Thank you all who replied and responded to the poll.
I highly doubt they will be giving away MCU2 while they are charging $2500 for it. That just doesn’t make sense...
Agreed.
However, I am not planning on giving my old MCU1 when it is replaced. Suggest other users do the same as all MCU1s have a drop-dead date meaning there will be a market for those who need an MCU but do not want to pay $2.5k for MCU2...or just refuse to realize MCU2 killed the A/F/XM radio star.
Either way I suggest owners remember they own their MCU1 and when they buy - not SWAP - their new MCU2, to request their MCU1 back. After all, it's theirs not TSLA's, and fair is fair.
As far as the "fairness" of TSLA charging $2.5k, my take is they are offering additional features that were not promised or implied when I purchased the car and required a hardware upgrade to support, specifically dashcam and sentry. That's worth something for me and I suspect it's worth something for other owners too.
I do think TSLA is aware of a potential class-action with the emmc defect and by offering the Infotainment Upgrade, they solve many problems in a way where most walk away with something more.
1. They replace the old MCUs (would have to be done anyway),
2. They put in a superior product (I'd be pissed if I had to replace a blown emmc chip with another MCU1),
3. New hard and soft consumer features enabled (dashcam, games, etc.)
4. New TSLA background features enabled (more data can be harvested and sent back to TSLA for FSD development vs. what was possible with MCU1)
5. Created the market for upgraded MCU1 customers to resell their old MCU1s to other S/X radio enthusiast
I would only add the following: I do think TSLA should offer one free goodwill MCU1 > MCU1 swap (and if they can just swap the electronic components and not the entire unit that's fine) for any owner whos emmc dies. An inadequate emmc is a TSLA problem, and TSLA needs to make it right. Offering customers an upgrade path is fine - and something I plan on opting for - but they need to do something for those who prefer to keep what they've got.
Our 2017 S is a 3 year old vehicle. We have three options for upgrading to full MCU/FSD functionality:
- Spend $2500 to upgrade to MCU2, but lose radio support (which we use for live sports broadcasts)
- Spend $30000 to trade-in for a new S/X, adding 50 miles more range, faster acceleration, wireless phone charging, ...
- Spend ? to trade-in for a Cybertruck in 2021 or 2022
As of now, we're probably going with option 3.
However, we'd consider option 1 if Tesla provided:
- Option to have MCU2 with FM/XM,
- Adding TuneIn Premium or SiriusXM built-in streaming apps, or
- Adding screen mirroring so we could control the smartphone streaming apps from the console display
@bob_p - assuming a streaming solution for F/XM is not acceptable?
My suggestion then would be to wait. Don't really see any hard downside. If you've got FSD, you'll still get FSD sans "enhanced" visualizations, and you retain direct F/XM on the MCU. If a dashcam is a must, you can opt for a 3rd party solution.
In the interim between now and 2021/2022 TSLA may drop the price of the upgrade, may enable F/XM, or some other unknown factor may arise to change your logic - and if so - you can then make a real-time call.
If your MCU1 dies before then you can then assess if you want to buy a new MCU1 from Tesla, used one from someone who opted for the upgrade and now has no use for their old MCU1, or use a 3rd party to replace the emmc chip.
Of course, if your MCU1 holds out you will have saved $2.5k to apply to the purchase of your new car.