FM Radio Solution for Upgraded MCU2 cars?

[plumazul]

What “laws in this country” lead you to believe that Tesla is under any obligation whatsoever to help you install and configure a part in your car that wasn’t there from the factory?

Are you being intentionally dense?? My car came from the factory with a working radio. *I* would install a new Tesla radio in my own car without any "help" from Tesla. All I need them to do is restore my car's original functions by setting software to recognize the radio, like it did before the "upgrade". What is it about this you don't understand?

 

[ucmndd]

Are you being intentionally dense?? My car came from the factory with a working radio. *I* would install a new Tesla radio in my own car without any "help" from Tesla. All I need them to do is restore my car's original functions by setting software to recognize the radio, like it did before the "upgrade". What is it about this you don't understand?

All that makes sense were you replacing a failed component with an identical one (analog for analog), or in the case where you didn’t voluntarily seek out and pay for an MCU upgrade that quite clearly states as a condition of installation that you lose radio functionality.

As it seems you might have missed my question while flinging about childish insults, I’ll ask it again. What “laws in this country” compel Tesla to support you in this case?

 

[bob_p]

Tesla has no obligation to provide support to modifications made by non-Tesla approved service or by an owner.

And because Tesla doesn't (yet) have approved 3rd party service providers, if Tesla decides not to provide an option to upgrade the radio when upgrading the MCU or they decide not to activate a radio added by an owner, then we're stuck with this situation, unless Tesla makes a change in what is mostly a business and not a technical decision.

 

[plumazul]

Tesla has no obligation to provide support to modifications made by non-Tesla approved service or by an owner.

And because Tesla doesn't (yet) have approved 3rd party service providers, if Tesla decides not to provide an option to upgrade the radio when upgrading the MCU or they decide not to activate a radio added by an owner, then we're stuck with this situation, unless Tesla makes a change in what is mostly a business and not a technical decision.

"then we're stuck with this situation"?? Really? Is Tesla some kind of omnipotent force? We don't have to just lie there and take it from Tesla. They are in a very highly regulated industry and it seems they are just begging for more regulation.

Perhaps Tesla is doing us all a favor by becoming a catalyst to get this passed nationwide instead of state by state.

 

[P100D_Me]

Might wait for MCU2 upgrade take 2 when Tesla decide due to unwanted noise from unhappy MCU1 owners that we really can put that digital tuner module in your cars afterall (or even an external DAB+ module).

 

[EVortex]

"then we're stuck with this situation"?? Really? Is Tesla some kind of omnipotent force? We don't have to just lie there and take it from Tesla. They are in a very highly regulated industry and it seems they are just begging for more regulation.

Perhaps Tesla is doing us all a favor by becoming a catalyst to get this passed nationwide instead of state by state.

Tesla is offering an optional upgrade with a known, specific configuration. If a consumer does not like the upgrade or the configuration offered then the consumer has the right not to purchase the upgrade. No laws broken.

 

[drklain]

Agree with @tcoombes. I don't understand @plumazul's point. Tesla is offering an upgrade that they tell you will give you a new MCU but you will lose the radio capability. Your counter is that they are refusing to activate a radio tuner you have installed yourself and thus are violating your right to work on your car. Right to work on your car is just that. You have the right to work on the car, but they are under no obligation to support it. In some states, they are legally required to give you access to manuals and software diagnostic tools, but that's it.

There is nothing stopping you from hacking your car (as many on this list have done), but Tesla is under no obligation to turn it on from you and certainly isn't behaving illegally by not activating something you have added on. Car manufacturers do this all the time after customer modifications (refuse to maintain them or interface with them) for a variety of reasons, but they are most certainly not acting illegally in the way @plumazul maintains.

 

[plumazul]

Agree with @tcoombes. I don't understand @plumazul's point. Tesla is offering an upgrade that they tell you will give you a new MCU but you will lose the radio capability. Your counter is that they are refusing to activate a radio tuner you have installed yourself and thus are violating your right to work on your car. Right to work on your car is just that. You have the right to work on the car, but they are under no obligation to support it. In some states, they are legally required to give you access to manuals and software diagnostic tools, but that's it.

There is nothing stopping you from hacking your car (as many on this list have done), but Tesla is under no obligation to turn it on from you and certainly isn't behaving illegally by not activating something you have added on. Car manufacturers do this all the time after customer modifications (refuse to maintain them or interface with them) for a variety of reasons, but they are most certainly not acting illegally in the way @plumazul maintains.

But they DO support it, same radio, same MCU. They are just singling out a certain class of owners for non-support. I'm certainly not going to "hack" a car still under warranty and with unlimited Supercharging.

 

[drklain]

Clearly you disagree with everyone else and have a feeling you have legal legs to stand on despite what others have told you. Tesla supported your car as delivered before the MCU2 upgrade. Once they install the MCU2 (which they tell you in advance causes you to lose the radio), they support it in that configuration. Turning on the digital tuner for a car upgraded to MCU2 is presently not a supported configuration. it may suck and we may not like it, but them's the facts. You will have a very hard time winning a case that Tesla is failing to support the car as configured/delivered/upgraded by them. You are asking support for what, as defined by Tesla, is a non-standard configuration. The fact the configuration matches that of other MCU2 cars is irrelevant from a legal point of view.

All that said, good luck with your lawsuit. Let us know how it turns out.

As for me, I'm going to wait and hope that at some point, looking for another cash infusion, Tesla provides an upgrade to the new digital tuner for us (and yes, I would pay a few hundred bucks for that upgrade).

