Drive Unit Replacement Frequency?

[TR5642]

I have read about many folks getting the drive unit replaced and now it has happened to me. It makes me wonder how common of a failure this really is? It is sounding really common which has me concerned for total lifetime situation. (Yes I know it's under a long warranty)

Survey below for raw numbers. It would be interesting to provide details if you have had it replaced:

Model: S
Approx Miles/kms: 37,000 mi
Trigger for replacement: Whine like gear noise on acceleration.

 

[Todd Burch]

When was your car built? Anecdotally, used to happen often but my impression is those issues have since been resolved. I've got 65,000 miles on my drivetrain not needing service.

 

[cwerdna]

There was this flawed poll: Drive Unit Replacement Poll.

These are 2 of the most extreme I know of:
Drive Unit Replacement Poll
Drive Unit Replacement Poll

There was 1 person in Europe (can't find the post) who was close to this.

From Model S Not Ready For Commercial Use Prime Time. Can I afford to own this car?, and Model S Not Ready For Commercial Use Prime Time. Can I afford to own this car?, this company is on DU #5.

Per Two Thirds of Early Model S Drivetrains May Fail By 60,000miles, early on, DU replacements were very common, mostly for noise and a small subset of those for total failure..

The replacement for noise seems to have died down with the revision -Q units but I still sometimes see reports of DUs completely failing.

 

[TR5642]

When was your car built? Anecdotally, used to happen often but my impression is those issues have since been resolved. I've got 65,000 miles on my drivetrain not needing service.

Good point. Mine was built at the end of 2014

 

[TR5642]

I have read about many folks getting the drive unit replaced and now it has happened to me. It makes me wonder how common of a failure this really is? It is sounding really common which has me concerned for total lifetime situation. (Yes I know it's under a long warranty)

Survey below for raw numbers. It would be interesting to provide details if you have had it replaced:

Model: S
Approx Miles/kms: 37,000 mi
Trigger for replacement: Whine like gear noise on acceleration.

Built late 2014

 

[TR5642]

There was this flawed poll: Drive Unit Replacement Poll.

These are 2 of the most extreme I know of:
Drive Unit Replacement Poll
Drive Unit Replacement Poll

There was 1 person in Europe (can't find the post) who was close to this.

From Model S Not Ready For Commercial Use Prime Time. Can I afford to own this car?, and Model S Not Ready For Commercial Use Prime Time. Can I afford to own this car?, this company is on DU #5.

Per Two Thirds of Early Model S Drivetrains May Fail By 60,000miles, early on, DU replacements were very common, mostly for noise and a small subset of those for total failure..

The replacement for noise seems to have died down with the revision -Q units but I still sometimes see reports of DUs completely failing.

Any idea when the Rev Q units went into production? It appears my replacement is a rev Q but is also a refurb. I wonder if Q's have already cycled or if they are refurbed up to Q status?

 

[cwerdna]

Any idea when the Rev Q units went into production?

No idea.

Drive Unit failure symptoms and thresholds for replacement and Two Thirds of Early Model S Drivetrains May Fail By 60,000miles from late 2015 references the -Q revision.

Model X Delivery #failure #day1 is an example of failure a few months ago the day that guy picked up his new car.

 

[kort677]

fwiw: my '14 model S85 I had 1 unit replaced and I traded the car in with about 18k miles on it.
my current late '15 models 90d with about 24k miles I haven't had any issues to date with much of anything.
IMHO the late '15 to earlier '16 model s seem to be a sweet spot for the car, models built, '15s through the first part of '16 seem to have little problems. many newer issues cropped up when the AP2 cars started to come online. YMMV

 

[gabeincal]

My car was built Summer 2016, and after about 20k miles my DU started to click on throttle on/off at low speed. San Rafael SC replaced the DU, and it failed within 4 miles of the SC. Towed it back, had another DU put in. Once i received a car, put it in reverse and big clunking on throttle on/off. Waiting for another DU now. Pretty disappointing, considering how well they should understand DU's now.

 

[Zorg]

2014 S85 DU is being replaced at 43K miles.

 

[henderrj]

Bought my late 2014 AP1 Model S third-party, and with the Drive Unit whine. Tesla immediately replaced it under warranty with what I believe was a rebuilt unit. It had a clunking sounds from the moment I got it. Some 50,000 miles later I was in the middle of Backcountry New Mexico when I got a warning something like car may not restart. Called them and drove by Salt Lake City. Although I never experienced a problem they said the Drive Unit needed replacing. The new one has been quiet and perfect for quite a while, about 20,000 miles.

 

[Chancellor32]

late 2014 60kw had mine replaced at 32,000 miles. started to have pretty bad whine when accelerating. funny thing is it still whines now on very slight regen at like 70-80mph.

 

[AustinP]

June ‘15 S85.
DU replaced after about one year and 35k km/22k miles for miling noise. No discussion from SeC, under warranty for a Q revision DU.
Lasted perfectly up to July this year at 125k km/78k miles until I experienced a reduced power issue that was diagnosed as a DU issue. New Q revision under warranty. Great service as usual.

 

[rays427]

Purchased P85D December 2014. DU and both axles replaced at about 42,000 miles. Something actually broke and the car could not be driven. Seemed like something was jammed in the gears.

 

[David99]

Drive units used to have issues in the first production years. THey ironed out all the issues and they seem to work fine now. I had mine replaced every 15k miles and since I drive a lot I had a few replacements. Then I got the new revision and it's been working without issues ever since and I put more than 70k miles on it. It is a topic that keeps coming up because there were many that needed replacement in the first two years. The issues are all solved now.

 

[mesalum]

My December 2014 P85 with 18,316 miles had DU replaced April 2017. It died last Thursday and Tesla towed to SC. Just found out today it needs another DU with only 26,893 miles. I guess problem has not been fixed. Thank goodness for 8 year/unlimited mile battery and drive unit warranty.

 

[ucmndd]

Hit 60k today on my 2016 RWD. Original DU, no problems.

 

[alt blank]

2013 p85 with 81.5Kmi. getting the drive unit replaced today due to a milling noise. not sure what they're going to replace it with, but hoping it will go back to being a silent machine.

 

[d.c.palmer]

My wife's mid-2014 P85 had its drive unit replaced (under warranty) last month - noticeable burbling or "milling" sound. 46,000 miles.

 

[Lifeinabox]

My CPO ‘12 P85 had the original DU replaced in 2016. Got the dreaded “Car needs service. Car may not restart.” last weekend and took it in. Turned out I needed the DU replaced along with the coolant heater. Car is at 67,000 miles.