Classic S died

[napabill]

I got up early this am to take my dog to the groomer. When I returned to the car I got a passel of warnings indicating a 12v battery issue and to pull over. It then went black. I called Tesla Roadside Assist, and they were very responsive, but indicated that the local TM Ranger (Tucson) would not be used, and they'd have to flat-bed it to Scottsdale, 120 miles away. So off it goes. I was then informed a few hours later by the SC that they'd have to run a one hour "Diagnostic" and that would cost $125. My Tess is a Classic 2012 with 62,000 miles. In the event the problem is battery or drive train related, the costs will be covered under 8 year battery/drive train warranty. Not exactly sure what else it could be related to. The logs seemed to suggest it wasn't just a 12v battery problem. I'm on my 3rd 12v battery. Tess is starting to feel like my Mercedes. "Sure we'll look at it, $125 please."

Looking at the bright side, I just returned yesterday from a 4 day drive through the northern-most part of Arizona. Just me and the Navajos. What would not have been good. But my trip up to Scottsdale on Saturday for a Model X Test Drive event is now in jeopardy, in more ways than one.

 

[apacheguy]

Total BS. $125 to connect their diagnostic laptop and read the fault code? Never heard of that one before. If it's the HV battery I would demand they cover it in full and refund your $125. I can see the argument that if it is something unrelated to the drivetrain warranty they charge you for parts and labor, but not diagnostics. Do you have the service plan by chance?

 

[efusco]

$125 is about industry standard. Sorry to hear of the trouble, please keep this thread updated as I've got a 2012 with 65k as well.

 

[apacheguy]

Lots of folks have had parts replaced out of warranty (myself included). We were charged for parts and labor but not diagnostics.

 

[mark]

This exact same thing just happened to my 2012 model S on Monday. It turned out to be the high voltage battery connectors. Fortunately, after letting it sit a while it would run in limp mode and I got it to the service center (only 5min from me). They just returned it today - all under warranty.

 

[anthony]

I also recently had the high voltage connectors replaced under warranty as well. This was proactive when they were working on a few other things.
Mine is a 2013 also with 65k.

 

[napabill]

Apparently the issue is with main battery contacter failure. This happened a couple of years ago to me, and I was not happy when they chose to replace the contactors rather than the "A" battery. I'm convinced those of us that got the "A" battery were screwed. I have been very lucky that both of these failures occurred the day after returning from extended roadtrips in "rural" America. Will be having a chat with the Service Manager tomorrow.

I should mention that Roadside Assistance and the Service Center in Scottsdale has been great. No complaints there. And have been assured that it is fully covered under the 8 year battery warranty. I've got 62k miles on it.

 

[ecarfan]

Total BS. $125 to connect their diagnostic laptop and read the fault code? Never heard of that one before.

I agree with @efusco, that charge is reasonable. The car is out of the general warranty period though of course the drivetrain warranty is still in effect.
@napabill, glad to hear that your S was repaired under the drivetrain warranty coverage.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Mine will be for sale / trade the same month the warranty is up... just like 95% of BMWs...

March 2019

 

[efusco]

Apparently the issue is with main battery contacter failure. This happened a couple of years ago to me, and I was not happy when they chose to replace the contactors rather than the "A" battery. I'm convinced those of us that got the "A" battery were screwed. I have been very lucky that both of these failures occurred the day after returning from extended roadtrips in "rural" America. Will be having a chat with the Service Manager tomorrow.

I should mention that Roadside Assistance and the Service Center in Scottsdale has been great. No complaints there. And have been assured that it is fully covered under the 8 year battery warranty. I've got 62k miles on it.

Glad it was simply the connector, I don't think mine has been replaced, but seem to remember it being checked at some point.

 

[David_Cary]

Apparently the issue is with main battery contacter failure. This happened a couple of years ago to me, and I was not happy when they chose to replace the contactors rather than the "A" battery. I'm convinced those of us that got the "A" battery were screwed. I have been very lucky that both of these failures occurred the day after returning from extended roadtrips in "rural" America. Will be having a chat with the Service Manager tomorrow.

I should mention that Roadside Assistance and the Service Center in Scottsdale has been great. No complaints there. And have been assured that it is fully covered under the 8 year battery warranty. I've got 62k miles on it.

It is possible that it wasn't luck. Perhaps long drives stress the contactor and it fails shortly afterward.

 

[jerry33]

It is possible that it wasn't luck. Perhaps long drives stress the contactor and it fails shortly afterward.

If that was the case, mine would have died a long time ago.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Good to hear of the successful resolution at no cost to you, Bill.

I do have a problem with the $125, not because Tesla is no different from others in imposing it but, because there's no other (cheaper or not) option in town! I had gotten BMWs looked at by authorized repair centers that were far cheaper than dealer service centers. With Tesla, we are stuck. That's where it rankles a bit.

 

[Sudre]

My SC called me about a month ago to inform me that they wanted to replace my HV contractor because of high resistance readings. My car was ready for it's annual anyway so they did both. Feb, 2013 60 A battery.

