Was heading home tonight from a cross country trip. Car started giving “Vehicle may not restart - Service is required” and “Electrical system power is reduced - Vehicle may shutdown unexpectedly” warnings. Got to a supercharger and car won’t charge, won’t go back into drive. Basically dead. Tesla did remote diagnostics and said it needs to go to the service center so they sent a tow truck to take it about 100 miles to the closest service center but of course they won’t be able to look at it until Monday morning. Car is 14 months old with 8500 miles on it. Pretty bummed out and it’s making me rethink the brand. This is going to cost me 3 days minimum in time so I hope Tesla can make things right with all the extra hotel, rental car, etc. expenses I’m going to incur.
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Car died 1200 miles from home... ugh
- Thread starter MrFusion
- Start date
Ya know, It can happen with any car... I had it happen to me 2500 miles from home with my Model S. They needed to swap out the battery pack because the contactor went bad. It took them a month to do it but they provided a loaner and were willing to ship my car 2500 miles when done. That was 3 and a half years ago.
Two weeks ago, same dreaded message again like yours. This time I was close to home and it was the drive motor leaking coolant around the bearing creating a short in the HV system. I was out $6,100 this time because they said I am out of warranty. The last motor was replaced almost 3 years ago for noise.
Tesla has treated me well even though I think that they should have covered me on this last motor replacement. I generally have had good experience with Tesla service. I wish you best of luck! Any high voltage fault will cause those messages. It could be any component that is shorted or causing fault. Heater, A/C, coolant heater, contactor, dc-dc, ac-dc, etc. Hopefully you are under warranty...
Bummer. I had the basically same scenario happened. Except after a reboot it did drive, and did charge. And never occured again.
Well, on a bright side, imagine you will be telling these adventure stories after years from now. I don't think Tesla will pay you a penny for your trouble; see here their warranty statement:
"Tesla hereby disclaims any and all indirect, incidental, special and consequential damages arising out of or relating to your vehicle, including, but not limited to, transportation to and from a Tesla Service Center, loss of vehicle value, loss of time, loss of income, loss of use, loss of personal or commercial property, inconvenience or aggravation, emotional distress or harm, commercial loss(including but not limited to lost profits or earnings), towing charges, bus fares, vehicle rental,service call charges, gasoline expenses, lodging expenses, damage to tow vehicle, and incidental charges such as telephone calls, facsimile transmissions, and mailing expenses."
However, you may have some trip interruption insurance attached to a credit card.
"Tesla hereby disclaims any and all indirect, incidental, special and consequential damages arising out of or relating to your vehicle, including, but not limited to, transportation to and from a Tesla Service Center, loss of vehicle value, loss of time, loss of income, loss of use, loss of personal or commercial property, inconvenience or aggravation, emotional distress or harm, commercial loss(including but not limited to lost profits or earnings), towing charges, bus fares, vehicle rental,service call charges, gasoline expenses, lodging expenses, damage to tow vehicle, and incidental charges such as telephone calls, facsimile transmissions, and mailing expenses."
However, you may have some trip interruption insurance attached to a credit card.
As noted by others, every vehicle has the potential to strand you somewhere inconvenient. A fuel pump fails. An alternator fails. Unfortunately, it happens. You just hope you get stranded somewhere convenient, a supercharger is not too bad, cause there's usually food and coffee and a toilet nearby. My BMW's fuel pump failed one cold rainy day on a busy interstate. That was no fun.
This is true but it seems like Tesla is definitely one of the most unreliable brands as evidenced by the posts here and the recent bottom of the barrel ratings on reliability. I’ve owned many many new cars and the only other time I’ve had a major failure like this so soon was when a Chevy Volt required a new transmission during the first year. Might have to go back to gas after this as I no longer have faith in Tesla for road trips. At least I just leased it so I can be done in 10 more months.
Sad. 
In comparison, I was “fortunate” in that when my Model 3 died on Day 2 of ownership from a catastrophic mechanical failure in the drive unit, I was at least close to home so I could get a ride in the tow truck back to the service center and get a loaner that same day. And none of my other (numerous) quality issues over my 2+ years of ownership have rendered the car inoperable.
