Model 3 Transport Mode when Car Bricked

[ColinR]

So my 2021 M3 died in my garage at home after a firmware update gone bad. I’m still on the original 12v battery and I suspect the replace battery soon warning triggered mid update. The update failed and now I have 40 error codes. Everything from replace low voltage battery to (lol) errors with my air suspension. I opened a service request and asked for a mobile tech to replace the 12v battery and push the software update again. The car will not come out of park. Says software update is required but when I check for updates it reports that I am up to date and no updates are available. I have tried a couple of scroll wheel reboots without success. Tesla declined to send a mobile tech and said the car needs to be brought in to a service center.

This is where it gets interesting. So I initiate my first roadside assistance request. I remind them that the car will not go into neutral or any gear and will not enter tow mode. Tesla dispatches a tow truck. A regular tow truck arrives at my house (not a flatbed). The driver then tells me that he will use the tow truck to lift the car from the rear and place wheel Dollie’s under the rear tires. Then he will roll the car out of the garage down to the street at which point he could lift the front and tow the car with the rear wheel dollies.

I questioned lifting the car from behind as I know there are specific jack points. I also asked about rolling the front wheels while not in tow mode. He said that is how it is done (according to their Tesla training) and that it is perfectly safe as long as they stay below 5mph. Now the manual says otherswise and that when in tow mode not to exceed 5 km/h. It specifically states that if tow mode cannot be enable that the car should be moved using wheel dollies.

I chose not to let them move the car as Tesla clearly states they are not responsible for damages from incorrect towing. Has anyone had experience towing a completely dead Tesla? How did they get the vehicle on and off the tow truck. I’m starting to wonder if I went a little overboard in not letting them move the car in this manner.

I did call the service center and when I asked them someone (who put me on hold a few times to get answers) said it would not be a problem to lift the car from the rear and roll a short distance to the tow truck while not in transport mode. Curious if anybody has had a similar experience.

Nobody I spoke to today inspired any confidence in me that they knew what they were talking about. At the same time I feel a little silly as I’m just reading the manual. I would expect the people that work with these cars regularly know more than I do.

 

[Kimmi]

Battery on my 2021 LR died a couple of months ago. Flat bed tow showed up, jumped the battery from the access point on the front bumper and drove it on the truck

 

[zoomer0056]

So my 2021 M3 died in my garage at home after a firmware update gone bad. I’m still on the original 12v battery and I suspect the replace battery soon warning triggered mid update. The update failed and now I have 40 error codes. Everything from replace low voltage battery to (lol) errors with my air suspension. I opened a service request and asked for a mobile tech to replace the 12v battery and push the software update again. The car will not come out of park. Says software update is required but when I check for updates it reports that I am up to date and no updates are available. I have tried a couple of scroll wheel reboots without success. Tesla declined to send a mobile tech and said the car needs to be brought in to a service center.

This is where it gets interesting. So I initiate my first roadside assistance request. I remind them that the car will not go into neutral or any gear and will not enter tow mode. Tesla dispatches a tow truck. A regular tow truck arrives at my house (not a flatbed). The driver then tells me that he will use the tow truck to lift the car from the rear and place wheel Dollie’s under the rear tires. Then he will roll the car out of the garage down to the street at which point he could lift the front and tow the car with the rear wheel dollies.

I questioned lifting the car from behind as I know there are specific jack points. I also asked about rolling the front wheels while not in tow mode. He said that is how it is done (according to their Tesla training) and that it is perfectly safe as long as they stay below 5mph. Now the manual says otherswise and that when in tow mode not to exceed 5 km/h. It specifically states that if tow mode cannot be enable that the car should be moved using wheel dollies.

I chose not to let them move the car as Tesla clearly states they are not responsible for damages from incorrect towing. Has anyone had experience towing a completely dead Tesla? How did they get the vehicle on and off the tow truck. I’m starting to wonder if I went a little overboard in not letting them move the car in this manner.

I did call the service center and when I asked them someone (who put me on hold a few times to get answers) said it would not be a problem to lift the car from the rear and roll a short distance to the tow truck while not in transport mode. Curious if anybody has had a similar experience.

