My So my M3 broke down 2 days after delivery

[devilmountain]

You are actually safer in your with your seatbelts on rather than on the side of the road.

From the DMV Handbook: California Driver Handbook - Handling Emergencies

If someone is distrated and rubber necking they may hit you and you do not have a metal cage protecting you. Never get out of your car on the highway unless you absolutely have too.

As far as 911 is concerned, it sucks where you broke down but this isn't an actual emergeny. If CHP is on a detail you have to wait until that detail is finished. Or if there is not a unit nearby, you have to wait until that unit can make it. 511 should have been called, that is the emergency tow service if your car breaks down.

Freeway Service Patrol

 

[SSonnentag]

Warranty periods are set to end before MTBF (mean time before failures).

Stuff will usually break immediately or after MTBF *most of the time*

Yeah, tell me about it. Bought a Samsung robotic vacuum with a 12 month warranty. It died during month 13.

 

[SDKoala]

I preface this post by saying I’m a huge Musk, Tesla, and Model 3 supporter (obviously since I purchased one). I loved the car for the day and a half it was working, but I figured I should report my experience, one to see if there’s anyone out there that had the same experience, and perhaps bring attention to an issue that should have additional attention put on it during the QA process by Tesla for safety reasons

Sorry this happened to you. I'd hope this is the type of problem that gets prioritized over all of us bringing in our cars for fit and finish issues and you get back in your car as soon as possible. What was your VIN range? I missed it if you wrote it somewhere already.

 

[Brovane]

Providing an update to anyone who cares. They are replacing both the drive unit and battery pack. They said after it was brought in, the car malfunctioned even more and would no longer turn on. They tested the battery and it was no good. Why the drive unit was replaced too, I’m not sure. I suspect they replaced that first then when it still wasn’t working right, they tested the battery. Whatever it was hopefully it is resolved.

Thank you for the update.

You did absolutely the right thing by staying buckle-up and inside the car. Unfortunately sometimes when your car breaks down the best thing to do is to stay buckled up and wait for help to arrive. Way to many variables to consider when getting out of a car stuck in a active traffic lane on a freeway.

 

[apacheguy]

This is quite disconcerting. I’m assuming this vehicle was built late April or early May based on the delivery date you provided.

The battery pack has been disassembled by two groups so far and they both swore that this was the most advanced they had ever seen, well built, extremely unlikely to fail, etc. Battery failure on day 2 is indeed disconcerting.

If it turns out to be a drive unit issue take a look at some of the other threads. If that is indeed the case I’d ask for a new vehicle.

If it were just the drive unit and Tesla replaced it under warranty, why would you request a new vehicle?

 

[voip-ninja]

This is quite disconcerting. I’m assuming this vehicle was built late April or early May based on the delivery date you provided.

The battery pack has been disassembled by two groups so far and they both swore that this was the most advanced they had ever seen, well built, extremely unlikely to fail, etc. Battery failure on day 2 is indeed disconcerting.

Think about it though, it's not Day 2, it's more like Day 20. As soon as the battery pack is assembled and the logic board and other components are connected the battery is self diagnosing.

Then, as soon as the battery is installed into the car, the car is also logging the battery performance and diagnostics and can also relay this information to Tesla over the car's 4G/LTE connection.

Now that the battery is in the car, it will have to get charged at least once between the time the car is built on the assembly line and the time the car is turned over to the customer.

So during assembly, transport, final inspection and turn over the battery has somehow passed all tests and then magically 48 hours after being put in the hands of a customer the car fails.

Seems odd... to put it mildly.

There could be more to the story here we don't know, such as a repair this car received at the factory before final delivery that didn't "pan out" and ultimately led Tesla service center to have to basically gut the locomotive system of the car and replace it.

 

[C141medic]

This is quite disconcerting. I’m assuming this vehicle was built late April or early May based on the delivery date you provided.

The battery pack has been disassembled by two groups so far and they both swore that this was the most advanced they had ever seen, well built, extremely unlikely to fail, etc. Battery failure on day 2 is indeed disconcerting.



If it were just the drive unit and Tesla replaced it under warranty, why would you request a new vehicle?

To my understanding the drive unit is similar to an engine in an ICE vehicle. So if they need to replace a drive unit a few days after getting a brand new vehicle (and in this instance the battery pack as well) I would question the reliability of the other components in this particular vehicle. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t be comfortable having these major components replaced in such a short amount of time into ownership. According to posts in the forums, others have been receiving replacement vehicles for much less issues.

 

[Jpjpjp]

Sorry this happened to you. I'd hope this is the type of problem that gets prioritized over all of us bringing in our cars for fit and finish issues and you get back in your car as soon as possible. What was your VIN range? I missed it if you wrote it somewhere already.

I did not supply it. It’s 159xx

 

[Jpjpjp]

You are actually safer in your with your seatbelts on rather than on the side of the road.

