Key fob battery replacement leads to $1600 cost

[kolum]

Here we go again. We have a 2015 Model S that we bought just under a year ago. Starting a week ago, dashboard displays "key fob battery low". Replace battery in fob. Now it doesn't work at all. Try second fob. Also says battery low. Replace battery in that fob. It doesn't work now either. Fortunately, we have a third fob. Call mobile service. They succeed in fixing second fob. First fob still doesn't work. Dashboard displays "key fob battery low" at all times. At least mobile service doesn't charge us, but to get it fixed we have to go to the Dedham, MA service center. They don't seem to have any idea what is wrong. They tell us that they will first try to fix or replace the first fob at a cost of $450. if this doesn't work they will have to replace the body controller at a total cost of $1630.

I thought electric cars were low maintenance, but now they will have charged us almost $4000 in service costs over less than a year. This includes fixing a door handle and replacing the MCU, which was working fine until we took it in for the eMMC recall. The problems (except the door handle) are mysterious software issues, and the solution is always to replace the computer instead of having any idea what's wrong. We are completely at their mercy. We have no way to know whether these replacements are necessary and no way to get anything fixed other than going to Tesla and paying whatever they demand.

This is very different from the problems you get with a gas car. You have a hole in your exhaust pipe. Anybody can see there's a hole there and it has to be replaced. You can go to any mechanic and get it done.

It's a great car to drive and it suits our needs well. But continual service problems are driving us crazy and we're getting to be sorry we bought it.

 

[MP3Mike]

I thought electric cars were low maintenance, but now they will have charged us almost $4000 in service costs over less than a year.

They are low maintenance. But you are talking about repairs. (Two completely different things.)

 

[Red Ryder 3]

So, this is a 7+ y/o car with how many miles?
S*** happens in 7 years!

 

[DerbyDave]

I'm thinking all fobs need to be "initialized" at the same time. when you add or replace a fob. If you just initialize a new fob and not the others, the others may not work.

 

[GtiMart]

Changing the clutch in my previous Audi A4 would have cost 4000$ if I had done it at the dealer... Wheels bearings were 500$ each, coil packs were dying all the time (150$ each plus time etc) etc. Repairs on many cars are pricey, not just Tesla. The hope is that it fails less often but when it does, it isn't cheap. This isn't software, it's clearly hardware (fob, controller, MCU).

 

[kolum]

It turned out better than I feared, at least so far. They replaced the fob that wasn't working, and that solved the problem. They charged $300. I hope it keeps working. I hope it doesn't happen again in a year when we have to replace fob batteries.
This may have been a hardware problem in the fob, but there is definitely a software problem involving the controller, because it said "fob battery low" even when no fob was anywhere nearby. Or maybe this is the design behavior. Perhaps it will display "fob battery low" whenever it detects that until it sees that same fob again with a good battery. If that's the case, the service people should never have thought that there was anything wrong with the controller.

Changing the clutch in my previous Audi A4 would have cost 4000$ if I had done it at the dealer

Right. But you had the ability to have someone else do it. Here we are stuck with the dealer. (Well, not quite. There's Electrified Garage in Seabrook, NH. But it's about a 1.5 hour drive and when we last called them had a months-long waiting list. So it's not that viable an option.)

 

[The T-man]

Don't pay anything, the fob needs key swapped when IN the car...there are threads here detailing your issue

 

[chrisro]

Don't pay anything, the fob needs key swapped when IN the car...there are threads here detailing your issue

please send a link thanks