Enjoyed Model Y 3 years now, going to be out of warranty soon, and issues are starting to happen left and right. How is everyone else's experience?

[Chrushev]

Car is amazing to drive, but it cant go 3 months without needing to go into Tesla shop. Im a bit scared about how Im going to handle all this when its out of warranty.

Ill skip the first few years during which Tesla service center spent time fixing various issues with cameras, wiper hoses, 12V battery, heat pump problems.

There was a stretch of about 8 months where the car didnt need anything fixed last year, but then in December my rear quarter window spontaneously exploded (no impacts) car parked in home garage. After that I had 12V battery giving errors on screen during sharp turns (turns out connections worked themselves loose). And now 3 issues in one day.

1) Driver side weight sensor died. The way I noticed is that when I sat down in the car and closed the door, the screen turned off. Car throught I was outside. I then confirmed through Service menu that sensor was saying noone is in the car when I was sitting in it. This causes other issues like bluetooth not connecting automatically (it uses the seat sensor), and if going backwards (reversing out of garage and not buckled in, because for example I need to back out 5 feet to be able to open doors) then the car will go into Park mid driving because it thinks person jumped out of the car.

2) In that same Service menu I noticed 2 errors. One of which I dont even know what it is. Its APP_w303_imulrational, says its set when "The Autopilot ECU internal IMU does not match the ESP or RCM IMU". I dont know what this means, but outside service menu there is no error about it anywhere and my autopilot works.... so wtf is that?

3) VCLEFT_a536_trunkFOldFlatSwitchFault, again no errors of any kind outside service menu, but after reading what this one meant I went to the back and yep, the fold backseat buttons in the trunk dont work and dont light up (so no power going to them).

Im assuming Tesla will take care of these under warranty (have apt scheduled later this week), but I am starting to worry what am I going to do once its out of warranty later this year? It seems like every few months it has to go to the service center to resolve one issue or another.

Is anyone nearing 4 years of ownership? Have you had many issues?

 

[BroncoAZ]

Anything with this much tech is a great candidate for the extended warranty, or a trade in regiment that is shorter than the warranty. $2000 for two more years seems like a no brainer.

 

[Z_Lynx]

Going out of warranty this coming September worries me some too but other than flat tires (a bolt and two screws), I haven't had any issues that required mechanical repair (mysterious passenger side back window occasionally down an inch or two - but not often). Low miles though.

There is also the case of the "disconnected usb". Others reporting the same issue.

 

[brkaus]

Our S is at 7 years and no major problems.
Our 3 is at 6 years and only recently had a problem with the front suspension. Bolt fell out for no reason.

Otherwise, 1 12v battery in the S and 2 12v batteries in the 3.

 

[mborkow]

Anything with this much tech is a great candidate for the extended warranty, or a trade in regiment that is shorter than the warranty. $2000 for two more years seems like a no brainer.

They make money on that warranty so I’m not sure I’d call it a “no brainer”

 

[Chrushev]

Did some googling, and I think I solved 2 out of 3 issues. Doesnt seem like I can edit my original post so here is some info for anyone else that comes across this.

I came across a few posts on reddit and on these forums where people's fold seat buttons stopped working after getting their power port serviced, and in all cases the tech forgot to plug in the cable that goes to those buttons. Well, I didnt have power port serviced, but had that quarter window I mentioned replaced. So I decided to check.. and YUP! Back in December tech never plugged in the wire, I just never noticed since I never use them. Super easy to access the challenging part was fishing out the wire that was now dangling down deep in the side panel cavity. I wonder if this will also get rid of myserious rattling sound that appeared within last few months (maybe cable banging about inside).

Here is how you access it:

The cable clips into the slot, so no way it fell out of its own. It was definitely tech forgetting to plug it back in after removing the panel to put in the window.

So that issue is resolved.

Then I looked under the seat and found the sensor wires, they look like this:

The sensor is in the seat's foam and is the ribbon cable (red) coming out of the hole (green). It then goes into a little box and gets converted to standard wire (orange), which then goes into a clip (purple), the other side of the clip (blue) connects to the main thick wire harness seen in the center of the image.

I didnt want to unclip the clip or mess with any of that, so instead I pushed the clip together with my fingers, and also stuck my finger into the hole (green) to feel the sensor inside (ive read reports of them being displaced although they are supposed to be glued to the foam). I moved it around a bit.