There’s lots to like about Tesla vehicles, but it’s an unfortunate truth that Tesla reliability just isn’t very good. And it’s not hard to understand why given the way they push product development timelines and cut corners on product validation.
In comparison, I was “fortunate” in that when my Model 3 died on Day 2 of ownership from a catastrophic mechanical failure in the drive unit, I was at least close to home so I could get a ride in the tow truck back to the service center and get a loaner that same day. And none of my other (numerous) quality issues over my 2+ years of ownership have rendered the car inoperable.
There’s lots to like about Tesla vehicles, but it’s an unfortunate truth that Tesla reliability just isn’t very good. And it’s not hard to understand why given the way they push product development timelines and cut corners on product validation.
As a 2016 Volt owner, my subjective impression just reading car forums is that the 2nd-gen Chevy was particularly fragile, with lots of 12V battery failures, and Shift-to-Park errors. One of the reasons why I made the switch!
The reliability numbers I've seen are almost always padded with paint issues and bodywork fit issues, they're not real reliability issues. Anecdotally, I'd say the Model 3 has been less problematic, operationally, than your average ICE.
As evidenced by the posts in a Tesla forum?? My VW broke down 5 hours into a 7 hour drive and was stranded 2 hours from home. It happens, unfortunately.
Sounds like a 12V battery problem or a problem with the 12v battery charging system.
Most people with issues post on forums. Not really exciting reading to talk about all of the regular trips when all goes well. Google any aut manufacturer forum site and you'll find the same number of horror stories about issues and complaints and costs. If it's mechanical, stuff happens. The reliability issues from the recent CR ratings actually had little to do with mechanicals and more to do with fit and finish. yes, they are real issues, but nothing that's leaving anyone stranded more than any other manufacturer. Good luck with your issue! Keep us posted.
Yeah, I hope this is the only issue but just based on personal experience it’s the only time a car has stranded me completely and I’ve owned tons of new and used sedans, sports cars, etc. so just stands out to me that a car with 8000 miles on it died completely. We’ll see what I find out at the SC tomorrow and I’ll update this post.
Anybody have a clue what usually triggers this type of issue? The car was completely fine on the freeway for 3 hours and as soon as I exited and drove about a mile to the supercharger it popped all the errors. Could be coincidence but seems odd how it happened right after I got off the freeway.
Dream on ...
Yup, that did ... getting off the freeway. Should've stayed on.
You have to keep in mind that the forums are a magnet for folks with problems. People seldom complain that things are going swimmingly. People need to vent, so they come here. Frankly, I’m amazed at how few complaints are to be found here, considering anyone in the world with a complaint could end up here. In fact, if you roll up all the M3 complaints from the 3 main Tesla-related forums, there really aren’t that many.
My guess is the OP’s problem is a 12V battery failure. Relatively simple, fast, and inexpensive to resolve. Please let us know the outcome.
My guess is the OP’s problem is a 12V battery failure. Relatively simple, fast, and inexpensive to resolve. Please let us know the outcome.
If it is just a battery issue shouldn’t they have a way to send somebody out to fix that on the side of the road instead of making you wait 2 days in a hotel for the SC to open? I actually hope it is not just the battery because then I will be even more upset with them.
Dolemite
is my name
The difference is that "other cars" leaving you stranded usually doesn't mean the factory service shop is the only one that can save your ass. Failed accessories & other gubbins are fairly easy to fix on modern cars. I think if the Tesla could self-diagnose with the exact issue, it'd be an even easier fix than a "traditional" car. But it doesn't sound like we're quite there yet.
Exactly. I’ve owned almost every sports car you can think of and I’ve never seen this many issues even on cars that are decades old. Price we pay for bleeding edge tech I suppose.
Not understanding this.... you're expecting a diagnosis from the tow truck driver to initialize sending a mechanic (off hours carrying any spare parts that may solve the problem on the side of the road - as diagnosed by the tow truck driver). And then, if the tow driver was wrong in his diagnosis - take your car to a service center that's not currently open, but should have a ready 24 hour staff? What brand of car did you previously own that had that kind of service?
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