My So my M3 broke down 2 days after delivery

[intjester]

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

Love our Neato (with lidar!).

It broke down a few times early on, but the company stood behind the product.

 

[Raechris]

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.

Sorry to read of your experience and glad you are safe. I hope Tesla fixes your car quickly and it provides you many years of safe trouble free travels from here.

 

[LBusDoor90]

I did not supply it. It’s 159xx

Well, that’s just super. I take delivery of my own 159XX on Friday.

 

[lklundin]

You did absolutely the right thing by staying buckle-up and inside the car.

Different countries have different rules.

If experiencing a vehicle break-down in Germany you are to:
1) Pull over
2) Turn on the hazard lights
3) Put on your high-visibility vest, all occupants in the vehicle must do so
(and the vehicle is legally required to be equipped with a vest for each occupant)
4) Place the vehicle's warning triangle towards the oncoming traffic at a suitable distance (150 m on the Autobahn)
5) All occupants of the vehicle must move off the road and wait there
6) Call for help

PS. In those cases where you opt to stay in the vehicle, make sure that the brakes are fully engaged. If the vehicle is rear-ended, the brakes will then absorb some of the massive kinetic energy, increasing the chance that the G-forces acting on you will be non-lethal.

 

[intjester]

Well, that’s just super. I take delivery of my own 159XX on Friday.

I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I configured on 4/10, but got assigned an x9xxx VIN when everyone else was getting 2X higher VINs. Clearly, this had been rejected for delivery by Tesla QC or refused by customer for some defect and repaired, then returned to the VIN pool. Took delivery a week ago. I was cautious, not paying a cent above the $3500 until we had at least seen the car and gotten the walkthrough.

Aside from the A-pillar interior trims bulging out a bit sloppily, I honestly can’t find anything wrong with the car. It’s better built and more joyous than I had any right to hope for in 2016, with so much untapped software potential ahead of it.

Maybe I’ll start having problems, but it’s hard to get hung up on what bad thing might happen when there’s so much new awesome happening for real. Part of it may just be the ICE to EV world opening to me. My first ever EV drive was rolling the 3 off the lot, so take this for what it’s worth.

My favorite moments / epiphanies of the past week:
Realizing I’ve been relieved of part of the tyranny of red lights, because no creep + auto hold = no continuous foot needed. Genius.
Flicking a lever down to have the car manage speed. Pretty awesome. Accelerating to close a gap to a stopped car is a little unnerving, but gap is manageable from the wheel with Button 2 L/R.
Neighbor: is that a Model 2? Me: 3 Neighbor: Wow, the fit and finish is really nice!
The deep well of the trunk is a more confined space that’s great for carrying upright items that might otherwise roll around in the upper trunk.
Press the steering wheel Button 2, call out a destination, navigation is set. Choose on screen if there are multiple options.
Press the steering wheel Button 2, call out a song. Song plays.
Pulling into a random winery, finding a destination charger I wasn’t expecting, coming back to a full charge.
Oh, that round thing near the end of the charger cable is a button, press to magically open the charge port.
Realizing that the charge port locks, a safety/security feature I had not been aware of.
Amount of deceleration activates the brake lights, not a dumb pedal press.
No parking brake lever or pedal. It is applied and released automatically when entering/exiting Park.
Scuffing the door panel with your shoes? No problem - enable easy entry profile, rack the wheel up and out and the seat back. Car switches when you disengage your seatbelt. Step on the brake and you’re back to driving.
That accelerator pedal. No one needs more power than this. The P3D will be sick.

So yeah. *sugar* can happen to anyone any car any vin any time, but I would say look for the joy - because there’s so much there to discover. I don’t really get the paint chip crowd suffering for weeks to wait on repairs that will be normal wear on the car within 100 miles. I found a tiny nick in my windshield after my first road trip. Who cares? It’s a giant object whose sole purpose involves being constantly bombarded by airborne debris at high speed. Park on the street ever? You’re going to get bumped. Park near a tree? You’ll be covered in pollen. Fretting over scratches or leaving it sitting in a garage to be forever pristine seems like such a gigantic waste. This car wants to /move/.

Happy Friday... believe it!

 

[Twiglett]

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.

Yeah but this was California, the land of the self absorbed and entitled.
Hence other drivers blaring horns at a stationary car because they didn’t spot it in time.

 

[voip-ninja]

Different countries have different rules.

If experiencing a vehicle break-down in Germany you are to:
1) Pull over
2) Turn on the hazard lights
3) Put on your high-visibility vest, all occupants in the vehicle must do so
(and the vehicle is legally required to be equipped with a vest for each occupant)
4) Place the vehicle's warning triangle towards the oncoming traffic at a suitable distance (150 m on the Autobahn)
5) All occupants of the vehicle must move off the road and wait there
6) Call for help

PS. In those cases where you opt to stay in the vehicle, make sure that the brakes are fully engaged. If the vehicle is rear-ended, the brakes will then absorb some of the massive kinetic energy, increasing the chance that the G-forces acting on you will be non-lethal.

