MCU always had problems and finally failed. Costing a fortune

[Nadeem0707]

My MCU was always rebooting and I had always pointed out the service center. The issue started at around 39k. They said it was nothing. Again it had pointed out at 49k (before the warranty expired). Nothing was done. The answer I always got was “it seems to be working fine now, just reset the trips and clear the address history and it will be fine”. Never worked since then. Screen would always reboot and locations wouldn’t load. For the last 10k miles we had been using google maps. Couple of months ago I took it again and they flashed the CPU and reinstalled the software and I was told that it should be fine now ($175). Last week, I was driving and the screen starting rebooting again and was stuck in a constant loop where the car was functional but nothing else worked. I had to take it in right away considering it was 90 degrees and I had a toddler in the car and the AC wouldn’t turn on. Same problem as before but not the MCU unit had to be replaced. Almost 3k with labor (they did pay for half of it because it was a known issue and I did point it out before the warranty expired). Wait what. Why should I even pay for half of it? The service managers are just a human shield for deflection.
And check this out. I dropped it off with 59 miles because it was an emergency and a week later they did not plug it in and I got three notifications to plug in the car. I called them with no answer. The charge dropped below 10 miles and the 12V battery died while at the service center. And I had to pay for that as well! Nope not their fault. The customer service representative did not even know that could happen. It is comical.

Love the car but I’m afraid that service centers have no empathy and are just cold. Just can’t make a product, you have to stand behind it. How does a MCU which controls 99% of the function of the car fail in under 3 years?

 

[Silicon Desert]

Ouch, that sounds terrible. Have you tried escalating this beyond the service center?
Oh, but being realistic, from a car functioning perspective, the MUC isn't 99% of the function. More like about 5%. But still, your experience is bad enough as it is.

 

[Darren Donovan]

Unacceptable! You mentioned the failing MCU to them before warranty expired. Looked like they intentionally delayed the repair. And the car's only 3 years old. So much for Tesla vehicles needing no (or minimal) service, much less expensive to own than ICE, blah, blah.

 

[Dan Baldwin]

I agree that this is unacceptable. Unfortunately Tesla doesn't seem to be very customer oriented these days.

 

[dark cloud]

. How does a MCU which controls 99% of the function of the car fail in under 3 years?

How is it this is your first post? How about posting a picture of your service work invoice?

 

[paperjohn]

Bad service center! Quality varies between them. Some would not treat you that way.

 

[hulk2k17]

I will be buying the extended warranty for sure because of stuff like this.

 

[f-stop]

... Nothing was done. The answer I always got was “it seems to be working fine now, just reset the trips and clear the address history and it will be fine”.

I'm convinced this is Tesla's equivalent to waving a dead chicken over it, when they have no idea of the cause or solution to an MCU issue, and don't want to investigate more deeply. The service center said the same once when I reported touchscreen UI issues, nothing solved. My MS is halfway through its 4th year and the thought of future out-of-warranty MCU failure is a bit worrysome...

 

[Nadeem0707]

 

[Nadeem0707]

 

[Nadeem0707]

This first picture is before the warrant expires and the second one is my recent invoice.

 

[bob_p]

If Tesla is discounting the repairs by 50%, seems like a pretty good deal.

Though anyone who elects not to purchase the extended warranty is gambling they won't encounter replacements of some of the more expensive components, such as the MCU during the second 48 months/50K miles.

We've purchased the extended warranties for all 3 of our Tesla vehicles. And with our first one, a 2012 S P85, when we traded-it in at around 100K miles, the overall maintenance costs (normal service plus extended warranty) were less than the maintenance costs of the Lexus it replaced (which was also sold at 100K miles).

 

[dark cloud]

This first picture is before the warrant expires and the second one is my recent invoice.

Thanks for posting that. That sucks, when you inform them of an issue before the warranty expires and then when it goes for good after the warranty they say too late now. I would be livid.

What is the warranty now with the new MCU? 1 year?

 

[Ludalicious]

Ouch... You knowing the vehicle had issues and didn't purchase the extended warranty... But if the vehicle had an issue already and it's documented I don't see why It wouldn't be covered.. Good luck with the fight

 

[Nadeem0707]

Thanks for posting that. That sucks, when you inform them of an issue before the warranty expires and then when it goes for good after the warranty they say too late now. I would be livid.

