Brand New M3.... Towed away today

[ttflyer]

Well, I guess I'm unlucky. I thought I'd post for the group an unfortunate event. Picked up my red M3LR on August 29th. Today, with 748 miles on it, it died. When I tried to reverse out of a spot, the car went "clunk" and I got two messages: "Rear motor disabled - Ok to drive" and "Vehicle shutting down Pull over safely" (I was in a parking spot). It was toast. Would not go into D or R. AC and screen still worked. I live three hours from a service center (regretting that now). Roadside picked it up and off it goes...

On the plus side, I have all the Uber credits I can use. Not happy. But, stuff happens..

Real shame. I was so excited about this car! Waited three months for it! Now, I'm not sure I trust it. If that had happened on the interstate doing 80 mph, it could have been very bad.
Well, that's the story so far.

 

[father_of_6]

Don't be discouraged! Tesla has shipped hundreds of thousands of these vehicles, there are bound to be a few that experience issues (and I've read a few posts like yours in the past). That said, please don't feel like this will make your car a "lemon". They'll likely replace a motor or inverter or something, it'll be a quick repair, and you'll never have a problem again.

I had a 7 hour drive home from the delivery center when I picked my M3 up... middle of winter. The PT sensors failed midway home and we no longer had heat. The rest of the drive was *freezing*... thank God for heated seats or we would've been in trouble. The service center replaced the sensors and all has been well ever since. All will work out in the end.

 

[PITA]

Don't be discouraged! Tesla has shipped hundreds of thousands of these vehicles, there are bound to be a few that experience issues (and I've read a few posts like yours in the past). That said, please don't feel like this will make your car a "lemon". They'll likely replace a motor or inverter or something, it'll be a quick repair, and you'll never have a problem again.

I had a 7 hour drive home from the delivery center when I picked my M3 up... middle of winter. The PT sensors failed midway home and we no longer had heat. The rest of the drive was *freezing*... thank God for heated seats or we would've been in trouble. The service center replaced the sensors and all has been well ever since. All will work out in the end.

I carry full thermal wear (spare clothes) in the Frunk for this very reason !! ... and potential breakdown issues.

Except if my Wife was ever with me, I'd lose that argument and I'd still freeze to death

 

[father_of_6]

@ttflyer - just wanted to clarify too... the heat loss we experienced was a widespread issue in the Model 3/Y at the time I purchased mine. It was due to a large batch of failed PT sensors. It wasn't a design failure, just a bad part from a third-party.

The Model 3 is well designed. Replacing a motor in a Model 3 is *not* like replacing the engine in a gas guzzler.

Please do let us know how this works out for you!

 

[ttflyer]

Just an update. The car was towed away about 2pm on Tuesday. So far (Thursday morning) nobody at Tesla has contacted me. I don't even know where it is (the tow truck driver said Marrietta GA). No one has tried to arrange any alternate transportation or tell when the car might be repaired or even looked at. I have nothing on my Mobile app so no way to communicate to anyone.

On the plus side, my first payment is due soon!

 

[Baytomax]

Just an update. The car was towed away about 2pm on Tuesday. So far (Thursday morning) nobody at Tesla has contacted me. I don't even know where it is (the tow truck driver said Marrietta GA). No one has tried to arrange any alternate transportation or tell when the car might be repaired or even looked at. I have nothing on my Mobile app so no way to communicate to anyone.

On the plus side, my first payment is due soon!

For what it's worth, you seem like you're handling it very well. Sucks to hear, glad you're safe at least. It could've been much more of a disaster really.

I hope Tesla takes care of you soon, I would look into possible lemon laws in the off chance they can't figure what's wrong with your car.

 

[CheezyNachos]

This happened to me ~100 miles/less than two hours after pickup yesterday.

Thread 'Picked up M3P today. Already broke down.' Picked up M3P today. Already broke down.

I am doing much better today than I was yesterday. If all is well when I pick it up again things will be okay.

 

[roblab]

Just an update. The car was towed away about 2pm on Tuesday. So far (Thursday morning) nobody at Tesla has contacted me. I don't even know where it is

Can't you follow your car on your phone? I follow my wife's car when she's away, and she checks on me to see when I'll be home. It's useful information.

 

[CheezyNachos]

Can't you follow your car on your phone? I follow my wife's car when she's away, and she checks on me to see when I'll be home. It's useful information.

I am not sure this works if the battery dies. Also when I had my similar issue the system shut down all non-essential functions (so my display said I was in California by default). Also when the car is in service that info takes over what you see in your app. However, it does provide the address of the service center it is at (see pic).

 

[KenC]

Just an update. The car was towed away about 2pm on Tuesday. So far (Thursday morning) nobody at Tesla has contacted me. I don't even know where it is (the tow truck driver said Marrietta GA). No one has tried to arrange any alternate transportation or tell when the car might be repaired or even looked at. I have nothing on my Mobile app so no way to communicate to anyone.

On the plus side, my first payment is due soon!

Shoulda stuck an AirTag in it!

