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Edmunds Model S Long-Term Test
- Thread starter tenstringer009
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Can't speak for others. My copy of RAV4 has the noise since 2400 miles (which I really was hoping it would go away, since Toyota refused to do anything unless I ship the car from Western PA back to CA.) The noise on mine is not subtle, the whining sound can be heard from 10mph and up. (My fiancée made a comment that the car actually sounded like it has an engine now.
)I don't think so. My car developed a very noticeable groan/rumble above 65mph. Service replaced my drive unit and, I believe, it was as part of a TSB. There is a problem out there. I don't know how many people it might affect, but it's not Tesla replacing something because folks whined about "a little noise".
There's an incredibly disturbing trend in these forums of punishing the customers that have issues. Complain about abnormal tire wear and you'll get called stupid for not understanding tire usage. Complain about engine noise and you'll get labeled as "the whining noise the customer makes".
I understand we're all mostly pro-Tesla, but it's risen to the point where we're persecuting those who do bring issues to light. Such actions do not help Tesla (or TMC).
I agree. However, so far, the Tesla has been more reliable than the long-term SLS they had a few months ago (that one had multiple issues with the battery, a loose driver's seat, and the convertible top broke TWICE). Edmunds didn't end up dinging the SLS very much for its problems (perhaps because it was on loan from Mercedes rather than Edmunds shelling out for it).
Here's the link if anyone cares:
http://www.edmunds.com/mercedes-benz/sls-amg/2012/long-term-road-test/maintenance.html
Mayhemm
Model S P85+ "Lola"
Having owned a Mercedes in the past, I would largely agree with this statement. However, that doesn't stop Model S from constantly being compared to them, as well as BMW and Audi, in all areas (interior/exterior quality, performance, pricing, etc).
TonyWilliams
Active Member
Since I've actually had the noise, I took the car in exactly once to complain about it, the service person agreed and Tesla replaced the motor. But, I had to listen to more than one person make the casual back handed slap of, "oh, you're just a complainer, and they spent a lot of money on a new motor assembly just to shut you up".
When I had a LEAF, there was certainly a tendency toward those kinds of attacks, but now it's not so bad.
I watched/listened to edmunds noise. WOW that is loud and sounds very bad. I've complained about low electrical whirring types sounds but there's is a loud clicking thud that reminded me of a rod knock in my old murano. This is not a noise you can bear to drive with. That sounds like something is die to keel over and die. Like the clicking if a (non-SSD) hard drive! You know its gonna die soon so you better backup and replace it ASAP or suffer the consequences!
I certainly wasn't trying to imply that everyone was a whiner. Some of these noises are definitely not normal, and if one thinks it's too loud, then the best thing to do is to take it in and have the drive unit replaced. Having said that, I haven't driven a single Tesla powered car that had a silent motor. These Induction motors make some noise, so if someone wants a silent car...
Coming from a Volt I understand the sound signature of Tesla's induction motor makes is different (louder compared to even Volt's AC induction motor) especially at start up. There is a different sound that comes after that seems to be happening at higher reported rate in RAV4 EV than in the Volt regardless of how hard the motor was pushed in its duty cycle. I know I was thinking perhaps these motor needs a gentler "break-in" period. I was babying my motor (no sampling of sport mode hard acceleration or deceleration for the first 1500 miles or so.) and yet it still developed the dreaded sound that has steadily gotten louder...
Granted the RAV4 FWD configuration has the potential to accentuate the motor sound but the two model S (one 85 non-performance and another 60 kW version in the area from fellow TMC members) does not have similar sound when I sit in the back seat.
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RoverS
Banned
ummm... no. i drive it as hard if not harder with time. that is not a valid reason for the drive unit to fail.
SeminoleFSU
Voluntaryist
driving home from work today my car started to sound like a souped up Honda Civic with an aftermarket muffler.. I could change the pitch with the accelerator. It would stop when I let off enough to get my power consumption right at "zero" on the regen bar... It seemed to go away after a while and I thought maybe it was road texture, another car, something... but after reading these other descriptions, I'm starting to wonder if my inverter or motor is starting to die? Will film it if it happens again so I'll have reference/proof
Not correct. I haven't driven any NEW Model S which was not completely silent. The problem seems to start at about 7k miles and from all the info I had ( I am a victim of motor noise...) it is the inverter and not the motor.
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Once it starts it gets louder and louder until it is so annoying that you need the unit replaced. It seems to be better when the motor is cold and worse at really hot temperatures. At my car I could here it > 60 mph even with the radio at 7.
And that, in a nutshell, is why I forked out for the extended warranty on my late 2012 model S.
So, is what happened here the same as Stuck on the Freeway - 2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test That Edmunds post doesn't cover the repair/outcome and is many days after the tweets.
Someone started a thread at Edmunds.com test car failure to cover the above incident.
I'd imagine Edmunds will report the issue to NHTSA, but even if they don't, I'd imagine this caught someone's attention there.
Replying to my own post, it appears the above are one and the same, given this new post.
Is the Third Drive Unit the Charm? - 2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test
Is the Third Drive Unit the Charm? - 2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test
Kalud
Active Member
Larger pic from their latest post:
http://media.ed.edmunds-media.com/tesla/lt/tesla_lt_21314_1600.jpg
http://media.ed.edmunds-media.com/tesla/lt/tesla_lt_21314_1600.jpg
Looks like Edmunds is getting ready to sell their Model S. The CarMax offer ($79k for a P85 with 22.5k miles) works out to almost be an exact $1/mile depreciation hit; certainly seems fair to me.
http://www.edmunds.com/tesla/model-s/2013/long-term-road-test/2013-tesla-model-s-carmax-offer.html
http://www.edmunds.com/tesla/model-s/2013/long-term-road-test/2013-tesla-model-s-carmax-offer.html
