Well, luck finally caught up with me... Main pack failed...

[RDoc]

Good thing I'm in Wisconsin

Hopefully you're not recording the phone conversations without telling the person on the other end. That's likely asking for trouble, although my understanding is that in Wisconsin, strictly speaking, it's legal.

 

[bonnie]

Hopefully you're not recording the phone conversations without telling the person on the other end. That's likely asking for trouble, although my understanding is that in Wisconsin, strictly speaking, it's legal.

Won't be legal if it includes a party in California though, and they haven't agreed to be recorded. And a lot of times you're talking to someone in California, even though you dialed a local number.

 

[RDoc]

Won't be legal if it includes a party in California though, and they haven't agreed to be recorded. And a lot of times you're talking to someone in California, even though you dialed a local number.

Good point, that's my understanding as well.

 

[islandbayy]

I do believe that Tesla likes to swap out whole assemblies such as complete battery packs and drive units to assist in quick and straight forward repairs. Somewhat of a situation analogous to replacing a whole engine because a spark plug failed. In the unique case of the Tesla, it's easier for them to simply swap out the components and get the car back on the road instead of making specific repairs.

What everyone is trying to figure out is does this model help us customers or hurt us when it comes to out of warrenty repairs. For example: the contactor gets fried in the battery. The battery as a whole is likely just fine. Can it be repaired without sending back to tesla? I think so, based on some threads posted here on TMC showing the insides of the battery. But will they? Or, will they charge us $35,000 for a new or refurbished battery? Which would be fine if they give us $34,500 as a core exchange. Otherwise I would rather just spend the labor to repair the $100 contactor that actually failed.

My other big concern is that a failure in one component can cascade down the line on many other components. Such as an inverter problem ruining the battery. Two big buck items. Which one failed first? who knows. Who is responsible for what? I dunno. If my drive unit fails at 60K miles and takes out the battery, is the battery warrantied? Is the Drive Unit warrantied? A lot of questions and very few answers from Tesla.

I would really like Tesla to be more transparent about there service, especially out of warranty service. A lot of customers like me are burning through the warranties quickly. What happens next? Who can work on my car, only Telsa?

I recall Elon Musk forcefully stating that service should not be a profit center. I hope that means I can get my Tesla serviced at cost.

This was very well put!

 

[DieAbetic]

Won't be legal if it includes a party in California though, and they haven't agreed to be recorded. And a lot of times you're talking to someone in California, even though you dialed a local number.

Correct. CA (and many states) are two-party consent states for recording.

 

[islandbayy]

This is pretty much the problem. It always goes back to poor communication on Tesla's part. This isn't anything new, and the topic has been beat to death here. I have been treated very fairly by Tesla, and have no complaints, but I know of some who haven't. Since every SC is different, the results vary greatly.

I will say as well I have been treated EXTREMELY fairly by Tesla thus far, and have received service above and beyond anything I've ever gotten before.

Just talked with Highland Park, my car made it their safely, Kyle said no info on what specific failed yet, but their are lots of tool boxes and Engineers will be involved, so I know Im in good hands. They will update me as soon as they have more detailed information.
I called them, just to make sure the tow truck arrived no problem and that we were all set that way. I didn't want to bother them with a million questions at this point. I'm going to have some Pizza's sent over to them for Lunch.
Enterprise was right on time to pick me up. I'm driving a Volks Passat. Interesting vehicle, seems to go from no brakes to almost throwing me through the windshield haha. Took some getting used to. Made one stop at post office on way home, forgot to shut it off, forgot to shut it off again when I got home. Seems gas is going to cost me MORE then I had anticipated if I keep that up...... And the noise... How the heck did we ever live with our vehicles making such gastly sounds. Would be acceptable around Halloween, but....

Will update!

- - - Updated - - -

Hopefully you're not recording the phone conversations without telling the person on the other end. That's likely asking for trouble, although my understanding is that in Wisconsin, strictly speaking, it's legal.

I'm not. But even If I were, under WI Law, only the recording party needs know, so as long as I stay in WI during the recording, I'd be fine. But I have no intention to do that. I'm just making a video of the whole process outlining the outstanding Tesla Service. And so far, it's Top Notch. While still not happy of a failure, I know it will at least be made right, and I want to show it for what it is.

