I miss my car.

[harcocjh]

So this past Sunday evening after washing her up real nice and shining the wheels I summoned her back into the garage, plugged her in and went to bed. The next morning I went to leave for work and was presented with two messages: "car needs service" and "cannot maintain vehicle power". Car was towed to Tesla service center Tuesday and after calling a bunch and leaving a couple messages today I finally heard back that it's a drive unit failure and they are ordering a new one but don't know when it will come in because "it's such a new vehicle". So meanwhile I'm in a Chevy Tahoe from Enterprise waiting for a Tesla loaner to become available. If they can get me a loaner with autopilot then I can be as patient as necessary. But for right now my hour plus commute sucks again after 4 months and 8k miles of glorious autopilot goodness.

Can't wait to get her back! Love the car so much!

 

[WattsHappening]

Sorry to hear it.

Food for thought. When I took ours in for service, they indicated all the Tesla loaners were out and tried to pawn off an ICE vehicle as a loaner. I told them I really wanted a Tesla and was willing to wait for one to be returned. Funny they were able to 'find' one that was available.

 

[Runebane]

Sorry to hear that!! I totally understand what you mean about missing the autopilot. I have an hour commute each way and can't imagine doing it without it now... and I only have about 2500 miles on my 3.

 

[Drax]

Sorry to hear, but it could be worse.. At least you won’t have to wait for a new build?

Just make sure to save all of your gas receipts. Tesla will reimburse you while you’re in the rental!

 

[ChrisH]

So this past Sunday evening after washing her up real nice and shining the wheels I summoned her back into the garage, plugged her in and went to bed. The next morning I went to leave for work and was presented with two messages: "car needs service" and "cannot maintain vehicle power". Car was towed to Tesla service center Tuesday and after calling a bunch and leaving a couple messages today I finally heard back that it's a drive unit failure and they are ordering a new one but don't know when it will come in because "it's such a new vehicle". So meanwhile I'm in a Chevy Tahoe from Enterprise waiting for a Tesla loaner to become available. If they can get me a loaner with autopilot then I can be as patient as necessary. But for right now my hour plus commute sucks again after 4 months and 8k miles of glorious autopilot goodness.

Can't wait to get her back! Love the car so much!

Drive unit failure at 8,000 Miles? Ugh. Pathetic.

 

[drawfour]

Drive unit failure at 8,000 Miles? Ugh. Pathetic.

I needed a transmission replacement in my 2003 Nissan 350Z within a couple months of owning it. It was affectionately known on the forums as the "3rd Gear Grind", and no amount of synchronizing engine speed or double-clutching would make it not grind going into 3rd gear.

*sugar* happens. It's under warranty.

 

[spurs10]

I hear and read a lot about drive unit failure. It’s fairly common especially if you look at the 2013 MS with high mileage

 

[MXWing]

Failing early is better than failing later.

Warranties are designed to expire before MTBF.

 

[Tezlah]

Sorry to hear, but it could be worse.. At least you won’t have to wait for a new build?

Just make sure to save all of your gas receipts. Tesla will reimburse you while you’re in the rental!

I took my car in for service last month (almost 3 weeks total), kept my gas receipts (only $46 total), and the service center told me they do not reimburse gas.

 

[Darmie]

and the service center told me they do not reimburse gas.

haha. well, at lease you tried.

 

[untilcomplete]

Drive unit failure at 8,000 Miles? Ugh. Pathetic.

Pathetic? Kind of like Fords shitty engine in the RS, or their crappy automatic transmissions that had a class action lawsuit and had to pay and extend the warranty. Or maybe the dozens of BMWs that just spontaneously catch on fire and recalled and stopped selling in Korea. Pathetic.

 

[Buddy]

haha. well, at lease you tried.

I was told gas was reimbursed by the Buena Park SC. Turned in my loaner and receipts a couple weeks ago.

 

[Drax]

I took my car in for service last month (almost 3 weeks total), kept my gas receipts (only $46 total), and the service center told me they do not reimburse gas.

Call and ask again, or call a different service center and ask. Tesla has always reimbursed gas costs, so unless something has changed in the last month or so, you’ve been given incorrect info.

 

[Hogfighter]

Sorry to hear that!

It’s important to understand that the Drive Unit consists of the motor, inverter and gearbox. It’s not unheard of to have some small part within that unit fail, but rather than spend the time and effort rebuilding it on site, they put in a new one.

That process is super quick and easy once they have the new part. Best of luck!

 

[ChrisH]

Pathetic? Kind of like Fords shitty engine in the RS, or their crappy automatic transmissions that had a class action lawsuit and had to pay and extend the warranty. Or maybe the dozens of BMWs that just spontaneously catch on fire and recalled and stopped selling in Korea. Pathetic.

Yes pathetic. Tesla’s have a huge drive unit failure rate. They need to get it figured out. $55,000+ vehicles should not leave multiple people stranded within a year of purchase.

 

[ChrisH]

I needed a transmission replacement in my 2003 Nissan 350Z within a couple months of owning it. It was affectionately known on the forums as the "3rd Gear Grind", and no amount of synchronizing engine speed or double-clutching would make it not grind going into 3rd gear.

*sugar* happens. It's under warranty.

Yes but have you read about the Model S’ that have had 5+ drive unit replacements? That’s pathetic for such an expensive car. I’d be pretty upset if my $100,000 car left me stranded multiple times.

 

[ChrisH]

Failing early is better than failing later.

Warranties are designed to expire before MTBF.

Yea but when these vehicles have multiple drive unit failures we are going to end up paying for replacements out of warranty at some point.

 

[Hogfighter]

Yes but have you read about the Model S’ that have had 5+ drive unit replacements? That’s pathetic for such an expensive car. I’d be pretty upset if my $100,000 car left me stranded multiple times.

Yes I have. That was me.

And I know why each one was changed. I’d buy it again in a heartbeat. Oh and that was almost 6 years ago....pretty sure that the best engineers in the world have made a few improvements since then.

 

[dgpcolorado]

Yes but have you read about the Model S’ that have had 5+ drive unit replacements? That’s pathetic for such an expensive car. I’d be pretty upset if my $100,000 car left me stranded multiple times.

Stranded? That's rather hyperbolic. With rare exceptions, those Model S drive unit replacements were for noise issues. Nothing to do with being stranded.

It took Tesla some time to diagnose and fix th problem, reportedly by using ceramic bearings. Nowadays noisy drive unit replacements are uncommon.

 

[ChrisH]

Stranded? That's rather hyperbolic. With rare exceptions, those Model S drive unit replacements were for noise issues. Nothing to do with being stranded.

It took Tesla some time to diagnose and fix th problem, reportedly by using ceramic bearings. Nowadays noisy drive unit replacements are uncommon.

Yeah so now there’s is less of a chance to catch it before it strands you. Trust me, I love my model 3 but will be pretty mad if it leaves me stranded before even 100,000 Miles. I’ve had a VW Jetta (that was a nightmare but still never left me stranded), a Hyundai Elantra, and a Mitsubishi Lancer that never left me unable to start the vehicle so this car that was twice as expensive shouldn’t either.