My 2 day old P85D suddenly died in the middle of an intersection

[osama]

Would it make sense for Tesla to have an easy to understand basic towing guide available in the car so service for breakdowns like these can be expedited?

I noticed Osama mention that it took a call to the SC to jump start and have it towed. I am not sure how upset he was that his 2 day old very expensive car died but its tempting to have told the SC where it is parked and let them handle the tow after picking the FOB from you.

I was really upset at the time it happened but that was a very emotional reaction to being in the middle of an intersection with my son with no power or heat. Looking back at the events, I think Tesla did everything that they could under the circumstances. It was after working hours. I am not sure who was still at the SC. My DS used his best judgement and decided to spend his time getting a tow truck. The SC foreman was available on cell to assist us loading the car on the truck and a loaner was delivered to my house promptly.

Look at my update post. I didn't wait the entire time for the tow by my car. My dad drove us home and I went back when the tow driver arrived to open the car for him.

Summary: I am pleased with Tesla's response to the event under the circumstances. 1.5 hours for a tow to arrive certainly needs improvement. I am in the middle of the city and 5 minutes away from the SC. So it's not like I was in the sticks.

 

[Bighorn]

I was really upset at the time it happened but that was a very emotional reaction to being in the middle of an intersection with my son with no power or heat. Looking back at the events, I think Tesla did everything that they could under the circumstances. It was after working hours. I am not sure who was still at the SC. My DS used his best judgement and decided to spend his time getting a tow truck. The SC foreman was available on cell to assist us loading the car on the truck and a loaner was delivered to my house promptly.

Look at my update post. I didn't wait the entire time for the tow by my car. My dad drove us home and I went back when the tow driver arrived to open the car for him.

Summary: I am pleased with Tesla's response to the event under the circumstances. 1.5 hours for a tow to arrive certainly needs improvement. I am in the middle of the city and 5 minutes away from the SC. So it's not like I was in the sticks.

Tesla could have opened the car for the tow truck driver. It wasn't really necessary to return for that. I have a tow truck horror story where I was reassured for many hours that the truck was just minutes away, after I'd been picked up with an Enterprise rental. I watched at 11pm (on my app--6 hours later) my car end up in an impound lot because the police towed it after the Tesla tow contractor never showed. Needless to say, that outfit went from the top to the bottom of Tesla's tow companies preferred providers. It's all relative--90 minutes doesn't sound so bad to me. Do you know what it takes to get a car out of impound from two hours away?

 

[osama]

Tesla could have opened the car for the tow truck driver. It wasn't really necessary to return for that.

It is all spilled milk at this point. The car broke down 5 minutes away from my house so it wasn't a hardship to return. It's a $150K car and I wanted to be there anyway to make sure it got towed properly. It was really my decision to return to the scene and make sure the car got loaded onto the flatbed without being damaged. I would have done that with any other expensive car that I owned.

 

[Alysashley79]

I'm not sure as I can't quite tell from the comments...but...tesla only PAYS for our roadside assistance. They still use outside companies to actually do the tow and regardless of how awesome tesla is when we need the flatbed we're still at the mercy of whatever tow company they've hired. And depending on where you are or live their list can be long as in they have many to choose from or just a few as our cars can only be out on flatbeds. Several companies in the US cannot or will not promise the flatbed so tesla doesn't use them.

I would highly recommend from personal experience that you not only be there when the driver loads your car but that you or a tesla person is there when it's also unloaded. I blew a tire a few weeks ago and had to have it flat bedded. It was 11pm (after waiting an hour for the tow) I watched the guy load my car and he did a great job so I figured I don't need to follow him and watch him...lesson learned when he unhooked it he broke part of my aero shield and the entire piece has to be replaced. $1100.00 just for the part. I reported it immediately and tesla is going to take care of it for me and either eat the cost or..they'll sort it out with the tow company..but I feel like he likely wasn't as careful unloading as he was loading and did the damage...