What is the warranty now with the new MCU? 1 year?

The new MCU comes with 4 year/Unlimited miles warranty. I was informed that they just recently changed it

 

[dark cloud]

If Tesla is discounting the repairs by 50%, seems like a pretty good deal.

Though anyone who elects not to purchase the extended warranty is gambling they won't encounter replacements of some of the more expensive components, such as the MCU during the second 48 months/50K miles.

We've purchased the extended warranties for all 3 of our Tesla vehicles. And with our first one, a 2012 S P85, when we traded-it in at around 100K miles, the overall maintenance costs (normal service plus extended warranty) were less than the maintenance costs of the Lexus it replaced (which was also sold at 100K miles).

Well, it he got the 2 year extended (the current price, don't know what it was 3 years ago) at $2100, he would still be up 2100-1494 = $606. time will tell whether he uses that $606 before the extended expires and breaks even.

 

[SMSMD]

"Since your complaints are documented on your service logs you do have a case to argue with service center that the problem preexisted ".
This was the advice I was given from my service center when they could not reproduce my complaints at 80,000km.
I think you should escalate it to the highest level, email, tweet etc , to Tesla head office.

 

[quickstrike12]

My MCU was always rebooting and I had always pointed out the service center. The issue started at around 39k. They said it was nothing. Again it had pointed out at 49k (before the warranty expired). Nothing was done. The answer I always got was “it seems to be working fine now, just reset the trips and clear the address history and it will be fine”. Never worked since then. Screen would always reboot and locations wouldn’t load. For the last 10k miles we had been using google maps. Couple of months ago I took it again and they flashed the CPU and reinstalled the software and I was told that it should be fine now ($175). Last week, I was driving and the screen starting rebooting again and was stuck in a constant loop where the car was functional but nothing else worked. I had to take it in right away considering it was 90 degrees and I had a toddler in the car and the AC wouldn’t turn on. Same problem as before but not the MCU unit had to be replaced. Almost 3k with labor (they did pay for half of it because it was a known issue and I did point it out before the warranty expired). Wait what. Why should I even pay for half of it? The service managers are just a human shield for deflection.
And check this out. I dropped it off with 59 miles because it was an emergency and a week later they did not plug it in and I got three notifications to plug in the car. I called them with no answer. The charge dropped below 10 miles and the 12V battery died while at the service center. And I had to pay for that as well! Nope not their fault. The customer service representative did not even know that could happen. It is comical.

Love the car but I’m afraid that service centers have no empathy and are just cold. Just can’t make a product, you have to stand behind it. How does a MCU which controls 99% of the function of the car fail in under 3 years?

What concerns me is I see your location is here in DFW where I live. I haven’t had to take mine in for anything yet, but I’m sure I will at some point.
Which location is this Plano or Dallas site?

 

[croman]

The new MCU comes with 4 year/Unlimited miles warranty. I was informed that they just recently changed it

Did they say what they changed? Did you get an MCU2?

 

[jeluthadamaja]

I had something very similar happen.... MCU had red flags with its behavior and had been pointed out to Tesla by the cars previous owner (I know this because he gave me his service history). The MCU lasted another 10K miles or so (after I bought it) and completely crashed with a blank screen about a month ago. I was prepared to make my case that I shouldn't have to pay for it out of warranty, but lucked out and they said it was covered without me having to ask.

I'm obviously pleased that I don't have to cough up $2K or more for this part, but definitely don't feel as confident with the whole idea that Tesla's are cheaper to maintain than ICE cars. I think in principle that is true, but there are way too many issues with things that shouldn't be as expensive as they are. The MCU failures sound like they could be mitigated with a better flash memory design instead of replacing the whole computer everytime. I also think the secondary market for repairs to out-of-warranty Teslas needs to be greenlighted by corporate because its clear that the deluge of cars coming off warranty and volume of in warranty model 3's has taxed their service network beyond capacity. I also feel that know issues like MCU's need to be subsidized so that its not the equivalent of buying a brand new iMac...