All good advice. There are places such as overpass ramps, etc., where exiting the car can be extremely dangerous and possibly fatal. Just getting out of the car and trying to retrieve roadside flares/marker and emergency vests from the rear of the vehicle could get you killed.

Having driven in Germany quite a bit I can say with some authority that the average American has nowhere near the skill level of the average German.

On the other hand you have the truly Spanish, Italian and Greek tourists on your Autobahn that really really don't know what the hell they are doing and are a menace to everybody... we don't have much of that in this country... just psychotic Californians and Massholes.

 

[adaptabl]

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?

If I bought a ICE car that needed a new motor and transmission on day 2, I would be asking for a replacement. He bought a new car not a rebuilt one.

 

[TT97]

If I bought a ICE car that needed a new motor and transmission on day 2, I would be asking for a replacement. He bought a new car not a rebuilt one.

I had an ICE car that clunked out at 1,000 miles and needed a brand new engine. The way I saw it, I had a custom hand built engine in my car - do you know how much you have to pay for a car that has a hand built engine? Rolls, Ferraris, high-end AMGs.

Never had another issue with the car. All the work done on the replacement will be done with much more care than coming off of a assembly line.

 

[SigNC]

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

Of course, but people come to a BBS to complain or find solutions to a problem. You have to look at it in the grand scheme of how many people are happily driving their car and don't come to a BBS to post about it.

 

[C141medic]

The way I saw it, I had a custom hand built engine in my car

Since you didn’t mention what type of car it was, I can state from experience with the vehicles I’ve owned that when you get a replacement “something” there’s a high probability that it’s not brand new as coming from the factory but instead it’s a rebuilt part.

 

[slipnslider]

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?

The difference is there are a lot more places to service other car brands than teslas. And repairs can be completed much faster.

 

[TT97]

Since you didn’t mention what type of car it was, I can state from experience with the vehicles I’ve owned that when you get a replacement “something” there’s a high probability that it’s not brand new as coming from the factory but instead it’s a rebuilt part.

It was a Dodge Charger SRT in 2006. My engine was rebuilt (not a crate engine). I am assuming the parts were new (never asked), but the engine was only produced since 2005 so not a lot of used parts in circulation.

Not having the car for almost a month was frustrating and the loaner was a Dodge Stratus or something like that (nowhere near the same level as the SRT - not like getting an S when the 3 is at the service center).

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

Actually the safest thing to do is to leave the freeway on foot as far as possible if that is possible. Obviously if there is no place to stand far from the freeway, then your next safest option is to stay in the car buckled up.

 

[Electricfan]

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 remember that post. I think I told him to take off and not worry. But you were right. Good call.

 

[3fan4life]

Well, that’s just super. I take delivery of my own 159XX on Friday.

You might not want too sell the Prius yet! In all honesty. Tesla has always struggled with their build quality. Part of me thought they were doing better but now I’m in doubt.

 

[N5329K]

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.

Your (excellent) 850 mile trouble-free maiden voyage is one data point. Same as the OP's (terrifying) two-day-old failed battery/drive unit experience. Which is the anomaly? Neither one alone proves anything.
Robin

 

[Kant.Ing]

Wow, this is the new break-in period.

 

[Buddyroe]

Your (excellent) 850 mile trouble-free maiden voyage is one data point. Same as the OP's (terrifying) two-day-old failed battery/drive unit experience. Which is the anomaly? Neither one alone proves anything.
Robin

The 19,900 out of 20,000 people who own a M3 who haven't come to the TMC forum to tell about their horrible breakdown are the norm. People rely too much on forums like this and reviews of products/services/companies to draw a conclusions. 99% of people don't bother to come to the TMS forum to say, "my Model 3 has been awesome" Just like people only leave a review of a product if they have an issue with it. And 90% of people leaving positive reviews of products either got it for free or received an incentive to leave a positive review.

 

[N5329K]

The 19,900 out of 20,000 people who own a M3 who haven't come to the TMC forum to tell about their horrible breakdown are the norm. People rely too much on forums like this and reviews of products/services/companies to draw a conclusions. 99% of people don't bother to come to the TMS forum to say, "my Model 3 has been awesome" Just like people only leave a review of a product if they have an issue with it. And 90% of people leaving positive reviews of products either got it for free or received an incentive to leave a positive review.

I'd imagine there's a bell curve, with folks having serious problems off on one tail, folks having no issues at all out on the other, and everyone else someplace in between. I'd also guess (because I haven't seen the data and I imagine I'm not the only one here who hasn't) that the bell curve is weighted more in the direction of goodness than towards trouble. And where you stand on that bell curve might have a bit to do with how you see things. Only Tesla knows the facts (least I hope they do). Everyone else is guessing.
Robin