 

[bonnie]

I'm going to have some Pizza's sent over to them for Lunch.

Nice touch. I'm sure they will appreciate that.

... under WI Law, only the recording party needs know, so as long as I stay in WI during the recording, I'd be fine. But I have no intention to do that. I'm just making a video of the whole process outlining the outstanding Tesla Service. And so far, it's Top Notch. While still not happy of a failure, I know it will at least be made right, and I want to show it for what it is.

California courts have found that the law still applies when California residents are being recorded from out of state. Just be careful. (And I'm not going to debate the rightness or wrongness of that finding, only stating that was the outcome.)

 

[qwk]

I'm just making a video of the whole process outlining the outstanding Tesla Service. And so far, it's Top Notch. While still not happy of a failure, I know it will at least be made right, and I want to show it for what it is.

This is what I like the most. Portraying everything accurately and completely.

 

[FredTMC]

I have a strong belief that tesla will fix failed batteries and failed drive trains that are out of warrantee at a very reasonable price (refurb'd parts). They obviously can't say that because they need customers to buy the ext warrantee. I will buy the ext warrantee as well. But, honestly, we all know that Tesla needs the long term reliability to be better that ICE cars. I firmly believe they will take care of owners with major drive train or battery failures for a long time to come regardless if under warrantee or not. Finally, I also firmly believe that Tesla will work out the kinks in motor and battery failures and ultimately failure rates will continue to drop.

One caveat, normal battery degration will be treated as normal. For example, if you have 200k miles on your MS and only 80% of battery capacity remaining, tesla is not going to replace this battery at no cost to you.

 

[jomo25]

Echoing the sympathies for having this happen to your car. I'm putting a fair amount of miles on mine, but not nearly as many as Island.

As for loaner, I'm surprised you aren't getting a MS as a loaner? Is there a reason for that? I thought I saw another person in a similar situation and that was provided.

But very happy to hear that Tesla is doing a very good job of managing the situation and working with you!

 

[islandbayy]

Echoing the sympathies for having this happen to your car. I'm putting a fair amount of miles on mine, but not nearly as many as Island.

As for loaner, I'm surprised you aren't getting a MS as a loaner? Is there a reason for that? I thought I saw another person in a similar situation and that was provided.

But very happy to hear that Tesla is doing a very good job of managing the situation and working with you!

None available on such sort notice, and the service center is about a hour away, so they would need to bring two cars to me, one to drop off a loaner and a second to bring the driver back to Highland Park. I'm fine with the VW as long as it's not for weeks.

- - - Updated - - -


TESLA UPDATE: Contactors opened and closed multiple times while driving. Pack replacement has been authorized. 85kW packs on hand, but no 60's, so they are tracking one down and will update me on time frame.

 

[qwk]

TESLA UPDATE: Contactors opened and closed multiple times while driving. Pack replacement has been authorized. 85kW packs on hand, but no 60's, so they are tracking one down and will update me on time frame.

Did you ask what it would take to get you into one of the bigger packs?

 

[islandbayy]

Did you ask what it would take to get you into one of the bigger packs?

waiting for response back on that.

 

[SFOTurtle]

I have a strong belief that tesla will fix failed batteries and failed drive trains that are out of warrantee at a very reasonable price (refurb'd parts). They obviously can't say that because they need customers to buy the ext warrantee. I will buy the ext warrantee as well. But, honestly, we all know that Tesla needs the long term reliability to be better that ICE cars. I firmly believe they will take care of owners with major drive train or battery failures for a long time to come regardless if under warrantee or not. Finally, I also firmly believe that Tesla will work out the kinks in motor and battery failures and ultimately failure rates will continue to drop.

One caveat, normal battery degration will be treated as normal. For example, if you have 200k miles on your MS and only 80% of battery capacity remaining, tesla is not going to replace this battery at no cost to you.

I am hoping/thinking that this is exactly what will happen. It cannot be in Tesla's long-term interest to require folks to spend exhorbitant sums on replacing drive units and/or other issues related to the 12v battery once it's no longer under warranty. I did buy the extended warranty when I purchased with the electronics/touch screen and air suspension chiefly in mind. One would have to imagine that this will be sorted out in a few years when our warranties are expiring, or else Tesla will have a potential PR nightmare it won't need as it's rolling out the Model 3.

