomplish 2 things.

1. You will let them know you dont know what lemon law procedures are, and they will likely tell you
2. You will be telling them " I am going to be a problem".

It would be advisable to wait to be mad at the people who are going to attempt to fix your car, after (not before or during) they attempt to fix it.

Good advice. Absolutely let them know how frustrated you are...but keep your cool. I agree with OP, id not feel confident in this car going forward.

 

[Frank99]

I’d feel perfectly comfortable after Tesla fixes it. Really bummed that it happened, but it does.
Remember that cars are simply a bunch of bolted together pieces. A piece breaks, you fix it and go on. This is especially true with Tesla’s, which are vastly simpler than an ICE- heck, just getting all the vacuum lines correctly reattached after major engine work could take half a day.
There are some areas that aren’t so cut and dried - rattles, squeaks, electrical gremlins in legacy cars - but doesn’t sound like you’ll have any of those.

Let’em fix it, and the grin will return.

 

[Hydrocarbon302]

Was supercharging free on the loaner and were you only stuck in Chill mode like others have reported?

Yes supercharging was free, and yes it was locked in chill mode.

 

[Phlier]

Man, OP, what a bummer of a way to be introduced into the Tesla world. I hope it all works out for you.

Let us know what happens?

 

[cali8484]

Hi guys, I took delivery of my 2021 model 3 long range 4 days ago. Long story short, 450 miles in I pull up to a super charger for the second time ever and start charging. 5-10 mins in it stops charging and reports the following three errors BMS_a035, BMS_a151 and VCFRONT_a192. The car wouldn’t go into drive and after about 1 hour of waiting for the tow truck car completely turns off including the screen and won’t even go into tow mode. Car is still not charging and solid red Tesla logo shows up when trying to charge. SOC is at 28% after few mins of charging. Initial SOC was 25% when I got to supercharger and the battery was preheating for fast charging. The car also starting making weird clicking noises from the back.

called the service center to see what’s going on but no one helped me since it’s Sunday and the service center opens tomorrow. Do you guys know anything I can do or ask the SC tomorrow? This is my first Tesla and I’m super disappointed and I’d really want to get a new car since i feel like mine is a defective car and will always give me problems (When I first accepted delivery and got inside the car the screen turned off completely for a min or two which was super weird idk if this has to do anything with what happened) I didn’t even get the chance to get my panel gals resolved since my appointment for that was another couple days in but Tesla service said they will merge both appointments and take care of it in one.
Has anyone else experienced this? Is this a recall or a bunch of defective cars? I picked up my car from Costa Mesa, CA location on March 24 around 4:00PM. Can I use the lemon law to my advantage here? Any tips or suggestions will be appreciated. I’m super upset since I was loving the car and it’s my first Tesla and I’ve heard their customer service is bad but I didn’t know the quality of the car is this bad. There was a major panel gap in the back door where water would leak inside the car and cause a lot of wind noise and I was already scheduled to get this fixed but my car broke down before that.
I’ve attached pictures of the error codes.

I can understand how you feel. I had similar situation when VCFRONT failed in my car. It's understandable that you are upset especially with all those errors on screen. But your car will likely be just fine after Tesla replace the failed components (likely VCFRONT). In case you didn't know, all the major controllers in M3 requires 12V which is controlled by VCFRONT. So, if VCFRONT is dead then the car is pretty much disabled. This is similar to how ICE cars behave when the alternator dies. So, it may seem more alarming than it really is. Good luck with your repair.

 

[boiler81]

This is similar to how ICE cars behave when the alternator dies. So, it may seem more alarming than it really is.

Yeah, my wife's Mercedes C-class stranded her after throwing a dozen unrelated error messages, and would only drive in 2nd gear (limp home mode).
Turned out, it was a common problem when the 12V battery was starting to go bad. Of course Mercedes don't have specific battery monitoring available to the driver.

I bet the OP's problem is an rare infancy failure of the BMS or similar, and once fixed won't ever reoccur. Good Luck.

 

[john94si]

Did they get your parts yet? It took mine 2 weeks to get the entire new RDU (rear drive unit) replaced

 

[pure9]

They’re still working on my car and upon asking what went wrong they don’t have an answer yet and tell me that the engineers are still working on it and that they are waiting on approval to replace the rear inverter (I’m guessing that’s the rear drive unit?) it’s almost been a week and they still don’t have an answer as to what went wrong and the service team just gives me super vague answers.

I have mixed opinions on how I should feel with this car moving forward. I want to request for another car but it doesn’t look like they’d care or do that. Atleast request free supercharging miles as a compensation? What do you guys think?
I did get a loaner Model S in the time being but I like my model 3 way better than this 2017 75D Model S.
I’ve lost all my trust from Tesla. Every time I park my car somewhere and put it in drive after I’m always scared now if it will even start back up and take me home safely and I try to stay as close to home as possible. I really hope this anxiety goes away soon but it sucks having that constant fear all the time that the car might not go into drive again and I’ll just be stranded in the middle of no where. Just feels super unreliable.
Thank you for all you guys’ support though. I hope I’m able to trust these cars again.

 

[Phlier]

They’re still working on my car and upon asking what went wrong they don’t have an answer yet and tell me that the engineers are still working on it and that they are waiting on approval to replace the rear inverter (I’m guessing that’s the rear drive unit?) it’s almost been a week and they still don’t have an answer as to what went wrong and the service team just gives me super vague answers.

I have mixed opinions on how I should feel with this car moving forward. I want to request for another car but it doesn’t look like they’d care or do that. Atleast request free supercharging miles as a compensation? What do you guys think?
I did get a loaner Model S in the time being but I like my model 3 way better than this 2017 75D Model S.
I’ve lost all my trust from Tesla. Every time I park my car somewhere and put it in drive after I’m always scared now if it will even start back up and take me home safely and I try to stay as close to home as possible. I really hope this anxiety goes away soon but it sucks having that constant fear all the time that the car might not go into drive again and I’ll just be stranded in the middle of no where. Just feels super unreliable.
Thank you for all you guys’ support though. I hope I’m able to trust these cars again.

I completely understand your lost of trust. I'd be thinking the same thing had this happened to me.

I would try and get Tesla to at least get you some free supercharging for this.

IMO, what happened was that you had a loose connection in the 12 volt system that wasn't correctly attached during production. Unfortunately, this can cause some components to actually fail, so it most likely isn't just a matter of reconnecting a wire that came off/wasn't connected. This is just a guess... there are a lot of possibilities.

If it means anything.... I'm approaching the two year mark with my Tesla, and have had absolutely zero problems with it. The general consensus on the forums seems to be that they really are highly reliable cars.

I think that the odds are very good that once they get your car repaired, you'll have a long, trouble free ownership experience.

Thanks for the update! If you get a chance, come back and let us know more?

 

[DaveRZ]

Every car can experience a failure, especially electronics that have an initial "burn-in" period. Try not to let this single incident sour you to your new car experience. Odds are they'll fix it right, and you'll have a very reliable car. Forums are scary places because they are literally collections of people's bad experiences first and foremost.

 

[Pstreicher1]

Is there any indication of when the 12v battery is beginning to show signs of failure?
Not charging fully, not able to charge, etc.? Seems this is a particular area of concern.
Maybe there is a way to carry a portable 12v battery pack with lighter plug that will
plug into the rear lighter socket and let you at least get home or somewhere?
I think I remember a 12v lighter socket in the back of my 2021 Model X.