Tesla infotainment system upgradeable from MCU1 to MCU2

[Akikiki]

I saw a post elsewhere where someone was debating the value of spending $2500 more on their car to get MCU2. And it occurred to me to say it this way.

If Tesla sales had offered me, told me that I could replace/swap/get MCU2 at the time I bought my '17 S, when I took delivery, - I would not have hesitated to take that offer. I would have jumped on my new car with MCU2 when it was brand new. So what's doing it today make any difference? Actually, I value and appreciate MCU2 much more now that I have lived through 3 years of issues with MCU1.

 

[jddssc121]

I would have jumped on my new car with MCU2 when it was brand new. So what's doing it today make any difference?

Because you're further along in the life of the car? Buying it to use for 6 years vs. 2 years is certainly a different value proposition. Would you pay the same first class upgrade fee for the remaining 15 minutes of a 9 hour flight?

 

[David.85D]

I'm on the fence, too. Like the idea, but I'm not comfortable to keep the car post-warranty, and not sure it's worth it given I have 24 months of warranty left and will likely sell it 3-6 months before the warranty runs out to give the buyer some protection/confidence. Frankly, selling the rear facing seats separately, selling the arachnids and skipping the MCU2 upgrade will make up for a big chunk of the depreciation I've had (and yes, I realize I'm mixing sales of a physical item with omitted expenses).

 

[Akikiki]

Because you're further along in the life of the car? Buying it to use for 6 years vs. 2 years is certainly a different value proposition. Would you pay the same first class upgrade fee for the remaining 15 minutes of a 9 hour flight?

Wow, that's a very interesting analogy. However I don't think it fits. It presumes that once the flight is over, there's nothing left. Whether I keep my car for 2 years or 6 years, the finish (of the flight) the car still exists - I am not taking it to the dump or trash compactor. It still has utility. Whether I own it or someone else owns it, its still a resource with MCU2. And because I upgraded, I also consider it an investment, not like spending $2500 on a brake/rotor job. This investment will likely not reap me half of the $2500, but sitting my MCU2 '17 next to someone's MCU1 '17 will surely make mine more attractive and bring a higher dollar resold. I am still very happy that I upgraded to MCU2.

 

[Akikiki]

I'm on the fence, too. Like the idea, but I'm not comfortable to keep the car post-warranty, and not sure it's worth it given I have 24 months of warranty left and will likely sell it 3-6 months before the warranty runs out to give the buyer some protection/confidence. Frankly, selling the rear facing seats separately, selling the arachnids and skipping the MCU2 upgrade will make up for a big chunk of the depreciation I've had (and yes, I realize I'm mixing sales of a physical item with omitted expenses).

@David.85D, I am driving my 3rd S. I bought the first, a White 60, and added Extended warranty. And I only sold it 5 months later to buy a Red S. At the time we simply could not get a S in less than 3-4 months after ordering. Unless, you ordered Performance. I ordered a P85 to get it faster and had it exactly 30 days later. And added Extended warranty again. I was worried that everything could fall apart on this unknown company and car. I hedged by bet with the Extended warranty. That was when the S was less than a year old. Since then, I have paid attention to what fails. And frankly, reading both TMC and TM, I am seeing in my opinion rare instances when something fails. Rare enough that I didn't/haven't and don't intended to purchase (if available still) an extended warranty as I get close to my 46-47th month of ownership of the '17.

You also might find it comforting to know that, of the failed MCU1/eMMCs that I have collected data on, the least often failed year model is 2014, based on may collected count and on car sales for years 2012-2015.

 

[jddssc121]

And because I upgraded, I also consider it an investment, .

You and I have very different definitions of an investment. But to each their own! Glad you like the upgrade.

 

[Akikiki]

Everything is relative. Relative to investing in real estate, buying a Tesla is not a good idea. Relative to continuing to drive a Tesla with MCU1, upgrading to MCU2 is a brilliant strategy. It will not pay for itself in ROI, however its worth piece of mind and eliminates my S-Stress.

 

[David.85D]

but sitting my MCU2 '17 next to someone's MCU1 '17 will surely make mine more attractive and bring a higher dollar resold.

I wish I knew this to be true. Resale value of used cars reflects little if any value for options and upgrades. For example, I put my car into the carvana estimator. The rear facing seats produce an increase of a few hundred dollars. It’s likely I could sell them for $1500 or maybe $2000 separately. Don’t have the ability to remove and sell the MCU2.

I’m most vulnerable to the “peace of mind” argument. I would have quickly dropped $1k to avoid thinking more about it. $2.5k is harder to justify. That’s a lot of beer!

 

[Akikiki]

Go read my posts again. I didn't say anything about Carvana, Carmax or trading in to Tesla. No, has no value to them. But some ONE person looking for a Tesla - because these days some ONE is smarter than average, and understands when I say MCU2, is going to be more pleased than one without. If you don't believe, that's okay with me.

