Model S becomes unresponsive while driving!

[Justintiime]

hey guys, I'm 3 weeks into ownership of my CPO 2013 P85. I've loved the car up until today! While driving a little over an hour back home with my dad, my dash said "cruise control disengaged" and I noticed we were slowing down. I hit the accelerator, and nothing happened. Instead of one orange line moving upwards on the dash, two lines moved up and down the dash in opposite direction. I noted that the PRND indicator was now all Red letters instead of white and black.

Luckily I was able to coast into a gas station as the steering and brakes worked ok. I reset the dash holding the scroll wheels down, no luck. I called tesla roadside assistance and they had me reboot the car by powering it off. I did this, and the car went into drive. While I had tech support on the phone, I looped through the parking lot a few times. Then *clunk* I heard the drive motor disengage, and the gear indicator letters (for lack of a better term) turned red, and the accelerator again was unresponsive!

I power cycled the car again, and this time was prompted to do a software upgrade. The tech on the phone said "sometimes these are done behind the scenes while driving and don't cause an issue". Well hell, I have a BIG issue with that! What if I wasn't able to brake or steer when this happened?!?!

Software update completes, and car seems fine. I cancel my AAA tow and drive an hour to my home town with no issues.

I get to my home town and it happens again....THREE TIMES. I was able to film it this time. YouTube video uploading.

I went into this with such high hopes, but I'm feeling pretty bummed right now!

 

[bonnie]

It's a CPO, it's under warranty - I wouldn't drive a car that becomes randomly unresponsive. I hope you don't drive it, either. Please have the service center handle this.

 

[Justintiime]

I won't drive it now that I know its a recurring problem. Service center is going to come get it Tuesday. here is the video

Any idea?!?!?!

 

[Justintiime]

once I start driving again, fast forward to like 5:20 to see the failure in real time

 

[GoTslaGo]

I won't drive it now that I know its a recurring problem. Service center is going to come get it Tuesday. here is the video

Any idea?!?!?!

Sounds like your drive unit is failing based on other comments. Do a search for Red PRND on the forums.

Model S had to be towed home

Drive Unit Failure after Road Trip

 

[Justintiime]

unreal. I specifically asked the service manager at tesla on my delivery day "has the drive unit been replaced?" and he said "I cannot give you those records. They are the property of the previous owner, but given the mileage of this car, I would say yes, it has been"

 

[GoTslaGo]

Sorry.

At least since it is under warranty, Tesla will take care of it. And there are folks who have had multiple drive unit replacements, unfortunately--if that is the problem.

Good luck!

And welcome to TMC! Hopefully it will be fixed and not be a problem in the future.

 

[stan23]

I hear these older cars are notorious for drove unit failures and replacements. I'm sure tesla will replace for you.

 

[Justintiime]

so if it IS the drive unit, and they replace it, it should be good for ever, right? LOL

 

[stan23]

so if it IS the drive unit, and they replace it, it should be good for ever, right? LOL

lol Apparently there's a joke among the early cars... When you pass one you hold up how many fingers (representing how many drive unit replacements)

I guess the most important thing is, did your CPO come with the 2 or 4 year warranty? I don't even want to know how much a drive unit costs out of warranty? 10k?

 

[Justintiime]

it has the 2 year warranty, but the drive unit is 8 year unlimted warranty, so that part is good through 2021

 

[stan23]

it has the 2 year warranty, but the drive unit is 8 year unlimted warranty, so that part is good through 2021

Ah, that's right! you should be good to go for quite a few years then.

 

[Justintiime]

I guess I'd be more tolerant if this happened more than 3 weeks after getting the car lol

 

[grashelm]

Well it is a 4 yr. old CP

I guess I'd be more tolerant if this happened more than 3 weeks after getting the car lol

Well it is a 4 yr. old CPO so...but yeah...i would feel the same way about it if I were in your shoes!

 

[Justintiime]

I mostly buy certified pre owned, no matter what. Let someone else take the depreciation hit .I'm a Toyota and GMC fan boy. I've bought countless vehicles from both makes for my entire family and have had only 1 water pump failure ever. If I am experiencing a motor failure after 3 weeks of ownership....that's a huge red flag for me.

 

[grashelm]

I mostly buy certified pre owned, no matter what. Let someone else take the depreciation hit .I'm a Toyota and GMC fan boy. I've bought countless vehicles from both makes for my entire family and have had only 1 water pump failure ever. If I am experiencing a motor failure after 3 weeks of ownership....that's a huge red flag for me.

Understood...please do let us know how your experience with Tesla goes as far as addressing this issue goes.

 

[stan23]

I mostly buy certified pre owned, no matter what. Let someone else take the depreciation hit .I'm a Toyota and GMC fan boy. I've bought countless vehicles from both makes for my entire family and have had only 1 water pump failure ever. If I am experiencing a motor failure after 3 weeks of ownership....that's a huge red flag for me.

I think it's just par for the course on the older cars. Just get it replaced and move on. Tesla is really good about warranty repairs.

 

[jjh1234]

Sounds like drive unit failure. I just had a similar problem with my 10 month old MS75D with less than 6,000 miles. Luckily, I only had reduced power, not full shutdown. Maybe because of dual motors. In service center for new rear drive unit right now. It seems like Tesla treats the whole drive unit like it's the lowest replaceable unit and swaps it out for any problem. That's fine while under warranty, but will not be after warranty. I assume there would be at least a core return credit on the old drive unit, as Tesla refurbishes them.

 

[dhanson865]

I won't drive it now that I know its a recurring problem. Service center is going to come get it Tuesday. here is the video

Any idea?!?!?!

I'm sure they'll replace one or more parts and you'll have a working car again. That said you mentioned the service center is 3 hours away and that is the number one concern I have about getting a tesla as I also live 3 hours away from a service center.

I guarantee you a drive unit replacement isn't something they do in your driveway or parking lot.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Wow, please keep us posted!

Also, I don't believe this for a second:

The tech on the phone said "sometimes these are done behind the scenes while driving and don't cause an issue".