10+ minutes to start my "old" tesla is just an inconvenience b/c I chose to do the eMMC recall and install firmware updates

[siteexperts]

If you have an older Tesla - be very wary about updating your firmware or even getting any recall work done. If something goes wrong, it apparently is the fault of the customer. Once Tesla updates any hardware, apparently your car is old and obsolete.

I have a 2015 P85DL with about 75K miles.

After doing the eMMC recall; I had an errors on the screen when I picked up the car. Was told it was normal. Then I started getting center display unavailable errors and the car taking over 10 minutes to go into drive with the error persisting on the screen. While the Tesla app shows my car and range, I can also sometimes no longer interact with the car. I was told that it was my choice to perform the recall and firmware updates, so apparently this issue is my fault for applying it to such an “old” car (older MCU hardware). They said my car is functioning totally fine, over 10 minutes on occasion (so far twice in 10 days - probably only 200 miles of driving) to be able to drive is just an inconvenience, and when this occurs to ignore the error message that persists when I finally can drive off. We haven't driven much the past few weeks so I really don't know how often this will actually reoccur. Tesla is supposedly working on another “software” update and at some point indeterminate point in the future, it may be fixed - but remember your car is really old and computer's get slower over time. However, I found another discussion with the exact same symptoms from the middle of last year (they had their computer replaced to fix it) - so even if it is software clearly this is not a priority.

Am I unreasonable for being very pissed off right now?

 

[luckyj]

To me, that's really bad customer service for an issue that should not exist in the first place.

I don't know all the ins and outs, but if replacing the eMMC didn't help, there is a problem somewhere else. And on upgrading firmware - we can't install new software without Tesla pushing it first. If they think there could be an issue with certain platforms, I'm baffled as to why they push it.

To me, this behavior on Tesla's part suggests they are just hoping we "troublemakers" and "complainers" go away.

In any case, I think the main other "wearable" item is the navigation SD card. I'm wondering if replacing that in these situations would help? When accessing any kind of media that is failing, computer systems can respond in ways that seem erratic and their overall performance tends to suffer.

I'm thinking about replacing mine. I've done the eMMC replacement and it didn't help at all. I don't get 10 minute boot times, but navigation and painting the map tiles have gotten really bad. I frequently have to cancel long (200+ mile) navigation requests and try again, sometimes more than once - otherwise it sits there calculating route or whatever forever. Bootup isn't bad but every once in a while is a little slow. Same with the entire UI.

 

[brkaus]

perhaps the eMMC board they put in is bad? Are those new stock or refurbished?

 

[luckyj]

I believe mine said refurb. But I don't think you can "refurb" failing memory. Guessing they just replace the component on the board?

You're might be on to something - maybe other components on the board that are also failing.

 

[Cybermoose]

I kind of see Tesla's point here. While it is a car and not just a computer, something we buy and hope to drive for a very very long time, it is also now a computer.

If I bought a computer 7 years ago and keep updating it, I understand it needs more and more upgrades to keep it current. An MCU upgrade would be something i'd probably do soon after new ones are available.

One of the reasons I am getting a Tesla (on order) is because I can keep upgrading the hardware and software in the car, as well as changing the motors/batteries, and it should still feel like a new car.

It won't all be cheap, it'll definitely be an expense, but I think it's a reasonable one.

The alternative, which is an option for our phones and computers to an extent, is to just not update the software for as long as the current software is supported.

 

[CyberGus]

Anyone that says "those errors are normal" is probably lying.

 

[siteexperts]

I had no issues until the recall was done. Everything started the day I picked up the car.

 

[brico84]

I had no issues until the recall was done. Everything started the day I picked up the car.

ya that is absolute BS. I would contact the SC manager via email and explain whats going on.

I know its not the same thing...but I had a situation where I dropped off my S for a frunk recall, when I got it back the frunk was slightly damaged. They ordered a replacement part and then wanted to charge me $100 for the replacement. I showed them a picture of the frunk before and after pickup and they corrected the invoice and we moved forward. I had to get the SC shop supervisor involved via email though (manager would have been next if that didn't work).

 

[ATPMSD]

Unless this was a voluntary recall it was not optional, so go back to the service center and raise hell.

