Car shutting down - PULL OVER SAFELY on the freeway 3 days after delivery

[David3]

On the 3rd after taking delivery the car shut down on the freeway. The car completely lost power within a few seconds, luckily I was able to make it mostly to the shoulder of the freeway/bridge. I got the following errors: "Cannot maintain vehicle power - Car may stop driving or shut down", "Power reduced - Exit and re-enter car - may restore operation", "Car needs service - Car my not restart", "Unable to drive - PULL OVER SAFELY", "Car Shutting down - PULL OVER SAFELY".
I called Tesla Roadside Assistance and was told the bridge is a restricted road and can only be towed by CHP/Caltran. When I called CHP they said Caltran Can't tow Tesla because they are specialized vehicle, and CHP had to contact a towing company to tow me off the bridge. When I asked Tesla Roadside if I can just tow straight to service center and get it reimbursed they said they weren't sure so I had the car towed to a nearby plaza and call Tesla again to tow from there to the service center. It took a few hours just waiting for CHP and the tow trucks.
I finally got the car back today after a week and was told it was a defective contactor/pyro fuse.. hopefully this is pretty rare and doesn't affect a batch of cars..

 

[AnarchyEOD]

VIN? RWD OR AWD?

 

[David3]

44xxx, RWD

 

[David3]

Just broke down again.. Getting it towed to the service center now. Service center actually called me after hours and said they will have a loaner car waiting for me in the morning.

 

[chronopc]

Just broke down again.. Getting it towed to the service center now. Service center actually called me after hours and said they will have a loaner car waiting for me in the morning.

Wow, 2 breakdowns in a week?

 

[ℬête Noire]

How close is this to CA lemon law kicking in? My understanding is that California has some customer friendly law in this area?

 

[David3]

I think it’s 3 times or 30 days in the shop?

 

[C141medic]

This sounds eerily similar to the issues a few others in this forum have had. Very unfortunate. I’m sure they’ll resolve it for you but definitely sucks to experience.

 

[ebmcs03]

I think it’s 3 times or 30 days in the shop?

You agreed to arbitration. Unless you opted out.

 

[David3]

I guess I still have time to opt out if I want. Haven’t even been 2 weeks since I bought the car.
I understand they are a small indie company but it’s getting ridiculous though lol.

 

[MXWing]

How close is this to CA lemon law kicking in? My understanding is that California has some customer friendly law in this area?

Pretty funny that people who shove lemon law clauses and buybacks on Tesla's.....

end up buying another Tesla.

 

[ebmcs03]

Pretty funny that people who shove lemon law clauses and buybacks on Tesla's.....

end up buying another Tesla.

They just need to find the right Tesla. Some are built better than others. Not all Tesla’s are created equal.

 

[MXWing]

They just need to find the right Tesla. Some are built better than others. Not all Tesla’s are created equal.

Absolutely agreed. However, I think attitude helps both the buyer, Tesla and the public.

As much as a Tesla supporter and bull that I am, I reserve the right as much as anyone to reject my Model 3 tomorrow if the quality isn’t there.

Tesla has been so good to me in the past though that I’m not gonna write vitriolic rants or threaten to withhold checks like some first time buyer that thinks 60K makes me king *sugar*.

Tesla is the ONLY game in town for what they do. But they don’t treat customers like this is the case.

I do believe any lapses in quality and services is due to scalability challenges.

 

[ℬête Noire]

Pretty funny that people who shove lemon law clauses and buybacks on Tesla's.....

end up buying another Tesla.

Well, I got married twice. The first one being a complete sugarshow that ended turning into a court case dragging on twice as long as the marriage itself lasted failed to convince me that all marriages were a bad idea....I'm kinda slow that way, I guess.

 

[MXWing]

Well, I got married twice. The first one being a complete sugarshow that ended turning into a court case dragging on twice as long as the marriage itself lasted failed to convince me that all marriages were a bad idea....I'm kinda slow that way, I guess.

I wish I knew what to tell you, myself, anyone or my own kids. Who in their right mind would get into an arrangement that amounts to a coin flip chance of substantially wrecking their life for awhile.

It’s not that much friction to trade up on a Tesla. Or get AP3 now.

 

[ℬête Noire]

I wish I knew what to tell you, myself, anyone or my own kids. Who in their right mind would get into an arrangement that amounts to a coin flip chance of substantially wrecking their life for awhile.

Meh, 5-ish years littered with mostly assorted crap vs 20+ years and counting of mostly good stuff, and even really good (with occasional rougher spots). Seems like a decent roll to take at 50/50. Besides what other game is there going on, really? Sure there's just riding around in rented/leased stuff that's not yours but then you have to keep getting used to the endless string of odd quirks, breaking in new ones (I'm getting kinda old for that), and sometimes you'll wake up in the morning with weird oil spots on your garage floor wondering how they got there.....wait, which topic is it that we're talking about now?

 

[Trevor B]

I called Tesla Roadside Assistance and was told the bridge is a restricted road and can only be towed by CHP/Caltran. When I called CHP they said Caltran Can't tow Tesla because they are specialized vehicle, and CHP had to contact a towing company to tow me off the bridge. When I asked Tesla Roadside if I can just tow straight to service center and get it reimbursed they said they weren't sure so I had the car towed to a nearby plaza and call Tesla again to tow from there to the service center. It took a few hours just waiting for CHP and the tow trucks.

Where is this bridge? Assuming you are in the Bay Area ...

 

[xpitxbullx]

I went through something similar. Turns out that when they assembled my car, they didn’t snap a connector completely closed and it slowly wiggled and disconnected. It was a ‘Penthouse HV’ connector. Most of the electronics are located under the rear seat. The SC went through the whole car with a fine toothed comb and made sure all my connections were snapped closed. Now it’s problem free

Quality control issue during assembly.

I hope yours is as easy to fix. Good luck.

 

[chronopc]

Where is this bridge? Assuming you are in the Bay Area ...

My guess would be either Dumbarton, San Mateo or the Bay bridge.

 

[David3]

Where is this bridge? Assuming you are in the Bay Area ...

San mateo