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To MCU2 or not to MCU2?
- Thread starter domodan
- Start date
I'm wanting to upgrade the whole MCU2 but I'm scared of making my car into a (unique) snowflake. I've seen some reports of problems after-upgrade. Can anyone confirm that they did the upgrade, but it didn't cause new weird problems?
Right now, the software team has to validate their releases against my car, because I'm 1 of 150,000 and if they screw something up, they have to fix it or else Tesla gets 8 Million service requests.
If I upgrade, I become 1 of (dozens?) that have an old car with a new MCU2. If Tesla designed the architecture right, that won't matter because it's more like "I become 1 of millions with MCU2". I just don't have high confidence. (Tesla refuses to fix problems unless they affect lots of people; my yellow ringed MCU1 is testimony to that)
Anyone upgraded and happy with it now?
Right now, the software team has to validate their releases against my car, because I'm 1 of 150,000 and if they screw something up, they have to fix it or else Tesla gets 8 Million service requests.
If I upgrade, I become 1 of (dozens?) that have an old car with a new MCU2. If Tesla designed the architecture right, that won't matter because it's more like "I become 1 of millions with MCU2". I just don't have high confidence. (Tesla refuses to fix problems unless they affect lots of people; my yellow ringed MCU1 is testimony to that)
Anyone upgraded and happy with it now?
Huh, this is a weird question. I don't remember seeing a single unhappy comment among those of us who actually upgraded. All the scepticism is from people who are still on MCU1.
I have a 2013 car and MCU2 has been perfect. Only downside is the dark reversing camera, but that is the same with on all MCU2's. So "you are 1 of millions with MCU2" at least in that case.
Yea they got rid of the keep your screen discount. Honestly they might just reuse the old screen, do we know?
He told me they replace both the screen and the instrument cluster. I’m guessing there’s some embedded stuff that would take enough time and have a high enough failure rate in the manual work that it’s easier and cheaper to just replace. Screens are cheap, especially when purchased in bulk.
Im 100% happy with the performance of MCU2 over my old MCU1. Everything happens exponentially faster, in my case. Navigation directions, voice commands, changing stations within same or to a different streaming service, voice to text is better/more reliable. I havent even touched the games yet, but the performance of MCU2 over MCU1 is (again, in my case) astounding. Even almost entirely solved the "lost connection" errors I constantly got when attempting to use summon with MCU1
Didnt they fix the yellow border issue with the new screen? Getting the new one is worth it if that is the case
I've been following these eMMC threads since the fall warranty extension, and for a year or so before that as well. Like most here, wondering whether to just do the 64 GB eMMC replacement and stick with MCU1, or do the $1500 upgrade to MCU2. I have a 2016.5 AP2 refresh Model S. My specific situation is that my 4-year warranty expiration is coming up in 2 months, so I'm looking at this partially from an out-of-warranty perspective. The extended warranty situation has not been clear to me with the two options.
With the fall warranty extension, prior to the recall, they announced a 8-year extended warranty on the eMMC. My guess is if (or should say when) the original eMMC failed, you would not only receive a 64 eMMC, but if that also somehow failed before 8-years, that probably you'd get free replacements (the 64 eMMC's also can eventually fail, though it will ltake longer) if it happened within the original 8 years.
OPTION 1: Stick with MCU1
Now with the voluntary recall, they will be proactive replacing everyone with the 64 eMMC over the next year or so. The wording on the 8-year extended warranty is gone. So for those sticking with MCU1, once you get the 64 eMMC, what is the warranty? Just your original 4 years? Or 1-year from installation of the 64 eMMC, like a repair part? Or for 8-years, as with the fall extension?
OPTION 2: Upgrade to MCU2
If I upgrade to MCU2, I think the warranty is just 1-year from date of install, whether I do it before or after my original 4-year warranty is up?
I'm planning on holding on to this car for at least 8 years, and the electronics are frankly my biggest big $$$ out-of-warranty concern (knock on wood I've had relatively minimal quality issues with my Model S thus far). My feeling is that unless I'm really itching for the new Infotainment features, I get the best warranty coverage sticking with MCU1 as long as possible. I'll get at least one year, perhaps up to 4 years of additional warranty on the 64 eMMC. Then later if it fails out of warranty, I can probably spring for MCU2 for $1500 then, and get a further one year warranty?
Conversely, worst-scenario is I spring for MCU2 right now, and bad luck it fails one year from now. I would have to pay out-of-pocket again for another MCU2 at the 5-year mark. Did they even say that out-of-warranty replacements of MCU2 are also $1500, or could it be even more, since it would be a replacement, not and upgrade?
With the fall warranty extension, prior to the recall, they announced a 8-year extended warranty on the eMMC. My guess is if (or should say when) the original eMMC failed, you would not only receive a 64 eMMC, but if that also somehow failed before 8-years, that probably you'd get free replacements (the 64 eMMC's also can eventually fail, though it will ltake longer) if it happened within the original 8 years.
OPTION 1: Stick with MCU1
Now with the voluntary recall, they will be proactive replacing everyone with the 64 eMMC over the next year or so. The wording on the 8-year extended warranty is gone. So for those sticking with MCU1, once you get the 64 eMMC, what is the warranty? Just your original 4 years? Or 1-year from installation of the 64 eMMC, like a repair part? Or for 8-years, as with the fall extension?