 

[brianman]

I went through similar emotions (but perhaps not multiplied by heat and exhaustion) when my Roadster had some problems quite a while ago. And then I realized that it really is like anything else when coming off warranty. House paid off. Do I keep fire insurance in place or risk total loss? Only I can weigh my ability to suffer the total loss and manage to replace the house vs. cost of monthly insurance. Long-term care insurance. Pay monthly fee or self-insure if the need arises? Same thing. Roadster catastrophic replacement? Let's see, I bought the battery replacement, so that leaves PEM and other pricey stuff.

All I'm saying is that I didn't find a single thing where the choice was to NOT pay insurance/extended warranty vs. take a risk on paying out some large amount. The choice is always to pay some money up front vs. paying a very large bill. If you can afford to pay the very large bill and you think the odds are low, then skip the insurance/warranty. If you can't afford the big bill, then budget in the insurance/warranty. Part of the TCO for anything, not just a Model S or Roadster.

Best of luck in getting your car back quickly. It took me a little time to fully trust that everything would be fine again (just like with anything), but I happily drive anywhere and everywhere without any worries.

except in stupid states like WA

 

[ChadS]

While I agree it would be REALLY nice if Tesla would communicate their policies more clearly, I am not worried about having to pay full retail price for a large replacement module when just a single piece in it fails. Some Roadsters have been out of warranty for a couple of years now, and Tesla has been good about only charging us for the part that failed, even if they swap out the whole thing.

 

[islandbayy]

Got word back. Paying to upgrade to the 85 is a no go :-( tesla policy. tracked down a 60 pack at the Chicago service center, is being transported to highland. will arrive tonight or tomorrow morning and I will have the car back most likely tomorrow afternoon.

 

[3mp_kwh]

I do believe that Tesla likes to swap out whole assemblies such as complete battery packs and drive units to assist in quick and straight forward repairs.

Yes, I would agree that for the in-warranty customer's sake this works pretty well.

I would really like Tesla to be more transparent about there service, especially out of warranty service. A lot of customers like me are burning through the warranties quickly. What happens next? Who can work on my car, only Telsa?

I recall Elon Musk forcefully stating that service should not be a profit center. I hope that means I can get my Tesla serviced at cost.

I'm not a customer, yet. At ~20k+ miles per year, I am just trying to look through a short telescope. The brief $600 annual service mandates, and $4,500 warranty extensions, I believe were/are profitable endeavors. Even if at cost, parts and service can get too expensive when “gotta drop the drive unit” and “need to buy a whole new one” are what you hear.

 

[30seconds]

given Elon's statements regarding the long-term importance to transitioning to EVs I would count on Telsa working to solve and improve these problems so that the vehicles are not considered as "junk" once warranty expired. I think a number of people have pointed out 1. the ability for service to quickly swap components - including drive trains, 2. Telsa having central access to examine and study all failed parts and 3. the lack of any detail on what a core charge would be after warranty.

If (and my working assumption) this is all the case, then I would expect Telsa to be able to improve on failed component designs and both upgrade new cars and new replacement parts in a very controlled manner. We may have seen some of this design-feedback loop with the transitions from A packs to D packs and the resolution of other issues like the 12V issue and door handles. Given fast swap times (i.e., low labor requirements) this could become a very easy replacement for most items post warranty and only really expensive if there are components that cannot be rebuilt.

So I think the real risk here is that Telsa is unable (not unwilling) to correct for some of the failures leading to component replacements on a regular and expensive basis and inability to make newer cars more reliable.

Given the company's track record, I'm betting that they continue to improve and we will see the incidence of repeat failures decrease over the next 12-18 months. However it would be nice if they showed some examples of their success so far.

 

[apacheguy]

Got word back. Paying to upgrade to the 85 is a no go :-( tesla policy. tracked down a 60 pack at the Chicago service center, is being transported to highland. will arrive tonight or tomorrow morning and I will have the car back most likely tomorrow afternoon.

Tesla policy or cost is prohibitive? You know they have done 60->85 upgrades in the past.