Infinite Mile Battery Warranty [Now] Being Honored By Tesla [Issue Resolved]

[hill]

I'm not sure why you say that, something like this is exactly what I expected to happen. (And matches what happened to someone else who recently got a pack replaced under warranty.)

It appears that the battery pack, or maybe something else, has failed and Tesla will likely replace it under warranty.

I do think it is kind of silly for Tesla to refuse to replace the pack proactively, when they probably know that it was actually going to fail fairly soon. Hopefully they at least pre-ordered a replacement pack to have on hand.

if his local SC is as overcrowded as ours, it may simply be a matter of "never do today what you can put off until tomorrow". Why jam up overly busy service tech's with another heavy duty job that can be for stalled.
.

 

[MP3Mike]

Well now, this does seem like you have had a change of heart now doesn’t it?

(“Change of heart” 1. to change ones mind, to have a different opinion than previously.
“@MP3Mike has had a change of heart on the matter of this battery degradation thread”.)

Nope. I still think Tesla is honoring their warranty, and they didn't have to replace it when they had the car. But I think they should have, unless the information they had showed that it was unlikely it was going to fail in the next 3 months.

 

[gilscales]

Nope. I still think Tesla is honoring their warranty, and they didn't have to replace it when they had the car. But I think they should have, unless the information they had showed that it was unlikely it was going to fail in the next 3 months.

My bad (this is slang for “my fault”) I must have missed that in one of your previous posts!

 

[Az_Rael]

This is getting ridiculously circular. OP is told by Tesla, a company that is not shy about honoring their warranty, that he has battery degradation, a condition that is not covered.

OP continues to insist he is owed a brand new battery pack, like a broken record, but provides no supporting evidence.

Around and round we go.

Looks like he has his evidence now as predicted. Hopefully Tesla will now honor the warranty.

 

[vickh]

if his local SC is as overcrowded as ours, it may simply be a matter of "never do today what you can put off until tomorrow". Why jam up overly busy service tech's with another heavy duty job that can be for stalled.
.

I agree sometimes it's all about here and now, and meeting targets etc. It sucks that they can't prevent or be proactive for something that causes complete failure to function though, esp. since it's Tesla

Hopefully it's the SC not a new company wide norm given the heavier work loads.

 

[chompyfone]

Forgive me for not reading the whole thread. About to buy a 2015 p85d with 60k miles. What about used batteries from salvages?

 

[vickh]

Forgive me for not reading the whole thread. About to buy a 2015 p85d with 60k miles. What about used batteries from salvages?

Tesla pretty much has current monopoly for service.. at least here in AZ

 

[MP3Mike]

Forgive me for not reading the whole thread. About to buy a 2015 p85d with 60k miles. What about used batteries from salvages?

You would have to either hack your car, or pay a hacker, to get the salvage battery setup in your car. And of course it would have no warranty.

A 2015 should still have a few years of warranty left on the battery, unless it is a salvage car, so I'm not sure why you would want to void your warranty and put a salvage pack in it.

 

[chompyfone]

You would have to either hack your car, or pay a hacker, to get the salvage battery setup in your car. And of course it would have no warranty.

A 2015 should still have a few years of warranty left on the battery, unless it is a salvage car, so I'm not sure why you would want to void your warranty and put a salvage pack in it.

I wouldnt, just in reference to the OP, but also curious if I ever had to deal with the same issue.

 

[DeadPoolBro]

OK. I just wanted to give you guys an update for those that have tried to give me helpful advice during this problem. I picked up my car today and as I predicted Tesla is not going to replace the battery.

They instructed me that they calibrated the battery to assist with the range indicator malfunction. They said the cars range was tested to be accurate from 0-212 now which is a slight improvement from the 209 with a 100% charge that I was getting before.

In regards to the 171.2 (209x295/360 = 171.2) miles that I should have gotten during the trip which should include all interior and exterior factors(wind, rain, heat, a/c and anything else you can thing of) for the energy consumption they said they would have to get with engineering again for an answer. It seems like they should already have had an answer for this.(thanks to david99 for your excellent math lesson).

I asked about why the average 360 Wh/mile was so high during the trip and the only answer I could get was the "battery is dragging it from somewhere" but they did agree that the average 360 Wh/mile should include everything and couldn't answer why the car actually got 139 instead of 171.