 

[David.85D]

Go read my posts again. I didn't say anything about Carvana, Carmax or trading in to Tesla. No, has no value to them. But some ONE person looking for a Tesla - because these days some ONE is smarter than average, and understands when I say MCU2, is going to be more pleased than one without. If you don't believe, that's okay with me.

I respect your opinion. I’m not inferring you said anything about those services. Unfortunately it’s the only quantitative data point I can get and I like knowing what the limits are. I’m fine saying that’s the worst case, but at least it’s a real value.

 

[Need]

I want to add that the value of the MCU2 upgrade also depends on if you own any MCU2 Tesla. If you have nothing else to compare to, the over the years slowing down of the MCU may not be noticeable to you. We have both and MCU 1 is horribly slow. With the MCU 2 upgrade, our '17 MX feels better than when it was new in 2017. Well, it is not really "feel" better, it IS better. Maps load faster, voice commands are better, have the backup side cameras, amount other things and I get to watch Netlfix while waiting for my wife to shop LOL.

 

[Dan Baldwin]

Everything is relative. Relative to investing in real estate, buying a Tesla is not a good idea. Relative to continuing to drive a Tesla with MCU1, upgrading to MCU2 is a brilliant strategy. It will not pay for itself in ROI, however its worth piece of mind and eliminates my S-Stress.

My sentiments exactly!

 

[hitparader]

After months of waiting for parts, I ended up taking the advice to try to set another appointment. Not sure why the original appointment wasn’t good enough to get everything in ( received “waiting on parts”emails twice a week), but happy it’s finally happening and the wait is over. Also going to do radio tuner and appointment is set for tomorrow with a 1-2 day downtime. I’m guessing it’s going to be $3k + tax. What methods of payment will they accept for pickup?

My issue is with my bank and didn’t think about the daily spending limit my debit card has. This invoice would put me over that limit. Options are to either get bank check, see if I can prepay $2k when I drop it off and pay balance on Friday when I pick it up, or to divide it across two cards. Do any of you have any experience with this?

 

[rob4448585]

My issue is with my bank and didn’t think about the daily spending limit my debit card has. This invoice would put me over that limit. Options are to either get bank check, see if I can prepay $2k when I drop it off and pay balance on Friday when I pick it up, or to divide it across two cards. Do any of you have any experience with this?

Call your bank and ask for a short term spending limit. My debit card has a 2k limit also, but I can lift it to any amount within the app for a 24 hour period.
(different topic, but you should be using a credit card for ALL purchases)

 

[hitparader]

Turns out, they didn’t receive the FM tuner. Invoice is $500 less

 

[SUPRKAR]

Turns out, they didn’t receive the FM tuner. Invoice is $500 less

I just went through the same thing waiting for months for parts what a bunch of bull.!!!!

I finally had it with Tesla and the BS with back ordering parts and not giving people a straight answer Lucid Air here I come.!

 

[Bet TSLA]

And an update. I know you've all been waiting to see if this time they finally do it.

But no. On Tuesday they texted me that they were still waiting for parts and so they'd postponed my appointment until a week from Friday (12/18). So, I continue to wait. At least this time it's only projected to be an extra week rather than for an unknown time.

Still hoping somebody has a pointer to a good checklist for this upgrade. I know quite a few people have gone home only to find that something on their car didn't work.

Picked up my car today after its upgrade yesterday. Finally! Fast. Looks good. It'll be a while before I have tried everything. For a couple of hours the app wouldn't open the frunk or trunk, but now it seems to work. It's stuck with a software update half downloaded, a state that I assume will fix itself eventually. So, looks like third time was indeed the charm.

 

[bhzmark]

Just noticed that my home 1st generation Tesla High Power Wall Connector ("HPWC") on a 100A breaker (80A maximum charge rate) defaulted to 40A after my MCU2 upgrade. It had been at 60A for years. Easy fix on my MCU2 screen... but something to watch when plugging into other Tesla Wall Connectors and HPWC at other Destination Chargers and friends with Tesla WC and HPWC who have > 40A charging available.

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Same thing happened to me with my MCU1 P85D. I couldn’t increase it up either. It seemed to be after a recent update and it went away the next day (and after I rebooted).

 

[hitparader]

So after the upgrade I can say I'm extremely pleased with all the changes and feel it was well worth it. This upgrade will certainly add many more years of ownership. I had to reprogram homelink as reported as well as some of my car settings; otherwise, everything else carried over. Also did the repeater upgrade this past Friday recommended by Akikiki which took little to no time at all with the assistance of the guide. I sincerely appreciate the time and effort of the community to make these things relatively easy for a DIYer.

Has anyone managed to get TeslaUsb working? Looking to backup to s3 using a pi zero, so I can view the sentry remotely. I've heard in an upcoming update they may allow us to have access to this feature, so putting too much time into this might not be worth it; however if anyone has been successful, it may be fun to pay around with.

 

[jw0710]

For those that got the mcu2 upgrade... Did you get charged for labor on the invoice?
Mine is showing over $200 in labor...