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Kinddog, its not an issue of resources that there are no engineers at each service center. It was explained to me today that much of the car's tech is kept secret from all but a few people in order to prevent leakage of the technology to others. The people in the service center are trained to troubleshoot the most common issues, but when there is a serious issue, only a few people are provided with the complete design and workings of the car. This is not unique to Tesla, but apparently the way many (if not all) car manuafacturers operate.
Personally, I think that if MB, Toyota or GM wanted to know everything about the car, they have the resources and talent to just buy a car and reverse engineer it.
Personally, I think that if MB, Toyota or GM wanted to know everything about the car, they have the resources and talent to just buy a car and reverse engineer it.
kinddog
Banned
wiztecy
Active Member
I wouldn't let this one experience give you the overall picture of EV's. I work in Consumer Electronics in Millions of Mass quantities of production. There are a few defects that can't be caught by Quality Assurance / Testing and the true testers are the consumers in the field. The thing is whether a company wants, will, or is motivated to fix the issue. Looking at the model S its the 1st Gen of this vehicle. for any product of a 1st gen release you have to have some cushion to allow these types of issues to appear. I think Tesla should build a good support to not leave a customer hanging, however, getting your car in that troubled state will help Tesla and others have more robust vehicle in the future.
I'm a true believer in EVs. I swapped out all my mowers, weed wackers, blowers, and a a motorcycle, even a skateboard for the electric / Lithium Ion versions and I'm not regretting it at all. I also have a Tesla Roadster 1.5 that I'm truly in love with. This weekend I was playing around in some twisty turns when a BMW M3 came up behind me. I gave it a quick sprits through the first corner, even heard his car downshift and hit high rpms as he disappeared from my rear view mirror. There's nothing that touches that, pure power, quickness, and excitement, and bottom line consistency from the push of the accelerator from a high performance EV.
Even with my Roadster with minor issues I hit I was very critical and vocal, however, Tesla was there 24/7 and corresponding with emails which showed they were concerned and motivated. I've never had that support with any other car or product manufacturer and praise them for that.
Once you get your S back and have a week with it the joy and pure amazing driving experience will come back I'm sure.
I know its allot of $$$ for the S but with any 1st Generation vehicle or device its always been this way, you're helping pave the way for others.
I'm a true believer in EVs. I swapped out all my mowers, weed wackers, blowers, and a a motorcycle, even a skateboard for the electric / Lithium Ion versions and I'm not regretting it at all. I also have a Tesla Roadster 1.5 that I'm truly in love with. This weekend I was playing around in some twisty turns when a BMW M3 came up behind me. I gave it a quick sprits through the first corner, even heard his car downshift and hit high rpms as he disappeared from my rear view mirror. There's nothing that touches that, pure power, quickness, and excitement, and bottom line consistency from the push of the accelerator from a high performance EV.
Even with my Roadster with minor issues I hit I was very critical and vocal, however, Tesla was there 24/7 and corresponding with emails which showed they were concerned and motivated. I've never had that support with any other car or product manufacturer and praise them for that.
Once you get your S back and have a week with it the joy and pure amazing driving experience will come back I'm sure.
I know its allot of $$$ for the S but with any 1st Generation vehicle or device its always been this way, you're helping pave the way for others.
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My brother in law bought an Audi A3, which was a lot of car for him at the time. It spent three months total in the shop in five separate visits, much more than half of the time he owned it. It had an intermittent electrical problem that they were unable to duplicate in the shop. They replaced a bunch of parts and then tried to tell him it was all in his head and stonewalled him for two months more. He had to go to the mattresses with the dealer but finally they gave him a new car. And that was not a early-adopter car, and Audi was not a start-up. On the bell curve of experiences, somebody has to be on the left tail. They will fix it or you will get a new car, and I bet you won't have to fight them like my bro did with Audi.
I am sorry for your troubles.
Florida has something called "Lemon Law" which means that if you get a "lemon" you can have to be given a new car.... hope there is a law like that where you live.
Knowing Tesla's customer service, however, you will not need to use any laws. I am sure Tesla will give you a new car. You may have to wait for it though.
Florida has something called "Lemon Law" which means that if you get a "lemon" you can have to be given a new car.... hope there is a law like that where you live.
Knowing Tesla's customer service, however, you will not need to use any laws. I am sure Tesla will give you a new car. You may have to wait for it though.
