Tesla Model 3 Towed Three Times In Three Months Of Ownership

First time around, the YouTuber reported that his Deep Blue Metallic-painted Model 3 was throwing error messages that wouldn’t let the transmission go into gear. After a few resets, all was well with the vehicle. But the fault appeared again, following a night parked in the garage.

Four days at the nearest Tesla Service Center were needed for the technicians to replace the charge port and ECU. This fix hadn’t resolved the problem, which returned after a few days. The second time around, the service identified a fault with the power conversion system. But guess what? As expected, that wasn’t the fix the Model 3 needed.

Third time around, DamienG drove his car into the shop, and the technicians had to fix a loose grounding bolt. Curiously enough, it appears the problem was discussed by Tesla at regional meeting but the service centers didn’t get the memo from the get-go.

Tesla has a history of releasing cars before going through a thorough debug process, and this is another instance of the trend. Electrical gremlins are also nasty to find, let alone problems affecting electric vehicles such as the Model 3.

For the time being, Tesla’s service centers should exchange information more often. Throwing parts at a car hoping to miraculously fix the problem isn’t the right thing to do, and Elon Musk should focus on service and after-sales as much as he does on production output.

In related news, the entry-level Model 3 retailing at $35,000 will start series production in the first half of 2019. The European order books are also open, and by the summer of 2019, Australia and other RHD markets such as the United Kingdom will receive their 3s as well.