After doing that the sensor seems to be working flawlessly.

So for now I cancelled the appointment. Although I am still not sure what that APP_w303_imulrational error means. Ive read that its caused by sensors in various parts of the car not agreeing and can be triggered by wild driving (acceleation/stopping). While I didnt do any wild driving, the car did as I describe suddenly throw car into Park, essentially slamming on the brakes due to the faulty seat weight sensor when I was backing out of the garage.

That error is not present outside of service screen and Autopilot works no problem. Ill drive around for a bit to see if it clears. If not maybe then schedule the appointment. Will also allow me to test out reliability of the seat sensor.

For reference, the seat has sort of like 3 sections, the sensor is in the middle one. I am able to trigger it by pressing with my hand on that middle section

 

[jjrandorin]

Nice job, @Chrushev , and THANK YOU for coming back and posting that you figured out a resolution.

If I was under warranty, I personally would probably have just "let tesla sort it out" but this post could definitely help someone either out of warranty, or in DIY troubleshooting if they dont live close to a Service center or dont want to be bothered with taking it in.

Thanks again (with my TMC mod hat on) for adding this content / resolution.

 

[BroncoAZ]

They make money on that warranty so I’m not sure I’d call it a “no brainer”

Extended warranty is just like any other insurance product, the company makes a profit and the buyer gets peace of mind. I purchase some version of extended warranty on my personal vehicles. The sample size of n=1 means I may have the lemon that will cost me far more than the insurance in repairs over the life of a specific vehicle. My other option is to roll the dice and write the check for any repairs. Maybe I got a good car and repair costs are very low, or maybe I got a bad one that will cost thousands to keep running. I’ve had a couple of vehicles where the $2000 warranty paid out 5 figures in repairs over the life of the vehicle. I’d rather spend a predictable $2000 for a certain period than potentially write check after check for who knows how much. In the case of Tesla, the threads I’m reading on this forum suggest that some cars are great but others cost thousands to repair. Since the OP has a car that has demonstrated there are some nagging issues I’d call the warranty a no brainer if the car is to be kept.

I manage a large fleet, commercially with a sample size of n=150 I don’t purchase extended warranties. The trucks I buy commercially come with a 5 year 100K powertrain warranty, so some of the big stuff is covered. I pay some terrible repair bills at times, but overall the warrantable repair bills I pay on one fleet cycle are less than 30% of what the extended warranties would cost. Comparing warranty costs of $450K vs warrantable repair costs under $150K demonstrates the profit for those selling the warranties.

 

[mborkow]

Extended warranty is just like any other insurance product, the company makes a profit and the buyer gets peace of mind. I purchase some version of extended warranty on my personal vehicles. The sample size of n=1 means I may have the lemon that will cost me far more than the insurance in repairs over the life of a specific vehicle. My other option is to roll the dice and write the check for any repairs. Maybe I got a good car and repair costs are very low, or maybe I got a bad one that will cost thousands to keep running. I’ve had a couple of vehicles where the $2000 warranty paid out 5 figures in repairs over the life of the vehicle. I’d rather spend a predictable $2000 for a certain period than potentially write check after check for who knows how much. In the case of Tesla, the threads I’m reading on this forum suggest that some cars are great but others cost thousands to repair. Since the OP has a car that has demonstrated there are some nagging issues I’d call the warranty a no brainer if the car is to be kept.

I manage a large fleet, commercially with a sample size of n=150 I don’t purchase extended warranties. The trucks I buy commercially come with a 5 year 100K powertrain warranty, so some of the big stuff is covered. I pay some terrible repair bills at times, but overall the warrantable repair bills I pay on one fleet cycle are less than 30% of what the extended warranties would cost. Comparing warranty costs of $450K vs warrantable repair costs under $150K demonstrates the profit for those selling the warranties.

I spent over a decade in the insurance industry and understand your rationalization…I just don’t agree with it and certainly don’t agree that it’s a “no brainer” to spend $2k today for a problem that may not happen 4 years from now.

 

[mborkow]

Did some googling, and I think I solved 2 out of 3 issues. Doesnt seem like I can edit my original post so here is some info for anyone else that comes across this.

