"Car not Safe to Drive-- Pull over Safely"

[cpa]

Vern, so glad that Tesla resolved the situation.

Our one-year old Model 3 with 3,000 miles on the odometer would not charge. Zero amps AC and zero amps DC. It was towed to the service center in Monterey, and we needed a new battery. One week total to tow it, have engineering authorize a new battery, remove, replace, test, and return to us.

Now, if they could figure out why the headlights are on during daylight hours (even though set to automatic) when the temperatures exceed about 55 degrees, that would be just dandy! When the headlights come on, the speed limit sign and the fuzzy pictures of the surrounding cars disappear. When the mornings are crisp and cool, everything is fine--no headlights and we get all the pictures.

 

[turtlesz]

Sadly I had my drive unit had failed 2 separate times. First was last year in May the first week of ownership. Was driving my Model 3 home when suddenly I received a message stating "Cannot maintain vehicle power - Car may stop driving or shut down." Car slowed to a stop within 20 seconds and was unable to be turned on. I was on a street and had to pull over but thankfully not on the highway. Hit both knobs on steering wheel to reboot system but the message persisted. Then another message would say "Vehicle systems are powering up - Shift into D or R after message clears" but was never able to shift out of P. Had to call Tesla and had the vehicle towed to a service center. Was a scary experience since the car seemed to work perfectly fine for the first week and had 160 miles without issue. Once Tesla received the car they sent me a model s the next day and my car was fixed within 2 days. They replaced the drive unit and pyrofuse.

Car was fine for nearly 10,000 miles but on Thanksgiving day my car failed and the experience was worse. My car was unable to start after supercharging. After disconnecting the charger cable and getting back in the car it was unable to get to get into drive mode. 3 errors came up on the screen: "Power reduced Exit and re-enter car - may restore operation" "car shutting down PULL OVER SAFELY" "Unable to Drive PULL OVER SAFELY." I was parked at a supercharger and car was powered off and same message came up. Called Tesla service and they attempted to troubleshoot but it needed to be towed out. There was basically no subsequent communication from Tesla unless I hounded them. Car was out for over 22 days and they initially changed the drive unit and pyrofuse again (first changed when car had <500miles) but errors continued after new unit installed while still in service. Tesla team said it was rare and never seen before but they looked at the wiring thoroughly and once again replaced drive unit and pyrofuse before getting it back to me. I wanted to pursue a buyback but they said it had to be gone for over a month before those talks come up. The whole ordeal left me disappointed in service as it was a major inconvenience going to service center to pick up car, frequently calling for updates and worst of all not having HOV sticker added 1 hour to commute time for over 22 days. Nothing additional was offered for my inconvenience and I was left with a car on its 4th drive unit. Car is driving as it should now and hoping it will be fixed for good. But I think these negative experiences do need to be shared as all is not roses with Tesla and Tesla does need to do more to improve as they continue to sell more cars.

And this isn't an isolated event, others have had drive unit failures: Car shutting down - PULL OVER SAFELY on the freeway 3 days after delivery

 

[Big Earl]

Vern, so glad that Tesla resolved the situation.

Our one-year old Model 3 with 3,000 miles on the odometer would not charge. Zero amps AC and zero amps DC. It was towed to the service center in Monterey, and we needed a new battery. One week total to tow it, have engineering authorize a new battery, remove, replace, test, and return to us.

Now, if they could figure out why the headlights are on during daylight hours (even though set to automatic) when the temperatures exceed about 55 degrees, that would be just dandy! When the headlights come on, the speed limit sign and the fuzzy pictures of the surrounding cars disappear. When the mornings are crisp and cool, everything is fine--no headlights and we get all the pictures.

Does Autopilot work when this happens?

 

[VT_EE]

Today I have a text from the Service Manager. He reported that the rear drive unit needed to be replaced!

I texted back "OMG-- what is wrong with this car??"

So what do you all think-- is this not like changing out the engine on a gas car???

It is most definitely not the same as trying to replace an ICE. The are a few bolts and some cables/coolant lines to removes. That’s it. You’ll be fine.

 

[johnjrs3]

I have a new model 3 with no problems and I’m sorry you had a problem. Years ago I had a brand new Mercury Villager with a Nissan engine that these vehicles had. It failed in a few months and Ford replaced the entire engine.
Uncommon but it happens.

 

[mongo]

Vern, so glad that Tesla resolved the situation.

Our one-year old Model 3 with 3,000 miles on the odometer would not charge. Zero amps AC and zero amps DC. It was towed to the service center in Monterey, and we needed a new battery. One week total to tow it, have engineering authorize a new battery, remove, replace, test, and return to us.

Now, if they could figure out why the headlights are on during daylight hours (even though set to automatic) when the temperatures exceed about 55 degrees, that would be just dandy! When the headlights come on, the speed limit sign and the fuzzy pictures of the surrounding cars disappear. When the mornings are crisp and cool, everything is fine--no headlights and we get all the pictures.

Weird, maybe have them check the ground connections.

 

[cpa]

Does Autopilot work when this happens?

We did not order autopilot, but I opted to take the two-week free trial last summer.

Autopilot did not work. I kept receiving an error message.