Power Conversion System and Rear Drive Inverter Replacement on new models?

[owlhouse]

Have any new owners had their car break down within a week of taking delivery?

I took delivery of a model 3 on 2/14 of this year. On 2/16 - Day 3, I took my mother and I on a mini road trip to visit my brother who was 115 miles away. I was telling her about every feature and how safe of a car Tesla was. Everything was going smoothly until I accelerated hard to get away from a few vehicles. The next thing I know I have a 'reduced speed 35 mph' sign. I have no control over the pedal and realize I am losing speed quickly on the freeway where most of the car were pushing 80 mph. I luckily was able to change lanes (albeit cut a few cars off) and manage to get off the exit. The car completely died on me, but at least I was pulled over safely and away from major traffic. The car instructs me to exit and re-enter the vehicle to regain power. I tried that twice and nothing changed. I finally called roadside assistance and they instructed me to restart the screen. I tried that twice and no dice again. Finally, it was decided I need to be towed to a service center.

When we arrived to the service center, the car started up again, but the service department wanted to keep it to run diagnostics. I was asked if I put a speed boost on the car or did a recent software update. I told the service advisor that I only had the car for three days and have had nothing done to it.

I still don't have my car back, yet, but now I know we are waiting for replacement parts; the power conversion system and rear drive unit inverter are being replaced. My service estimate date has been pushed back three times. I hope to get the car back this coming week.

I think it's a good idea to drive around more locally before a road trip. My break down happened with less than 200 miles on the vehicle. Fingers crossed everything gets replaced and the car runs as well as I know it can. I’d like to know if this has happened to other drivers taking delivery of their new vehicles?

 

[Soul Surfer]

Sometimes things just happen. I recall getting ready for a road trip with my partner and I, in my Corvette. It was a decent trip from Toronto to the Rock Hall of Fame, then onto the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Well, my Vette, decided to have a short, the very morning of our departure. I couldn't close windows, let alone get out of the car without pulling the mechanical levers to unlatch - similar to Tesla. there was always the concern of window damage because the window would not "crack" open upon door release.

It turned out a bit a brain teaser to isolate where the short was. as it turned out, it was under the driver seat, a frayed wire. Fortunately we ended up taking my partners car and all worked out well, although, the drive was not quite as exhilarating.

Meh, $h!t happens. No one gets hurt is the most important. You car will be better than ever, after this.

 

[GtiMart]

It's rare but it happens. New parts should fail early (if they have a defect) or late at their end of life. That's what a warranty is for. It's unfortunate for you but it will be fixed.

 

[Kimmi]

Did they give you a loaner or Uber credit?

 

[owlhouse]

Did they give you a loaner or Uber credit?

They initially gave me uber credit until they could secure a loaner for me. Thank goodness for the loaner.

 

[OldEvo]

Have any new owners had their car break down within a week of taking delivery?

I think it's a good idea to drive around more locally before a road trip.

No, but mine did within a month at a bit less than 800 miles. Same scenario. The SC in Norfolk replaced the inverter in just a few days and I picked up the car on 3/6. It made the two hour drive home and is now stored away in the shed until a decision is made on what to do with it. My wife will not drive it for fear of being stranded. Perhaps I will do as you say and just drive it very close to home for awhile.

 

[GtiMart]

It should not be any more risky than an ICE car. They also have terminal failures in the early days sometimes. Once fixed, the car should be as good as if nothing ever happened. I don't quite understand this fear.

 

[OldEvo]

It should not be any more risky than an ICE car. They also have terminal failures in the early days sometimes. Once fixed, the car should be as good as if nothing ever happened. I don't quite understand this fear.

It's easier to understand when you have only seconds to get off the road to a safe spot. Then wait three hours for a tow truck to arrive to take your car to a SC that's a two hour drive from your home.

It was a catastrophic failure, no limp mode, no MacGyver fix, no getting towed back to town with a piece of rope, nothing a local mechanic can fix.

As for the "should" part, it should not have happened at all, but it did. There is no un-ringing that bell. For my wife it caused a loss of trust. She immediately imagines this happening on a narrow rural road, at night, in the rain, or worse, like in six lanes of rush hour traffic, at night, in the rain. It's not necessarily rational, it's a fear, a fear of something that she did not expect to happen and should not have happened, but did, and can happen again.

Other than that, she likes the car.

 

[GtiMart]

I do understand the inconvenience. It happened to me on my Tesla on a long road trip, total and immediate power loss, in the left lane, with just a few seconds to react. Could have happend with an ICE car too... That's what made me sell my second-hand Audi that I had tuned to my liking a few years back. The car was old enough (6-7 years) to have an augmented risk of failure, and I had young kids aboard.

However, your Tesla is new. New parts fail early if they have a defect, like yours did, and then there's a long period where nothing should fail. Everything is like this, other cars but also other things : dishwashers, tvs, etc. If you lose trust the second you have a one single issue, you'll often have trust problems with many things you buy. Obviously you do you, I'm just trying to rationalize the failure.

 

[owlhouse]

Did they give you a loaner or Uber credit?

Yes, they gave me uber credit off $100 a day until they could secure me a loaner.

 

[colepalmer]

I picked up my new Y in Paramus. Went to drive it the next day with 400 miles on it and it gave me a warning that said “Your battery system is failing, pull over as safely as you can because the car is about to shut down.” Got it towed to Peabody, MA that day. It has been there for a week. The first replacement Power Conversion Unit failed on the spot. They are installing a second replacement today. They wil not take the car back. I have a call scheduled with an attorney on Tuesday. I already have no confidence in this car. It sucks and so does Tesla.

 

[ucmndd]

I picked up my new Y in Paramus. Went to drive it the next day with 400 miles on it and it gave me a warning that said “Your battery system is failing, pull over as safely as you can because the car is about to shut down.” Got it towed to Peabody, MA that day. It has been there for a week. The first replacement Power Conversion Unit failed on the spot. They are installing a second replacement today. They wil not take the car back. I have a call scheduled with an attorney on Tuesday. I already have no confidence in this car. It sucks and so does Tesla.

Of course they won’t take the car back. That’s not how the world works.

 

[colepalmer]

It’s been escalated to engineering. What does this mean? How long will this take? If it takes them 15 days in Maine, that trigs the Lemon Law. To be so lucky.

 

[ucmndd]

It’s been escalated to engineering. What does this mean?

It means whatever the problem wasn’t the PCS to begin with so they’re sending it up the chain for further troubleshooting.

How long will this take?

As long as it takes.

If it takes them 15 days in Maine, that trigs the Lemon Law. To be so lucky.

15 business days, yeah. That would be the first bar. But it’s not like they’re just gonna take the keys and write you a check on business day 16.

You need to send them a certified letter after day 15 giving them one more 7 day opportunity to conduct a final repair. Then You need to go to arbitration. And so on.

https://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/attach.php?id=27925&an=1

 

[colepalmer]

It means whatever the problem wasn’t the PCS to begin with so they’re sending it up the chain for further troubleshooting.

As long as it takes.

15 business days, yeah. That would be the first bar. But it’s not like they’re just gonna take the keys and write you a check on business day 16.

You need to send them a certified letter after day 15 giving them one more 7 day opportunity to conduct a final repair. Then You need to go to arbitration. And so on.

https://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/attach.php?id=27925&an=1

Thank you for your response and guidance. I speak with an attorney on Tuesday. The car has now had three Power Conversion Systems that have all failed. The car repair has been sent to “Engineering” to determine a fix. Who knows how long that will take. The Service Supervisor said they once had a car that took 90 days to fix. I can’t believe this *sugar*.