 

[mahagala]

But they DO support it, same radio, same MCU. They are just singling out a certain class of owners for non-support. I'm certainly not going to "hack" a car still under warranty and with unlimited Supercharging.

Name one carmaker would retrofit entertainment system to match latest model. Only Tesla, you should be happy they do this imo.

 

[MS85DAnthony]

But they DO support it, same radio, same MCU. They are just singling out a certain class of owners for non-support. I'm certainly not going to "hack" a car still under warranty and with unlimited Supercharging.

Looks like the analog tuner takes too much time and effort to remove and install the new digital tuner that goes with MCU2.

I don't blame tesla for excluding the new tuner (am/fm/Xm for mcu2). I put one in my car in my recent mcu2 retrofit and the tuner was the hardest part by far. Took like 2 hours and was awkward as heck. The bolts are very hard to get to behind the steering column. Tesla made the right choice for retrofits.

 

[bob_p]

Comparing our MCU1 S and our MCU2 X, the biggest difference is the new entertainment apps that run only when the vehicle is parked (at a supercharger).

Since any road trips will be done in our MCU2 X, the entertainment apps wouldn't provide us much benefit.

Plus, we can still use our tablets or smartphones and route audio over bluetooth, so if we want to watch Netflix, Youtube, ... - we can already do that without the MCU2 upgrade (and lose the radio).

If Tesla offered the radio upgrade with the infotainment upgrade, we would strongly consider - just so we'd have the same hardware as in newer vehicles.

Unless that happens, using a tablet for streaming or gaming apps is a much less expensive option...

 

[EVortex]

Looks like the analog tuner takes too much time and effort to remove and install the new digital tuner that goes with MCU2.

It’s located deep inside the dash left of the steering wheel and is mounted on the same bracket with the premium amplifier. I have removed the bracket before - takes about 30-45 minutes and is a pain to access the bolts, etc. I would think some people might pay $3k (extra $500 for labor and parts) for the MCU upgrade plus the new tuner, but not sure. Maybe the decision was less about money and more about the time and difficulty in swapping the tuner.

 

[smilepak]

I was thinking of the same. No more driving movie theaters.

 

[bob_p]

Tesla should quote the price for the tuner upgrade and let customers decide, since it doesn't appear to be a technical issue...

 

[plumazul]

Name one carmaker would retrofit entertainment system to match latest model. Only Tesla, you should be happy they do this imo.

When you pay six figures for a car, you expect a little more. Paying $2,500 for an "upgrade", that is certainly not state of the art hardware, and removes previously purchased features is not something that's going to make me all giddy. My fanboy days are over.

 

[plumazul]

It’s located deep inside the dash left of the steering wheel and is mounted on the same bracket with the premium amplifier. I have removed the bracket before - takes about 30-45 minutes and is a pain to access the bolts, etc. I would think some people might pay $3k (extra $500 for labor and parts) for the MCU upgrade plus the new tuner, but not sure. Maybe the decision was less about money and more about the time and difficulty in swapping the tuner.

Looks like the analog tuner takes too much time and effort to remove and install the new digital tuner that goes with MCU2.

But none of this explains why they would refuse to configure the software if the owner has already installed the new digital tuner. I do hope and expect that Tesla will change their mind on this eventually.

 

[mahagala]

When you pay six figures for a car, you expect a little more. Paying $2,500 for an "upgrade", that is certainly not state of the art hardware, and removes previously purchased features is not something that's going to make me all giddy. My fanboy days are over.

I find this funny, but everyone has its own justification on how to spend their money I suppose. Bottom line, if you think your six figures Tesla is not worth your money to retrofit MCU2, then don't. Tesla doesn't need to provide this retrofit to old customer imo, and they did base on fan's demand. Frankly I'm super happy they did this, so I don't need to trade-in for new car just to get new entertainment unit. Radio? just use your smart phone to stream Radios, if your station doesn't provide Internet Access, that station probably will be gone soon anyway.

 

[EVortex]

But none of this explains why they would refuse to configure the software if the owner has already installed the new digital tuner. I do hope and expect that Tesla will change their mind on this eventually.

Might set a precedent for lots of supported mod requests.

 

[drklain]

But none of this explains why they would refuse to configure the software if the owner has already installed the new digital tuner. I do hope and expect that Tesla will change their mind on this eventually.

I can think of plenty of reasons why. Here are some:

- customer installs a digital tuner he got. it might be used, might not have worked. It might be new from Tesla but the customer damaged it while installing it. There is no way to tell if it works or not until it is hooked up. So Tesla turns it on in the software. Radio doesn't work. Customer says Tesla messed it up and wants support for it.
- customer installs a digital tuner he got. He uses a bad cable (or damages the cable or plugs while installing). Radio doesn't work. He blames Tesla.
- customer installs a digital tuner and cable he got. He damages the MCU cable receptacle. Tesla turns on software, it doesn't work. He blames Tesla giving him a damaged MCU2.

All of those are plausible and create a problem for Tesla where they are being asked to support something that was altered by someone who is not a Tesla-approved technician. It is totally reasonable from their point of view to not support those cars/units because they open the can of worms of responsibility if something doesn't work. It's the same reason so many electronics come with a tamper seal and a "warranty void" if removed sticker. If you have opened it up and mucked with things, they don't know what you did or what damage you might have caused. The cleanest solution is to say "we don't support that device any longer."

You may not like the answer, but I've seen plenty of times where companies get into these issues with customers because of modifications made by the customer. That's why so many manufacturers (including plenty of automotive manufacturers) no longer support or warranty devices that have been modified by unapproved personnel -- even if the modification was something the manufacturer themselves do -- they don't want to incur liability for stuff the unapproved installer may have done.