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Drive Unit Replacement Poll

Drive Units Replaced

  • 1 Units

    Votes: 305 79.0%
  • 2 Units

    Votes: 57 14.8%
  • 3 Units

    Votes: 13 3.4%
  • 4 Units

    Votes: 5 1.3%
  • 5+ Units

    Votes: 6 1.6%

  • Total voters
    386
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I had my drive unit replaced a few weeks back and was told it's roughly $20k value... not sure how accurate that is, but either way, so the Lemon response and he talked about a couple units being replaced, and I know edmunds had one or two replaced, so I'm wondering, who else has had theirs replaced? how many times?

Also, maybe post your res # so we can see if there's a correlation between early units versus later ones? Maybe also your mileage at time of replacement for more data points.
 
Twice:

-1st at ~18K miles for acceleration "drone"

-2nd time as precautionary measure @ 21K miles for an accelerator module fault

Far be it form being "Lemon Like", the attention to detail and proactive service from Tesla has been great.
 
How do i edit the poll :)

MODS: can you add a 0 Units option.

GL with that... instead expect a whole lot of these: "0, my unit has never been replaced" posts.

0, my unit has never been replaced

(although, I thought it was close once due to service contacting me, and it probably has symptoms that others have had... It doesn't bother me enough to have it looked at though).
 
Electric motors are very simple to build and replace if needed. While Tesla can assign an arbitrary value number to them, I doubt it costs them more than a couple grand to make those. Didn't they say that the entire setup has 6 moving parts in it?

Just for comparison, the motor in our 911turbo costs just over $40k and the tranny is another 12k. Tesla's power plant sounds like a bargain even at $20k!

Edit: Oh, and we are on our original drive unit, of course. So are the other 4 MN Tesla owners we know.
 
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Had ours replaced at our annual service (around 11K miles) because it would clunk when switching from accel to regen at very low speeds (around 3mph). It was subtle, and I was impressed when they called back and said they heard the same issue, and although it wasn't a safety issue, they were replacing the drive unit anyway.

However, a few weeks later I've noticed the dreaded humming at 70mph+ that wasn't there on our original drive unit. I just scheduled an appointment to bring it in. I'm guessing I got a refurbished drive unit from one of you guys!

But yes, Tesla's service has been the exact opposite of what that d-bag lemon law lawyer has been claiming. I could not be happier with the level of stellar service I've received.
 
Need a spot for zero drive units replaced or doesn't really show you much.

And as lucky like said, cost is minimal as they are rebuilt after replaced.
Even with a zero, it's not going to be terribly valuable as a poll. It's very likely the folks choosing to view/answer the poll are going to tilt heavily towards people that have had drive units replaced since they have the most interest.
 
Even with a zero, it's not going to be terribly valuable as a poll. It's very likely the folks choosing to view/answer the poll are going to tilt heavily towards people that have had drive units replaced since they have the most interest.

My thought was the typical naysayers of tesla in various forums are going take the results of 1+ drive units being replaced and run with it that it is a rampant problem. By having the zero figure, it would show it is not really an issue just a random part problem.
 
Had ours replaced at our annual service (around 11K miles) because it would clunk when switching from accel to regen at very low speeds (around 3mph). It was subtle, and I was impressed when they called back and said they heard the same issue, and although it wasn't a safety issue, they were replacing the drive unit anyway.

I have that issue. Right Now.

Car Has 5,300 miles.

Got my car 2 weeks ago (TESLA demo with 4,700 miles already on it)

Went to SC today due to 'too much wind noise and buffeting sound at 45-50mph'

SC tech spotted the drive train issue. Not me. Also noted a speaker rattle. Along with confirming higher wind noise.

VERY pro-active SC tech.

Dropping my my car off on Monday for all the fixes - will be there all day - but they will have a MS for me to use.

Very impressed with my local SC team.
 
I just had my 2nd drive unit replaced a couple of weeks ago at 7,300 miles. My first drive unit replacement occurred after only 500 miles. Both were due to the droning noise above 70 MPH. This last time around, they installed an updated mount which they said will go a long way towards ensuring the motor does not develop the same noise. I wonder what it could be with the mount that is causing this? Maybe a resonance thing?

I can't imagine the drive unit (motor/inverter combo) would cost more than $5,000, but likely less. If it were a $20,000 part, I don't think Tesla would be so quick to replace it. Also, defective drive units are replaced by the manufacturer, so the cost to Tesla is minimal.
 
Tesla does not hesitate to replace drive units because every one of them gets a detailed autopsy back in Fremont. Finding a recurring problem is worth every penny of a replacement unit. When you're making 500 or more of something per week, the sooner you get it right, the better.

By the way, I'm still on my original drive unit—one year and 17,000 miles so far.