Should I abandon my Model S? New Battery Pack is needed.

[nboyd]

The bottom line is I bought a 2014 S60 (177K miles) for 22K this year and spent a further 8-9K on the car. So with tax, I have spent about $34K on the car so far (after-tax). After the drive unit repair, the car no longer starts and Tesla is saying I need a new battery, which I can get refurbished for about $12K. Since I bought the car it has only been driven for repair and never personally and has a repaired drive unit and MCU2.

My first option is to keep spending the money, which will total $46K.
My second option is to sell it back to the original seller (who deals in used Teslas) for $15/16K and get a discounted 2016 under warranty for $40-44K.

Would you keep spending the money to get out of this hole? If I end up spending $46K and sold the car on it would be worth maybe $28K? So the total loss would be 18K. If I keep the car I need to spend an additional $12K and hopefully, be trouble-free.

If I sell it back as non-driving, I could own a $44K (plus tax) car for the total spend of $62K, which would also represent a loss of $18K. However, I would have a warrantied 2016 with the new facelift and features but would need to spend an additional $24/26k to get a hopefully trouble-free car.

Does anyone have any other thoughts? I have the option of getting a third party to replace a module, get the errors away and sell the car. However, that would mean shifting my problem to someone else. I personally don't believe in doing that.

 

[Huachipato]

I'd at least start by letting a third party company taking a look at the battery and seeing if they can provide a battery fix for a lot less.

 

[airborne spoon]

why not get a new battery but a bigger less *sugar* one, I mean the 60 and the 40 is a useless car IMO.

You can get an upgraded pack sometimes from tesla but the easiest option would be from 057 they can install any pack with some caveats but you should be able to get at least an 85 pack from them.

I'll never sell my car, if the battery craps out i'll buy a new pack.

 

[Big Earl]

Since you’ve already done a lot of work to the S60, my choice would be to go with the devil you know. Do you like the car?

$12K is Tesla’s price to refurbish your 60 kWh battery? Have you asked them about the possibility of upgrading it to a 75 or larger?

 

[wk057]

Like I said in your other thread, it seems less likely that the battery pack is actually the culprit based on the other circumstances. I'd have to pull the logs from the car (physically) to be sure, but it seems like a heck of a coincidence.

If you get your car to us (we can help you arrange the shipping), I'll have my crew diagnose the issue for free and present you with pricing for all of the options that are applicable (repair if possible, replacement, upgrade, buyout, etc). Very likely we'll have a less expensive option for you than whatever else you have available, but if you still want to go the Tesla-replaces-the-pack route afterwards, I'll have the car towed to the Tesla service center in Matthews, NC for you and you can have them do what you like. If you decide not to do anything with us or Tesla, just pick up the car, or we'll help you arrange shipping to wherever. All I ask is that when presented with the available options, you make a prompt decision so we don't have your car here collecting dust indefinitely.

This is the best I can do for you, and I think it's a pretty decent and fair option.

I'm not going to charge you $900 to diagnose something that broke while we were fixing your car. Even if it was unrelated to anything we did, that's just wrong. You don't bring a working car to a shop, pay thousands for a repair, and get a non-working car back... good lord. I really hate seeing people screwed over by these sketchy shops and even by Tesla when it comes to this stuff.

I'll also put up a $100-to-charity bet that it was the motor replacement that caused the issue, if you're game.

 

[Ironman Mark]

Like I said in your other thread, it seems less likely that the battery pack is actually the culprit based on the other circumstances. I'd have to pull the logs from the car (physically) to be sure, but it seems like a heck of a coincidence.

If you get your car to us (we can help you arrange the shipping), I'll have my crew diagnose the issue for free and present you with pricing for all of the options that are applicable (repair if possible, replacement, upgrade, buyout, etc). Very likely we'll have a less expensive option for you than whatever else you have available, but if you still want to go the Tesla-replaces-the-pack route afterwards, I'll have the car towed to the Tesla service center in Matthews, NC for you and you can have them do what you like. If you decide not to do anything with us or Tesla, just pick up the car, or we'll help you arrange shipping to wherever. All I ask is that when presented with the available options, you make a prompt decision so we don't have your car here collecting dust indefinitely.

