Gotcha covered -- I am a Canadian in California
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Tesla 3: Second drive unit failure in under a year
- Thread starter ca_driving
- Start date
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Appears CA lemon laws require three failures minimum. Tho, each failure means 2 weeks in the shop which is so disruptive, regardless of whether they're giving me rideshare credits (would not use these right now anyways). Crazy to be paying a lease on something I can't drive one month out of the year.
Fernand
Active Member
In the East Bay hills, it's like a hallucination, so many new Teslas. It seems it's all people are buying. Berkeley's Service Center's been very good, hard to get in touch with, what else is new, but well organized and competent.
Tesla are basically the new BMW 3/Prius for the bay area as far as I can tell. They're everywhere. At this rate, EVs will be the majority of cars sold around the bay in a few short years.
The situation has gone from bad to worse. What would you do?
I've responded in the app, called the Service center and left messages indicating I want a call back and someone to describe why the vehicle has had two catastrophic failures. No response, except now the vehicle is ready and the invoice has been posted in the app - $3,800. We have perfect driving records, two small children, and use this car occasionally for commuting; the idea that we did something to cause the replacement of 2 drive units is unbelievable. The vehicle is 12.5 months old.
I've responded in the app, called the Service center and left messages indicating I want a call back and someone to describe why the vehicle has had two catastrophic failures. No response, except now the vehicle is ready and the invoice has been posted in the app - $3,800. We have perfect driving records, two small children, and use this car occasionally for commuting; the idea that we did something to cause the replacement of 2 drive units is unbelievable. The vehicle is 12.5 months old.
LargeHamCollider
Battery cells != scalable
They’re trying to charge you??? Now this story is really out there. Model 3 drive units are super reliable and definitely still under warranty if the car is 12.5mos old. Any cost should be covered by the warranty.
oreobbq
Member
This is really strange, there must be something causing the failures. And I would've thought a DU replacement install would run more than $3800.
You know those toy cars that you wind up by pulling them backwards and letting them go? That's what I imagine you doing while your 3 is in drive.
You know those toy cars that you wind up by pulling them backwards and letting them go? That's what I imagine you doing while your 3 is in drive.
Pretty sure the invoice is for reference, but if the vehicle is under warranty and there isn't some unusual situation, there will be no charge when picking it up. It is confusing that they do that, as lots of folks misunderstand the practice the first time they get service.
OP - why not just pick it up and not worry about it? Quite likely it'll be fine from here on out, and making a big deal out of it just consumes your time and energy.
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
I like the “California Camry” designation the best. Though the reliability in this case is not quite up to that level.
That’s just the invoice as others have said. Of course you won’t owe anything. Just the way they work! At least you’ll have an idea of the costs out of warranty (you are leasing it, it sounds like so not relevant).
Since it failed while the vehicle was in motion (which I agree makes it dangerous), will you be filing a safety complaint with Home | Safercar -- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) after the repair's complete?
FWIW, there are at least 3 folks here who had Model S who went thru at least 7 drive unit replacements each but none were (AFAIK) loss of propulsion. They were due to excessive/abnormal noise. See below:
6th drive unit replacement and more
Drive Unit Replacement Poll
Drive Unit Replacement Poll
Oddly, one of the 8th drive unit guys characterized his car as "100% reliable" and "It terms or reliability the Model S is as good as it gets IMHO" as I pointed out at How reliable is your Model S?.
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See Vehicle shutting down please pull over safely [edit: 12v battery issue].
If it is "uncommon" then it will not have any effect. However, if more reports come in, it could initiate an investigation. That investigation could eventually lead to a recall.
Stop being one of those people who discourages drivers from reporting legitimate safety defects to the appropriate regulatory and safety authorities. As I've said before, I've been on car forums for about 2 decades now. This is the ONLY forum I'm on where there's a small set of users who actively discourage such reporting. I thought TMC turned the corner on that a few years ago...
I went thru this nonsense before with a vocal few weirdos here in 2015 and had to keep explaining and giving examples:
When to report NHTSA issues?
When to report NHTSA issues?
And, to be clear, I'm am NOT advocating ANY recall at this point, just a report to provide a data point. Recalls themselves don't actually have to affect a large portion of the vehicle population. Examples:
Toyota recalls 86 coupe over ignition-key troubles - 94 units affected
Smallest Recall Ever? A Solitary 2014 Chevrolet Volt Involved in Ten-Car Steering Recall - 10 units affected
BMW Issues The Smallest Recall Ever; One BMW X3 Affected @ Top Speed - supposedly affects only 1 unit
Rolls-Royce issues smallest recall ever, affects just one car
https://www.cars.com/articles/2013/07/the-top-10-smallest-recalls-of-2013/ - ranges between 4 and 74 units
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JCtx
Member
Hey OP, how exactly did your motors fail? I'm curious about that. Being a dual-motor car, I'd assume the other motor would be able to limp home, but maybe the motor seized. Please let us know. And yes, this is the first time I hear of such thing, so at least a rare even indeed.
I don't think so man. Not as complicated as an ICE car, but certainly not 'plug and play'. They're still connected to a differential, and most likely you need to remove the front suspension to be able to pull the half-shafts. Not to mention the belly pans. They might have cooling lines too, but not sure.
There are dozens of people w/Model 3's with failed DUs reported here on TMC. Here are a few that I'd come across and bookmarked. I don't go out of my way to look for them.
Hope I don't have any dupes in here.
Tesla Model 3 Down: Won't Power Up, and is Inaccessible
Rear motor disabled
Delivery Problems
My So my M3 broke down 2 days after delivery
Model 3: Breakdowns
1 Week into Model 3 ownership and had to get Towed
I miss my car.
Poor communication and customer service for delivery
86% of June Model 3s "reworked"
Delivery Dramas
My drive unit failed, pyro fuse blew, both brake calipers were replaced and boy do I LOVE this car!
Rear Drive Unit Failed During Pre-Delivery Inspection
Car shutting down - PULL OVER SAFELY on the freeway 3 days after delivery
Tesla Model 3 Drive System Validated after 1 Million Miles of Testing
Model 3 Rear Drive Unit Failed?
One day old Model 3 "PULL OVER SAFELY
One day old Model 3 "PULL OVER SAFELY
Unable to drive, Power reduced error after supercharging
"Car not Safe to Drive-- Pull over Safely"
"Car not Safe to Drive-- Pull over Safely"
Fair compensation from Tesla regarding bad delivery experience
"Car not Safe to Drive-- Pull over Safely"
"Car May Not Restart" service message, no kidding
Rear Drive Unit Failed
First Model 3 motor failure reported
https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/b6ndq5/model_3_defective_drive_unit/
REAR DRIVE UNIT FAILED
Rear Drive Unit Failed
Rear Drive Unit Failed
Rear Drive Unit Failed
Rear Drive Unit Failed
Rear Drive Unit Failed
Rear Drive Unit Failed
Rear drive unit fail
Rear motor failure, need assistance
Rear motor failure, need assistance
Model 3 "Car needs service, Car May not Restart"
Rear motor failure (on a trip out of town)
24 Months of Model 3 - How is Reliability?
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/message-car-needs-service-may-not-restart”-towed-by-tesla-roadside-assistance.173079/#post-4233134
Rear motor failure on road trip.
Rear motor failure on road trip.
Rear Drive Unit Failed
Service center experience: trading my 3 in for a Mercedes
Loud pop, Model 3 died?
M3 broke down, was not drivable
Dreaded "Vehicle may not restart" error
Dreaded "Vehicle may not restart" error
Dreaded "Vehicle may not restart" error
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