I am not surprised about the fee to plug in a computer. I was always annoyed about it with every car I have ever owned but that's what it is. I was so happy to find a place that did good work and didn't charge the obnoxious fee. I asked that place if they would ever get trained on electric cars and they pretty much said not for another 20 years or so until there are enough cars with problems to make it worth their training cost.
Oh the early adopter problems... I like having first world problems tho.

 

[napabill]

Picked up my Tess in Scottsdale on Saturday. Had a conversation with the Asst Manager about the connector issue. He claimed that TM was aware of the issue and was actively replacing them in older Tesla's. My beef was, and still is, this flaw should not be allowed to exist. It puts the owner at serious risk. Pull out to pass on a 2 lane road and lose all power at exactly the wrong moment, i.e.. I would recommend to ANYONE with <2015 car that they insist the "new" improved connector be installed. Immediately! No one likes the bad press of a "Recall" but better that than a serious injury or loss of life due to a known flaw.

Again, I want to reiterate that the local SC has been great, and responsive. But the folks in Fremont are acting an awful lot like the folks in Michigan.

 

[Lump]

Picked up my Tess in Scottsdale on Saturday. Had a conversation with the Asst Manager about the connector issue. He claimed that TM was aware of the issue and was actively replacing them in older Tesla's. My beef was, and still is, this flaw should not be allowed to exist. It puts the owner at serious risk. Pull out to pass on a 2 lane road and lose all power at exactly the wrong moment, i.e.. I would recommend to ANYONE with <2015 car that they insist the "new" improved connector be installed. Immediately! No one likes the bad press of a "Recall" but better that than a serious injury or loss of life due to a known flaw.

Again, I want to reiterate that the local SC has been great, and responsive. But the folks in Fremont are acting an awful lot like the folks in Michigan.

Please!
File a Vehicle Safety Complaint | Safercar.gov | NHTSA

 

[Larry]

I wonder why they didn't proactively replace the contactors like they did with me about a year ago? I thought that was a TSB but I guess not. Why do it for some and not others? Tesla needs some help in their customer communication dept as we all know.

 

[MP3Mike]

I would have to assume that they were using some kind of diagnostic information, like the one poster who said that Tesla wanted to replace them "because of high resistance readings." In other cases there may have been an entire batch of them that they identified as needing replaced. I suspect that only Tesla can know if they all need to be replaced or not.

I see it much like a fuel pump in an ICE. They normally last a long time but one can fail at any second without any signs/warnings in advance. (I have had a fuel pump go out in the middle of the freeway during rush hour, so I know all about being stranded in a bad situation.)

- - - Updated - - -

Picked up my Tess in Scottsdale on Saturday. Had a conversation with the Asst Manager about the connector issue. He claimed that TM was aware of the issue and was actively replacing them in older Tesla's. My beef was, and still is, this flaw should not be allowed to exist.

Out of curiosity did you do the 12k/annual service as recommended? (Before/after the B2B warranty expired.)

 

[Gizmotoy]

Picked up my Tess in Scottsdale on Saturday. Had a conversation with the Asst Manager about the connector issue. He claimed that TM was aware of the issue and was actively replacing them in older Tesla's. My beef was, and still is, this flaw should not be allowed to exist. It puts the owner at serious risk. Pull out to pass on a 2 lane road and lose all power at exactly the wrong moment, i.e.. I would recommend to ANYONE with <2015 car that they insist the "new" improved connector be installed. Immediately! No one likes the bad press of a "Recall" but better that than a serious injury or loss of life due to a known flaw.

Again, I want to reiterate that the local SC has been great, and responsive. But the folks in Fremont are acting an awful lot like the folks in Michigan.

It's pretty opaque how Tesla is handling this. You can see the other contactor threads there appears to be some mechanism they use to identify potential problems and proactively replace them. Mine was done when I had a drivetrain replacement. Others get emails and calls out of the blue to have the replacement scheduled.

Seems like whatever they're using to identify problems before they occur failed you, as yours slipped by.

 

[napabill]

I would have to assume that they were using some kind of diagnostic information, like the one poster who said that Tesla wanted to replace them "because of high resistance readings." In other cases there may have been an entire batch of them that they identified as needing replaced. I suspect that only Tesla can know if they all need to be replaced or not.

I see it much like a fuel pump in an ICE. They normally last a long time but one can fail at any second without any signs/warnings in advance. (I have had a fuel pump go out in the middle of the freeway during rush hour, so I know all about being stranded in a bad situation.)

- - - Updated - - -



Out of curiosity did you do the 12k/annual service as recommended? (Before/after the B2B warranty expired.)

Was due for one the following month, which was about 10 months after the last.

- - - Updated - - -

It's pretty opaque how Tesla is handling this. You can see the other contactor threads there appears to be some mechanism they use to identify potential problems and proactively replace them. Mine was done when I had a drivetrain replacement. Others get emails and calls out of the blue to have the replacement scheduled.

Seems like whatever they're using to identify problems before they occur failed you, as yours slipped by.

And this is the second time! Enough already!