From the DMV Handbook: California Driver Handbook - Handling Emergencies

If someone is distrated and rubber necking they may hit you and you do not have a metal cage protecting you. Never get out of your car on the highway unless you absolutely have too.

As far as 911 is concerned, it sucks where you broke down but this isn't an actual emergeny. If CHP is on a detail you have to wait until that detail is finished. Or if there is not a unit nearby, you have to wait until that unit can make it. 511 should have been called, that is the emergency tow service if your car breaks down.

Freeway Service Patrol

I hear ya and that’s good to know about 511. I actually called Tesla first, and they advised me to call CHP immediately. There were about half a dozen near misses, with cars slamming their breaks or swerving around us while laying into their horns, so it sure felt like an emergency.

 

[goto10]

So if they need to replace a drive unit a few days after getting a brand new vehicle (and in this instance the battery pack as well) I would question the reliability of the other components in this particular vehicle.

The drive units and batteries are manufactured independently (in different states!) and the bodies are manufactured independently and joined to the drive unit/battery "skateboard" later in the manufacturing process. There's no reason to be believe any problem with any one of these components would indicate problems with the other components just because they were on the same car.

I think it's likely that the battery was the only problem but they first tried replacing the drive unit and when that didn't fix it they then tried swapping the battery.

The drive unit is also a much less substantial component than an ICE engine. Removal involves just a handful of bolts, coolant connections, and wires. It can probably be swapped by trained techs in under an hour.

 

[slipnslider]

I drove mine 850 miles on day one. His story, while quite frustrating for him as it would be for anybody who got a new vehicle, is an anomaly.

Looking around this site, it's not an extremely rare anomaly. You're definitely taking a slight gamble by doing a road trip with a brand new model 3.

 

[davidc18]

Sorry you are having issues. Hope Tesla gets your car fixed quickly.

 

[WileyTheMan]

A few weeks ago there was post from a model 3 buyer asking if it was safe to leave immediately for a road trip. I told him no, drive around for a few days to see if your car is going to work. Everyone else told him don't worry it will be fine. Sucks that these cars are so reliably unreliable, but that's the way it is. I'm sure they'll get your gremlins solved, but I would NOT take a road trip in the first few hundred miles of ownership.

I very much disagree with your assessment. You hear the worst of the worst on these forums. They tend to be heavily biased because people want to voice their frustrations when things go wrong. I took mine on a trip to LA and back like 1.5 weeks after I got my car and it behaved like a champ.

Stuff happens. Monday cars get built. It is *not* the norm, I assure you.

 

[Kcharwood]

I drove mine 850 miles on day one. His story, while quite frustrating for him as it would be for anybody who got a new vehicle, is an anomaly.

I literally drove mine off the lot on to a 4 hour road trip with two super charger stops.

 

[slipnslider]

I very much disagree with your assessment. You hear the worst of the worst on these forums. They tend to be heavily biased because people want to voice their frustrations when things go wrong. I took mine on a trip to LA and back like 1.5 weeks after I got my car and it behaved like a champ.

Stuff happens. Monday cars get built. It is *not* the norm, I assure you.

It's not the STATISTICAL norm, but you're taking a bigger gamble taking a brand new model 3 on a long road trip than you are with a brand new car from almost any other manufacturer. I sure wouldn't do it. You cant exactly pull into any mechanic and get it fixed if something goes wrong.

 

[gavine]

It's not the STATISTICAL norm, but you're taking a bigger gamble taking a brand new model 3 on a long road trip than you are with a brand new car from almost any other manufacturer. I sure wouldn't do it. You cant exactly pull into any mechanic and get it fixed if something goes wrong.

You would bring a brand new car that is under warranty to a mechanic and not the dealer?

And if it dies, you’re not “pulling into” anywhere. You’re getting it towed. How is that different than Tesla?

 

[alexeiw123]

There were about half a dozen near misses, with cars slamming their breaks or swerving around us while laying into their horns, so it sure felt like an emergency.

Incredible... Maybe it's just from growing up in a country town in Australia but it's pretty much standard practice if you see a car stuck in a dangerous position that you or someone else would backtrack to a more visible place and stop with your hazards on so to avoid an accident occurring. I get that some people are busy, but a half hour and no-one helping out? How stressful.

 

[MP3Mike]

The drive units and batteries are manufactured independently (in different states!)

Nope the Model 3 batteries and motors are all made/assembled in the same building. The Gigafactory in Nevada.

 

[alseTrick]

I drove mine 850 miles on day one. His story, while quite frustrating for him as it would be for anybody who got a new vehicle, is an anomaly.

I've read multiple posts on here about 3's having error messages and becoming inoperable. It's not an anomaly for Tesla.

 

[Quickstart88]

Anyone know how to reboot on the Model 3. Wondering if a reboot would help.