I came across a few posts on reddit and on these forums where people's fold seat buttons stopped working after getting their power port serviced, and in all cases the tech forgot to plug in the cable that goes to those buttons. Well, I didnt have power port serviced, but had that quarter window I mentioned replaced. So I decided to check.. and YUP! Back in December tech never plugged in the wire, I just never noticed since I never use them. Super easy to access the challenging part was fishing out the wire that was now dangling down deep in the side panel cavity. I wonder if this will also get rid of myserious rattling sound that appeared within last few months (maybe cable banging about inside).

Here is how you access it:

View attachment 1029527

View attachment 1029528

The cable clips into the slot, so no way it fell out of its own. It was definitely tech forgetting to plug it back in after removing the panel to put in the window.

So that issue is resolved.

Then I looked under the seat and found the sensor wires, they look like this:


View attachment 1029531

The sensor is in the seat's foam and is the ribbon cable (red) coming out of the hole (green). It then goes into a little box and gets converted to standard wire (orange), which then goes into a clip (purple), the other side of the clip (blue) connects to the main thick wire harness seen in the center of the image.

I didnt want to unclip the clip or mess with any of that, so instead I pushed the clip together with my fingers, and also stuck my finger into the hole (green) to feel the sensor inside (ive read reports of them being displaced although they are supposed to be glued to the foam). I moved it around a bit.

After doing that the sensor seems to be working flawlessly.

View attachment 1029533

So for now I cancelled the appointment. Although I am still not sure what that APP_w303_imulrational error means. Ive read that its caused by sensors in various parts of the car not agreeing and can be triggered by wild driving (acceleation/stopping). While I didnt do any wild driving, the car did as I describe suddenly throw car into Park, essentially slamming on the brakes due to the faulty seat weight sensor when I was backing out of the garage.

That error is not present outside of service screen and Autopilot works no problem. Ill drive around for a bit to see if it clears. If not maybe then schedule the appointment. Will also allow me to test out reliability of the seat sensor.

For reference, the seat has sort of like 3 sections, the sensor is in the middle one. I am able to trigger it by pressing with my hand on that middle section

View attachment 1029535

You should contact your service center and let them know the poor job they did and ask what they intend to do to make it right. Posting on Twitter might get a good response too…

 

[jkdman123]

I spent over a decade in the insurance industry and understand your rationalization…I just don’t agree with it and certainly don’t agree that it’s a “no brainer” to spend $2k today for a problem that may not happen 4 years from now.

Normally I would agree with you, but for a car with this much history of defects, I would either spring for the extended warranty or sell the car soon. If things keep going bad at the rate their going, it's not gonna be pretty when the warranty expires. Of course, there's no guarantee that the car will keep breaking at the same rate, but it seems like he may have got a Friday night build or something. That many problems in 3 yrs seems much higher than normal,

 

[mborkow]

Normally I would agree with you, but for a car with this much history of defects, I would either spring for the extended warranty or sell the car soon. If things keep going bad at the rate their going, it's not gonna be pretty when the warranty expires. Of course, there's no guarantee that the car will keep breaking at the same rate, but it seems like he may have got a Friday night build or something. That many problems in 3 yrs seems much higher than normal,

The big things (battery and drive unit) are covered for a lot longer. The list of things not covered by the extended warranty (which I investigated) is pretty long…anything wear and tear is *excluded* essentially. IMO, you’d be better off taking that $2k and investing it for 4 years and then paying any service bills out of that…that’s what every insurance executive does.

 

[jkdman123]

The big things (battery and drive unit) are covered for a lot longer. The list of things not covered by the extended warranty (which I investigated) is pretty long…anything wear and tear is *excluded* essentially. IMO, you’d be better off taking that $2k and investing it for 4 years and then paying any service bills out of that…that’s what every insurance executive does.

The list of EXPENSIVE things that would be covered is more relevant than wear and tear items. The inverter, motors (I read the list of exclusions and the battery is specifically excluded, while the motor is not), MCU, screen, HVAC and other covered parts all carry huge repair/replacement costs. Any one of those could just about pay for the warranty by itself. This is one of the dirty little secrets to BEV ownership that's glossed over when discussing overall cost vs ICE cars. Things may go wrong less often, but when they do, it can cost you an arm and a leg to get them fixed.

 

[drtimhill]

They make money on that warranty so I’m not sure I’d call it a “no brainer”

Of course they do .. as does every insurance policy sold since the beginning of time. They are trading on peoples risk assessments and desire for peace of mind. So its up to each individual to decide on the pros/cond trade-offs.

