Anyone have experience getting new replacement from Tesla? Have had 2 drive unit failures in <9500mi

[turtlesz]

My Model 3 broke down after supercharging on Thanksgiving day and still awaiting repairs. Was told the drive unit and pyrofuse was replaced this time around. Problem is that I had a failure when the car had around 600 miles and it told me to pull over and stopped working. At that time the drive unit and pyrofuse were also replaced. I am not sure what could be going wrong but I feel there must be something more going on besides just the unit and pyrofuse to be causing these problems. I must be the only unlucky one who has a Model 3 which has had 2 drive unit failures.

Has Tesla ever replaced a faulty car with a new one? I don't want to return for a refund and still want a 3 but just want a more reliable car. What would be the steps to take in order to make this kind of request? Its annoying to be on hold with service centers trying to get an update about a car in service and if I call Tesla there are long wait times. I have installed PPF, ceramic coat and ceramic tint on my car, could those costs be reimbursed? Have a S loaner right now and can't wait to get back into a 3.

 

[Tam]

...installed PPF, ceramic coat and ceramic tint on my car, could those costs be reimbursed?

Tesla would penalize owners very dearly for modifying its car (even just a simple dash cam sticking to the windshield that's not removed before Tesla's inspection).

 

[MP3Mike]

You can look up your states lemon law criteria.

As far as add-ons I doubt Tesla would cover your cost on them, so you might want to give them a chance to ix your car.

 

[SJC3]

Yup check your states lemon laws. It’s clearly stated what recourse you have with Tesla. Document everything. Make sure your invoices state exactly the problems. The number of visits and the number of days in service matter.

 

[M109Rider]

Tesla would penalize owners very dearly for modifying its car (even just a simple dash cam sticking to the windshield that's not removed before Tesla's inspection).

That sounds unlikely.
Have you been penalized by Tesla for installing a dash cam?

I think the OP was asking about coatings and reembursemebts.
Are you implying the warranty may be compromised because Tesla would penalize the OP for a ceramic coating. ?

 

[NathanielHrnblwr]

That sucks. You wouldn't get reimbursed for the PPF, etc. in a return scenario. I'd let them sort this out instead of a replacement and a new set of unknowns. You're rocking an S (not an ICE loaner), not putting miles on your own car, and the return would likely complicate the tax credit situation.

They'll sort it out.

 

[Tam]

...Have you been penalized by Tesla for installing a dash cam?...

Read it for yourself:

Tesla lowering trade in value due to dash cam?

A $4,000 penalty for an aftermarket dash cam on the windshield.

The $4,000 penalty was not assessed once it was removed.

So, if I understand that post correctly, an owner will be penalized very heavily for an evidence of third party modification (PPF, ceramic coat and ceramic tint...) when the car is returned for a refund.

 

[viperssd]

Trade-in evaluations and lease assessments are very different that a car going through a buyback, lemon law or otherwise. Either way though, I don't think they will reimburse you for those expenses.

 

[M109Rider]

Read it for yourself:

Tesla lowering trade in value due to dash cam?

A $4,000 penalty for an aftermarket dash cam on the windshield.

The $4,000 penalty was not assessed once it was removed.

So, if I understand that post correctly, an owner will be penalized very heavily for an evidence of third party modification (PPF, ceramic coat and ceramic tint...) when the car is returned for a refund.

That link is for a scenario with a trade in.
Not the same scenario here at all right ...

Also, it’s normal for a trade in to be reduced if you’ve modded a car that affects the value. That’s not a Tesla thing, that’s any car.

 

[TheLocNar]

Read it for yourself:

Tesla lowering trade in value due to dash cam?

A $4,000 penalty for an aftermarket dash cam on the windshield.

The $4,000 penalty was not assessed once it was removed.

So, if I understand that post correctly, an owner will be penalized very heavily for an evidence of third party modification (PPF, ceramic coat and ceramic tint...) when the car is returned for a refund.

PPF vs dash cam. Not at all the same thing. The PPF has no way of affecting the operation of the car.

 

[MountainPass]

They should pay you extra for the PPF, if anything it adds value!

 

[turtlesz]

You can look up your states lemon law criteria.

As far as add-ons I doubt Tesla would cover your cost on them, so you might want to give them a chance to ix your car.

I am giving them the chance to fix it. I just don't have the confidence that they truly know what's going on, my car had been running perfectly for 8000 miles after the last drive unit was replaced. I had just taken it in to supercharge and after charge is when the error messages came up. Nobody was certain what had happened by I felt they just preemptively replaced the drive unit and pyrofuse again. And don't think the ppf will cause any issues, it was just on the bumper, headlights and side mirrors. It's just a film and can be taken off very easily, same with window tint.

And I'm not looking to go after Tesla and get lawyers involved for lemon law filing, I just was wondering if Tesla has ever simply exchanged an owners faulty car for another. The model 3 is still relatively new and all the issues have not been discovered, Tesla could keep my car to further diagnose and study the issues to see what must have been going on and give me a new replacement 3.

