To MCU2 or not to MCU2?

[domodan]

I’ve got a 2016 P90D with 62k miles. I really like the car. I like the free supercharging, and the car is incredibly clean. I don’t drive much normally, and during COVID I drive even less (but do take some road trips).

The MCU is just slow enough and buggy enough, that it has me considering either the MCU2 upgrade or a new car. I’m wondering if I just sell this now and buy the new S (will probably cost me ~$35k-$40k to upgrade to the new non-performance car) or I spend the $1,500 to get MCU2 and keep the car another couple of years while Tesla works out the bugs.

Is the MCU2 really that much better? Will I get ANY of the $1,500 back when I do decide to sell the car? I’d love anyone’s thought or input on it. I really love the car, but the having to reboot the MCU and the non-usable voice controls is annoying (tonight my volume was stuck at about volume 7 no matter what I set the volume to...required a reboot).

I’m hesitant to give up FM radio, but also hesitant to pay $500 to keep it (very rarely use it - just feels weird not to have it). Someone - talk some sense in to me, one way or the other.

 

[galvatron]

I was just about to say... Absolutely NO BRAINER! Get the MCU2. I thought it was worth it when I paid $2500 for it. Now that it's $1500, it's definitely a no brainer. I still have to pay $500 to get my radio back, so I will end up paying $3K and I think it's still worth it. You get a $1K discount doing the upgrade now that the price dropped.

But then I realized you said you have the P90D. I believe all of those were AP1 cars... so in that case, it makes it a tougher choice. MCU2 gives people with AP2 or higher the Dashcam and Sentry Mode functionality, but you don't get that with AP1. That is a big part of the feature upgrade. If your car truly has AP1, then I would say trade it in and get a newer car with at least AP2. If you have AP2, then getting MCU2 gives your car 95% of what the most current release cars have technologically speaking.

 

[domodan]

I was just about to say... Absolutely NO BRAINER! Get the MCU2. I thought it was worth it when I paid $2500 for it. Now that it's $1500, it's definitely a no brainer. I still have to pay $500 to get my radio back, so I will end up paying $3K and I think it's still worth it. You get a $1K discount doing the upgrade now that the price dropped.

But then I realized you said you have the P90D. I believe all of those were AP1 cars... so in that case, it makes it a tougher choice. MCU2 gives people with AP2 or higher the Dashcam and Sentry Mode functionality, but you don't get that with AP1. That is a big part of the feature upgrade. If your car truly has AP1, then I would say trade it in and get a newer car with at least AP2. If you have AP2, then getting MCU2 gives your car 95% of what the most current release cars have technologically speaking.

My car is AP1. I don’t really care about sentry mode.

 

[xG35]

I just did mine today, S 75D AP1 with the radio.

answer is yes, if you plan on keeping the car for a few more years. It simply just gives it the modern touch it needed. For example, you can actually zoom the map at a reasonable time.

 

[cousin_IT]

I just did mine today, S 75D AP1 with the radio.

answer is yes, if you plan on keeping the car for a few more years. It simply just gives it the modern touch it needed. For example, you can actually zoom the map at a reasonable time.

If the rumors are true then you will get a 250 discount on the upgrade if you still have the original eMMC (read the recall threads). That puts the upgrade at 1250. I will need to upgrade to 4G anyway at the end of the year (normally 500) so my upgrade cost is 750. I'll miss the radio but can always retrofit it later.

 

[cruiserlarry]

Do it.

You bought the Tesla because you wanted the latest tech in an EV...and the MCU2 upgrade improves the entire vehicle experience (especially if you have FSD / HW3). Way less expensive than trading in for the new Model S, especially if you are not driving much anyway. Faster maps, better internet, Sentry mode, Dashcam, Netflix / YouTube ? games for when you are sitting and charging...definitely a no-brainer to me....

 

[xG35]

If the rumors are true then you will get a 250 discount on the upgrade if you still have the original eMMC (read the recall threads). That puts the upgrade at 1250. I will need to upgrade to 4G anyway at the end of the year (normally 500) so my upgrade cost is 750. I'll miss the radio but can always retrofit it later.

I did the daughter board replacement few months ago, so I aiming to get a refund on that.

 

[domodan]

If the rumors are true then you will get a 250 discount on the upgrade if you still have the original eMMC (read the recall threads). That puts the upgrade at 1250. I will need to upgrade to 4G anyway at the end of the year (normally 500) so my upgrade cost is 750. I'll miss the radio but can always retrofit it later.

