Engine failure after 500 miles On Raven X

[Chunkylover53]

My new 2019 Raven Model X has been working fine mechanically. This morning, my wife went to start it and got the dreaded ‘Car shutting down, pull over safely’ notice. I tried a hard reboot and nothing. Called roadside assistance and they took 4 hours to get back to me! Ran OTA diagnostics and said it’s a front drive unit failure

The excitement of owning my X quickly faded as my brand new car was loaded lifeless onto a tow truck to drive 300 miles to the service center.

So after 500 miles and 2 weeks of ownership, I’m a proud owner of a $100,000 paper weight. <sigh>

So when the unit goes bad, it’s just modular, so they take the whole thing out and replace with a new one? Being a Raven, I’m sure it has to be a new unit, not refurbished. I don’t want it to be fixed piecemeal and have to deal with other issues later.

I’m past the 7 day return window but do I have any recourse? Is a return or exchange a feasible option? I take it lemon laws only come into effect after repeated repairs for the same problem. I just don’t want this to happen again on a road trip with my entire family stranded somewhere. I’m nervous to take it long distances when I get it back.

 

[spaghetti]

Bummer, am sorry that this happened. Back in 2013, they replaced my Model S drive unit entirely and I never had any issues again. I would imagine they will just swap out the defective unit and replace with a new one. Keep us posted on the outcome.

 

[ckoval7]

Just let the warranty do its thing. You're not the first person to have a drive unit replaced. Bad parts happen regardless of who makes the car.

 

[Tam]

...don’t want this to happen again...

I know what you mean.

I think it's just your bad luck. Most are fine but some bad ones managed to slip through quality controls.

It's modular so it's easy to drop a drive unit down and get another one up in no time.

I think you'll be fine after this.

I got 3 different new Tesla cars since 2012 and they have been very reliable that they have never got me stranded. I had 3 problems fixed pre-emptively in its old age for my 2012 Model S during its annual maintenance.

If you keep your car for 8 years or drive it a lot, maybe you should buy ESA (extended warranty) that also covers towing.

 

[Nikxice]

I experienced a DC to DC converter failure during the first 48 hours of ownership. It prevented the main battery pack from charging the 12V battery. On day two the car wouldn't start and had to be towed in for service. No worries, I accepted the fact it was a new car with lots of new tech. Now, five plus towless years later, the car looks and drives as fabulous as the first day we drove it home. Just put new tires on with a TPMS upgrade. Enjoy your X when you get it back.

 

[EV-lutioin]

My friend bought a new Nissan Leaf Plus and one month later had to replace the entire battery pack, which is a $18,000 repair. Nissan replaced it and all is good. These things happen. Tesla will take car of you.

 

[BigMskiman]

View attachment 445714 View attachment 445715 View attachment 445716 My new 2019 Raven Model X has been working fine mechanically. This morning, my wife went to start it and got the dreaded ‘Car shutting down, pull over safely’ notice. I tried a hard reboot and nothing. Called roadside assistance and they took 4 hours to get back to me! Ran OTA diagnostics and said it’s a front drive unit failure

The excitement of owning my X quickly faded as my brand new car was loaded lifeless onto a tow truck to drive 300 miles to the service center.

So after 500 miles and 2 weeks of ownership, I’m a proud owner of a $100,000 paper weight. <sigh>

So when the unit goes bad, it’s just modular, so they take the whole thing out and replace with a new one? Being a Raven, I’m sure it has to be a new unit, not refurbished. I don’t want it to be fixed piecemeal and have to deal with other issues later.

I’m past the 7 day return window but do I have any recourse? Is a return or exchange a feasible option? I take it lemon laws only come into effect after repeated repairs for the same problem. I just don’t want this to happen again on a road trip with my entire family stranded somewhere. I’m nervous to take it long distances when I get it back.

I think an early infant failed motor happened, and unlikely to again happen for you. Don't expect refurbished motors are what goes into a warranty service repair car, expect better. Sorry but I'm glass 1/2 full on this.

 

[Rockster]

They replaced my rear motor at 20k miles. That was 80k miles ago and the motor is still working perfectly.

 

[KBaoBao]

totally feel your frustration, my Model 3 Performance had a weird knocking sound when car slows down about to 20mph at around 8k miles and they ended up replacing the drive motor unit.

 

[jboy210]

My car stranded me on day 2 of ownership. Parked at store and when I can back it would not power up the drive systems. Support had me try various things, but they final needed to send a tow. Was going to take 3 hours to get to me because of Friday afternoon traffic. Ended up leaving the car and walking 2 miles home with my packages. Temps in the 101 range.

Took a tech at the SC 20 minutes to fix the issues. Disconnected the 1st responder wire, waited a few secs, and reconnected it. He said there would be an update to fix the issues. He must have been correct, because the problem has never reoccurred in 18 months.

 

[ajdelange]

Yes, I believe the motor, inverter and gearbox are a single unit (though of, course, it can be broken down further). I'm guessing that the whole unit will be replaced and sent back to the factory for diagnosis and repair.

 

[Chunkylover53]

Thanks for the words of support guys. They have had the engineers ‘diagnosing’ the car for 5 business days now and still no solution. With a short week next week, I don’t see a resolution by next week being likely. I did ask about the possibility of exchanging vehicles but it was a no go since it happened on day 16, after the 7 day return policy. I was hoping this was going to be a quick drivetrain swap like most suggested, but it seems much more involved.

