NHTSA Investigates Failing MCUs

[murphyS90D]

Any idea how long these investigations go. I imagine Tesla will try to delay as long as possible and force owners to pay for mcu2 if possible to reduce the number of cars that might need recall work

They will have to solve the loss of AM, FM, XM radio before that ploy will work.

 

[viper2ko]

Will they now are charging owners 1100-1300 for mcu1. I guess they would reimburse that if recalled

 

[Trebek1762]

They will have to solve the loss of AM, FM, XM radio before that ploy will work.

There's nothing to solve, they already know how to do it, they're just not because of time and labor costs.

 

[finiteyoda]

The MCU on my 2013 MS stop working about a week ago, and I just stumbled upon this thread. Now I'm debating whether I should:
1) Take it to Tesla and pay out of pocket for an MCU1 replacement, and hope that it's later recalled and get reimbursed.
2) Go to ev-fixme for a 3rd party repair, which should last longer than a refurbed MCU1, but I think will be much harder to get reimbursed, if at all.

For my vehicle, the turn signals no longer work (not just audibly, they don't light up either when the car is in Drive). The headlights and AC luckily come on, but I have no way to control them. No parking sensors, rear view camera, or autopilot.

 

[viper2ko]

The MCU on my 2013 MS stop working about a week ago, and I just stumbled upon this thread. Now I'm debating whether I should:
1) Take it to Tesla and pay out of pocket for an MCU1 replacement, and hope that it's later recalled and get reimbursed.
2) Go to ev-fixme for a 3rd party repair, which should last longer than a refurbed MCU1, but I think will be much harder to get reimbursed, if at all.

For my vehicle, the turn signals no longer work (not just audibly, they don't light up either when the car is in Drive). The headlights and AC luckily come on, but I have no way to control them. No parking sensors, rear view camera, or autopilot.

Easy. Unless tesla can give u mcu2 don't bother. They will give the same busted mcu1 design. The NHTSA investigation is going to take too long. Go with option 2 for your peace of mind

 

[dannycamps]

Any idea how long these investigations go. I imagine Tesla will try to delay as long as possible and force owners to pay for mcu2 if possible to reduce the number of cars that might need recall work

Agreed - I said the same thing earlier in the thread. The longer this drags out, the less it's going to cost Tesla financially in terms of paying for replacements.

Great minds and so forth

 

[aerodyne]

Easy. Unless tesla can give u mcu2 don't bother. They will give the same busted mcu1 design. The NHTSA investigation is going to take too long. Go with option 2 for your peace of mind

Viper... key to whether or not this is a safety defect is if the signal lights are actually working.
To determine this, with you in the seat and the car in drive, actuate the stalk and have someone outside the car confirm the turn signal lights operate or not...

 

[viper2ko]

Agreed - I said the same thing earlier in the thread. The longer this drags out, the less it's going to cost Tesla financially in terms of paying for replacements.

Great minds and so forth

Really wish i could ask elon and get a direct response about this whole debacle. Paging Joe Rogan

 

[ohmman]

It is definitely a safety issue. You lose the backup camera and the turn signals don't work. This happened to me (2015 Model S). It was fixed under warranty, but just replaced with a refurbished MCU1 that will probably fail in another 4 years.

Agreed. I lost turn signals (not just on the IC, confirmed no signals), backup camera on my 2016 X that has poor rear visibility without it, and AC/Defrost controls. These are safety related without a doubt. NHTSA has pages of studies showing the effectiveness of rear signals in reducing rear collisions. I don't think they will find the lack of turn signals as something that's not "safety" related.

This is a serious disappointment. Tesla is reminding me of that smart person at the office when you first start a job. They seem brilliant, but as you work with them over the course of years, you start realizing they're not as great as you initially thought.

 

[viper2ko]

Agreed. I lost turn signals (not just on the IC, confirmed no signals), backup camera on my 2016 X that has poor rear visibility without it, and AC/Defrost controls. These are safety related without a doubt. NHTSA has pages of studies showing the effectiveness of rear signals in reducing rear collisions. I don't think they will find the lack of turn signals as something that's not "safety" related.

This is a serious disappointment. Tesla is reminding me of that smart person at the office when you first start a job. They seem brilliant, but as you work with them over the course of years, you start realizing they're not as great as you initially thought.

The way the stock is rising they are still the smart person. I really hope a dose of reality checks in people realize FSD is a pipe dream. Smart summon doesn't even work with confidence. Getting tired of elon tweeting about his FSD obsession while owners with REAL issues are suffering

 

[StephenM]

Mine lost sound but the actual turn signals still worked. 2015 model s

Same. Early 2013 Model S here, and the MCU has been replaced 3 times. First time was just due to bubbling on the display, the second two times were due to failure. The first two replacements were under warranty and the last was in August 2018 an I had to pay $2k. Turn signals did flash with no sound, but no A/C or any other functionality with the black screen of death. Riding around in the rain and the heat with the windows down, fun times.

 

[viper2ko]

Same. Early 2013 Model S here, and the MCU has been replaced 3 times. First time was just due to bubbling on the display, the second two times were due to failure. The first two replacements were under warranty and the last was in August 2018 an I had to pay $2k. Turn signals did flash with no sound, but no A/C or any other functionality with the black screen of death. Riding around in the rain and the heat with the windows down, fun times.

I predict another 2k in the very near future for you. We should really rename this thread to NHTSA investigates TESLAs failure to handle MCU failure

 

[StephenM]

I predict another 2k in the very near future for you

Yeah, if the pattern holds. I've been meaning to get my ecu shipped to root it to prevent future problems, but this is my daily driver and it's a real hassle to take this all apart, ship it out, wait for the turnaround time and no car in the meantime. Tesla really should do right and fix this issue for good at their cost.

 

[StephenM]

Link where you can file a complaint for your own car: File a Vehicle Safety Complaint | Safercar.gov | NHTSA

The more people file, the more likely Tesla will offer a real fix.

Thanks for this. Just filed with NHTSA

 

[StephenM]

Goo screens we see are typically 2014 or older from what I remember.

I'm getting goo screen on the instrument cluster instead. I always thought that even though it's not a safety issue, Tesla really should replace that as that is not normal wear and tear. They quoted me $1600 to replace.

 

[viper2ko]

Yeah, if the pattern holds. I've been meaning to get my ecu shipped to root it to prevent future problems, but this is my daily driver and it's a real hassle to take this all apart, ship it out, wait for the turnaround time and no car in the meantime. Tesla really should do right and fix this issue for good at their cost.

Yup people don't realize how much of a pain it is. There's a reason people are preemptively taking steps when the mcu shows early signs. Its a massive pain when it happens

 

[EV-Fixme]

I'm getting goo screen on the instrument cluster instead. I always thought that even though it's not a safety issue, Tesla really should replace that as that is not normal wear and tear. They quoted me $1600 to replace.

You can replace the ic screen with part from reeldealev.com

 

[aesculus]

This is a serious disappointment. Tesla is reminding me of that smart person at the office when you first start a job. They seem brilliant, but as you work with them over the course of years, you start realizing they're not as great as you initially thought.

Yeah and they are generally not at all sociable so not only does no one want to work with them, but they have no way to validate their work because it has not been vetted with anyone.

 

[StephenM]

You can replace the ic screen with part from reeldealev.com

$299 with my own install sounds like a done deal!! Thank you very much for the info.

 

[scole04]

The electrified garage in NH is going to install a 16GB chip which is 10x faster for 2k to cure my MCU1 issues.