I take it that means you’re out of warranty? Mine was too, but just barely. I was able to get them to agree to pay for it after some negotiation, but I don’t know how repeatable that would be if you are well passed warranty. While Tesla denies it is related to the MCU failure, I think part of my success was I was able to show them the USB issues started while I was in warranty, and that it had gone unresolved despite the USB symptoms being on in-warranty service tickets.
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USB Device Malfunction
- Thread starter jkdman123
- Start date
That hasn't been my experience with Tesla. I had similar a problem and the service center tried several things to fix it and when those didn't work they installed a new MCU and fixed it.
I'm still in warranty, they're just not doing anything anymore. So at this point it costs me two to three hours of driving, plus a full day sitting around while they rip my car apart. And because the problem is intermitent they've either come back to say there was nothing wrong, they couldn't reproduce the problem, and so they aren't going to replace an MCU. They refused to replace the USB hub itself until I escalated through two managers.
Service centers don't patch software though, only developers do.
CarlThompson
Member
@DrDabbles
I had an issue with my prior Model 3 where the stereo just didn't sound right. It was hard to put my finger on but the sound was just off and the quality varied greatly seemingly depending on how long I'd been listening to the stereo or how warm it was or whatever. It was all over the place. I rented another Model 3 and I could definitely hear a difference between the great sound in the rental and my car and it was driving me crazy because the great sound quality of the sound system was one of the contributing factors for me buying the car.
But every time I took it to service to be looked at they'd tell me it sounded fine to them and eventually told me that any variance was "in spec" and they wouldn't do anything with it. In a way I don't blame them; it did function after all.
So I took a chance and guessed that the problem was the amp and told them to replace the amp and I would pay for it myself out of pocket. They did it and you know what? The new amp sounded perfect and it worked exactly as I wanted and expected. You could argue that I shouldn't have had to pay for the replacement myself but I'm really glad I did. If I hadn't there would always be that one big thing in my mind detracting from my enjoyment of a car I otherwise liked more than every other car I've owned (a lot).
I will say one thing about Tesla: they charged me their cost with no markup for the amp and a very small token amount for labor. So the whole procedure only cost like $350 - $400 if I recall correctly. Just paying for it myself saved me a lot of negative emotions in the end and was way cheaper than moving to another car!
I had an issue with my prior Model 3 where the stereo just didn't sound right. It was hard to put my finger on but the sound was just off and the quality varied greatly seemingly depending on how long I'd been listening to the stereo or how warm it was or whatever. It was all over the place. I rented another Model 3 and I could definitely hear a difference between the great sound in the rental and my car and it was driving me crazy because the great sound quality of the sound system was one of the contributing factors for me buying the car.
But every time I took it to service to be looked at they'd tell me it sounded fine to them and eventually told me that any variance was "in spec" and they wouldn't do anything with it. In a way I don't blame them; it did function after all.
So I took a chance and guessed that the problem was the amp and told them to replace the amp and I would pay for it myself out of pocket. They did it and you know what? The new amp sounded perfect and it worked exactly as I wanted and expected. You could argue that I shouldn't have had to pay for the replacement myself but I'm really glad I did. If I hadn't there would always be that one big thing in my mind detracting from my enjoyment of a car I otherwise liked more than every other car I've owned (a lot).
I will say one thing about Tesla: they charged me their cost with no markup for the amp and a very small token amount for labor. So the whole procedure only cost like $350 - $400 if I recall correctly. Just paying for it myself saved me a lot of negative emotions in the end and was way cheaper than moving to another car!
S&B's M3
Member
. I think I still have an Atari console in the attic....Obviously we’re all speculating, without running whatever diagnostics are definitive, that your issue is the same as mine et al. However, from your symptoms, it certainly sounds as though it is. I got my car fixed because a reddit post I followed convinced me the issue was the MCU, and the OP’s experience and multiple rounds with their SC convinced me to keep it up until they correctly diagnosed mine. I was lucky they took care of it, or it would have been an $1800 repair. There’s no arguing Tesla’s service set-up is a hurdle, especially if your SC is hours away, but I wouldn’t give up if you’re still in warranty. I used other’s social media accounts of their USB woes to get them to look at the MCU, and when they did, they had to acknowledge it was broken (or defective, our redditor friend and I think it was defective-from-the-get-go HW3). You do you, of course, but I suggest you make a new ticket and tell them that you’ve had multiple people online tell you that your symptoms are essentially identical and that in their experience it turned out to be a bad MCU, and ask them to please confirm that’s not the case for you. I think they know about the pervasiveness of this issue now, and are more likely to correct it if you press them than they were even six months ago. You just need to get them to run the right diagnostic. However you proceed, I wish you good luck.
I'm absolutely not paying out of pocket for something that should have been repaired under warranty. Especially if the MCU has a faulty component and requires replacement. I expect better from my John Deere service than that, so I'm not paying more to fix a broken $75k car that should have been fixed three years ago when this behavior suddenly showed up. I also wouldn't pay to replace a faulty amp, though.
