Pull over Safely, Restart Car to Drive

[Killface]

I drove my Model S up to the Grand Canyon from Phoenix on Tuesday. Wednesday morning when I got in the car and shifted into drive it threw up an error "Pull over Safely, Restart Car to Drive". Tried restarting the displays, turned off the car, left it for a while, nothing would fix it. AT&T claims to have cell phone coverage up where I was, but they didn't. So neither my phone, nor my car's connection would work. So when I borrowed a phone to call Tesla, they weren't able to connect to it remotely for diagnostics.

So in the end, Tesla sent a couple guys up from Scottsdale to haul my car (and me) back. Turns out the drive unit is bad, so they're replacing that. For some reason, despite the car being under warranty (it's ~6 months old), having the service agreement, and having 24/7 roadside assistance, I was still charged a surprise $100 ranger fee when I got to the service center... which wouldn't even cover 1/4 the cost of the trip they made, so why bother?

Anyway, apparently practically new drive-units failing is still a thing, and not just under heavy acceleration ... sometimes just while sitting in place over night.

 

[caps04]

That sucks. I would've guessed warranty issues would be covered, ranger or not.

 

[Chris]

I'm not sure I understand. Why are they charging a ranger fee when all they did was towing the car to the service center? Did they even attempt to fix the car on the road?

 

[MsElectric]

I can understand a ranger fee for regular maintenance done on site but to charge that when your car breaks down far away from home?!

 

[Killface]

I'm not sure I understand. Why are they charging a ranger fee when all they did was towing the car to the service center? Did they even attempt to fix the car on the road?

Nope. They showed up, loaded it onto the trailer, and drove it back.

- - - Updated - - -

I can understand a ranger fee for regular maintenance done on site but to charge that when your car breaks down far away from home?!

That's how I feel too. Especially when it's so new and was so clearly not from anything I did.

 

[CHG-ON]

I'd call your home SC and insist on a refund. Or go to corporate. They didn't charge me for towing to the shop and I was able to pick my own tow company. They covered the whole thing. Car was 35 days old and about 45 mi from the shop.

 

[PaulusdB]

European Roadside Assistance covers you only for the first 100 km of being towed for warranty issues. So this seems an universal policy, like it or not.

 

[Killface]

European Roadside Assistance covers you only for the first 100 km of being towed for warranty issues. So this seems an universal policy, like it or not.

Yeah, I looked through all their official documentation and it appears Roadside Assistance covers you for the first 50 miles, and you pay the rest. The "ranger visit" has absolutely nothing to do with it, but apparently that's what they charged me for instead of the remaining cost of the tow (probably $300+). In a way, I guess I saved some money ... but either way I had to pay extra money because their product broke down after half a year. Joy.

 

[patrick40363]

That is why I have AAA towing. I live over 100 miles from the service center.

Yeah, I looked through all their official documentation and it appears Roadside Assistance covers you for the first 50 miles, and you pay the rest. The "ranger visit" has absolutely nothing to do with it, but apparently that's what they charged me for instead of the remaining cost of the tow (probably $300+). In a way, I guess I saved some money ... but either way I had to pay extra money because their product broke down after half a year. Joy.

 

[Electricfan]

That is why I have AAA towing. I live over 100 miles from the service center.

I'm curious about AAA towing - have you used them for your Tesla before? The Model S can't be towed with two wheels on the ground - it has to be on a flatbed. Do you know if AAA towing would do that?

 

[AmpedRealtor]

There was a time when Tesla would flatbed your car 400 miles free of charge for a warranty issue. I would escalate to the service manager, and then the regional manager as needed, and ask for the ranger fee to be refunded. Your vacation was ruined because the car failed, so you were charged for this failure and for a ruined vacation. I think you deserve an exception. Tesla should stand behind its products, and that means picking up the car from Timbuktu at no charge if a major component failed under warranty that required the car to be towed.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

I'm pretty sure even GM would cover towing the whole thing if it's under warranty... I'd bitch.

 

[Electricfan]

There was a time when Tesla would flatbed your car 400 miles free of charge for a warranty issue. I would escalate to the service manager, and then the regional manager as needed, and ask for the ranger fee to be refunded. Your vacation was ruined because the car failed, so you were charged for this failure and for a ruined vacation. I think you deserve an exception. Tesla should stand behind its products, and that means picking up the car from Timbuktu at no charge if a major component failed under warranty that required the car to be towed.

Exactly - a ruined vacation - and Tesla thinks adding a $100 fee for their broken battery is appropriate?? For GM yes, but I thought Tesla was striving to be different... This is not different, this is big car company standard procedure - make a profit from their own defect...

 

[JMG]

Wow sorry to hear that.

But the $100 ranger fee is consistent with what I was told before I ordered. $100 ranger fee whether it is under warranty or not. The only difference is the cost of repairs are covered obviously when under warranty.

Hopefully giving the situation and the severity of the problem they'll refund the $100.

 

[ViperDoc]

I'm curious about AAA towing - have you used them for your Tesla before? The Model S can't be towed with two wheels on the ground - it has to be on a flatbed. Do you know if AAA towing would do that?

I have had AAA for years. They have always sent a flatbed to me for cars that needed a flatbed. That included the Model S.

 

[Killface]

I've got an update!

I didn't get around to contacting the service manager, but either through this thread or the very brief online survey I took about my experience, Tesla reached out to me. The local service manager worked pretty hard to get in touch with me to make things right. I never answer my phone if I don't recognize the number, so after calling twice and leaving messages over the past few days, he sent me an email which I saw immediately and called him back.

Anyway, he offered me my money back, or a bunch of apparel/swag, or a free detail (~$300 value, apparently). I'm happy now.

 

[AMPd]

Exactly - a ruined vacation - and Tesla thinks adding a $100 fee for their broken battery is appropriate?? For GM yes, but I thought Tesla was striving to be different... This is not different, this is big car company standard procedure - make a profit from their own defect...

It was the drive unit that failed not battery.

Killface, glad to hear Tesla did you right!

 

[Blu Zap]

This is why Tesla has very high customer satisfaction ratings! Glad the mess worked out and you are satisfied.