When starting my vehicle, the vehicle's center console screen did not power on. The instrument cluster (behind steering wheel) did power on, but the vehicle was very slow (about 2 minutes) before it could be put into "drive" (the instrument cluster said that vehicle was powering up). I then attempted to restart the center console screen (mcu) manually (by pressing both buttons on steering wheel for 20 seconds), but nothing happened. I began driving, and noticed several functions were not working: when indicating turn signals, there was no sound, and using a large glass window to verify, the exterior turn signals were not lighting up. The rear view camera and parking sensors would not activate when car was in "reverse" gear. Headlights would turn on automatically when it was dark, but I had no daytime running lights (also verified with glass window). I could also not manually turn headlights / day time running lights on or off. The climate was off, and could not be controlled. Charging was limited, the vehicle would charge but a much slower rate than usual (the instrument cluster said it was charging at only 8 / 40 amps 240v). I continued to drive the vehicle for a week, for short distances, and the vehicle remained in the same state. Several months prior, I brought my vehicle to tesla for service, because of constant restarts of mcu every time vehicle was started, after a software update. I was told to update to next available version, which did resolve the issue. After further research, I discovered this is the first symptom of mcu failure, and I would experience frequent restarts of mcu while driving afterwards (which I did) until the unit would fail entirely (which it also did). I am surprised tesla did not warn me of any of these things when I brought the vehicle in for service, instead waiting until vehicle became unsafe to drive.
2014 Tesla Model S visibility complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 18 of 18, newest first, as owners wrote them.
On may 19th, I attempted to start the car but found that the main central touchscreen would not turn on. Multiple attempts to start, including all available reboot options as instructed by tesla tech support via phone failed to restart the screen. Because service had to be performed at the dealership in atlanta, I was forced to drive the vehicle without the touchscreen. While basic functions were available, the loss of the touchscreen created a significant safety issue. I had to drive roughly 75 miles on the interstate during a heavy rainstorm. The loss of touchscreen meant I had no climate control--no A/C or defrost functions--so visibility was greatly impaired and I was reduced to periodically (and dangerously) wiping the windshield with a towel to maintain visibility. There were multiple other impacts, including loss of all audio and bluetooth, navigation, and I would worry that some of the electronic safety systems like collision avoidance might have been affected. If this had happened in winter during a snowstorm, the impact could have been even more dangerous. The problem turns out to be well known by tesla. It was a defective media control unit. This unit uses a flash memory chip, hard-soldered to the circuit board and thus not replaceable without replacing the entire board. The memory chip has a limited number of read-write cycles, and due to the tesla's programming, data are constantly written to the chip daily (and this is not a user-defeatable option). Replacement was done by the dealer, for a cost totaling 1868.07, not covered by any type of warranty.
See the federal safety agency action # 20010. Media control unit failed 7/8/2020 @ 5:04 pm when returning to the car after a brief stop, in a parking lot. Car took several minutes to "reboot" to drivability, but center screen is still down. Backup camera and blinkers (inside or outside, confirmed) are not working. Additional items down include defrosters, auto tilt mirrors for reversing, seat heaters are stuck on (from when I had last used them), sunroof won't open (it ignores steering wheel controls). Brake lights are still functional, so I drove it home. Called tesla and was told that the replacement module is out of stock and is not expected for many weeks. In the meantime, the car is undrivable.
When I went to start the car the central touchscreen failed. Could not control the lights, A/C, heating, could not recharge the car. Tesla charged me out of warranty over $2000 to replace the touchscreen with a refurbished one. They refused to give the old part to me even though this was replaced in nevada where the law states that they have to give the old parts back to the owner. I had to pay them another $1000 to get the part back as it contained so much private information.
My emmc chip failed in mcu when vehicle was five years old with less than sixty thousands miles. No rear view camera, no accessories are working, no AC, touch screen went black. With 'pin to drive' activated car becomes a brick: you can't enter pin because screen doesn't work - can't start/drive. Replacement with remanufactured unit (not even new) cost $2000!!!
My car experienced the issues described in the federal safety agency action number pe20010 with a premature mcu failure due to the emmc card failing. This emmc card has been found to fail too quickly due to tesla allowing debug logging to the emmc card that is not needed for normal vehicle users. This excess logging was confirmed by elon musk on october 12 2019 https://twitter.com/wk057/status/1211704973970550785. This expensive fix after failure had to be repaired out of warranty for a large cost. This failure causes the rear view camera to fail to work, the climate control to fail to work meaning that defrosting does not work causing potential vehicle issues, and potential slow charging of the car. The car also takes about 30 seconds to a minute to get out of park while the vehicle subsystems "fail" the mcu also causing a safety issue if the driver needs to get out of a troubling situation quickly.
Vehicles media control unit (mcu) has a known and well-publicized defect caused by over-logging on the emmc chip. This defect causes the mcu to glitch, reboot and fail eliminating the ability to control both safety and convenience features including climate control, defroster, GPS, audible safety warnings and other systems. Vehicle can also stop charging. This is a well-documented design flaw that tesla is well aware of (simply google tesla mcu failure) but refuses to cover out of warranty. The most recent "fix" via an over the air update simply delays the issue until vehicle is out of warranty but based on current evidence this defect will effect 100% of cars, both model s and x, made between 2012 and early 2018.
I have owned this vehicle since dec 2014. I have replaced 2 windshields and had 2 other rock-chips filled. I have seen numerous things on tesla blogs regarding multiple windshield cracks & chips from other owners. I just had one today due to a small rock where I was 2 car lengths back on the interstate. I recall only 2 other windshield repair/replacements on my cars since 2001.
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