Tesla infotainment system upgradeable from MCU1 to MCU2

[milleron]

My upgrade was just completed. It was the third at my SC, but the other two were AP2.5, so mine was the first AP2.0. Like a few others here, I was a little concerned about encountering glitches because of inexperience on the SC's part, but they brought it off without a hitch. They finished less than 7 hours after I dropped it off.
There was 1 problem and a couple of surprises:
1. The problem, which I can NOT blame on the SC: I was fully aware that I'd have to re-pair my phone on Bluetooth and enter my Wi-Fi password again, but my iPhone will no longer connect to the car automatically when I enter the car. I don't have to repeat the pairing process, but I must enter the Bluetooth section and select "Connect device," then manually select the iPhone and click "Connect" manually. I've been through all of Tesla's troubleshooting steps three times, but this problem persists.
2. I found that, even though the car's HomeLink settings for both garage doors were transferred, I had to ditch them and enter them all over again with the doors' remotes. Then, the auto open and close functions wouldn't work until I parked the car right where I had it for pairing and then clicked Reset Position in the Home Link settings. After that, those automatic functions work better than they did before the MCU upgrade.
3. Anticipating losing my FM tuner I had set up all my local stations in TuneIn weeks ago. All those settings, even my password, and favorites were transferred to the new MCU, but, ironically, it seems like TuneIn takes longer to buffer when changing stations now, once they start playing, they stream flawlessly with perfect fidelity.

So I think the upgrade process was flawless. I commend the crew at the Columbus Ohio SC.

 

[viper2ko]

My MCU is needing reboots very frequently now. Losing streaming services requiring reboot. Is this a sign the end is near

 

[croman]

My MCU is needing reboots very frequently now. Losing streaming services requiring reboot. Is this a sign the end is near

Yes that is exactly what happened 5 or 6 weeks before I lost mcu. Your emmc seems to be failing.

 

[viper2ko]

Yes that is exactly what happened 5 or 6 weeks before I lost mcu. Your emmc seems to be failing.

I have a service appt next month to get my AC repaired and FSD installed. I added today if they could check the life remaining on my emmc. Wonder if they will do it?

 

[croman]

I have a service appt next month to get my AC repaired and FSD installed. I added today if they could check the life remaining on my emmc. Wonder if they will do it?

Can't hurt. I tried to ascertain wear level on my emmc when I had my winter tires swapped and was told they couldn't see beyond it the fact it operated normally and 2 months later my MCU was dead.

 

[viper2ko]

Can't hurt. I tried to ascertain wear level on my emmc when I had my winter tires swapped and was told they couldn't see beyond it the fact it operated normally and 2 months later my MCU was dead.

I do recall seeing service now has a way to read the estimated write and wear remaining on the emmc. Now the debate. Do I get the 6 yr xcare warranty for 5k. Or mcu2 for $2500

 

[Akikiki]

viper2ko, sorry to hear. What year is yours?

 

[NJGC]

The core charge is $1,000. And for ~$1,600 you can get a replacement MCU installed, and configured, by Tesla with a 4 year warranty. So I don't think it is worth the core charge. (It is obvious that Tesla really wants to keep them.)

But the MCU upgrade includes the IC as well, so that would add some value.

how come people are fine paying a 2nd time for a device they paid for already in the first place when they bought the car??!!
Tesla should not get allow to charge you for your own piece of device!!!
does any body fight this abuse back?

 

[MP3Mike]

how come people are fine paying a 2nd time for a device they paid for already in the first place when they bought the car??!!
Tesla should not get allow to charge you for your own piece of device!!!
does any body fight this abuse back?

It is the same thing as Tesla saying the upgrade is $3,500 but they will pay you a $1,000 if you let them keep your old MCU.

 

[croman]

how come people are fine paying a 2nd time for a device they paid for already in the first place when they bought the car??!!
Tesla should not get allow to charge you for your own piece of device!!!
does any body fight this abuse back?

It's obviously not the same device.

Furthermore, core charges are industry standard in many industries but particularly cars.

 

[NJGC]

It's obviously not the same device.

Furthermore, core charges are industry standard in many industries but particularly cars.

My comment is not about paying for the MCU 2 upgrade. It costs whatever Tesla wants it to cost. My comment is about you as the owner of your car (from bumper to bumper) not able to get your piece back from a service center unless you pay for it once again! So say you ask Tesla to swap your summer tires to the brand new winter tires you bought from them. They gonna charge you your OEM summer tires your got with the car to get them back???! Nonsense!
This computer is part of the car. You bought it so it is yours at no additional cost!

 

[croman]

My comment is not about paying for the MCU 2 upgrade. It costs whatever Tesla wants it to cost. My comment is about you as the owner of your car (from bumper to bumper) not able to get your piece back from a service center unless you pay for it once again! So say you ask Tesla to swap your summer tires to the brand new winter tires you bought from them. They gonna charge you your OEM summer tires your got with the car to get them back???! Nonsense!
This computer is part of the car. You bought it so it is yours at no additional cost!

While that seems logical, you ignore that you could've, as the buyer, obtained information on all the core charges. The main pack has a core charge and I'd rather pay half the cost of a new battery and let Tesla keep my old battery if they ever (and I really hope they do) offer battery upgrades.

As @MP3Mike said, they could charge more for the MCU2 and I would be stuck with an mcu1 I don't want. I'll pass on that.