By the way, Tesla was nice enough to let me have a P85 loaner (My car is an 85 so it shouldn't consume as much energy) during the week that they were testing my car. I took the same road trip twice during that time and actually drove over the 75 mph speed limit in the loaner with only an average of 315 Wh/mile. Today when I was driving my vehicle at the speed limit(mostly 75 mph or aggressively as some have stated) I was averaging around 320 Wh/mile which is a great improvement.

I asked nicely if I could see how my car looked on the scale in regards to miles traveled vs. remaining range and the response that I got was Tesla can't release that information. (a quick thanks to troy for providing that earlier in the thread but my car was off the chart). It would be nice to know but I know I am "beating a dead horse" (nice quote by davewill) in regards to arguing degradation(Tesla won't cover degradation). If anybody out there has over 240,000 miles on their car I would love to see what problems they have been experiencing as well so we can compare.

I did want to let you guys know that it was $25,000 for a 90 battery. That is twice the price from 5 years ago. My theory on that is Tesla is just trying to cover their cost and offer a discount to people like me in the future while still making a profit. I want Tesla to make a profit as well and succeed as a company but they should always honor what they say to be a successful company in the future.

I have decided to go on the advice of many on this thread to just keep on driving the vehicle until the battery leaves me stranded again. I have about two and half years on the 8 year/infinite mile warranty and have broke down(requiring towing) on average about once a year due to the drive train or battery so I am sure I will be back to the service center if history repeats itself.

To those of you in this thread that have attacked me, my family, my education, my integrity and the experience that my family went through, I hope you think of me when you are stranded on the side of the road one day. As previously stated, I am sure you know the phrase about karma. I wanted to thank all of those that had helpful information about trying to get this situation rectified.

UNTIL NEXT TIME, THE REDNECK HILLBILLY CAP MAN IS OUT!!!!!!

I have a very simar situation with my 60kw model S. Tesla is currently investigating high voltage battery issues. It has been good 5 weeks for them to troubleshoot. I started to doubt they will honor battery warranty based on higher than normal degradation. Last year I could get close to 180 miles this year although range estimator shows 179 with fully charged battery I can do more like 155 driving conservatively. 55-60 no climate control or minimum. Battery would lose 10 miles over night in a garage.
Well waiting for Tesla to get back to me, will keop you posted. I estimate my current capacity is closer to 50kw/h.

 

[KidDoc]

So I got in my car this morning and the range indicator had only 176 with a warning from the car "unable to charge"

Any update at the end of the work day?

 

[Guy V]

OK. I just wanted to give you guys an update for those that have tried to give me helpful advice during this problem. I picked up my car today and as I predicted Tesla is not going to replace the battery.

They instructed me that they calibrated the battery to assist with the range indicator malfunction. They said the cars range was tested to be accurate from 0-212 now which is a slight improvement from the 209 with a 100% charge that I was getting before.

In regards to the 171.2 (209x295/360 = 171.2) miles that I should have gotten during the trip which should include all interior and exterior factors(wind, rain, heat, a/c and anything else you can thing of) for the energy consumption they said they would have to get with engineering again for an answer. It seems like they should already have had an answer for this.(thanks to david99 for your excellent math lesson).

I asked about why the average 360 Wh/mile was so high during the trip and the only answer I could get was the "battery is dragging it from somewhere" but they did agree that the average 360 Wh/mile should include everything and couldn't answer why the car actually got 139 instead of 171.

By the way, Tesla was nice enough to let me have a P85 loaner (My car is an 85 so it shouldn't consume as much energy) during the week that they were testing my car. I took the same road trip twice during that time and actually drove over the 75 mph speed limit in the loaner with only an average of 315 Wh/mile. Today when I was driving my vehicle at the speed limit(mostly 75 mph or aggressively as some have stated) I was averaging around 320 Wh/mile which is a great improvement.

I asked nicely if I could see how my car looked on the scale in regards to miles traveled vs. remaining range and the response that I got was Tesla can't release that information. (a quick thanks to troy for providing that earlier in the thread but my car was off the chart). It would be nice to know but I know I am "beating a dead horse" (nice quote by davewill) in regards to arguing degradation(Tesla won't cover degradation). If anybody out there has over 240,000 miles on their car I would love to see what problems they have been experiencing as well so we can compare.

