Interesting thread, I appreciate all the technical discussion.
I completely understand why the OP is concerned about future reliability, so want to bring up the concept of the "bathtub curve". If there is a manufacturing defect in a component, it is most likely to show itself early in the product's life, and as time goes on, the odds of a defect existing decrease. Because if the part were bad from the factory, I would've broken by then. At 7000 miles, your car still relatively young, which increases the odds of a defect showing itself.
There are few high mileage examples floating around, some folks even have 100,000+ miles by now. The ones I've seen have reported virtually nothing in the way of repairs. Their drivetrains and high-voltage systems did not have a manufacturing defect, and the design has held up well. I haven't read of many motor failures at higher miles, which implies the design is pretty robust. And we don't see many early failures for such a high volume car, which suggests their manufacturing is pretty good as well.
Regardless of the failure, you got unlucky. They sold more model threes last year than Chrysler sold minivans, so there are a lot of them out there. And they just aren't dropping like flies. As rare as these failures are, put your experience in context and have confidence in your choice. You have a great car.
