MCU Failure AP1 car

[MP3Mike]

The problem tesla have, is Elon Musk has made representations that a tesla is the last car you’ll need to own......it can do 1 million miles without failing. I made my expensive purchase based on those representations.

But he has never said that.

 

[paulp]

But he has never said that.

Yes he did. It was when he was trying to convince everyone that tesla dont have model years, that tesla do software upgrades to keep your car current. I distinctly recall thinking how silly the comment was knowing that an interior only lasts a few years. Tesla then brought out the model s facelift, which confirmed the comment was ridiculous.
As for 1million miles, its all over the internet.
Then there’s the “full self driving this year”....four years ago on a first version model S using 1 camera, 1 radar, and half a dozen short distance sensors. “Will drive across america on its own” 3 years ago. “Will recognise and stop at traffic lights”....4 years ago. Still on the website as “this year” since 2017. Then there is robo taxi. If anyone thinks their current tesla will be a robotaxi then they are seriously misled.
Dont get me wrong. Love my model s. I upgraded it to another model s and the wife has one as well.

 

[MP3Mike]

As for 1million miles, its all over the internet.

He said it was a goal, not that they were there. And certainly never said there wouldn't be a failure in 1 million miles, just that they were trying to engineer the car body, battery, and drive units to last 1 million miles. (But they weren't there yet.)

 

[jelloslug]

Yes it is surprising to have failed for me again. Car was ~$193k new. The first failure was about 3 years ago.
I've yet to hear a quote for repair, but expect it closer to appointment time or when the MCU arrives.
I've recently had 2 door handles replaced as well.

I'm just curious, do you close your doors with the handle? I have been wondering for some time now why some people have much worse luck with door handles than other.

 

[brewster]

I'm just curious, do you close your doors with the handle? I have been wondering for some time now why some people have much worse luck with door handles than other.

No, I don't close them with the handle. First off, I was having issues with the front right hand side handle, it wouldn't retract. Took it to service centre, they had a fiddle and it started working again. Then soon after the rear right door wouldn't come out. They then replaced both handles, 'next generation', unfortunately out of warranty.

 

[paulp]

He said it was a goal, not that they were there. And certainly never said there wouldn't be a failure in 1 million miles, just that they were trying to engineer the car body, battery, and drive units to last 1 million miles. (But they weren't there yet.)

Here you go, a trusted source, elon musk on twitter.
https://electrek.co/2019/04/13/tesla-model-3-longevity-claims-elon-musk/
there are other places he has made the claim as well.
Now we’ll just have to wait for last years claim that all model 3’s will be robotaxi’s by mid 2020. Google it, you’ll find the claim. In Australia, that means anyone that dislikes their model 3 can demand a refund at the end of June as a sale representation wasn’t delivered.
But dont get me wrong. Elon Musk has done great things at tesla and for mobility. Just that he seems to get his own hype ahead of himself. The premise of this discussion is not relevant in your country. I was pointing out where such claims fit within australian law, which oddly you disagreed with. You can also google australian consumer law. The act of parliament is easy to read with simple terminology, but it doesnt apply to usa, nor do your laws apply here. Australian consumer law does however apply to any international products sold in australia, via the australian importer, which is tesla australia pty ltd.
Love my model S, no intention of making a claim.

 

[paulp]

I'm just curious, do you close your doors with the handle? I have been wondering for some time now why some people have much worse luck with door handles than other.

I think its when you go to pull on the handle just as it closing. I’ve had two failures at that precise moment. 1 driver side, one passenger side, different model s. The more recent handles seem more robust, so far.

 

[MP3Mike]

Here you go, a trusted source, elon musk on twitter.
Elon Musk makes incredible claims about Tesla Model 3 longevity, will offer battery module replacement - Electrek

But that doesn't say what you said it does. It says:

Model 3 drive unit & body is designed like a commercial truck for a million mile life. Current battery modules should last 300k to 500k miles (1500 cycles). Replacing modules (not pack) will only cost $5k to $7k.

It does not say that they will go for a million miles with no repairs. (Do you understand how many repairs go into a commercial truck that lasts a million miles?) And it says nothing for the AC, computers, interior, seats, cooling system, etc.

 

[rwpnote3]

Hey tesla lovers n haters,
I have been experiencing mcu issues before I even knew what an mcu was.
After being constantly brushed off by my service centre about these issues I started googling and here I am, learning more everyday about what a sucker I was spending 6 figures on my dream car - turned lemon.

 

[rwpnote3]

So in regards to aftermarket mcu options in Sydney, does anyone know if anyone exists who can do this work or where we can go to enquire?
If there's no other options I guess there's the Australian Consumer Law avenue but I don't like my chances against Tesla.

 

[Blue heaven]

So in regards to aftermarket mcu options in Sydney, does anyone know if anyone exists who can do this work or where we can go to enquire?
If there's no other options I guess there's the Australian Consumer Law avenue but I don't like my chances against Tesla.

I'm assuming your car is out of warranty so have Tesla service stated the MCU needs repair or have they passed the issues off as being a minor malfunction that can be corrected with a reboot?
Luckily due to the MCU1 failure being such a widespread problem with early model S vehicles it appears Tesla have finally found a less expensive solution of replacing a section of the MCU rather than the complete unit, this reduces the amount of parts and labour thus reducing the repair cost.

