What to do when Tesla refuses to make warranty repair

[Wildcat]

I have a '14 S85. Drive unit #1 failed and left car inoperable. Tesla replaced with drive unit that makes humming sound above 38 mph. Been to SC 4 times. One tech hears it. another claims he hears nothing. Diagnosis was I need new tires. $1400 later sound is still there. Went back again today. They recorded the sound and "sent it to engineering to see if it was a operating within design". I find it impossible to believe that they will come back and say anything but that it's fine.

Their drive unit is notoriously defective. They have given me a defective replacement after my first one failed, and they try to act like nothing is wrong, like I'm crazy.
Does this company only respond when you sue/get the media involved like the recent settlement with the Model X owner? I would rather not go to that extreme. I'd rather they just give me a non-defective drive unit. I used to think these guys went over and beyond for customers. I now think it's like any other company watching their numbers for Wall Street.

Looking for any advice from the great members of TMC. Thank you.

 

[msnow]

I have a '14 S85. Drive unit #1 failed and left car inoperable. Tesla replaced with drive unit that makes humming sound above 38 mph. Been to SC 4 times. One tech hears it. another claims he hears nothing. Diagnosis was I need new tires. $1400 later sound is still there. Went back again today. They recorded the sound and "sent it to engineering to see if it was a operating within design". I find it impossible to believe that they will come back and say anything but that it's fine.

Their drive unit is notoriously defective. They have given me a defective replacement after my first one failed, and they try to act like nothing is wrong, like I'm crazy.
Does this company only respond when you sue/get the media involved like the recent settlement with the Model X owner? I would rather not go to that extreme. I'd rather they just give me a non-defective drive unit. I used to think these guys went over and beyond for customers. I now think it's like any other company watching their numbers for Wall Street.

Looking for any advice from the great members of TMC. Thank you.

Are you still in warranty?

 

[AEdennis]

Are you still in warranty?

All 85 Model S have the 8 year infinite mile warranty

 

[buckerine]

I have a '14 S85. Drive unit #1 failed and left car inoperable. Tesla replaced with drive unit that makes humming sound above 38 mph. Been to SC 4 times. One tech hears it. another claims he hears nothing. Diagnosis was I need new tires. $1400 later sound is still there. Went back again today. They recorded the sound and "sent it to engineering to see if it was a operating within design". I find it impossible to believe that they will come back and say anything but that it's fine.

Their drive unit is notoriously defective. They have given me a defective replacement after my first one failed, and they try to act like nothing is wrong, like I'm crazy.
Does this company only respond when you sue/get the media involved like the recent settlement with the Model X owner? I would rather not go to that extreme. I'd rather they just give me a non-defective drive unit. I used to think these guys went over and beyond for customers. I now think it's like any other company watching their numbers for Wall Street.

Looking for any advice from the great members of TMC. Thank you.

What exactly do you mean when you say there's a humming noise above 38mph? There are lots of noises at that speed ...

 

[Wildcat]

What exactly do you mean when you say there's a humming noise above 38mph? There are lots of noises at that speed ...

The drive unit makes a humming/whirring noise that my previous drive unit never made at acceleration above 38 MPH. I just want a drive unit that isn't defective.

 

[msnow]

All 85 Model S have the 8 year infinite mile warranty

I thought that was just for the battery and 50,000 miles warranty on everything else no?

 

[AEdennis]

I thought that was just for the battery and 50,000 miles warranty on everything else no?

Drivetrain (motor) and battery, I thought.

 

[jcaspar]

Are you having any other problems with the drive unit than the humming sound? Can you post a recording of it?

 

[ecarfan]

I thought that was just for the battery and 50,000 miles warranty on everything else no?

The 8 year / unlimited mileage warranty is for the drivetrain.