My question is, if I’m forced to hold onto this car, would it be reasonable to ask for the 4 year extended warranty as a good faith gesture? Has anyone had any luck with such a circumstance? I know things happen, but this was a $100,000 car becoming completely incapacitated at 16 days.

But in the meantime, Tesla has put me in this sweet ride!...

 

[aesculus]

But in the meantime, Tesla has put me in this sweet ride!...

You forgot to add this:

 

[rjdoc74]

Thanks for the words of support guys. They have had the engineers ‘diagnosing’ the car for 5 business days now and still no solution. With a short week next week, I don’t see a resolution by next week being likely. I did ask about the possibility of exchanging vehicles but it was a no go since it happened on day 16, after the 7 day return policy. I was hoping this was going to be a quick drivetrain swap like most suggested, but it seems much more involved.

My question is, if I’m forced to hold onto this car, would it be reasonable to ask for the 4 year extended warranty as a good faith gesture? Has anyone had any luck with such a circumstance? I know things happen, but this was a $100,000 car becoming completely incapacitated at 16 days.

But in the meantime, Tesla has put me in this sweet ride!...
View attachment 448707

Four-year extended warranty for 16 days of inconvenience? My first model X spent 43 days in the shop in the first nine months of ownership. And this is when Tesla used to be generous. So I wish you luck. You may get maybe a free two year service or something. Extended warranty, no way.

 

[through103]

Thanks for the words of support guys. They have had the engineers ‘diagnosing’ the car for 5 business days now and still no solution. With a short week next week, I don’t see a resolution by next week being likely. I did ask about the possibility of exchanging vehicles but it was a no go since it happened on day 16, after the 7 day return policy. I was hoping this was going to be a quick drivetrain swap like most suggested, but it seems much more involved.

My question is, if I’m forced to hold onto this car, would it be reasonable to ask for the 4 year extended warranty as a good faith gesture? Has anyone had any luck with such a circumstance? I know things happen, but this was a $100,000 car becoming completely incapacitated at 16 days.

But in the meantime, Tesla has put me in this sweet ride!...
View attachment 448707

wtf, I specifically drive an suv to avoid a minivan, especially a minivan that looks like this. From a model x to this pos, I totally feel your pain

 

[SaniDel]

Welcome to the Bathtub Curve:

Bathtub curve - Wikipedia

Note that the failure rate is highest at the beginning, i.e., when your vehicle was first put into service. For you ... two weeks/500 miles was enough to surface your first and hopefully last instance of "infant mortality" ... what an awful expression!

This can happen to anyone, this is most likely to happen at the beginning of the vehicle's service and the probability decreases rapidly. More to the point ... this failure has nothing to do with the overall reliability of your vehicle although you probably feel it does. That feeling will pass as you accumulate miles and years on your vehicle and all similar vehicles converge on their expected reliability, which won't be known for years and possibly decades due to the low number of these vehicles in service.

I concur with others who have advised you to work with Tesla under your OEM warranty, to avoid making extreme demands and consider this rationally rather than emotionally. There are such things as 'lemons' and every state has specific laws that apply, but so far your experience doesn't rise to that standard. Just in case this goes south ... familiarize yourself with your state's law:

Oklahoma's Lemon Law

 

[bayx]

Four-year extended warranty for 16 days of inconvenience? My first model X spent 43 days in the shop in the first nine months of ownership. And this is when Tesla used to be generous. So I wish you luck. You may get maybe a free two year service or something. Extended warranty, no way.

Ha, mine sat for over 3 months at the SC and body shop for factory related issues in the first less than 5 months of ownership! No good faith gesture of any kind, nada!

 

[brkaus]

Bummer on the loaner, I would suggest asking if they have a Tesla available at some point that you could swap. I wouldn't expect a free extended warranty. Stuff happens.

It is modular with a small number of cables, unlike an engine replacement.

My car died and had to be towed to the dealer as well within the first few weeks of ownership. Dodge didn't give me anything extra. They didn't even give me a loaner to replace the brand new truck they were working on.

Do keep track of the odometer, the date it was checked in and the number of days it was held. I would not personally lemon law a car in this situation as long as the rest of it is in good shape. If financed you have to go through all that again. You also risk getting one with other issues. But if it does turn out to be a real lemon you will have the data at hand. And the lemon law applies to the date the issue first appeared.

 

[rjdoc74]

Ha, mine sat for over 3 months at the SC and body shop for factory related issues in the first less than 5 months of ownership! No good faith gesture of any kind, nada!

They bought mine back though

 

[LA88]

Thanks for the words of support guys. They have had the engineers ‘diagnosing’ the car for 5 business days now and still no solution. With a short week next week, I don’t see a resolution by next week being likely. I did ask about the possibility of exchanging vehicles but it was a no go since it happened on day 16, after the 7 day return policy. I was hoping this was going to be a quick drivetrain swap like most suggested, but it seems much more involved.

My question is, if I’m forced to hold onto this car, would it be reasonable to ask for the 4 year extended warranty as a good faith gesture? Has anyone had any luck with such a circumstance? I know things happen, but this was a $100,000 car becoming completely incapacitated at 16 days.

But in the meantime, Tesla has put me in this sweet ride!...
View attachment 448707

I hear you. I read it somewhere that if the car is in the shop for more than 30 days within the first xx number of months, then it qualifies for lemon law, depending on what state you're in.

The least they can do is put you into another model X loaner. This is BS after spending 100K on a car. I ordered mine last week and hope this is just a one out of hundred-thousand cars. If it's my car, I'll find ways to return it and get another brand. Not dealing with this for 100K car.