My Model 3 took a 12v smoke break

[DarinCT]

My model 3 had 25k miles and is 2.5 years old.

Yesterday, my wife and I both drove the car in the morning. I went out to run errand and my model 3 was non-responsive. The front headlights were flickering and it sounded like a pump was cycling. A burning/hot liquid smell slowly increased.

I called Tesla roadside assistance, very meh experience. She couldn't tell me if the center had rentals or if they rented cars out. She did not initiate a repair ticket at the center either. She basically called a tow truck company...

Tie truck driver had opinions, claimed he towed 10-15 Tesla a week and that he never tows a Prius. Not that I asked for any of this information and coincidentally already knew having owned three and never had an issue.

I type up all the stuff wrong and tape it to the steering wheel because there's no way to enter in the app [Ya know... What is wrong, what did the car do?] without scheduling an appointment three weeks in the future.

Receive an estimate for zero dollars for 12v battery and battery connection r/r, sign off, battery gets replaced, car is ready in 6 hours from receipt which is faster than any repair shop I've ever been to.

During the process, never had an ETA, my question about whether the replacement was lithium or not went unanswered, never talked to a human being at the center. Hell, I called the center several times and after two rings heard the unfortunate click of being routed to the call center. At least, the call center was able to explain that there four rental cars for the entire region and that the center will most likely offer Uber credits.

Car was parked on the lot, picked it up at 9pm, another thing that wouldn't be possible at your normal repair shop.

All-in-all they got the repair side experience better than any I've had though the human was closer to dealing with the cable company.

This is the second time I've had this Tesla experience. The previous issue was a non-event, the service was also prompt, the human part was actually worse.

So that happened, car appears fixed, moving on.

[edited for clarity]

Sponsored

 

[rr6013]

Yeah, “all input is error” strikes again.

It is something that comes with Tesla ownership now. If you need hand holding there are others who you can call. You can even buy a new car from others waiting to provide that hand held experience.

Tesla just isn’t in the business of warm, cuddly. It’s robot all the way down top to bottom. Maybe Optimus will be its missing warm and cuddly forte in Tesla’s customer facing future.

It can’t come soon enough…

 

[SpaceYooper]

Thanks for the write up. You seem pleased overall. Does needing a tow twice in your model 3 but never needing one in your Prius give you any concern about the CT? Do you plan on driving it off road?

This type of situation and stories gives me pause. I think it is going to be a problem for CT owners when off-road if their CT is randomly dying like this. Everything about trucks is harder to manage. I do think the owners expect more, while also doing more things to the vehicles they shouldn't vs cars. You admit you've had more tows with your Tesla then you did your Prius. If it happened once for me and wasn't adequately explained to the point that I didn't think it would happen again, I'd probably sell it. I don't want that concern when I'm off road.

I'm not sure if your tow truck drivers experience was uncommon or not. (Maybe I'll conduct a local survey) When truck owners need help they can be in far worse conditions then the side of the road or a parking lot. So far I have not needed a tow in my current truck when off road, (or otherwise for that matter) but I know people who have needed off road tows and getting that tow is more complicated and time consuming...can be days. Coordinating a ride out and moving stuff out of the truck and truck bed...it's all more complicated. Hopefully you have cell service or it's close by. Again, I don't want that concern when I'm off road.

Side note: I did need a tow one time in my F250 long bed. I used to shut it off when going through fast food drive throughs. One time during the lunch rush at a McDonalds, it didn't start back up. As I'm sure you can imagine everyone was very pleased with me and so friendly.

 

[DarinCT]

Thanks for the write up. You seem pleased overall. Does needing a tow twice in your model 3 but never needing one in your Prius give you any concern about the CT? Do you plan on driving it off road?

This type of situation and stories gives me pause. I think it is going to be a problem for CT owners when off-road if their CT is randomly dying like this. Everything about trucks is harder to manage. I do think the owners expect more, while also doing more things to the vehicles they shouldn't vs cars. You admit you've had more tows with your Tesla then you did your Prius. If it happened once for me and wasn't adequately explained to the point that I didn't think it would happen again, I'd probably sell it. I don't want that concern when I'm off road.

I'm not sure if your tow truck drivers experience was uncommon or not. (Maybe I'll conduct a local survey) When truck owners need help they can be in far worse conditions then the side of the road or a parking lot. So far I have not needed a tow in my current truck when off road, (or otherwise for that matter) but I know people who have needed off road tows and getting that tow is more complicated and time consuming...can be days. Coordinating a ride out and moving stuff out of the truck and truck bed...it's all more complicated. Hopefully you have cell service or it's close by. Again, I don't want that concern when I'm off road.

Side note: I did need a tow one time in my F250 long bed. I used to shut it off when going through fast food drive throughs. One time during the lunch rush at a McDonalds, it didn't start back up. As I'm sure you can imagine everyone was very pleased with me and so friendly.

The first time was the right side B pillar camera was obscured permanently. No tow was needed. I don't off-road and by the time I do get into it, I'm sure there will be other people's experiences I can learn from.