 

[Krazaak]

It’s in Tesla’s best interest to buy back and replace (let you re-order) your car instead of you filing a lemon claim. The offer may be better or worse than lemon liability depending on state, but saves you legal fees.

You should research the requirements for a lemon claim in your state.

 

[Cameron A]

It’s in Tesla’s best interest to buy back and replace (let you re-order) your car instead of you filing a lemon claim.

I can confirm that Tesla will not ever offer you a replacement vehicle. Rather, they will refund the purchase price of the original vehicle ad you would need to place a new order.

 

[MP3Mike]

And I'm not looking to go after Tesla and get lawyers involved for lemon law filing, I just was wondering if Tesla has ever simply exchanged an owners faulty car for another. The model 3 is still relatively new and all the issues have not been discovered, Tesla could keep my car to further diagnose and study the issues to see what must have been going on and give me a new replacement 3.

Unless you bought it outright they can't just exchange your car, as your lender has secured their loan against it. And most lenders will not transfer the loan to a different car. You would have to pay it off and get a new loan. (People have run into that when they rejected delivery of one car after the loan was funded, they had to get a new loan and lost the terms on the original.)

 

[turtlesz]

I can confirm that Tesla will not ever offer you a replacement vehicle. Rather, they will refund the purchase price of the original vehicle ad you would need to place a new order.

That would be annoying for me as my current configuration has gotten more expensive than purchasing again. Paid 1k for white paint, got free internet/data, and the doc fees were couple hundred lower. I escalated the situation to Tesla and will see what they can do. I just wanted to know if anyone had real world experiences how Tesla handles significant problems and whether they exchange vehicles as I haven't found anything online. Having had the car break down 2 times and requiring a tow, with the most recent being 450 miles from home isn't confidence inspiring. Hope nobody ever has this happen to them.

 

[Krazaak]

That would be annoying for me as my current configuration has gotten more expensive than purchasing again. Paid 1k for white paint, got free internet/data, and the doc fees were couple hundred lower. I escalated the situation to Tesla and will see what they can do. I just wanted to know if anyone had real world experiences how Tesla handles significant problems and whether they exchange vehicles as I haven't found anything online. Having had the car break down 2 times and requiring a tow, with the most recent being 450 miles from home isn't confidence inspiring. Hope nobody ever has this happen to them.

There are plenty of people who've had buybacks, especially Model X since there's some wonky door and driveshaft issues. My understanding is that most of the details are covered under NDA. You're correct that you'll lose the value of your aftermarket work as well as any perks that aren't available since you've ordered. There's also taxes to be considered, since that money didn't go to Tesla. Try an executive escalation. If you just got unlucky and lost the drive unit lottery twice, then maybe 3rd time will be the charm. If there's some faulty ground or harness problem that's burning out components, then push them to find it.

Tesla doesn't want a lemon claim and you have rights as a consumer. They just might need a little prodding to get it fixed correctly. In any case, it won't be by swapping out your car.

 

[outie]

Check CA lemon law for the criteria. I don’t know how many days your car spent at the SC, but the same issue not fixed twice is not enough to invoke it. I believe it takes 4 attempts without considering the days spent at SC. Once you’ve reached there you should probably be communicating with the service manager by then. The service manager is the one who can initiate a buyback for you. They will refund you the price you paid minus 7500 tax credit and mileage used (the formula is same as CA lemon law formula) since you are in CA. You just order yourself a new car.

Unfortunately 3rd party mods aren’t reimbursed but it’s something you’ll need to negotiate with the service manager and the resolution team. You communicate with the service manager and they relay your requests to the resolution team. For example, keeping the existing car until the new one arrives. In my case they also agreed to refund the $5k battery upgrade fee (60D > 75D). Good luck.

 

[super20g]

Like some have said, look up lemon laws even if you don't plan to go that route. Generally 3-4 attempts to repair or 30 days out of service, within the first 18 months. If your car ends up meeting lemon law criteria, you can start that conversation with them as they would much prefer to do a mfg buy back and help you make up the difference to get you into another car. If they see you are actually willing to pursue buy back via lemon law, they will more than likely step up rather than end up with a car titled as a lemon which negatively impacts several things such as their reliability ratings... and profit margin on reselling the lemon. Banks will also typically not loan money on a car with a lemon title so they would probably have to sell it for cash. Hopefully they can just fix it for you and perhaps throw in something for your hassles, but I think you are right to be growing concerned with the long term reliability of the car.

 

[super20g]

They will refund you the price you paid minus 7500 tax credit and mileage used.

They wouldn't subtract the federal tax credit as not everyone is even eligible for it. And as far as I understand, you could technically file for the tax credit on your current car as well as the replacement since you did not buy the first car with the intent of selling it, and the next owner wont be able to file for it anyways because the car would be resold as used so you're not screwing someone else out of it...