 

[jjrandorin]

People "winning" at buying an extended warranty and then having more covered issues than the cost of the warranty is not much different than people telling others they won at slots in Las Vegas (or some other gambling location).

Sure, some people win, but the house losing didnt build those buildings. Same thing with warranties. They wouldnt sell them if the warranties actually lost money for the company selling them.

No one should ever buy these with the idea that they are going to "win" by covered services. You buy or not one of these extended warranties for the piece of mind that it might bring you, because you either dont want to, or cant afford to pay for a covered issue if you get unlucky.

As long as everyone knows that its MUCH more likely they dont have covered losses that pay for the warranty than it is they do, then whatever choice they make for the piece of mind is up to them.

 

[flixden]

People "winning" at buying an extended warranty and then having more covered issues than the cost of the warranty is not much different than people telling others they won at slots in Las Vegas (or some other gambling location).

Sure, some people win, but the house losing didnt build those buildings. Same thing with warranties. They wouldnt sell them if the warranties actually lost money for the company selling them.

No one should ever buy these with the idea that they are going to "win" by covered services. You buy or not one of these extended warranties for the piece of mind that it might bring you, because you either dont want to, or cant afford to pay for a covered issue if you get unlucky.

As long as everyone knows that its MUCH more likely they dont have covered losses that pay for the warranty than it is they do, then whatever choice they make for the piece of mind is up to them.

Well put, I couldn't agree more!

 

[Daekwan]

Bought my 2021 almost exactly 3 years ago and now at the 62K mark im getting a little concerned. In December it started creaking noise really bad when steering left or right pulling out of a driveway or parking space.. was pretty sure that the car needed control arms replaced. Also 2 weeks ago the passenger air bag sensor started throwing errors. Made an appt last week for the Tesla Service Center and shockingly they couldn't reproduce any of these issues.

Apparently the creaking noise started/ended with with freezing temperatures.. the mechanic said its probably some suspension parts that need to be lubed. And said the air bag sensor they could replace for $165.. but said its no guarantee to fix the issue, since the sensor light was not currently on. If I had fixed all these issues as precautionary action.. would have been about $450 out of pocket. That said Im not paying for something that's not currently broken. So will keep driving and just hope nothing else goes wrong.

I drive about 2,000 miles a month so the miles have really piled up here. I should break the 100K mark sometime next year and if any major issues popup Im probably getting rid of the car. Minor issues.. I'll certainly fix as needed and keep piling up the miles. The entire reason I purchased the car is that I drive so much.. I was spending more in gas, than what I currently pay as a monthly car payment on my Model Y!

 

[Z_Lynx]

I have low miles. Figure instead of being in my 3rd year of ownership, am in my first so will likely not get any extended warranty. Do have a dear mailman who bought a used 2015 model S at the same time I got my 2020 MY. He has spent a fortune on that car (two $12,000 repairs and more recently a new battery - also other stuff).

 

[Daekwan]

People "winning" at buying an extended warranty and then having more covered issues than the cost of the warranty is not much different than people telling others they won at slots in Las Vegas (or some other gambling location).

Sure, some people win, but the house losing didnt build those buildings. Same thing with warranties. They wouldnt sell them if the warranties actually lost money for the company selling them.

No one should ever buy these with the idea that they are going to "win" by covered services. You buy or not one of these extended warranties for the piece of mind that it might bring you, because you either dont want to, or cant afford to pay for a covered issue if you get unlucky.

As long as everyone knows that its MUCH more likely they dont have covered losses that pay for the warranty than it is they do, then whatever choice they make for the piece of mind is up to them.

Say it louder for the people that didn't hear it the first time.

Companies in general sell products & services solely because it generates a profit. If they can't make money selling it.. why bother offering it? The idea that extended warranty is guaranteed to pay for itself is a terrible bet. Granted if we are talking about Range Rover.. then yeah it's a great idea. But on Tesla or most modern vehicles it's a poor bet.

Take the $2,500 you would have spent on an extended warranty and put it in a savings account. Any minor issues popup.. the $2,500 should be more than enough to fix them. Any major issues popup and it's probably drivetrain related.. which would already be covered by the 8yr/125K high voltage battery + motor warranty. Chances are a few years now.. you will still have most of that $2,500 still sitting in the bank.

 

[jjrandorin]

All that is true, but I dont have an issue with people who like and want to buy extended warranties. Its hard to quantify piece of mind.