My 4 day old M3LR dead in the water

[gcm3]

So Thursday was fun. My new M3LR completely died on us on it's first long trip. We got about an hour from home. Full charge when we left and software up to date. Stopped in lane 1 in queueing traffic on the A556 just before the M6 junction.

The traffic started moving and I went to pull away and all manner of alarms sounded and warnings appeared on the screen:
- Power reduced (exiting and re-entering the vehicle may restore operation*)
- Acceleration and top speed reduced
- Automatic emergency braking is disabled

* - it didn't!

The P R N D on the display was replaced with 4 dashes and I couldn't move nor select any gears.

Cue the police attending to protect us as we couldn't move over to the hard shoulder and a ride on a trailer to Tesla Stockport SC. They gave us a knackered old Model X as a loaner and whilst it was filthy inside and out and sounded like a bag of spanners we were very grateful to continue our journey!

Anyone had anything similar? I searched and I could only find people with the same warnings that were able to continue in limp mode, unlike us.

Anyway, very scary and felt vulnerable and completely useless. I assume I'll see the car again but who knows! When the chap on the Tesla breakdown number connected to the car remotely he saw all manner of faults with it, the volume of which he'd never seen before with any Tesla, let alone a 4 day old one!

So apologies to anyone delayed by us, nothing we could do I'm afraid. Everyone had that look of "oh look, they've ran out of battery"!

 

[Spacep0d]

Whoa! Yeah that sounds borked. Glad you came through that one. Scary indeed to be stranded in traffic. Also, it's shocking that any Model X is already filthy inside! Are people mistreating loaners? Sad.

Anyway, I'm curious to know how this turns out. Can you get a whole new car from Tesla, perchance?

 

[greyjustice]

OMG, I feel for you knowing how excited you must have been on embarking on your first long drive.

My M3LR arrives next week and I have a long journey planned for the following weekend so hopefully I'll not experience similar issues.

Not seen any reports on this site of similar issues so hopefully it's a one-off and that you get your M3 back soon, fully functional.

 

[NorfolkMustard]

I'm guessing a loose connection. They'll push the connector back in, clip it like it should have been when it left the factory, and you'll be fine.

 

[gcm3]

I guess they are. Shame. It was full of dinks and bumps, all alloys severely scuffed.

I'll update when I know more. Tried calling Stockport this morning. On hold for 30 minutes. Gave up. Heard nothing from them since Thursday. Bit poor really.

 

[JS77]

Sorry you had to go through that... these kind of stories honestly scare me as a soon to be M3 owner. Plus it’s not a good look for Tesla with passers by. I mean, all cars breakdown, but the general public tend to notice more when it’s an EV, especially a Tesla!

 

[MadScientist]

Bad luck - it must have been very stressful. Hopefully a one off but very worrying. Still got time to cancel my order..

 

[LongRanger]

12v battery failure plausible ?

It sucks but main thing is you are OK and hopefully will get an answer/outcome on the car asap.

 

[Dilly]

I had a similar total system failure in my previous EV. Luckily I was only 2 doors from home at the time.
Everything wanted to work but nothing would.
Turned out to be loose connection arising from a service a week earlier.
Apparently played havoc with the CANBUS.
Hope yours is nothing more.

 

[gcm3]

Thanks for all of the replies.

Yes, indeed. We were both ok. I cursed the queueing traffic as we approached but I was glad of it when the car went wrong. I wonder if that had happened when travelling at speed....would we have had time to pull over? Hmmm

I hope it is just a loose connection.

 

[TomD]

Did you order the car online? If so I would be putting it in writing that you want to cancel your order and reject the car. Tesla say you have 7 days to do this, the law says 14 but put in writing (preferably email and recorded post).

If they come back to you and it was simply a loose connection then cancel your request if its something more major then reject it! The fact it has been in there at least 2 working days and you haven't heard from them would be worrying to me.

I had a Jaguar F Type that died on me after a week of ownership - all electrics in the car died (couldn't even lock or unlock the car). Took 8 days to diagnose and it needed a complete new wiring harness which they didn't have the parts for but said they would have my car back to me in 3 or 4 months!! Needless to say the car was rejected.

 

[Jason71]

Sorry you had to go through that... these kind of stories honestly scare me as a soon to be M3 owner. Plus it’s not a good look for Tesla with passers by. I mean, all cars breakdown, but the general public tend to notice more when it’s an EV, especially a Tesla!

Teslas have many faults but total system failures seem pretty rare from what I see online. There's was an issue on early M3 RHD to do with a connector getting wet but that is fixed now and software updated to allow the car to carry on working even if it does happen. I feel for the op he's been very unlucky but this is probably not something you should worry too much about.

 

[UrbanSplash]

I would also consider a formal rejection. I know it’s a pain, and you may have waited ages for the car, but it’s worth considering any long term issues.

 

[gcm3]

Hi. It's a lease though my employer's salary sacrifice scheme so it wouldn't be my car to reject. I'll wait and see what Tesla say. Thanks to those that have replied.

 

[ElRey]

Hi. It's a lease though my employer's salary sacrifice scheme so it wouldn't be my car to reject. I'll wait and see what Tesla say. Thanks to those that have replied.

It's a lease but you should still have your rights. You would probably have to inform the leasing company you want to reject the car and explain why. My leasing company specifically states in the contract that as I collect the car I am responsible for checking it and ensuring it is in good order. They don't get to see the car since I pick it up directly from Tesla.

If you're in a similar position and wait for the time window to reject to pass you'll likely be stuck with the car until your lease is over. I would be gutted after waiting so long and might be tempted to keep it as it's a lease and not mine but this seems serious enough for something that's in effect a computer. I would be concerned it could happen again.

 

[GRiLLA]

Why are people suggesting that the OP rejects the car in some way? I'm going to assume that he wants a car, which is kind of the point in buying one. Tesla will fix the car, and keep him mobile in the meantime.

You can't reject and just get a new one.

 

[MadScientist]

If the car cannot be fixed in a reasonable time frame, I would say you have a case for rejecting it.

 

[Jonny Ringo]

I had a similar issue and it turned out to be nothing more than a loose connection on the 12 volt battery.

As GRiLLA says you can’t just reject and get a new

 

[Spacep0d]

Worth letting Tesla look at it. Could be a simple fix.

 

[Rooster6655]

Why are people suggesting that the OP rejects the car in some way? I'm going to assume that he wants a car, which is kind of the point in buying one. Tesla will fix the car, and keep him mobile in the meantime.

You can't reject and just get a new one.

In my experience they take months to fix basic delivery day problems and communication is poor, if its severe it may take even longer. The OP is perfectly fine to reject the car or at least get a new one rather than having to have one that is now repaired but worth seeing what the explanation is firstly before out right rejection.