When the Mercedes EQE goes on sale, I'll be trading my Model 3. Tesla service (I've had multiple visits) and Tesla software (I've had multiple bugs) have put that nail in the coffin for me. I was happy to get a minimalist vehicle, I was happy with a noisy ride due to lack of sound deadening, and I was accepting of the few minor issues that Tesla fixed early on. But as time has gone on, Tesla has made it clear that service is their lowest priority and that they have no intention of addressing it. Before my vehicle gets out of warranty, I'll have my next vehicle lined up.
The real shame in all of this is that I intended to keep this car for the very long term. I still own a vehicle I purchased in 2005, and I drove it right up until October of 2018 when I got my Model 3 delivered. But I won't be buying any more Tesla products until there's a major shakeup over there. And I say that as a shareholder, so, it's not like I don't have the company's financial future in my best interest.
Thank you. I hope everyone in this thread finds a permanent fix.
I can understand that. The software updates are a double edged sword, both amazing, useful, fun, etc. but also the source of ‘omg, now what?’ frustrations and also the inability to tell if a problem is hardware that needs to be addressed (obvious in any other car that develops a new problem) or a transient software bug that will automagically disappear in an update or two.
As for the service center, phhhhh. First, mobile service is an amazing feature, and in my experience the guys at the SC center are dedicated, helpful, and good at their job, but damn, does Tesla make it difficult. They are clearly overwhelmed, a byproduct of their rapid growth I think, but it is a huge issue. Service appointments weeks out, no guarantee of a loaner, no way to plan your day because simple process questions that could be handled in a two minute phone call have to go through a text messaging app that goes unanswered for days…
I could go on, but I suspect you‘ve had all the same experiences. My car was built on GA4 back in the day, and shoved onto a train before the stock market could rip them a new one, so I’ve had more than my fair share of service appointments. For me, the one saving grace is the SC is only 20 minutes away, if it was hours away, I might be trading my car in too (probably for another Tesla though
).
redmunds
Member
I don't know what your situation is, but I would consider dropping your car off and letting them have it for a few days. That way, they wouldn't be concerned with resolving issue by the end of the day (because you're waiting in lobby) and could (hopefully) do a deeper analysis.
That's been my gripe since 2016. A good service tech, or a shop manager, is worth their weight in gold. But they aren't going to sit around getting overworked, under-paid, and under-appreciated with no end in sight. I've had friends that worked in shops, and they hustled hard, but when the owner stopped recognizing them they went somewhere else real quick. It's just the nature of the work.
I offered that when my HVAC stopped working (non-heat pump Model 3, software bug related). But they couldn't offer me a loaner even when booking a month out. So that's a total non-starter for me, and $100 in Uber credits is nonsense given I live more than an hour away from the nearest location. There is hope that Tesla is building a SC in New Hampshire finally, but that's still years away in a best case scenario. My car will be several years out of warranty by then.
manddarran
Member
hybridbear
Active Member
We have been having USB issues too, getting the "USB device malfunction I/O error" message. We have a 2016 Model S with HW3 & MCU2. We use a 500 GB Samsung T7 SSD. We only use 1 of the 2 USB ports. The passenger side one that we've used historically for the Sentry Mode drive has stopped working completely, any time we plug the drive in there it says we need to format it to use it. Plugging in to the driver side USB port usually works but occasionally gives the "USB device malfunction I/O error" message. Unplugging the drive & plugging it back in usually works, but sometimes it takes a few times of unplugging & plugging it back in before it will start working again. Sometimes upon plugging in we immediately again get the "USB device malfunction I/O error" message, and other times we'll get the message that we need to format the drive first. I have reformatted the drive both with the quick formatting & the full formatting. I've formatted it both on Windows 10 & MacOS. Nothing seems to resolve it permanently. Any ideas?
hybridbear
Active Member
na5m
Member
The computers in Tesla vehicles are Linux based. So there is no excuse for USB drives failing to be recognized. My Linux Mint recognizes practically everything I plug into it. Shame on Tesla. So frustrating that you can't plug in your USB drive filled with all your favorite songs only to have the Tesla computer say to you "f*ck off with your music collection!"
S&B's M3
Member
Not everyone is having those issues. While I think some are on the up and up, I think a great many are doing it solely to get a free MCU upgrade from Tesla. I have had no issues on my 2019 3 and I've been through 50 or so software updates and I'm currently running a 500 GB SSD disk.
Knightshade
Well-Known Member
Yup... I've been using a 256GB Samsung USB stick for music since late 2018, not a single issue.
Linux isn't magic, it can't fix bad hardware.
I had the same USB drive connected to a Raspberry Pi for years without issue. In the Tesla I have all kinds of problems with that drive. Although, I did recently purchase a USB Sandisk microSD adapter and have not had issues with it.
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