MCU died out of warranty. Heres info on my experience

[murse]

2013 Model S 85 103,900 miles CPO warranty expired 7/2019

Symptoms:
waiting for systems to start
phone wouldn't connect
black center screen after reboot
odo didn't change while driving
wouldn't charge
heater staying on/car not turning off

Center screen wouldn't reboot after a soft restart. I also tried a hard reboot and that did nothing either. Tesla Service Columbus called me back and was able to get it in that day and put me into a loaner.

They called and said that they were unable to reboot the MCU and that a replacement was the only option. They gave me 2 cost options, one was replacing the MCU and keeping the old one for $2,115 OR I could essentially get a "core credit" for the old unit and it would become $1,615.

I believe both options were the cost of a remanufactured MCU.

I also had the infamous bubble on the touchscreen that I was going to put off until this summer. So this replacement MCU was also going to include getting a new screen.

I picked up the car and it looked great. The screen really feels a lot snappier. Everything works, although I did have to reset all of my settings like it was a brand new car. (I wish Tesla would finally implement a way to transfer/save setting via the cloud). I also ended up getting the LTE upgrade too. That was something I was not expecting and didn't notice until I got home.

Ive posted a screen shot of the invoice incase it can help any others. I would have liked to send out my MCU to have it repaired by a 3rd party cheaper, but this is my DD and with the car not shutting off it was more of a necessity and also completely unexpected so I didn't have much of a choice. Also since it completely died, it seemed like there was less of a chance it could have been fixed and just been back in the same boat.

 

[Silicon Desert]

great info.

 

[azred]

Thanks for the info! I have about 11 months left on Model S warranty and two years left on Model 3. Even if extended warranty was offered for the 3, I probably wouldn’t spend $5k for four more years. But I do think I will spend the dough for my S. The MCU1 longevity scares me, though I realize it is not to be confused with the more common screen issues like yellowing.

A friend who is a big dog in the auto sales business here in Phoenix once advised me that extended warranties on new cars are a good deal ... for the dealerships! Of course, I doubt he or his sales staff ever shared that advice with the average customer. Regardless, I do think I will extend the warranty for the S. (In my case I intend to keep the car for at least another five years or more, so resale advantage of offering a car for sale with warranty isn’t a factor.)

 

[Need]

I thought it would cost 2x that! Good to know!

 

[murse]

With this being an older S, I am very thankful for the CPO warranty and have put it to use. Mostly with minor things but this is the first major problem I have had outside of the warranty period. The only other major problem that I have had was the air suspension distribution block cracked and I lost air to just the front end.

I hope that the newer Model S's don't have as many issues as the early versions. I spoke with one of the service advisors last year about the Model 3's and if he saw many of them. His response was the early 2018s had some issues that needed remedy but after that he doesn't see many at all.

 

[takedownca]

My MS is a DD, too. So this exact problem worries me a lot. That's why I plan on doing a preventative eMMC upgrade later this year once my warranty expires.

 

[SilverGS]

My MS is a DD, too. So this exact problem worries me a lot. That's why I plan on doing a preventative eMMC upgrade later this year once my warranty expires.

I'm assuming the preventative approach means your car is not drivable while the eMMC is being replaced at some remote location?

 

[takedownca]

I'm assuming the preventative approach means your car is not drivable while the eMMC is being replaced at some remote location?

The details are discussed in another eMMC thread, but I believe if the car was fully functional when the Tegra board is removed the car will still have rudimentary driving capability. If not then I’ll have to rent or borrow a car.

 

[BrownMS]

does your browser work?

 

[takedownca]

I'm assuming the preventative approach means your car is not drivable while the eMMC is being replaced at some remote location?

Here's the link to the main eMMC replacement thread. Looks like you can indeed drive the car, but many things won't work.

 

[dark cloud]

They have reduced in price from $1800 to $1300. Good news, but that would really suck if you just paid the first price at your local sc. Keep lowering it Tesla.

 

[SilverGS]

They have reduced in price from $1800 to $1300. Good news, but that would really suck if you just paid the first price at your local sc. Keep lowering it Tesla.

I would rather just be able to upgrade to an MCU 2 instead

 

[cookie99]

this actually doesn't seem like a bad price, i would just do it. $1300 maintenance on a 7 year old luxury car seems like chump change. I think my parents had an 6 year old merc-S class that needed electrical work to the tune of 5-6k?

 

[tacollier]

Where is it $1300?? Tempe AZ just quoted me $2800!!

 

[jboy210]

Better than the $6K I have paid on two different BMWs for turbochargers and a wastegates at 85K miles. All those 1800 degree exhaust gases hitting impellers and valves eats them up.

The most amazing thing on this bill is the low labor charge. It must be very easy and quick to replace this unit.

 

[Need]

Better than the $6K I have paid on two different BMWs for turbochargers and a wastegates at 85K miles. All those 1800 degree exhaust gases hitting impellers and valves eats them up.

The most amazing thing on this bill is the low labor charge. It must be very easy and quick to replace this unit.

Well I think OP's area has much lower labor rate. Here in CA, $140 labor for Tesla is like under 30 min LOL.

 

[jboy210]

Well I think OP's area has much lower labor rate. Here in CA, $140 labor for Tesla is like under 30 min LOL.

Still must represent a short amount of time. If you have every had the pleasure (ha!) for removing map displays and control units from cars it can be a pain. This unit must be relatively easy to swap. I have had to pull A/C ducts and control units, glove boxes, and more just to get to the screws on some cars.

 

[dark cloud]

Better than the $6K I have paid on two different BMWs for turbochargers and a wastegates at 85K miles. All those 1800 degree exhaust gases hitting impellers and valves eats them up.

What kind of mileage out of curiosity?

The most amazing thing on this bill is the low labor charge. It must be very easy and quick to replace this unit.

I think they are getting plenty of practice with this lately. After a dozen times of doing this I am sure anyone with decent dexterity could remove the unit in under 20 minutes. Here is video of Jason doing it in under 2 minutes!

 

[jboy210]

What kind of mileage out of curiosity?

85,000 miles or so.

And thanks for the video. Does not look like it is too bad to swap. I don't see him pulling A/C ducting and such like this type of work is on some cars.

 

[murse]

The browser does work.

The MCU itself was $1300. Thats before factoring in the other parts and labor to install.

Labor rate here is $175/hr.