 

[Taxvictim]

Here was some advice posted by @Dolemite in another thread. He had a ton of failures at the same time, and this fixed it. We should print this out and keep it in our new Teslas so we can at least try a TOTAL disconnect of the car and reboot before sending it off to service:

"In the end, I basically "completely" turned the car off & on again. Stupid simple procedure - sounds scary, but isn't. Just be careful not to lock yourself out of the car, otherwise you'll have to open the frunk via the emergency leads behind the tow hitch as described in the manual.

1. Pop the frunk open
2. Open all windows to avoid any damage (since auto-up/down will be disabled)
3. Ensure the HVAC has been off for 30+ seconds
4. Power down the car thru the screen Controls > Safety & Security > Vehicle Power > Power Off

Then

1. Open the frunk, remove the under-hood apron
2. Disconnect the 12V battery negative terminal
3. Lift up the rear seat - there are two "sliding" latches on the leading edges under the cushion
4. On the right hand side, you'll notice a high-density foam block that covers the connector to the high-voltage battery (HVB)... lift it out of place to reveal the connector
5. Unlock the HVB connector by pivoting the little gray latch outwards - this will start pulling it out. At this point, the HVB connectors will immediately open and you'll hear a clunk - don't be alarmed.
6. Cover the connector port on the battery with a rag or something just to be safe (for the battery's sake)

The car is now effectively "dead." I left it like this for 30 - 45 mins, reconnected everything in the reverse order, and now it's fine.
I left the rear right door cracked so I wouldn't have to worry about a lockout condition."

 

[CheezyNachos]

Here was some advice posted by @Dolemite in another thread. He had a ton of failures at the same time, and this fixed it. We should print this out and keep it in our new Teslas so we can at least try a TOTAL disconnect of the car and reboot before sending it off to service:

"The car is now effectively "dead." I left it like this for 30 - 45 mins, reconnected everything in the reverse order, and now it's fine."

If the pyro fuse popped everything will not be fine.

 

[ttflyer]

Can't you follow your car on your phone? I follow my wife's car when she's away, and she checks on me to see when I'll be home. It's useful information.

The app says the car is still in Birmingham where it broke down. But I am still getting range and climate information and those are changing. Slightly less range. And yesterday the interior was 117 degrees - which the car is not supposed to allow...

 

[ttflyer]

This happened to me ~100 miles/less than two hours after pickup yesterday.

Thread 'Picked up M3P today. Already broke down.' Picked up M3P today. Already broke down.

I am doing much better today than I was yesterday. If all is well when I pick it up again things will be okay.

Read your thread. You are lucky being close to a service center. I think that makes a big difference. Mine is two+ hours away in Atlanta. I have had no contact with the service center and they have had the car for two days. I'm lucky because I have a spare car (fun little convertible) but most people don't. Not sure what Tesla expects people to do...

 

[Trekker_]

Read your thread. You are lucky being close to a service center. I think that makes a big difference. Mine is two+ hours away in Atlanta. I have had no contact with the service center and they have had the car for two days. I'm lucky because I have a spare car (fun little convertible) but most people don't. Not sure what Tesla expects people to do...

Have you tried calling them?? I would have been on their ass the next day for answers.

 

[MaskedRacerX]

Have you tried calling them?? I would have been on their ass the next day for answers.

I would've hid in the trunk and jumped out at the service center like Mr. Chow from The Hangover ...

 

[Trekker_]

I would've hid in the trunk and jumped out at the service center like Mr. Chow from The Hangover ...

This is the most valid way of dealing with it

 

[ttflyer]

Have you tried calling them?? I would have been on their ass the next day for answers.

And there in lies the problem. Call who, exactly? The service center? That number takes you to phone tree. The person who you ultimately talk to on the phone tree is not at the service center. All they can do is email the service center and try and get them to call me. They don't call me. I tried chatting on the website (chat is under solar roof section, but you get someone). They said they would have somebody call me. But they don't call me. Every interaction is supposed to be via the app. But there is no service item in the app. No way to communicate. Nobody at Tesla seems to care. Certainly there seems to be no established protocol for this type of event. Elon probably fired them. He can just tweet instead. Starting to loose my patience.

 

[Trekker_]

And there in lies the problem. Call who, exactly? The service center? That number takes you to phone tree. The person who you ultimately talk to on the phone tree is not at the service center. All they can do is email the service center and try and get them to call me. They don't call me. I tried chatting on the website (chat is under solar roof section, but you get someone). They said they would have somebody call me. But they don't call me. Every interaction is supposed to be via the app. But there is no service item in the app. No way to communicate. Nobody at Tesla seems to care. Certainly there seems to be no established protocol for this type of event. Elon probably fired them. He can just tweet instead. Starting to loose my patience.

See I can't get anyone on the main tesla line, but when I call my service center its actually someone at the service center

 

[Tazzman]

And there in lies the problem. Call who, exactly? The service center? That number takes you to phone tree. The person who you ultimately talk to on the phone tree is not at the service center. All they can do is email the service center and try and get them to call me. They don't call me. I tried chatting on the website (chat is under solar roof section, but you get someone). They said they would have somebody call me. But they don't call me. Every interaction is supposed to be via the app. But there is no service item in the app. No way to communicate. Nobody at Tesla seems to care. Certainly there seems to be no established protocol for this type of event. Elon probably fired them. He can just tweet instead. Starting to loose my patience.

I bet if you create a service ticket in the app you will receive a response. I would at least try it.