 

[Bighorn]

I'm not sure as I can't quite tell from the comments...but...tesla only PAYS for our roadside assistance. They still use outside companies to actually do the tow and regardless of how awesome tesla is when we need the flatbed we're still at the mercy of whatever tow company they've hired. And depending on where you are or live their list can be long as in they have many to choose from or just a few as our cars can only be out on flatbeds. Several companies in the US cannot or will not promise the flatbed so tesla doesn't use them.

I would highly recommend from personal experience that you not only be there when the driver loads your car but that you or a tesla person is there when it's also unloaded. I blew a tire a few weeks ago and had to have it flat bedded. It was 11pm (after waiting an hour for the tow) I watched the guy load my car and he did a great job so I figured I don't need to follow him and watch him...lesson learned when he unhooked it he broke part of my aero shield and the entire piece has to be replaced. $1100.00 just for the part. I reported it immediately and tesla is going to take care of it for me and either eat the cost or..they'll sort it out with the tow company..but I feel like he likely wasn't as careful unloading as he was loading and did the damage...

Do you have coil or air suspension? I had another flatbed experience for a tire--blizzard, 4AM, tow operator had never done a Tesla--the tow chain contacted the spoiler even in VeryHigh/Jack mode. I imagine there's even more pressure on a lower coil suspension.

 

[wk057]

The Devon service center does have their own flatbed trailers that they use for towing and hauling.

- - - Updated - - -

On a side note, the Model S, even in Very High mode, barely cleared the lip of the U-haul trailer I hauled my P85 on a couple of months ago. They're definitely not the easiest to tow.

 

[Bighorn]

The Devon service center does have their own flatbed trailers that they use for towing and hauling.

- - - Updated - - -

Except they didn't use it to pick up my car when it got impounded. They did when they delivered it with a new drivetrain however.

 

[osama]

I'm not sure as I can't quite tell from the comments...but...tesla only PAYS for our roadside assistance. They still use outside companies to actually do the tow and regardless of how awesome tesla is when we need the flatbed we're still at the mercy of whatever tow company they've hired. And depending on where you are or live their list can be long as in they have many to choose from or just a few as our cars can only be out on flatbeds. Several companies in the US cannot or will not promise the flatbed so tesla doesn't use them.

In my case it was a local third party towing company. The driver was extremely careful loading the car. I didn't get to see the unloading.

 

[randompersonx]

Is it possible Osama hits bad pothole and the shock cause the contactor to open?

Is it possible the Contactor was defective and opened on its own?


It is worth noting that this type of failure could only happen in an EV because laws require all of these contractors to disconnect the HV battery in case of an accident to reduce risk of fire. Gasoline cars do not have this requirement and therefore EV cars are crippled with many single points of failure whose only purpose is to intentionally cause failure (ideally after an accident, but this case shows that it is not always after such an accident)

 

[osama]

Is it possible Osama hits bad pothole and the shock cause the contactor to open?

I did not hit a pothole. The road was smooth. The car broke down in the richest neighbourhood in Toronto (The Bridle Path). They don't allow potholes there. :tongue:

 

[hiroshiy]

Osama, glad you and your family were OK and made home safely, and Tesla's offer was satisfactory to both of your wife and you.

Also thank you for sharing the details of what happened and Tesla's diagnosis result of the issue. I share your concern that Tesla's analysis is not enough and you don't feel safe about it.

That said, who is the manufacturer of the contactor and the DCDC converter? I understand something else might be the cause of the issue, but still. AFAIK, in Japan, somebody in December delivery (not D) experienced similar catastrophic contactor failure and his car is in the SC. It may be a good time for Tesla to review the quality of the parts, that are used in single-point-of-failure section.

 

[Alysashley79]

Do you have coil or air suspension? I had another flatbed experience for a tire--blizzard, 4AM, tow operator had never done a Tesla--the tow chain contacted the spoiler even in VeryHigh/Jack mode. I imagine there's even more pressure on a lower coil suspension.

i have air. It was fine going on it was the chain which they aren't even supposed to use around the tires.

 

[dhanson865]

Tesla could have opened the car for the tow truck driver. It wasn't really necessary to return for that.