This is the best I can do for you, and I think it's a pretty decent and fair option.

I'm not going to charge you $900 to diagnose something that broke while we were fixing your car. Even if it was unrelated to anything we did, that's just wrong. You don't bring a working car to a shop, pay thousands for a repair, and get a non-working car back... good lord. I really hate seeing people screwed over by these sketchy shops and even by Tesla when it comes to this stuff.

I'll also put up a $100-to-charity bet that it was the motor replacement that caused the issue, if you're game.

As long as this is an honest offer….

Ain’t nuthin wrong with that option.

 

[SilverGS]

As long as this is an honest offer….

Ain’t nuthin wrong with that option.

That is the least of the OPs concerns IMO. Wk057 has been around for very long and lots of members on here have availed his repair/upgrade services, which are reputed to be one of the best, if not the best for anything Tesla related.

 

[Huachipato]

Genuinely curious now - would enjoy learning what could happen during a motor replacement that would kill the battery.

 

[roblab]

I'd vote for Kortoff. He's been around for a long time and is a good guy. And I don't think he's 57 any more.

 

[wk057]

Genuinely curious now - would enjoy learning what could happen during a motor replacement that would kill the battery.

The errors he posted in the other thread were not necessarily bad-battery errors. Specifically, they refer to an external (meaning, not inside the battery) high voltage isolation issue... which, when severe enough to cause the car to not drive, is usually coolant ingress into the drive unit causing an isolation fault. This is super common if you don't know what you're doing when cracking apart the drive units to "refurbish" them.... it's also somewhat common on older revision drive units in places with high day/night temperature swings where thermal expansion works the tiny seals out of place little by little over time.

That said, this could be a battery issue, since this is similar to how a common issue with older 2012-2013 batteries presents. I'm mainly skeptical since this usually doesn't present like this immediately. Generally that particular issue starts out as a weak isolation issue, resulting in a soft fault (message to user to contact service, but car is still drivable), and over time (weeks usually) develops into a full no-drive-allowed fault like the ones shown.

In the case of the OP, if I'm understanding correctly, the car was drivable and had no battery errors when it was driven to this other non-Tesla shop. Then, they proceeded to replace the drive unit, and afterwards the car wouldn't drive and was throwing external isolation errors. It's very unlikely that the battery would go from good isolation to bad-enough-to-not-drive isolation issues unless an external component (drive unit) now had an isolation issue (such as being replaced with a bad unit).

Tesla is actually not the greatest at diagnosing these things, either. The particular errors shown will likely make them believe that the battery is the issue since this is how this issue occurs on similar vintage packs. They're not going to actually diagnose anything directly, they're just going to look at logs and see the error and assume the pack needs replacing. They won't disconnect the drive unit to megaohm test the isolation with it connected/disconnected. If the OP was upfront with Tesla about the third party replacement drive unit, and they've got a good tech at whatever service center he's at, maybe they would... but given the amount of volume the service centers are expected to do these days, I doubt it.

Anyway, my offer stands.

 

[David.85D]

Like I said in your other thread, it seems less likely that the battery pack is actually the culprit based on the other circumstances. I'd have to pull the logs from the car (physically) to be sure, but it seems like a heck of a coincidence.

If you get your car to us (we can help you arrange the shipping), I'll have my crew diagnose the issue for free and present you with pricing for all of the options that are applicable (repair if possible, replacement, upgrade, buyout, etc). Very likely we'll have a less expensive option for you than whatever else you have available, but if you still want to go the Tesla-replaces-the-pack route afterwards, I'll have the car towed to the Tesla service center in Matthews, NC for you and you can have them do what you like. If you decide not to do anything with us or Tesla, just pick up the car, or we'll help you arrange shipping to wherever. All I ask is that when presented with the available options, you make a prompt decision so we don't have your car here collecting dust indefinitely.

This is the best I can do for you, and I think it's a pretty decent and fair option.

I'm not going to charge you $900 to diagnose something that broke while we were fixing your car. Even if it was unrelated to anything we did, that's just wrong. You don't bring a working car to a shop, pay thousands for a repair, and get a non-working car back... good lord. I really hate seeing people screwed over by these sketchy shops and even by Tesla when it comes to this stuff.