See Infinite Mile Warranty

Quote: "the 85 kWh Model S...has an 8 year, infinite mile warranty on both the battery pack and drive unit"

Whether a noise is loud enough to be a "defect" is a subjective analysis because Tesla has no quantitative definition of how loud is too loud. When accelerating at anything more than a gentle push of the "go pedal", all Teslas I have been in (at least a dozen) make some noise that appears to come from the motor. When moving at a steady speed I find it very hard to hear any motor noise...except in my Roadster which compared to an S or X is pretty noisy.

 

[AEdennis]

The 8 year / unlimited mileage warranty is for the drivetrain.

See Infinite Mile Warranty

Quote: "the 85 kWh Model S...has an 8 year, infinite mile warranty on both the battery pack and drive unit"

Whether a noise is loud enough to be a "defect" is a subjective analysis because Tesla has no quantitative definition of how loud is too loud. When accelerating at anything more than a gentle push of the "go pedal", all Teslas I have been in (at least a dozen) make some noise that appears to come from the motor. When moving at a steady speed I find it very hard to hear any motor noise...except in my Roadster which compared to an S or X is pretty noisy.

This has been our experience.

I had the milling noise at 25k miles...

Recently at lower speeds, I hear a slight milling noise, but it was "within spec". My wife's Roadster is definitely noisier... My noise was around 25-35 miles... Not the same as when the drivetrain was replaced.

 

[davidc18]

try a different SC?

 

[iffatall]

I had this humming/milling noise every time I went avove ~ 67 mph. It sounded kinda like a speeding motor bike from very very far away. Like a subdued version of the noise from an ICE accelerating hard. The noise appeared when I was around 17k miles.

I dropped my car at the Fremont SC, they called me in the afternoon confirming the noise, and replaced the DU. I asked them what was wrong and they did not give any clear explanation, and said it was sent back to engineering. This was well after Elon's $3 DU fix announcement, so I figured the issue in my case couldn't have been that. Else they would have told me clearly.

That was the only DU replacement I had.

 

[Caligula]

$3 DU fix?

 

[cgiGuy]

I find it impossible to believe that they will come back and say anything but that it's fine.

So, why not wait and see what the engineers say before coming here and starting a thread about Tesla not covering something?

You may find it "impossible" but my 2013 MS had some motor noise issues. Guess what? They recorded and sent to engineering. Guess what? The engineers said replace the drivetrain.

Even though it's your second drivetrain.. give them a chance to work through it..

 

[iffatall]

$3 DU fix?

Remember, when a bunch of DUs were being replaced, and the shareholders were getting worried if the DU issues are going to bring Tesla down? Elon in some presentation mentioned that they found some cable loose or something like that which could be fixed for $3 or $7 or something to be the root cause. If I am not wrong, it was when he announced the DU 8-year unlimited mile warranty.

I'll see if I can get the reference.

Edit: Found it:
Drive unit problems explanation by Elon

 

[Wildcat]

So, why not wait and see what the engineers say before coming here and starting a thread about Tesla not covering something?

You may find it "impossible" but my 2013 MS had some motor noise issues. Guess what? They recorded and sent to engineering. Guess what? The engineers said replace the drivetrain.

Even though it's your second drivetrain.. give them a chance to work through it..

Give them a chance? I've been to the SC four or five times now and spent $1400 on new tires as they claimed that was cause of noise. I've given them plenty of chances. They're trying to stick me with a defective unit and hoping I quit coming back.

 

[msnow]

Give them a chance? I've been to the SC four or five times now and spent $1400 on new tires as they claimed that was cause of noise. I've given them plenty of chances. They're trying to stick me with a defective unit and hoping I quit coming back.

I think what he's saying is since they told you they would analyze it again you might as well wait for that answer rather than just anticipating it won't be what you want to hear.

 

[Fusion]

I like to say the sound is like the old 6 million dollar man show on tv. It sounds just like that he's ready to do something amazing. So just figure your Tesla is actually activating super powers.

 

[Magus]

Dude you're not really thinking about this logically. They might just be- in fact by far most likely - correct in their assessments. You're drumming up this scenario out of nothing and needlessly creating negative feelings.

 

[MrJones390]

The guys at Reus can install a very good sound system for you that will cure it