 

[Bill906]

This reminds me of the one time I needed a tow. I had a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee that was still under warranty. I drove to work that morning with no issue. At lunch I decided to run a errand. Started fine, drove to the post office did my errand. Was in there 5 minutes max. Came back to my car and it wouldn't start. Everything was completely dead. I called the dealer from where I purchased it. They told me to call the roadside assistance number. I was maybe 3 miles from the dealer. Was a little annoyed they didn't just send their tow truck, but anyway... Called my boss, told him what happened and that I was going to be late. Waited almost an hour for roadside tow truck to arrive. Tow truck brought me and my car to dealer, after about 30 minutes they said all done, battery went bad. Fairly similar to your story. I thought it was weird the battery went bad like that. Was also annoyed with the hoops required.

 

[CyberGus]

This type of situation and stories gives me pause. I think it is going to be a problem for CT owners when off-road if their CT is randomly dying like this.

The failure was less "random" and more "unexpected". The low-voltage batteries on all vehicles are subject to failure.

Serious off-roaders know well enough to bring spares of high-failure items.

 

[Klaxon]

Serious off-roaders know well enough to bring spares of high-failure items.

Spares take a lot of room. Especially a spare truck

 

[SpaceYooper]

The failure was less "random" and more "unexpected". The low-voltage batteries on all vehicles are subject to failure.

Serious off-roaders know well enough to bring spares of high-failure items.

Fair enough...if you consider the battery a high-failure item. I sure don't. I definitely don't consider it an unexpected failure item. I don't know anyone who carries an extra charged spare battery with them. Except...maybe a couple guys who have car stereos installed that cost them as much as their car.

 

[PK3]

Supposedly Tesla is moving to a lithium ion 12v battery that is supposedly much more reliable as from what I read the 12v battery is the weakest link in a Tesla. Many say to replace your lead acid one with a lithium ion one at 3-5years, as the lead acid ones are not ideal for electric cars compared to ICE ones.

 

[android04]

The lead acid 12v battery in the Tesla will fail just like it does on other cars. Tesla chooses to tow the car in and replace it under warranty a lot of the time, but I see that as wasteful and time consuming. You can replace the 12v battery yourself just like in any other vehicle, even if the car is not responsive. And you can also find a replacement lead acid battery at any place that sells car batteries because it's a group size 51R and common on Hondas. All this info is about cars with the lead acid battery. And no, Tesla will not replace the lead acid battery in older cars with their lithium ion battery because it's not plug and play. The lithium ion battery has a harness and communication wires going to it and some other parts are different because the battery is actually a 15.5V battery.

See this https://www.tesla.com/support/do-it-yourself-model-3#hood-no-power

And this https://www.tesla.com/support/do-it-yourself-model-3#jump-start-12v

By the way, you can store a tiny A23 battery in a ziplock bag behind the tow hook cover. I did that so I can pop open my own frunk if my 12v dies. Then I can get to my LiFePO4 jump starter in the frunk to jump start myself. And before people raise the alarm on popping open the frunk, that only works if the 12v battery is dead OR if the car is unlocked. So nobody is going to pop open your frunk and steal whatever is in there.

 

[DarinCT]

Fair enough...if you consider the battery a high-failure item. I sure don't. I definitely don't consider it an unexpected failure item. I don't know anyone who carries an extra charged spare battery with them. Except...maybe a couple guys who have car stereos installed that cost them as much as their car.

2.5 years is a pretty short life. No battery warning, no communication from the car to the mothership. Hell, my LG fridge knows when the water filter needs replacing (and it does as it tastes like tap which the missus doesn't like) and somehow my self-driving car can't tell.

Supposedly the newer vehicles are fitted with Lithium though my replacement was lead acid.

 

[electricAK]

Buddy of mine bought a brand new Tacoma. Within 2 months it stranded him in the middle of the Alaska highway. Some kind of computer glitch...killed the entire car. He demanded that the dealer take it back and replace the vehicle, but they refused, so he sold it at a loss and bought a brand new F150. Guess what happened a few months later? The new F150 had a computer glitch and left him stranded. Maybe this guy just has bad luck, but it was pretty messed up watching him struggle with this stuff.

I've been stranded in my old Ford Explorer when the battery cracked in half, 30 miles out on rough back roads. This stuff happens.

I'm confident that Tesla's software is far better than Ford's, and probably much better than Toyota's.

 

[SpaceYooper]

2.5 years is a pretty short life. No battery warning, no communication from the car to the mothership. Hell, my LG fridge knows when the water filter needs replacing (and it does as it tastes like tap which the missus doesn't like) and somehow my self-driving car can't tell.

Supposedly the newer vehicles are fitted with Lithium though my replacement was lead acid.

This is the concern. No warning then you're stranded. Tesla does not have an overall good reliability rating from Consumer Reports nor JD Power. I'm sure there are outliers but rankings of 27 out of 28 and 30 out of 33 respectively from two reputable companies isn't good. This won't do.

 

[John K]

12v batteries suck, period

 

[Dids]

This is the concern. No warning then you're stranded. Tesla does not have an overall good reliability rating from Consumer Reports nor JD Power. I'm sure there are outliers but rankings of 27 out of 28 and 30 out of 33 respectively from two reputable companies isn't good. This won't do.

What is funny about Consumer Reports is the contrast between Tesla reliability rating and Tesla satisfaction rating. Low reliability but really high owner satisfaction.

Sponsored