People keep talking about Lemon Laws, so to put it to rest--yes, Maryland has one. "The law provides that a dealer or manufacturer must correct a defect within 30 days after the consumer writes to the manufacturer by certified mail." They have either 30 days or 4 visits, but the latter is clearly aimed at places that don't fully fix things; Tesla obviously doesn't want to return the vehicle until they are sure it's fixed. More details at the link. Premature to consider it a lemon, by far, but if paranoid that it won't be fixed, a certified letter's the way to go.
Honestly, I don't feel it's warranted. Obviously they want to figure this out and fix it. But that's Swegman's call, of course, whether to proceed. Good luck, Steve! I know you feel like you can never trust it but seriously, the hope here is that they identify the problem and fix it--then there will be no reason not to trust the car you get back! I hope they do send an engineer.
Since they suspect something related to the 12-volt (even if it's not the battery, just interface between it and the main battery), I wonder that they don't (a) replace the 12 volt and (b) replace however it connects to the main battery. Or maybe that's part of what they're working on/deciding to do
Anyway, good luck and keep us posted. I know it's tough. And like many, I'm surprised at--but mostly in agreement with--kinddog's comments. ;-)
Another update, they found a couple of connections that were near the limit of the resistance range. They fixed those and thought that would take care of the problem. They took the car to be washed in preparation to return to me. Unfortunately, the car went to sleep at the car wash. So, they are back to square one.
kinddog
Banned
PeterSZ
Electrified petrolhead
Sweg rest assured that even from the other side of the Atlantic we are closely watching and hoping (and expecting) that Tesla is going to fix this for you!
Raffy.Roma
Rome (Italy)
I think that you (swegman) shouldn't worry at all. Your car is under guarantee. If they will not manage to work out the problem you will get a new car for sure.
The fact is that Model S is a completely new car, whose technology is very much at the border of present technology. For this reason what happened to you (swegman) should be considered normal. Maybe that Tesla will find out a problem whose solution will be useful for next buyers.
I know that for me it's easy to say this not being at your place but this is my opinion anyway.
The fact is that Model S is a completely new car, whose technology is very much at the border of present technology. For this reason what happened to you (swegman) should be considered normal. Maybe that Tesla will find out a problem whose solution will be useful for next buyers.
I know that for me it's easy to say this not being at your place but this is my opinion anyway.
Digitaltim's car died today with the same symptoms that my car has, thou that does not mean it is the same problem. And I got an email from cinergi that his car previously died just like mine. Cinergi's car had a bad dc-dc converter. I told that to my service center. They said they had checked that part but would check again.
@swegman - I hope you get a healthy vehicle back in your hands soon. Maybe they should start making "Get Well Soon" cards for cars.
@Tesla - When I hear stories like this I think, "discount on 4yr service plan for this customer". If it isn't a huge financial problem for Tesla (i.e. if they have a large volume of such situations), that's a simple stroke that would repair a lot of the damage to the experience of such customers. And the brand loyalty and goodwill that comes with such gestures is hard to overstate.
@Tesla - When I hear stories like this I think, "discount on 4yr service plan for this customer". If it isn't a huge financial problem for Tesla (i.e. if they have a large volume of such situations), that's a simple stroke that would repair a lot of the damage to the experience of such customers. And the brand loyalty and goodwill that comes with such gestures is hard to overstate.
kinddog
Banned
This is going to turn into a "very big deal" very quickly, mark my words. I'm not saying that it should, but given the visibility that Tesla is getting from the journalistic community, this story will take off like a SpaceX rocket. Cars running out of battery juice because of an incompetent journalist is one thing, and that was easily refuted by Tesla. Car(s) dropping dead is another level of magnitude entirely.
RT
I'm willing to be patient, to a point, and let Tesla try to figure out what is wrong. I was told this morning that the service center received another car with the same problem and they traced it to a high resistance connector to the DC-DC converter. They just found the same problem with the connector on my car. If that is truly the problem, all will hopefully be fine, thou Tesla may (in my opinion) want to investigate whether the connector requires a re-design. They will hopefully contact me this afternoon with an update.
I want to note again that I have no complaints with the Rockville (MD) Service Center. I just want my car back to drive. I have been without it for a week now.
I want to note again that I have no complaints with the Rockville (MD) Service Center. I just want my car back to drive. I have been without it for a week now.
Merrill
Merrill
Swegman, we are all with you on this and I hope they find a solution quickly, it is a real bummer to have such a fantastic vehicle and not be able to enjoy it. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth, but once it gets resolved I hope you can look to the future and enjoy it. It will be interesting to see how Tesla handles this, because guaranteed this will not be the last situation of this kind that they will see.
