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Denied eMMC replacement - what to do?

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Dbitter1

Journeyman Member
Dec 12, 2014
217
14
Chicago, IL
So got my official recall notice that parts are available, and I should proceed with scheduling my eMMC replacement for MCU1. So, do so, drop it off... At the end of the day, service notes say to the effect "does not need replacement at this time... check back later to see if eMMC has reached wearable capacity for replacement". Replacement denied.

Proceed with several minutes of profanity.

So... should I just tell the NHTSA "that Tesla has failed or is unable to remedy this defect without charge or within a reasonable time" ? I mean, I still have a mostly-functional MCU- but the telltale signs often noted (streaming fails/locks up, browser works about 3% of the time, reboots for no real reason, etc) and a few not often noted (screen turns to garbage text) so I can live a little longer if the parts need to go to those whose MCU1's are on fire or something... but they didn't say that, they seem to have plenty as of late. They just decided it wasn't needed.

:mad:
 
I believe the recall allowed them to prioritize failing units first. I’m not sure how far through the recall they are.

I just sucked it up and upgraded to mcu2. Glad I did, but would have preferred to try a replaced mcu1 first.
 
Uhm @WhiteWi that's kind of the point of this thread... they are replacing SOME of the chips. Not all of them (e.g. mine, and I assume I am not alone). I'm not asking for free MCU2, but I am asking for all the safety features [the MCU controls] to work that I paid six figures for.

You know the history on this, right? Tersely paraphrased, they sent the first cars out with OMG-Log-Everything turned on, so basically the flash cards were basically being written to continuously. That's not accidentally choosing a cheap supplier, it is a software engineer electing certain death- especially since firmware updates are so easy to roll out for them to choose a more reasonable log level/settings. I believe they eventually did, but for old timers like me, the damage was done...
 
1.5 k to upgrade to new brains is fair price. Tesla is replacing failing emmc chips free of charge what else do you want from them? New Model S?
I agree that $1,500 to upgrade to a new MCU2 and LTE cellular is a fair price...it's about the price of your entry level "pro" laptop. However, this is where Tesla has evolved to over time. It was just months ago where the upgrade was $2,500 and no free offer to replace the failing eMMC chips. Furthermore, the denial of coverage and/or reimbursement that others are facing in not acceptable and drains the goodwill that Tesla Service has built in the past. My local Tesla Service experience was so bad that I did some digging and found out that Tesla has some shady service managers in their ranks. I won't name names here, but Tesla Studio sales people wanted to know all about because it is increasingly harder for the Studio to sell more vehicles when the Service Center is creating nightmare scenarios for their customers.
 
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Uhm @WhiteWi that's kind of the point of this thread... they are replacing SOME of the chips. Not all of them (e.g. mine, and I assume I am not alone). I'm not asking for free MCU2, but I am asking for all the safety features [the MCU controls] to work that I paid six figures for.

You know the history on this, right? Tersely paraphrased, they sent the first cars out with OMG-Log-Everything turned on, so basically the flash cards were basically being written to continuously. That's not accidentally choosing a cheap supplier, it is a software engineer electing certain death- especially since firmware updates are so easy to roll out for them to choose a more reasonable log level/settings. I believe they eventually did, but for old timers like me, the damage was done...
I got you. Just be patient and they will replace it for you.
 
Dropped off my 2014 last Friday at the Tesla service center. They said it'd be 5 days... I said 'why did you schedule me so far in advance of the work you're going to do?' (EMM daughterboard replacement). They gave me a BS answer about it taking a long time to upgrade firmware. Well software/firmware/hardware is no mystery to me, but I decided not to argue. Waiting for the final price for what they're doing -- which is not fully determined. My touchscreen has leaked 10% of its fluid and I was told it was an optional issue they would address if I gave them a lot of $$$$. They suggested MCU2 upgrade would be $2200, which is more than I expected, and I want to keep FM, anyway.

The symptoms that got them to commit to EMM replacement were a random blackout of the touchscreen + consequent lack of controls/turn signals.
 
OMG I thought it was $1500 still... ouch. And on the "time to upgrade firmware" I got a similar line...

Sigh... wonder what all the new (e.g. no-analog-control) folks will think of their purchase in six years when they can't even shift because their touchscreen is cracked and it will be $5K for a new one they can't install for two weeks because they are backordered because .....
 
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Well, folks about 2 hours after my post, Tesla calls & says my car is ready. I discuss screen replacement and MCU2 upgrade. Now it sounds like MCU2 includes the main screen and dash screen and it's more like $2500... but I didn't drill into it, because there aren't parts available to do the screen nor MCU2. Tech suggested those parts might be 4-5 weeks out.
In any case my charge for EMM replacement turned out to be $0.00 and my dead key only needed reprogramming, for which my charge was also $0.00.
Not what I expected with a 7 year old 100K-mile plus used car. Pretty cool.
 
Well, folks about 2 hours after my post, Tesla calls & says my car is ready. I discuss screen replacement and MCU2 upgrade. Now it sounds like MCU2 includes the main screen and dash screen and it's more like $2500... but I didn't drill into it, because there aren't parts available to do the screen nor MCU2. Tech suggested those parts might be 4-5 weeks out.
In any case my charge for EMM replacement turned out to be $0.00 and my dead key only needed reprogramming, for which my charge was also $0.00.
Not what I expected with a 7 year old 100K-mile plus used car. Pretty cool.
So they replaced your MCU1 8gb chip with a 64gb chip. That's the recall. If they said something about $2,500, the additional $500 (from what I posted earlier) would be the module to keep FM/AM radio.
 
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If your car is a 2014, it is AP1 and should be $1500 for the MCU2 upgrade (including new screens; old ones are not compatible with MCU2). Tack on $500 for FM. I don't know how $2500 came into the picture. This is from Tesla's page (tesla.com/support/infotainment):

This upgrade is available for $2,000 plus applicable tax, including installation, for vehicles equipped with Autopilot Computer 2.0 or 2.5 and for $1,500 plus applicable tax, including installation, for all other vehicles.
 
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