I will check out the recall threads, but I was messaging back and forth with my service advisor tonight and he didn’t mention it. I’ll check those out and see if there’s something special I need to reference. He’s normally really good about being on top of stuff.

Do it.

You bought the Tesla because you wanted the latest tech in an EV...and the MCU2 upgrade improves the entire vehicle experience (especially if you have FSD / HW3). Way less expensive than trading in for the new Model S, especially if you are not driving much anyway. Faster maps, better internet, Sentry mode, Dashcam, Netflix / YouTube ? games for when you are sitting and charging...definitely a no-brainer to me....

Does the fact that I have an AP1 car change any of that thought for you? I don’t really care about Sentry Mode or Dashcam, but obviously don’t get those features with AP1 anyways.

 

[whitex]

As a point of reference, I have an AP1 MCU Model S and an AP2.5 Model S with MCU2. I fixed the emmc on the MCU1, yes it is slower for some things than MCU2, but to me MCU2 upgrade is worth no more than $500, an at $500 it would help convince me me if I can keep MCU1 for fun experiments. Of course this is just me, considering an update to a 2015 car with AP1. Everyone needs to decide on their own whether the upgrade is worth it, and everyone is different. For example, I though $5K + almost 100 hours of my work was worth it to equip my Model S with Stinger VIP dual radar and laser jamming system, others might think it's crazy (though I also know of people who paid $15K for the same system but with installation). So, whether $1,500 or $2,000 (with radio) is worth MCU2 is totally individual.

 

[dgpcolorado]

I just did mine today, S 75D AP1 with the radio.

answer is yes, if you plan on keeping the car for a few more years. It simply just gives it the modern touch it needed. For example, you can actually zoom the map at a reasonable time.

Perhaps "it depends." On my non-AP car, the map zooms fine and nav works quite well (MCU1 with LTE, installed three years ago).

Or, perhaps 2020.48.12 kills it; I wouldn't know because I am running an older version from last spring that works ok.

If the rumors are true then you will get a 250 discount on the upgrade if you still have the original eMMC (read the recall threads). That puts the upgrade at 1250. I will need to upgrade to 4G anyway at the end of the year (normally 500) so my upgrade cost is 750. I'll miss the radio but can always retrofit it later.

I got the "voluntary recall" letter early this morning and it mentions nothing about MCU2 or a discount. I suppose it could be something offered when the official notice to make an appointment is received and one schedules an appointment, but that remains to be seen.

FWIW.

 

[xG35]

I will check out the recall threads, but I was messaging back and forth with my service advisor tonight and he didn’t mention it. I’ll check those out and see if there’s something special I need to reference. He’s normally really good about being on top of stuff.


Does the fact that I have an AP1 car change any of that thought for you? I don’t really care about Sentry Mode or Dashcam, but obviously don’t get those features with AP1 anyways.

I have AP1 and I will say yes; and i fought this over a year. Yes not because the tech is worthwhile. It is not new tech or ground breaking anything. Yes because you can bring a 4 years old S to a modern Tesla experience. Netflix and YT aside, I am just glad my map can load like the 3 that we got. Pressing skip music is instant vs taking a few second for it to respond.

Like Whitex mentions, it is by no mean mandatory and is perrsonal... I had the repaired MCU1 with the daughterboard replacement for 3 months. And it does work, and it did made the MCU1 faster.

 

[henderrj]

What I want to know is Will Tesla offer the MCU 2 rather than give me my $1,500 back? That's what I paid to repair my MCU 1. And, should I get take the $1,500 or should I take the MCU 2? I'm guessing that's why they lowered the price of the MCU 2 upgrade to that price. They knew this recall was coming and that way they could just say "hey why not take that upgrade". Thoughts?

 

[xG35]

What I want to know is Will Tesla offer the MCU 2 rather than give me my $1,500 back? That's what I paid to repair my MCU 1. And, should I get take the $1,500 or should I take the MCU 2? I'm guessing that's why they lowered the price of the MCU 2 upgrade to that price. They knew this recall was coming and that way they could just say "hey why not take that upgrade". Thoughts?

I think they should at least credit you the daughterboard replacement.

 

[whitex]

Pressing skip music is instant vs taking a few second for it to respond.

Funny you should mention this, when I did my fixed-emmc-MCU1 vs. stock MCU2 usage comparison, skipping streaming songs was the one and only thing where MCU1 was noticeably faster than the MCU2 - no clue why.