 

[NJGC]

Hum...I see what you mean. So instead of charging more, you sell them/they buy the original MCU...so it would not be like they making up a price and charging you just to refrain you from getting your own stuff back...would make sense...thanks.

 

[eJonny]

Hum...I see what you mean. So instead of charging more, you sell them/they buy the original MCU...so it would not be like they making up a price and charging you just to refrain you from getting your own stuff back...would make sense...thanks.

It’s not uncommon in the technology industry for there to be upgrade programs like this. It’s even becoming common in consumer technology. I don’t think people are surprised when they get an iPhone upgrade at a lower price than a brand new iPhone, that Apple expects them to turn in their old iPhone.

What is really uncommon, and maybe unique which makes this confusing for some, is for a car company to offer this significant of a processing upgrade. Most car companies try to get you to buy a brand new car (but you do get to keep your old car).

 

[Akikiki]

how come people are fine paying a 2nd time for a device they paid for already in the first place when they bought the car??!!
Tesla should not get allow to charge you for your own piece of device!!!
does any body fight this abuse back?

This process is no unlike what other auto manufacturers, dealerships, shop, independent garages have been doing for 75+ years when you buy a re-manufactured part. Simply because Tesla did not break it out with extra line items to show the price before core and the cost/credit of the core then another to subtract the core does not mean they didn't allow for the core.

In summer 2019, Tesla was still charging people for a new MCU because they were not having the old ones re-manufactured. I suppose the let most of the old ones go with the customers that asked for them. That's probably why we see some on eBay. But sometime after Sep '19, they started giving a credit for the core when they kept it and deducted it from the price of the new MCU replacement.

I have an example of what I am saying from a post in the "Likely MCU Failure MCU1 eMMC" thread date was Sep 12, 2019. When I saw it I bookmarked it in case I needed it. We weren't there for the staff meeting at Tesla, but I suspect some customer feedback complaining about the cost of replacing and there were re-manufactured ones, led to the decision to start doing it. The price came down to $2400-2500 for a while. And then again in Feb '20 it came down again to $1300. Its easy to sit and criticize everything Tesla does that you don't like. But they have earned some attaboys and respect for providing a re-manufactured unit and then again for bring its price down. You know another car company that has done that? Sometimes folks here make comments like they have never owned another car in their lives.

I agree with you this should not be a flaw in the car. I think its safe to say they wished it didn't happen. They too have learned what not to do.

 

[Akikiki]

So say you ask Tesla to swap your summer tires to the brand new winter tires you bought from them. They gonna charge you your OEM summer tires your got with the car to get them back???! Nonsense!
This computer is part of the car. You bought it so it is yours at no additional cost!

I'm sorry, I have read and re-read your post above three times. It makes no sense. Closest I can come to understanding what you are saying is, don't take your car and extra wheels to Tesla if you don't trust getting them back.

 

[viper2ko]

viper2ko, sorry to hear. What year is yours?

August 2017 build

 

[S100D]

I get the price is a tough pill I’ll to swallow, but seriously, if you’re planning on holding to the car for a while, I think you are really going to enjoy essentially a “new life” on an old (in Tesla years) car. You’ll also be happy to not play the guessing game of “will I get it?” when you see a new feature come out.

If you get the extended warranty through X-Care still, don’t forget to ask for the extra 25k mile free coverage now that you’ll have a new IC and MCU.

@Red_DS, is the X-Care warranty the same as the one Tesla offers?

 

[2101Guy]

My upgrade was just completed. It was the third at my SC, but the other two were AP2.5, so mine was the first AP2.0. Like a few others here, I was a little concerned about encountering glitches because of inexperience on the SC's part, but they brought it off without a hitch. They finished less than 7 hours after I dropped it off.
There was 1 problem and a couple of surprises:
1. The problem, which I can NOT blame on the SC: I was fully aware that I'd have to re-pair my phone on Bluetooth and enter my Wi-Fi password again, but my iPhone will no longer connect to the car automatically when I enter the car. I don't have to repeat the pairing process, but I must enter the Bluetooth section and select "Connect device," then manually select the iPhone and click "Connect" manually. I've been through all of Tesla's troubleshooting steps three times, but this problem persists.
2. I found that, even though the car's HomeLink settings for both garage doors were transferred, I had to ditch them and enter them all over again with the doors' remotes. Then, the auto open and close functions wouldn't work until I parked the car right where I had it for pairing and then clicked Reset Position in the Home Link settings. After that, those automatic functions work better than they did before the MCU upgrade.
3. Anticipating losing my FM tuner I had set up all my local stations in TuneIn weeks ago. All those settings, even my password, and favorites were transferred to the new MCU, but, ironically, it seems like TuneIn takes longer to buffer when changing stations now, once they start playing, they stream flawlessly with perfect fidelity.

So I think the upgrade process was flawless. I commend the crew at the Columbus Ohio SC.

Re your bluetooth connection issue. Are all of your doors closed and are you sitting in the drivers seat when checking your auto-connect bluetooth connection?

 

[Red_DS]

@Red_DS, is the X-Care warranty the same as the one Tesla offers?

No X-Care is a third party extended warranty. https://www.xcelerateauto.com/x-care/

Not too long ago, I called them and asked if they gave a discount on their extended warranty cost if I’m already paying out of pocket for the MCU 2 since MCU1 is a huge failure risk for their underwriting.

While they didn’t offer a discount, they did give an additional 25k miles of coverage for free if I sent them the documentation showing I did the upgrade. I posted about it in another thread MCU2 Upgrade and X-Care Auto Concession