 

[rsg123]

If you don’t have the maps card corruption yet that will happen soon and costs around $250 to fix. For $1250 more you can upgrade to MCU2 and eliminate all of your issues. It’s like completely upgrading the computer on your computer on wheels.

2015 85 with 131k miles

 

[IslandHydro]

I had several errors on my 2015 P85D after eMMC replacement. Had to bring the car back in. They replaced the eMMC board (apparently the one they put in was bad). All is fine now. Overall I've had relatively few problems w/ my car (~60K mi) and when I have had problems, I have had good service (some ranger, some shop). Most people only post on places like this when things go badly, I for one have had good service.

 

[maximizese]

I had similar issues with our 11/13 built S85. Before June 2019, everything seemed great with the software and functions of the car. Post June 2019:

• Supercharging sessions started taking longer (along with slightly reduced range)
• 3G cellular connectivity started dropping at startup (until recently, it would not connect about 25% of the time)
• Slacker started to lockup, MCU would freeze, temp display would show "--F"

Tesla offered to upgrade the 8GB eMMC board so I took them up on that. The system seemed to function smoother than before, but cellular connectivity would continue to drop, and the system would freeze at startup. I'd have to do a reboot which would take about 5-10 minutes before I could get my car to start moving. That's when I decided to just upgrade to MCU2 in hopes that my issues would be resolved. To date, LTE cellular has dropped a few times but reconnects on its own, I haven't experienced an MCU freeze, and the system runs just as smooth as the old V8.

 

[ucmndd]

How much of your time and money are your principles worth on this issue?

Your choices are keep trying to fight city hall or pay $1500 to make all of your troubles magically disappear.

I know what I chose.

 

[Workbirdy]

If you have an older Tesla - be very wary about updating your firmware or even getting any recall work done. If something goes wrong, it apparently is the fault of the customer. Once Tesla updates any hardware, apparently your car is old and obsolete.

I have a 2015 P85DL with about 75K miles.

After doing the eMMC recall; I had an errors on the screen when I picked up the car. Was told it was normal. Then I started getting center display unavailable errors and the car taking over 10 minutes to go into drive with the error persisting on the screen. While the Tesla app shows my car and range, I can also sometimes no longer interact with the car. I was told that it was my choice to perform the recall and firmware updates, so apparently this issue is my fault for applying it to such an “old” car (older MCU hardware). They said my car is functioning totally fine, over 10 minutes on occasion (so far twice in 10 days - probably only 200 miles of driving) to be able to drive is just an inconvenience, and when this occurs to ignore the error message that persists when I finally can drive off. We haven't driven much the past few weeks so I really don't know how often this will actually reoccur. Tesla is supposedly working on another “software” update and at some point indeterminate point in the future, it may be fixed - but remember your car is really old and computer's get slower over time. However, I found another discussion with the exact same symptoms from the middle of last year (they had their computer replaced to fix it) - so even if it is software clearly this is not a priority.

Am I unreasonable for being very pissed off right now?

Oh just wait till u get maximum battery charge level reduced after an update and the people at the service center tell u its time for a new battery pack! They are clearly messing up older cars with software updates I took my car to a 3rd party fixer and they loaded older software and fixed my car I'll never update again!

 

[luckyj]

I kind of see Tesla's point here. While it is a car and not just a computer, something we buy and hope to drive for a very very long time, it is also now a computer.

If I bought a computer 7 years ago and keep updating it, I understand it needs more and more upgrades to keep it current. An MCU upgrade would be something i'd probably do soon after new ones are available.

One of the reasons I am getting a Tesla (on order) is because I can keep upgrading the hardware and software in the car, as well as changing the motors/batteries, and it should still feel like a new car.

It won't all be cheap, it'll definitely be an expense, but I think it's a reasonable one.

The alternative, which is an option for our phones and computers to an extent, is to just not update the software for as long as the current software is supported.

I agree that Tesla has a model that allows for some nice updates over time. And that is a great plus that I appreciate.