I did want to let you guys know that it was $25,000 for a 90 battery. That is twice the price from 5 years ago. My theory on that is Tesla is just trying to cover their cost and offer a discount to people like me in the future while still making a profit. I want Tesla to make a profit as well and succeed as a company but they should always honor what they say to be a successful company in the future.

I have decided to go on the advice of many on this thread to just keep on driving the vehicle until the battery leaves me stranded again. I have about two and half years on the 8 year/infinite mile warranty and have broke down(requiring towing) on average about once a year due to the drive train or battery so I am sure I will be back to the service center if history repeats itself.

To those of you in this thread that have attacked me, my family, my education, my integrity and the experience that my family went through, I hope you think of me when you are stranded on the side of the road one day. As previously stated, I am sure you know the phrase about karma. I wanted to thank all of those that had helpful information about trying to get this situation rectified.

UNTIL NEXT TIME, THE REDNECK HILLBILLY CAP MAN IS OUT!!!!!!

Have they fully examined the drivetrain and brakes? My 2013 went in for service last year and they diagnosed a drive problem and rear brakes dragging. After repairs, which was fully covered under my Pro-Owned warranty, my average Wh/mile went down significantly and my actual range vs. estimated increased. Since the brakes were fully effective but would drag under some circumstances and not others it was particularly difficult to see from a driving efficiency perspective.

 

[Guy V]

That is your opinion and I disagree.

Lets say your Volvo kept running out of gas when the gauge said that there was 1/8 or 1/4 tank or maybe the car just ran out of fuel when there was 1/8 to 1/4 tank as the fuel pick up in the tank just stopped working at the low level of fuel or instead of getting 28 miles a gallon after driving the crap out of your car it is down to getting 12 miles a gallon.

Now imagine your car was under an 8 year unlimited mile warranty, would you think there was a problem with the car and that should be covered?

Running out of juice when the indicator still shows 16 miles is not degradation and I would argue is much more of a problem in a limited range vehicle that takes a long time to "Re-fuel" and have very limited areas to do so from.

I think the hair-brained idea was Tesla's for offering a unlimited mile warranty for so long in the first place, as was the guaranteed buy back price, as well as FUSC, all these things cost them money and they realized they cannot afford to offer them going forward, that does not give them the right to choose different parameters for replacement batteries when the OP's battery is clearly defective.

I will wager that at sometime in the near future the battery will actually completely fail and OP will get a replacement under warranty.

I love Tesla cars now, this is my first but I am hooked for so many reasons that this will be one of many more I will buy in the future even if my battery gives out at 240,000 miles.

I would expect Tesla to do something to remediate the problem if the shutdown at 16 miles problem continues. It might mean something else needs to be replaced other than the drivetrain or battery though, which could make it an out of warranty expense. Or, it may mean Tesla has some reprogramming to do on battery management and/or range calculation based on data from more aging, high-mileage cars.

As has been said, not many Teslas have had the chance to get to the age and mileage of this one, so this is a learning experience for all of us including Tesla. So while I have not enjoyed the OP's all caps and otherwise irascible tone I do appreciate the saga being shared here and the community input.

 

[Guy V]

Boy, you guys are tough! The situation seems simple enough to me. If the car is going to continue to operate in the roughly 200 mi range neighborhood and the range only decreases gradually, then I'd say it's degradation (and it sounds like the OP would be happy with that). If it unexpectedly drops by 60-80 miles again, then it seems to me that there's something definitely wrong (maybe battery, maybe BMS). Right now I don't see how anybody (except maybe Tesla if they have more info than we do) could know for sure.

That's right. If the anomalous occurrences happen repeatedly he and Tesla will have solid evidence on which to come to a resolution. The incidence though of Tesla carefully recalibrating to 212 range and then have a new calculation of 200 based on his driving and recharging on a very well-used battery is not necessarily a sign of failure, but an estimated range calculation variance. If reported to Tesla that might be useful data in conjunction with a reexamination of detail battery management data to offer an explanation.