Nobody I spoke to today inspired any confidence in me that they knew what they were talking about. At the same time I feel a little silly as I’m just reading the manual. I would expect the people that work with these cars regularly know more than I do.

I think you are wise not to trust them. Do a Google search "how to tow a dead Tesla". They suggest towing using the tow eye to put it on the flatbed. Possibly you can use a jack to put four dollies on the wheels and push the car out of the garage by hand. My 2022 MSLR says use transport mode no faster than walking speed and only a short distance to put it on a flatbed truck.

 

[ColinR]

Battery on my 2021 LR died a couple of months ago. Flat bed tow showed up, jumped the battery from the access point on the front bumper and drove it on the truck View attachment 1015723

Unfortunately, in my case, the car will not go into transport mode. The car has power. It will not let me take it out of park and nothing happens when following the instructions to put in transport mode. The transport mode button never turns blue.

 

[ColinR]

I think you are wise not to trust them. Do a Google search "how to tow a dead Tesla". They suggest towing using the tow eye to put it on the flatbed. Possibly you can use a jack to put four dollies on the wheels and push the car out of the garage by hand. My 2022 MSLR says use transport mode no faster than walking speed and only a short distance to put it on a flatbed truck.View attachment 1015735

So I went out and bought 4 wheel dollies. With a tow strap and the help of my F350 I was able to get the car out of the garage without it rolling away uncontrollably down the driveway. Towing company is supposed to come in the morning. They say they will use skates to pull the car on to a flatbed. I’ll will update later today. Thanks

 

[ColinR]

So I wanted to provide an update. They sent a flatbed today an easily moved the car on to the truck using some plastic wheel skates. No word from Tesla as to what happened yet. I did do a lot of research on the transport mode issue and will share my findings here in case it may help someone else. Please note that none of this is verified and just bits and pieces of information that I found online from various sources. Though it does support what the first tow truck driver and Tesla told me yesterday.

It does appear as though when the car is in park (e-brake active) that the locking mechanism only locks the rear wheels. Transport mode disables the e-brake. This means that if the rear wheels are lifted that the front wheels are essentially in transport mode even without enabling transport mode. The car should be safe to move this way following the guidelines in the manual for transport mode. I was able to verify this by putting the rear wheels on wheel dollies and the car did indeed roll freely while still in park. This is on a 2021 M3 LR dual motor.

 

[rrolsbe]

So I wanted to provide an update. They sent a flatbed today an easily moved the car on to the truck using some plastic wheel skates. No word from Tesla as to what happened yet. I did do a lot of research on the transport mode issue and will share my findings here in case it may help someone else. Please note that none of this is verified and just bits and pieces of information that I found online from various sources. Though it does support what the first tow truck driver and Tesla told me yesterday.

It does appear as though when the car is in park (e-brake active) that the locking mechanism only locks the rear wheels. Transport mode disables the e-brake. This means that if the rear wheels are lifted that the front wheels are essentially in transport mode even without enabling transport mode. The car should be safe to move this way following the guidelines in the manual for transport mode. I was able to verify this by putting the rear wheels on wheel dollies and the car did indeed roll freely while still in park. This is on a 2021 M3 LR dual motor.

The speed limit in Tranport mode is mostly due to the rear motor being a permanent magnet motor. If you were towing with the rear wheels on dollys, not sure if the front induction motor could be damage at higher speeds?

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Dual motor Model 3s have been sucesfully charged by towing behind an ICE vehicle, so the warning about towing isn't necessarily related to the motors being damaged, but you would need to have the car powered up and in Drive. Maybe if they are not feeding the battery they (or the inverters) could be damaged at higher speeds as the energy has nowhere to go.
If all else fails and you don't have dollies the rear parking brakes can be manually retracted by putting a 9V battery across the contacts on the calipers, but you'd need to have the wheels off or at least jack the rear up to do it easily.
I'd say jumping the 12V system to get the car to power up is the best option in these cases (if it works!)