OPTION 2: Upgrade to MCU2
If I upgrade to MCU2, I think the warranty is just 1-year from date of install, whether I do it before or after my original 4-year warranty is up?
I'm planning on holding on to this car for at least 8 years, and the electronics are frankly my biggest big $$$ out-of-warranty concern (knock on wood I've had relatively minimal quality issues with my Model S thus far). My feeling is that unless I'm really itching for the new Infotainment features, I get the best warranty coverage sticking with MCU1 as long as possible. I'll get at least one year, perhaps up to 4 years of additional warranty on the 64 eMMC. Then later if it fails out of warranty, I can probably spring for MCU2 for $1500 then, and get a further one year warranty?
Conversely, worst-scenario is I spring for MCU2 right now, and bad luck it fails one year from now. I would have to pay out-of-pocket again for another MCU2 at the 5-year mark. Did they even say that out-of-warranty replacements of MCU2 are also $1500, or could it be even more, since it would be a replacement, not and upgrade?
Hank42
Legacy Supporter
I have a 2012 Model S - VERY EARLY VIN - so I hear where you are coming form regarding "snowflake" and issues. My options at the time were limited so I did the upgrade to fix the emmc issue and some minor bubbling.
I had mine upgraded in June and it went without a hitch. No residual problems. From that perspective, I think you can rest assured that upgrading in an older vehicle is not a problem for Tesla.
Am I happy that I upgraded?
I lost audio performance and backup-camera visibility is poor. Tesla made some limited attempts to fix both, but they are nowhere near where they were with MCU1 - I just had to get used to it. Happy that the car works again? Yes, Happy with the upgrade? Not particularly as it cost met $2,500 and I lost functionality I cherish and gained functionality that has no value to me.
Did I gain anything?
I can now play games, and watch Netflix, but I use my car to drive, not play games or watch TV.
My year Model S did not have many of the bells and features that MCU2 show off MCU2's abilities such as autopilot visualizations, backup sensors, sentry mode etc, so all of that is lost on me. I also was lucky enough to not have any issues with the browser, so I don't notice an improvement there either. (maybe a little bit, but it's so rarely used, not a game changer in my case).
Additional thoughts
I think if I had a newer model S, one with more features to begin with, I'd be happier with the MCU2 trade-offs.
But I am very happy with the work Tesla Service did - they got it installed and upgraded on my old vehicle in one visit with no lingering issues other than the sound and camera - which are not issues related to my specific install, but rather affect all MCU2 upgrades.
Hope that's helpful to you!
Not sure why this still comes up. Tesla developed a UV device to get rid of the yellow border on those older screens. I had mine done last year and it was perfect. Not all SCs have the device, but if they have it, it's just a couple of hours job under warranty.
Having said that, I had the MCU2/HW3 upgrade done recently, and they didn't offer me any money to keep the old screen. And my two bits on the MCU2 upgrade is... do it! It's like getting a new car, especially since they also upgrade AP2 and AP2.5 to HW3 at the same time, even if you don't have FSD.
Now going into day 2 of this upgrade. Hopefully the last day. I am developing an intense dislike of the loaner car they gave me. It's stuck in chill mode. So every time I floor it it's like "surprise fool! I'm really a prius!".
Is this true, can anyone else confirm it? I'm about to purchase a 2016.5 90d. It has AP2 and I was a little bummed when I found out I won't get dashcam without also paying $10k to upgrade to FSD
Which SC is it in? Is it an older, uncommon configuration? Most folks have been updated within 2 days, with some in less than 5 hours. Apparently, the most time consuming part is the download and reconfiguration of the software. Actual mechanical work is just a couple of hours. So a lot can depend on how experienced your SC is. In my case, I dropped it off at 10:30am one day, and it was ready at 1pm the next day. And this was at a SC that just opened in the last 6 months.
Mine is old but not that unusual. They said today they've been slammed. But I've got a free loaner so I can't complain. But I'm still going to complain anyways.
From what I’ve read here, they stopped the complimentary HW3 upgrade when they lowered the price to $1,500.
Thanks for the comments of support... It is hard to know when things go well, because usually people complain when there are issues. I'll probably upgrade, if for no other reason than to get dashcam functionality.
The problem with the yellow border thing is Tesla's ridiculous legal language around it. They offered me a 1-time effort to remedy, but they specifically said it may not fix it, if it did fix it then it may return later, and they owe me nothing and their obligation is considered done. I said "no thanks", partly because that's an insulting stance (and I really do not want to court conflict with Tesla), and partly because I figured the day would come when I'd swap the MCU anyway. and here we are
The problem with the yellow border thing is Tesla's ridiculous legal language around it. They offered me a 1-time effort to remedy, but they specifically said it may not fix it, if it did fix it then it may return later, and they owe me nothing and their obligation is considered done. I said "no thanks", partly because that's an insulting stance (and I really do not want to court conflict with Tesla), and partly because I figured the day would come when I'd swap the MCU anyway. and here we are
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