Drive unit ordered on 11/11/15... still hasn't arrived

[AMPd]

My model S has been making a Honda Civic with a can sound, I went into the service center (Rocklin CA) and drove around with a tech who confirmed the sound was not normal, it literally sounds like an exhaust, rumbling when I accelerate.
I was told a new drive unit will be ordered and they'll schedule me in for a replacement, will take a week or two for the drive unit to arrive.
Ok no problem, one week later I email the service center for an update and they tell me they ordered the new drive unit and it'll arrive within a week or two.

It's been five weeks since they said they will order a new DU, I hate to be a bother and constantly nag them, so I haven't contacted the service center about it. This will be the second DU since July, and last time they were very quick with replacing it.


Normally I wouldn't care that it's taking this long, but the problem is I let my coworkers use the car when they go out to pick up lunch for the office, and just this week I got a few comments about the car making a weird noise, they thought electric cars were "silent"
I agreed that my car has issues and they respond with a "should have gotten a normal car"
At this point I doubt they'll contact me about replacing the DU, and that's fine I'm at a point where I just say "**** it" whenever someone mentions the noise

I love tesla, I really do, and I love my car.. just had to vent a bit.


Also I know the whole, squeaky wheel gets the grease saying, but I'm not that type of person, I went in for service, I was told they're on it, I followed up and was told they're on it
Thats all I'm going to do, I will not nag to get my car fixed.

 

[cwave1]

I have also been waiting for a replacement since about the beginning of November.

 

[fwgmills]

Tesla really needs to step up the service department or all the BS coming out of Texas about "dealers can take care of car buyers and factories can't" is gonna magically come true.

 

[tstafford]

Bummer. I'm sorry to hear that. I hate to think that Tesla might be prioritizing deliveries of new cars to pump up year end numbers. Existing owners should always come first.

 

[LoL Rick]

Mine was ordered 10/14 and installed 12/14.

 

[James Anders]

How old is your car?

 

[apacheguy]

You'll all get your DUs in January.

 

[Blurry_Eyed]

I suspect Tesla has been allocating almost all their available drive units to Model S and X production in order to hit their numbers. Once January rolls around, I think the inventory and availability of Drive Unites will improve. Still a bummer for those who have been waiting though.

 

[AMPd]

How old is your car?

It's a 2013, vin 27xxx

Makes me feel better I'm not the only one waiting for a while

 

[Vger]

Well, perhaps the upside is that MAYBE you will get the magical revision (R?, S?, T?) that finally puts all of this agony to rest!

 

[brkaus]

Well, perhaps the upside is that MAYBE you will get the magical revision (R?, S?, T?) that finally puts all of this agony to rest!

This

 

[eye.surgeon]

I suspect Tesla has been allocating almost all their available drive units to Model S and X production in order to hit their numbers. Once January rolls around, I think the inventory and availability of Drive Unites will improve. Still a bummer for those who have been waiting though.

I hope that's not true. Rolling your current customers to get new ones may pay off at the next shareholders meeting but it will backfire long term.

IMO Tesla's biggest weakness right now is a lack of service center capacity.

 

[Electricfan]

I got a new DU recently - took about 3 weeks to get it and then they kept the car a couple of days fixing it. But I think I had another item or two they were working on - oh yeah - I got a LTE unit for $500. (can't tell any improvement from the LTE).

My new DU is wonderful - totally silent.

 

[NuclearPowered]

I got a new DU recently - took about 3 weeks to get it and then they kept the car a couple of days fixing it. But I think I had another item or two they were working on - oh yeah - I got a LTE unit for $500. (can't tell any improvement from the LTE).

My new DU is wonderful - totally silent.

What revision did you get?

 

[AmpedRealtor]

I had a brand new DU installed in February of this year and it took almost a month to get it from Fremont. I wouldn't sweat it, but sorry for your troubles. Tell your coworkers that it's a new sound device mandated by NHTSA in order to make the cars safer for the sight impaired. I believe such regulations aren't too far off. But in all seriousness, the longer you wait the later the revision DU you will receive, and that's generally a good thing.

 

[LoL Rick]

What revision did you get?

I didn't even think to check until just now.

 

[markb1]

I took my car in because of a clunking noise in July. They diagnosed it as a drive unit problem and said they would order the parts. They never got back to me. Fast forward to Sunday, and my car starting making some horrible new noises suddenly while driving on the freeway. I took it to the service center, without an appointment, and they decided the sound was concerning enough that they should replace the drive unit right away, and they did within two days.

So I guess the take away is that not all the service centers are good about following up, and you should not hesitate to contact them. And they might even keep some drive units around for emergency situations.

 

[Electricfan]

What revision did you get?

Q Here is a link to the print out they gave me:
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/show...-rate/page15?p=1206864&viewfull=1#post1206864

 

[BertL]

I took my car in because of a clunking noise in July. They diagnosed it as a drive unit problem and said they would order the parts. They never got back to me. Fast forward to Sunday, and my car starting making some horrible new noises suddenly while driving on the freeway. I took it to the service center, without an appointment, and they decided the sound was concerning enough that they should replace the drive unit right away, and they did within two days.

So I guess the take away is that not all the service centers are good about following up, and you should not hesitate to contact them. And they might even keep some drive units around for emergency situations.

I frankly doubt it's an issue with the SC, as much as the SC is making some sort of assessment for DUs needing repair (likely as directed by Tesla HQ, even though there are probably subjective elements to the evaluation), which then puts the parts into some sort of broader Tesla priority list as to when DUs become available to a SC for a particular VIN. Tesla builds DUs, and from reading other threads, perhaps refurbishes some DUs to also be used as like-new parts ... so it isn't something they can push a subcontractor to build more of, but have to do it themselves. With all these comments, I suspect either:

• Tesla has a constraint on DUs given they are at quarter-end, year-end, and they are just bringing the MX online -- all needing more DUs to get the most new sales out of the factory to please Wall Street and their Investors
• AND/OR, if Tesla really does have spare DUs available or could make them if they wanted to, I suppose Tesla HQ could be using this prioritization method to delay or stagger warranty costs -- taking care of the most critical customers first as they accomplish what they need to financially

I appreciate everyone wants their DUs replaced immediately. I would too. But, I really bet this is not something to point a finger at a SC about as the source issue. I used to have to deal sometimes with global parts constraint issues in my national service organization from time-to-time, and we too would more locally and even nationally, prioritize the "flat out down with no alternative" sort of customers to receive a single part if we had to decide between say two customers, when the other could limp along in some fashion. We locally would just take the heat as the face to the customer -- just as SCs do for us. In my situation, it became even more complex when we had mission critical systems in that mix like hospitals, utilities and Govt... What did happen in our company is we could pull a part "off the new build line" if we had to for a critical enough situation -- but not just because a customer was complaining and was still able to operate. I doubt anyone here can say for a fact if a SC could have that much pull with the Tesla factory.

I'm glad your problem has hopefully been resolved.