Model S 2014 battery cell failure

[LunaMerlin]

I have a model S that is 8 years and 6 weeks old. It only has 56k miles on it. Two weeks ago I was driving on the freeway and suddenly the car shuts down abruptly and display shows error message and says pull over. I almost got rear ended by two vehicles behind me because the car just lost power. I was scared to death because I had my kid in the car with me and am very fearful of this happening again in another Tesla. I had the car towed and Tesla service said there is a faulty cell and remanufactured battery will be over $14k to replace. I’m just so shocked that my car was only 6 weeks out of warranty and there was no warning at all when car just completely shut down on the freeway. With only so little mileage I am very hesitant in purchasing another Tesla or spending all this money to get this fixed. Plus I’ve taken my car in 10 times in the last 15 months for random services due to countless issues with my Tesla including MCU being replaced and navigation not working amongst many other issues. Any advice if I should spend the $14k which comes with a 4 year warranty or just try to sell it for cheap? I don’t live anywhere close to the companies that can just replace the faulty cell, so that’s not an option.

 

[markn455]

I have a model S that is 8 years and 6 weeks old. It only has 56k miles on it. Two weeks ago I was driving on the freeway and suddenly the car shuts down abruptly and display shows error message and says pull over. I almost got rear ended by two vehicles behind me because the car just lost power. I was scared to death because I had my kid in the car with me and am very fearful of this happening again in another Tesla. I had the car towed and Tesla service said there is a faulty cell and remanufactured battery will be over $14k to replace. I’m just so shocked that my car was only 6 weeks out of warranty and there was no warning at all when car just completely shut down on the freeway. With only so little mileage I am very hesitant in purchasing another Tesla or spending all this money to get this fixed. Plus I’ve taken my car in 10 times in the last 15 months for random services due to countless issues with my Tesla including MCU being replaced and navigation not working amongst many other issues. Any advice if I should spend the $14k which comes with a 4 year warranty or just try to sell it for cheap? I don’t live anywhere close to the companies that can just replace the faulty cell, so that’s not an option.

This is rare. Replace the battery. They are great cars. After you replace the battery, then decide. You will get a lot more.with it fixed. Personally I would keep it.

 

[danielk04]

I see you live in Hawaii.
How did you get to 56,000 miles?
That's a lot of laps around a small island.

 

[LunaMerlin]

It’s actually not that small of an island considering daily commutes and that’s only an average of 7k miles per year.
I appreciate your feedback!

 

[ResHacker]

It’s actually not that small of an island considering daily commutes and that’s only an average of 7k miles per year.
I appreciate your feedback!

Sorry to hear that, it's very low mileage for such an old car, but warranty says it clearly. If you used ie SMT tool, you might probably find the faulty cell sooner but who knows... Such very little use is not very "healthy" as potential faults will occur with lower probability..

 

[Electric700]

Sorry to see that. I am curious to know, did you only charge to 90% maximum usually?

I think you should ask for a low cost Tesla repair option. If you can ship it, then one of these third-party companies can help also:

www.recell-ev.com

www.057tech.com

www.grubermotors.com

www.electrifiedgarage.com

Another option might be just to sell it to Tesla / trade it in for a new one.

 

[Ramajama]

I have a model S that is 8 years and 6 weeks old. It only has 56k miles on it. Two weeks ago I was driving on the freeway and suddenly the car shuts down abruptly and display shows error message and says pull over. I almost got rear ended by two vehicles behind me because the car just lost power. I was scared to death because I had my kid in the car with me and am very fearful of this happening again in another Tesla. I had the car towed and Tesla service said there is a faulty cell and remanufactured battery will be over $14k to replace. I’m just so shocked that my car was only 6 weeks out of warranty and there was no warning at all when car just completely shut down on the freeway. With only so little mileage I am very hesitant in purchasing another Tesla or spending all this money to get this fixed. Plus I’ve taken my car in 10 times in the last 15 months for random services due to countless issues with my Tesla including MCU being replaced and navigation not working amongst many other issues. Any advice if I should spend the $14k which comes with a 4 year warranty or just try to sell it for cheap? I don’t live anywhere close to the companies that can just replace the faulty cell, so that’s not an option.

The same thing happened to me (2013 S 85) w/ ~86k miles - just got the dreaded "pull over now" warning and just kaput in the middle of the road. I was torn between shipping to NC for 057 Tech's replacement / monitoring service but ultimately decided to go with Tesla putting the reman battery in (since they're giving me a loaner for the ~3-4wks I'll need to wait - saves me costs of shipping my car to / from 057, renting a car, and paying for gas in the meantime).