If repeated shutdowns continue to occur with double-digit remaining range indicated, then that becomes a serious reliability issue which Tesla will have to sort out somehow, either by adjusting their range calculation to fix it, or providing the replacement batteries which they are understandably reluctant to do.

 

[gilscales]

That's right. If the anomalous occurrences happen repeatedly he and Tesla will have solid evidence on which to come to a resolution. The incidence though of Tesla carefully recalibrating to 212 range and then have a new calculation of 200 based on his driving and recharging on a very well-used battery is not necessarily a sign of failure, but an estimated range calculation variance. If reported to Tesla that might be useful data in conjunction with a reexamination of detail battery management data to offer an explanation.

If repeated shutdowns continue to occur with double-digit remaining range indicated, then that becomes a serious reliability issue which Tesla will have to sort out somehow, either by adjusting their range calculation to fix it, or providing the replacement batteries which they are understandably reluctant to do.

One of OP's latest posts would seem that he has a issue that Tesla now cannot ignore

(So I got in my car this morning and the range indicator had only 176 with a warning from the car "unable to charge")

 

[Guy V]

Yep, sufficient data should lead to a rational solution. I hope to see that posted here soon.

 

[Tobyw]

It may not help much, but you can use the escalate issue option in your My Tesla account.

You can also try a different service center. See if you can get someone more helpful.

If all those options fail, you can try to escalate through a local news channel that does those "consumer getting screwed" sorts of pieces.

——
Before Mercedes’ escapade with Chrysler, they used to support the resale values of their cars by assuring the supply of parts and repair data to independent repair shops. Parts were also available from good german aftermarket mfgs.
This is now less the case.

Tesla’s battery policy is in effect reducing the value of used cars by the price increase of over $12k!!! They are also losing the chance to improve customer satisfaction. Perhaps blogs should pump the cust sat angle and overhauling old batteries should cost only the price of the individual batteries which may not all be bad, and a few hours labor.
One possibility could be that the old size and dimension batteries may not be available and Tesla may need to restart an old assembly line for battery rebuilds. The new batteries are also likely to be less reliable and efficient than new ones. I have seen battery work done on youtube, I think.

Possibly Tesla should consider farming out Tesla refurbishment to private shops they find to do honest and dependable work and could use to service the local Tesla owners. I would find that better than a Tesla dealer network if done right.

 

[Guy V]

——
Before Mercedes’ escapade with Chrysler, they used to support the resale values of their cars by assuring the supply of parts and repair data to independent repair shops. Parts were also available from good german aftermarket mfgs.
This is now less the case.

Tesla’s battery policy is in effect reducing the value of used cars by the price increase of over $12k!!! They are also losing the chance to improve customer satisfaction. Perhaps blogs should pump the cust sat angle and overhauling old batteries should cost only the price of the individual batteries which may not all be bad, and a few hours labor.
One possibility could be that the old size and dimension batteries may not be available and Tesla may need to restart an old assembly line for battery rebuilds. The new batteries are also likely to be less reliable and efficient than new ones. I have seen battery work done on youtube, I think.

Possibly Tesla should consider farming out Tesla refurbishment to private shops they find to do honest and dependable work and could use to service the local Tesla owners. I would find that better than a Tesla dealer network if done right.

Tesla is currently battery constrained. If their production ever manages to catch up to demand we are far more likely to see them sell replacement batteries at a reasonable cost. Reasonable meaning with a moderate markup over their cost. This is of course becoming a larger lucrative market as vastly more of their cars are on the road and aging. There is no reason they can't profit from this as they do selling Powerwalls.

 

[dgatwood]

I'm not sure why you say that, something like this is exactly what I expected to happen. (And matches what happened to someone else who recently got a pack replaced under warranty.)

Me, too. It seemed pretty glaringly obvious to me that one of the modules was on its last leg, even without running any diagnostics, just from the symptoms described. The behavior was simply too many standard deviations from the norm in too many different ways.

I'm glad it quickly turned into a failure that they can't ignore, and not into a fireball that the news media couldn't ignore.

 

[HMARTINPT]

Any update at the end of the work day?

Tesla said it wasn't the car but my charger cable or house power source. Just wanted to keep everyone updated. Thanks for the input.