I'll also put up a $100-to-charity bet that it was the motor replacement that caused the issue, if you're game.

Can I put $100 on wk057 to win? ;-)

 

[nboyd]

Since you’ve already done a lot of work to the S60, my choice would be to go with the devil you know. Do you like the car?

$12K is Tesla’s price to refurbish your 60 kWh battery? Have you asked them about the possibility of upgrading it to a 75 or larger?

The quote suggests that it would be a 75. Not sure if that is then unlocked.

 

[nboyd]

I'd at least start by letting a third party company taking a look at the battery and seeing if they can provide a battery fix for a lot less.

This is the other thread…Tons of error codes! Bms_f151 Bms_f071 Gtw_w018 Di_u014 Bms_w151 Gtw_w157

 

[nboyd]

Since you’ve already done a lot of work to the S60, my choice would be to go with the devil you know. Do you like the car?

$12K is Tesla’s price to refurbish your 60 kWh battery? Have you asked them about the possibility of upgrading it to a 75 or larger?

I like the car but really have never had a chance to enjoy it. I got the car because I thought it would last a long time, since it was in good condition and was supposed to have a new battery, and had free supercharging. I figure if I had the drive unit and MCU replaced it would be like a new car!

 

[ucmndd]

My second option is to sell it back to the original seller (who deals in used Teslas) for $15/16K and get a discounted 2016 under warranty for $40-44K.

Who is warranting this 6 year old car? I don’t think it could be Tesla.

 

[KJD]

The bottom line is I bought a 2014 S60 (177K miles) for 22K this year and spent a further 8-9K on the car. So with tax, I have spent about $34K on the car so far (after-tax). After the drive unit repair, the car no longer starts and Tesla is saying I need a new battery, which I can get refurbished for about $12K. Since I bought the car it has only been driven for repair and never personally and has a repaired drive unit and MCU2.

My first option is to keep spending the money, which will total $46K.
My second option is to sell it back to the original seller (who deals in used Teslas) for $15/16K and get a discounted 2016 under warranty for $40-44K.

I would try and sell the car as is and take the loss now. Then order a new base model 3 for 47K instead of trying to fix up an 8 year old car that is prone to more expensive repairs. New car warranty might give you some peace of mind and you can enjoy driving instead of what you are doing now.

 

[Big Earl]

I would follow up with @wk057 before making any further decisions. He knows Teslas inside and out; seriously impressive knowledge.

 

[nboyd]

I

I would try and sell the car as is and take the loss now. Then order a new base model 3 for 47K instead of trying to fix up an 8 year old car that is prone to more expensive repairs. New car warranty might give you some peace of mind and you can enjoy driving instead of what you are doing now.

I actually sold my Model 3 last year! I would prefer a car with unlimited supercharging as I can’t charge at home.

 

[GazMav]

Another vote for @wk057 , if you are in any doubt of legitimacy then don't be.
It's not everyday you get an offer to diagnose for free.

 

[CyberPilot]

The bottom line is I bought a 2014 S60 (177K miles) for 22K this year and spent a further 8-9K on the car. So with tax, I have spent about $34K on the car so far (after-tax). After the drive unit repair, the car no longer starts and Tesla is saying I need a new battery, which I can get refurbished for about $12K. Since I bought the car it has only been driven for repair and never personally and has a repaired drive unit and MCU2.

My first option is to keep spending the money, which will total $46K.
My second option is to sell it back to the original seller (who deals in used Teslas) for $15/16K and get a discounted 2016 under warranty for $40-44K.

Would you keep spending the money to get out of this hole? If I end up spending $46K and sold the car on it would be worth maybe $28K? So the total loss would be 18K. If I keep the car I need to spend an additional $12K and hopefully, be trouble-free.

If I sell it back as non-driving, I could own a $44K (plus tax) car for the total spend of $62K, which would also represent a loss of $18K. However, I would have a warrantied 2016 with the new facelift and features but would need to spend an additional $24/26k to get a hopefully trouble-free car.

Does anyone have any other thoughts? I have the option of getting a third party to replace a module, get the errors away and sell the car. However, that would mean shifting my problem to someone else. I personally don't believe in doing that.

Like the car? No Brainer ... $100 on 057!