But, as with any platform, thinking you might be able to keep upgrading will not happen indefinitely. And that transition to stagnation could happen at any time, for both hardware and software. Take us "legacy" owners for example. There are certain things we just can't get. My car won't ever feel like or be a new Tesla - they're not going to provide upgrade paths for every vehicle to get to the latest tech. And that should be expected and normal. I don't have an issue with that.

But, what's not expected is a system that functioned just fine at inception, that performs miserably today. That's not due to a platform change. That's due to poor engineering.

 

[Cybermoose]

Of course not forever, but it is nice to know that keeping a Tesla feeling like new is definitely possible for a long time with upgrades, which could be easier than switching to a new car.

Also while I do believe that there might have been another issue for the person who started this threat, I disagree that it's bad engineering that is causing Tesla's with the old hardware to be slower. Like what has been mentioned, it was optional to update. If I keep updating my tablets, smartphones, computers, even things like games, they all only last a handful of years before it's just not worth using them with how slow they get. Almost every update will have slightly higher requirements, big upgrades might be a leap and cause the hardware to begin bottlenecking on one of the components.

If someone wanted to ignore all updates, as long as their original version is supported, they shouldn't have any issues. obviously it is also possible that eventually their version would not be supported. If that happened, I don't know for certain, but maybe someone who is still using the very very old software, might have a legal case to get a free upgrade from Tesla

But as it stands with hardware requiring upgrades to handle newer versions of software, as long as it's optional, I don't see anything wrong with what is happening. At least we have the option to upgrade the hardware, where things like smart phones usually just become outdated and recycled.

 

[siteexperts]

I was happy with the existing functionality with the cars functionality and due to the age of the car/ hardware wouldn’t care if my firmware was frozen. Right now I feel blackmailed into spending 2k upgrading the mcu. Car was perfectly functional until the eMMC recall was done - and the party line was because I chose to do a recall.

 

[brico84]

I recently drove a 2017 S75 loaner with MCU1, emmc upgrade, and was on the latest software version. It was extremely responsive and worked great. This means it's certainly possible for the old hardware to work correctly on the latest software. The issue is likely degraded hardware other than the emmc that is causing the issue, and Tesla is not going to fix that for free, right or wrong.

I still think however, the argument can be made that the car was brought in without these issues, and returned with said issues, hence, it's the service center fault and responsibility to fix things so it is returned in the same condition it was originally dropped off

 

[siteexperts]

Tesla admitted that there are issues with the eMMC recall and firmware update in an indeterminate number of vehicles and they've known about the issue for months.

They still won't take care of it.

 

[David29]

Of course not forever, but it is nice to know that keeping a Tesla feeling like new is definitely possible for a long time with upgrades, which could be easier than switching to a new car.

Also while I do believe that there might have been another issue for the person who started this threat, I disagree that it's bad engineering that is causing Tesla's with the old hardware to be slower. Like what has been mentioned, it was optional to update. If I keep updating my tablets, smartphones, computers, even things like games, they all only last a handful of years before it's just not worth using them with how slow they get. Almost every update will have slightly higher requirements, big upgrades might be a leap and cause the hardware to begin bottlenecking on one of the components.

If someone wanted to ignore all updates, as long as their original version is supported, they shouldn't have any issues. obviously it is also possible that eventually their version would not be supported. If that happened, I don't know for certain, but maybe someone who is still using the very very old software, might have a legal case to get a free upgrade from Tesla

But as it stands with hardware requiring upgrades to handle newer versions of software, as long as it's optional, I don't see anything wrong with what is happening. At least we have the option to upgrade the hardware, where things like smart phones usually just become outdated and recycled.

To my mind, having to replace a PC or a tablet after 5 or 6 years is quite a different situation from having to replace a car that cost $80,000 or more after a similar period of time. The PC is only a PC, and it can be recycled more or less easily and economically. Not so much the car. The car has thousands of components that are still working just fine (or can be more or less easily replaced or repaired) in addition to the computer parts that might have reached the end of their usable lives. If the firmware updates are making the situation worse, then it seems to me that Tesla should either make those optional after a certain period, OR should say that replacement of the computer hardware is mandatory if you want certain services such as firmware updates. Tesla has been clear that we must update our firmware but they have not been clear about the hardware side. As usual, communication and customer relations are at the bottom of Tesla's skill sets.