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I own a 2018 Long Range Model 3 with duel motors. It has 44K miles on it and I haven't had any real issues until today. When I placed the car into drive and pressed the pedal, it made a loud THUD after driving only several inches. I then got a message on the screen that read "Rear Motor Disabled - OK to drive". Well, that was a lie because when I drove another few inches there was another loud THUD and a new message appeared, which read "Vehicle Shutting Down, pull over safely", followed by a message stating "Service required, contact roadside assistance". Thankfully I didn't even make it out of my driveway. The tow truck arrived within 30 minutes and I was at the service station about 30 minutes after that. No complaints with the service or the timeliness at all. They had me in a loaner within 10 minutes of arriving at the service center, so the whole process was very quick. I was surprised to have a motor malfunction as I hadn't heard of anyone having this issue before. I'm still waiting on the final diagnosis, but was wondering if anyone else has had a similar issue or hear of anyone else having this issue.
 
Cost to repair when out of warranty?
Can't say, but the used parts market is heating up. Seems you can get them for as low as 3k depending on what assemblies they come with. Prices might drop even further as time goes by. I suspect people would tend to replace rather than repair these, unless the repair is simple enough.
 
I recently had a similar situation - thud plus a few alerts. My car was still drivable until the service visit. They replaced the rear motor (said it was throwing a fault, best thing is to replace). Funny thing is for the past few months I thought my battery was degrading as my range kept progressively getting worse. After I got the car back my car feels much quicker (much more kick at the top of the pedal) and the power usage has gone down considerably for the same trip (range back to new). As one of the first 100k cars I expect some things needing replacing - actually glad this happened in warranty period. I only have 19k on my 2018.
 
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I recently had a similar situation - thud plus a few alerts. My car was still drivable until the service visit. They replaced the rear motor (said it was throwing a fault, best thing is to replace). Funny thing is for the past few months I thought my battery was degrading as my range kept progressively getting worse. After I got the car back my car feels much quicker (much more kick at the top of the pedal) and the power usage has gone down considerably for the same trip (range back to new). As one of the first 100k cars I expect some things needing replacing - actually glad this happened in warranty period. I only have 19k on my 2018.
I'll be interested to see if my issue is similar (Still waiting on the Service Center to get back to me). I have noticed that my range keeps getting lower as well. My max charge is somewhere around 285 now.
 
I just heard back from the service center. It turns out the rear inverter went bad and they are going to replace it. They didn't provide a potential cause. Thankfully they have the part in stock and I should be able to pick it up tomorrow.
Glad to hear they're taking care of you already. If you can post the part numbers for the part(s) they used, that would be great. They should be on the repair receipt.
 
Glad to hear they're taking care of you already. If you can post the part numbers for the part(s) they used, that would be great. They should be on the repair receipt.
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I just heard back from the service center. It turns out the rear inverter went bad and they are going to replace it. They didn't provide a potential cause. Thankfully they have the part in stock and I should be able to pick it up tomorrow.

I am disturbed how the general public is buying that electric cars will be more reliable and less expensive to own long-term. I love technology, so I have a lot of electrical items, and I am constantly replacing electronic components and motors because they just fail. In fact, I got to spend some quality time in the heat yesterday replacing the fan motor on my other AC condenser. Did the other one last year.

Over the long term, I don't think electric motors and batteries will prove to be any less problematic than gasoline powertrains, but I think it will take a long time before they are less expensive to repair. And the rest of the car is just as susceptible to failure.
 
I am disturbed how the general public is buying that electric cars will be more reliable and less expensive to own long-term. I love technology, so I have a lot of electrical items, and I am constantly replacing electronic components and motors because they just fail. In fact, I got to spend some quality time in the heat yesterday replacing the fan motor on my other AC condenser. Did the other one last year.

Over the long term, I don't think electric motors and batteries will prove to be any less problematic than gasoline powertrains, but I think it will take a long time before they are less expensive to repair. And the rest of the car is just as susceptible to failure.
I definitely only plan on owning my Tesla while under warranty until EVs become more commonplace and we can actually source parts and service from 3rd parties. I don't think anyone wants to see the bill for a drive unit or battery replacement on an 8 year old Tesla out of warranty. Probably cost as much as the car is worth at that time. Owning a Model 3 in 8 years from now will be like owning a iPhone XR 8 years from now. ;)
 
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I definitely only plan on owning my Tesla while under warranty until EVs become more commonplace and we can actually source parts and service from 3rd parties. I don't think anyone wants to see the bill for a drive unit or battery replacement on an 8 year old Tesla out of warranty. Probably cost as much as the car is worth at that time. Owning a Model 3 in 8 years from now will be like owning a iPhone XR 8 years from now. ;)
I totally agree. I love the car and technology. I think it's a much better ride than any ICE vehicle I've driven. But I will be trading in before the 8Yr/120K is up, just to be safe.
 
I was surprised to have a motor malfunction as I hadn't heard of anyone having this issue before. I'm still waiting on the final diagnosis, but was wondering if anyone else has had a similar issue or hear of anyone else having this issue.
Yes, see How to get my car home from the service center?

Mine broke down on the freeway when the rear drive unit failed and tripped the high voltage breaker. Got the car back 12 days later thanks to another customer letting my repair get the first replacement unit so we could finish our road trip.

IIRC, the service advisor said he sees 2 drive units fail per week but I don't know the denominator. It's the only Tesla service center in Oregon.