 

[Brian May]

Australia has a thing called consumer law. This makes manufacturer warranties somewhat irrelevant. The basic concept is that a consumer has a right to expect a product will last a certain time based on representations made at sale and the price/quality relationship.
Its somewhat reasonable for a consumer to expect a computer in a car worth aud $150k+ will ladt longer than 3 months. Equally if I buy a $8k piece of junk car from china, I cannot expect it to last long.
This applies to everything sold in Australia to a consumer. The consumer then chooses either a repair, replacement, or refund. There is an expectation that the choice reflects the severity.

Consumer law means absolutely nothing unless you are willing to take the company to court. I already found this out with Tesla with the door handle issue. In the past I also have experienced similar issues with other companies that refuse to honor consumer law for widely known manufacturing defects or design flaws in their goods.

Luckily due to the MCU1 failure being such a widespread problem with early model S vehicles it appears Tesla have finally found a less expensive solution of replacing a section of the MCU rather than the complete unit, this reduces the amount of parts and labour thus reducing the repair cost.

At least that is something.

Yesterday I got a fright in that I returned to my car and found that the center console wouldn't turn on, and my attempts to reboot it didn't help either. Fortunately it came good (it started booting) when I was on the phone to Tesla - at the same time I started speaking to somebody about the problem in fact. This doesn't sound like the MCU1 problem however.

But it does concern me that the MCU1 problem could strike at any time without warning and, knowing my luck, it is most likely to be at the most inconvenient time when it does happen.

 

[paulp]

Consumer law means absolutely nothing unless you are willing to take the company to court. I already found this out with Tesla with the door handle issue. In the past I also have experienced similar issues with other companies that refuse to honor consumer law for widely known manufacturing defects or design flaws in their goods.



At least that is something.

Yesterday I got a fright in that I returned to my car and found that the center console wouldn't turn on, and my attempts to reboot it didn't help either. Fortunately it came good (it started booting) when I was on the phone to Tesla - at the same time I started speaking to somebody about the problem in fact. This doesn't sound like the MCU1 problem however.

But it does concern me that the MCU1 problem could strike at any time without warning and, knowing my luck, it is most likely to be at the most inconvenient time when it does happen.

Clearly if any company choose not to honour your consumer rights then the only course of action is a legal pathway. The Act clearly defines how it all works, and as with any legal matter, you have to decide if you think you are right, and what it will cost you to prove it, before proceeding. Once you have decided to proceed, the company involved then has to make the same decision. Common ground is then often found.

 

[rwpnote3]

I'm assuming your car is out of warranty so have Tesla service stated the MCU needs repair or have they passed the issues off as being a minor malfunction that can be corrected with a reboot?
Luckily due to the MCU1 failure being such a widespread problem with early model S vehicles it appears Tesla have finally found a less expensive solution of replacing a section of the MCU rather than the complete unit, this reduces the amount of parts and labour thus reducing the repair cost.

No the car is still under warranty but they're being adversarial as usual. They just brush us off in the hope we will go away.
Is this part you are referring to Blue Heaven called a gyro something?

 

[paulp]

No the car is still under warranty but they're being adversarial as usual. They just brush us off in the hope we will go away.
Is this part you are referring to Blue Heaven called a gyro something?

If the car is under warranty and you havnt fiddled with anything and tesla are refusing to deal with it (unusual when under warranty) then I suggest you call your state consumer affairs for help.
You could also ask tesla to have the service manager for Australia to call you. In my experience he resolves things efficiently.

 

[pts260]

On a side note, I saw this the other day on car sales https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/tesla-model-s-2014/sse-ad-6802817/

"The Tesla is upgraded/optioned with: - Upgraded MCU 2.0 with Retina Screen (more powerful, responsive and brighter screen fitted since 2017+ models)"

Asked the owner he said it was replaced with MCU2 after MCU1 failed.

 

[Blue heaven]

No the car is still under warranty but they're being adversarial as usual. They just brush us off in the hope we will go away.
Is this part you are referring to Blue Heaven called a gyro something?

The part in the MCU1 that fails most commonly is a small memory card that is cheap as a part but labour intensive to remove and replace, the replacement process has been streamlined over the past few months. There's a high chance this will fail eventually on your car, it's not often instant and other drivers have reported a few minor glitches over a few weeks beforehand.
You may very well have a completly different issue but never the less you should document all contact with Tesla service while the car is still under warranty just in case you get a complete failure just out of warranty.

 

[meloccom]

From what I understand, the main failure point on MCU1 is the eMMC chip that lives on its own daughter board seperate from the main system board. I believe Tesla has started to make those available again but not sure if this process has reached Australia yet.
Some smarter people than me have started little businesses where they de-solder the eMMC chip from this daughter board place it on a special chip reader and copy the information to a larger better quality eMMC and solder that back to the original daughter board. Once reassembled and installed back in the car this is supposed to outlast a genuine Tesla part as a larger chip has more write capacity so the number of write cycles is reduced.
If anyone knows of someone in Australia doing this, let me know.
Full details in this thread: Preventive eMMC replacement on MCU1

 

[raynewman]

see also Replacing eMMC in MCU