How would Tesla open the car remotely after the 12v was discharged. The car was dead. Are you saying you expected that the tow truck driver would be able to boost the 12v from the nosecone and that Tesla could remote unlock an unstable system from just the boost voltage without access to the center screen to set tow mode?

 

[PokerBroker]

Unfortunate situation but it sounds like Tesla went above and beyond here at every step. I'm glad they were able to take care of you and hope your wife gives them another shot in a year or two! Would hurt to throw a reservation on a Model X just in case!

 

[Ohm's Law]

It is all spilled milk at this point. The car broke down 5 minutes away from my house so it wasn't a hardship to return. It's a $150K car and I wanted to be there anyway to make sure it got towed properly. It was really my decision to return to the scene and make sure the car got loaded onto the flatbed without being damaged. I would have done that with any other expensive car that I owned.

Osama, you have more than 150k invested, you own two cars and there are not very many Tesla families out there who are true believers. I don't blame you for looking for an ICE car for your wife; as much as my wife was thrilled in driving and riding during the test drives, getting both BEV cars without a backup ICE was probably not a good idea. I am a nerd anyway so I will enjoy my S85D but she's far from having the discipline on charging and dealing with the range issues.

Please don't get me wrong, we are actually trying to make Tesla better by highlighting these issues. Every car breaks down for various reasons, but the fact that they gave you a satisfaction deal to make up for a manufacturing defect is excellent; this is what I mentioned in my original post with the Mercedes AMG experience.

We really really want Tesla to succeed. In my mind, I may be overpaying a little bit on a luxury car with not as much luxury as an equivalent Lexus,Mercedes, BMW etc... but if the profits from my sale are going to build the Supercharger infrastructure and getting the model X and 3 out, I am all for it.

Hope your wife gets a 800km to tank luxury diesel so it'll make up for the Tesla; gas/petrol/benzene cars are so antiquated :biggrin:

-OL

 

[osama]

Hope your wife gets a 800km to tank luxury diesel so it'll make up for the Tesla; gas/petrol/benzene cars are so antiquated :biggrin:

-OL

They are SO antiquated. It killed me to write a $100K cheque for a car that feels like it is 100 years old. Once you drive a Tesla you can't go back (except for my wife). But as the saying goes ... A happy wife is a happy life.

Delivery on Tuesday ...

 

[mrElbe]

Sacre Bleue! Did you buy the Cayenne in la Belle Province?

 

[osama]

Sacre Bleue! Did you buy the Cayenne in la Belle Province?

Very close. Ottawa.

 

[McMuggets]

FWIW I just got a sos call from my buddy today, well more like a text message. His ICE car that is NEW died on him mid drive. Mazda, the alternator died and battery drained fast:

"And once the battery is almost out in my car it starts to turn off services one by one. Traction control, tpms, blind spot monitoring, etc. The power steering was last to go when the engine only went max 2000rpm too. Pretty cool how it did all that. And then the dash light starting flashing "BRAKE NOW".

Not to scare your wife, but I seems new ice cars have a lot of brains inside of them and need the 12V too. Happy wife happy life though.

 

[osama]

FWIW I just got a sos call from my buddy today, well more like a text message. His ICE car that is NEW died on him mid drive. Mazda, the alternator died and battery drained fast:

"And once the battery is almost out in my car it starts to turn off services one by one. Traction control, tpms, blind spot monitoring, etc. The power steering was last to go when the engine only went max 2000rpm too. Pretty cool how it did all that. And then the dash light starting flashing "BRAKE NOW".

Not to scare your wife, but I seems new ice cars have a lot of brains inside of them and need the 12V too. Happy wife happy life though.

That is why we bought a Porsche and not a Mazda. I am pretty sure she'll be OK. As much as I love my Tesla, I have to say that I've never had a serious problem with a high-end German car.
Anyway ... it is her choice and there is not much I can do about it at this point. Meanwhile, today I pulled into a gas station to withdraw money from an ATM and I enjoyed giving dirty looks to all the people filling up