 

[whitex]

What I want to know is Will Tesla offer the MCU 2 rather than give me my $1,500 back? That's what I paid to repair my MCU 1. And, should I get take the $1,500 or should I take the MCU 2? I'm guessing that's why they lowered the price of the MCU 2 upgrade to that price. They knew this recall was coming and that way they could just say "hey why not take that upgrade". Thoughts?

Or perhaps they need more MCU1 trade-ins for the recall, so they offered cheaper MCU2 upgrades to generate more trade-ins (unless I'm wrong and at $1,500 you get you keep your MCU1, anyone here got to keep theirs at $1,500 MCU2 upgrade?). Of course more upgrades also reduces the need for refurbished MCU1's, so a win-win for Tesla.

 

[Ciaopec]

I’ve got a 2016 P90D with 62k miles. I really like the car. I like the free supercharging, and the car is incredibly clean. I don’t drive much normally, and during COVID I drive even less (but do take some road trips).

The MCU is just slow enough and buggy enough, that it has me considering either the MCU2 upgrade or a new car. I’m wondering if I just sell this now and buy the new S (will probably cost me ~$35k-$40k to upgrade to the new non-performance car) or I spend the $1,500 to get MCU2 and keep the car another couple of years while Tesla works out the bugs.

Is the MCU2 really that much better? Will I get ANY of the $1,500 back when I do decide to sell the car? I’d love anyone’s thought or input on it. I really love the car, but the having to reboot the MCU and the non-usable voice controls is annoying (tonight my volume was stuck at about volume 7 no matter what I set the volume to...required a reboot).

I’m hesitant to give up FM radio, but also hesitant to pay $500 to keep it (very rarely use it - just feels weird not to have it). Someone - talk some sense in to me, one way or the other.

I have a 2016 90D with 145,000 miles and AP1. The MCU has been buggy for the past 6 months or so. I had planned to fix it or even upgrade it before all the recall talk began. I originally opted for the eMMC replacement since I don't need Netflix (when I supercharge I linger as little as possible. Food, bathroom breaks, coffee are more important). Of course sentry mode won't work with mine but I don't care about losing AM/FM as streaming is pretty much what I use on long trips (and there have been a lot in 4 years). Also, the lower price was nice, too.

Since those original calculations things have changed. Not only is the eMMC failing, the screen has developed the LCD mess around the edges and will need to be replaced. So, I made an appointment for the MCU2 upgrade a month and a half ago as the discounted price was the same as the old hardware.

As @whitex said its all a personal choice so I chose the MCU2 path. Another 2 weeks will tell if they discount it further. I just received the voluntary recall email this morning.

 

[20165MS]

I have a 2016.5 AP1 90D. My car was in for MCU1 issues and I decided to pay the $2,500.00 to upgrade to MCU2. I interact with the car quite a bit, and it was such a dark cloud over me not knowing what I would get day to day. Every 2-3 second delay, not a big deal in and of itself, had me wondering if it was about to crash. Every random reboot was unsafe because of the distraction waiting for it to come back online while I was driving. Waiting for the car to power up seemed the longest 15-30 seconds. Etc. Etc.

As luck would have it, the night before the car was ready, Tesla dropped the price to $1,500. I also added the tuner upgrade.

That said, Like just about everyone here, I could have just upgraded to a new car, but, given the fact that my 90D (like yours) is so clean and low mileage, I have a hard time justifying $40k for what feels to me a similar, albeit enhanced, car. Even the 21 refresh isn't interesting enough to justify the money when what I have is similar in my eyes too. Yes, there are tons of benefits.....but $40k worth?

So my $0.02 is to upgrade the MCU. $1,500-$2,000 is nothing compared to a new car.

 

[domodan]

Thanks friends. Going to schedule the appointment now.

 

[20165MS]

Thanks friends. Going to schedule the appointment now.

BTW, while AP1 cars don't see some improvements that AP2+ do, I will say that the AP1 definitely seems more stable and precise. I don't know if it's because of the processing power, or, the fact that im not nitpicking every little twitch! Good luck and I believe you will be very satisfied. The immediate depreciation and other costs of a new car are less than the upgrade for sure.

 

[sonofagunn]

I think MCU2 is a no brainer for me. I have a bubbly/leaky screen, 8 GB eMMC that's starting to fail, and a 3G modem.