So maybe they say these battery failures are rare and only happen to a small percentage, but: when it's your car, it's 100%. I'm planning on selling it in 3yrs (before the reman battery warranty ends) because I am NOT interested in taking the chance of a battery crap out again. If I didn't love the driving experience / charger network SO much, I'd probably go with a different manufacturer. I'll still drive an S, but only one with warranty time left. In my book, Teslas are great until ANYthing goes wrong - the cost and process of repair is awful.

But I'd say replace the battery now, and sell that thing in 3yrs!

 

[jasonbrown1437]

What did you decide to do here. I have a 2012 signature series P85. It has 178,000 miles. I had the first main battery replaced (under warranty) at 100,000 miles and I just had the second one go out at 178,000. They are quoting $21,000 to replace. Any thoughts? Gruber is 4-6 months out. Is it even worth replacing?

 

[Electric700]

Sorry to see that happened. As mentioned up above, I think you should ask for a low cost Tesla repair option. One of these third-party companies can help also and may be much quicker than the time you were given by Gruber Motors:

www.recell-ev.com

www.057tech.com

www.grubermotors.com

www.electrifiedgarage.com

057Tech offers a main battery warranty package too.

 

[JMD-Houston]

The same thing happened to me (2013 S 85) w/ ~86k miles - just got the dreaded "pull over now" warning and just kaput in the middle of the road. I was torn between shipping to NC for 057 Tech's replacement / monitoring service but ultimately decided to go with Tesla putting the reman battery in (since they're giving me a loaner for the ~3-4wks I'll need to wait - saves me costs of shipping my car to / from 057, renting a car, and paying for gas in the meantime).

So maybe they say these battery failures are rare and only happen to a small percentage, but: when it's your car, it's 100%. I'm planning on selling it in 3yrs (before the reman battery warranty ends) because I am NOT interested in taking the chance of a battery crap out again. If I didn't love the driving experience / charger network SO much, I'd probably go with a different manufacturer. I'll still drive an S, but only one with warranty time left. In my book, Teslas are great until ANYthing goes wrong - the cost and process of repair is awful.

But I'd say replace the battery now, and sell that thing in 3yrs!

Thank you for the response to this thread. I’m dealing with the same thing and we feel exactly the same about the brand.

 

[mrjedistud]

I have a model S that is 8 years and 6 weeks old. It only has 56k miles on it. Two weeks ago I was driving on the freeway and suddenly the car shuts down abruptly and display shows error message and says pull over. I almost got rear ended by two vehicles behind me because the car just lost power. I was scared to death because I had my kid in the car with me and am very fearful of this happening again in another Tesla. I had the car towed and Tesla service said there is a faulty cell and remanufactured battery will be over $14k to replace. I’m just so shocked that my car was only 6 weeks out of warranty and there was no warning at all when car just completely shut down on the freeway. With only so little mileage I am very hesitant in purchasing another Tesla or spending all this money to get this fixed. Plus I’ve taken my car in 10 times in the last 15 months for random services due to countless issues with my Tesla including MCU being replaced and navigation not working amongst many other issues. Any advice if I should spend the $14k which comes with a 4 year warranty or just try to sell it for cheap? I don’t live anywhere close to the companies that can just replace the faulty cell, so that’s not an option.

I have a model S that is 8 years and 6 weeks old. It only has 56k miles on it. Two weeks ago I was driving on the freeway and suddenly the car shuts down abruptly and display shows error message and says pull over. I almost got rear ended by two vehicles behind me because the car just lost power. I was scared to death because I had my kid in the car with me and am very fearful of this happening again in another Tesla. I had the car towed and Tesla service said there is a faulty cell and remanufactured battery will be over $14k to replace. I’m just so shocked that my car was only 6 weeks out of warranty and there was no warning at all when car just completely shut down on the freeway. With only so little mileage I am very hesitant in purchasing another Tesla or spending all this money to get this fixed. Plus I’ve taken my car in 10 times in the last 15 months for random services due to countless issues with my Tesla including MCU being replaced and navigation not working amongst many other issues. Any advice if I should spend the $14k which comes with a 4 year warranty or just try to sell it for cheap? I don’t live anywhere close to the companies that can just replace the faulty cell, so that’s not an option.

@lunamerin

So what did you end up doing. I’m in the same situation. I’d like to see what others decided.

 

[billyho613]

This is rare. Replace the battery. They are great cars. After you replace the battery, then decide. You will get a lot more.with it fixed. Personally I would keep it.

My 2014 Model S85 needs another battery pack replacement.
1st battery pack lasted 5 years & approx 60K miles.
The refurbished pack Tesla installed lasted another 4 years & 35K miles.

 

[Videomatic3]

id highly recommend against a remanufactured battery pack unless youre hoping the thing dies before the 50k warranty and ending up with a new 90kwh pack

 

[islandbayy]

If going remanufactured, get one from www.Recell-EV.com , I'd TRUST their remanufactured packs more so than Tesla's Remanufactured. If going NEW, get it from Tesla.