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> Their software now detects the issue before it occurs and adds a notification alerting the driver. I've never seen this notification on my 2015 Model S, whos

> Their software now detects the issue before it occurs and adds a notification alerting the driver. I've never seen this notification on my 2015 Model S, whose MCU (the center console display referred to here) has become increasingly unreliable over the past year. Its gotten so bad that there's almost a 50/50 chance of needing to reboot it every time I drive. (its actually even worse than that now, as the car now gets stuck installing a firmware update every night and needs a reboot to get that bit working again) I honestly can't tell if the issue is eMMC partial failure, corruption, or simply a lack of proper regression testing on Tesla's part. (After all, if all new cars use the new MCU2 then they probably don't care about my MCU1 car unless they have to.) That being said, I personally care a bit more about long term reliability and responsiveness than being annoying and making them pay. So the moment I qualified for an upgrade to their newer MCU, I just went ahead and scheduled that. Sure, it actually costs me money, but in exchange I get a faster UI, better software support, and hopefully fewer issues. (I plan to keep the car for a while still, and MCU quirks are really my only complaint.)

capableweb 6y ago
> Its gotten so bad that there's almost a 50/50 chance of needing to reboot it every time I drive Holy. Shit. If this is true (I no reason to doubt you, yet at least), the market cap of Tesla makes even less sense. Who in their right mind would invest in a car company that can't even build a car that work half of the time you're using it? Especially since all controls are depending on the console as well.
- washadjeffmad 6y ago
  Honda's HondaLink panels in their Civics since 2013/14 can occasionally have poor or no responsiveness or display. The UI is also poorly designed enough that accomplishing anything with it is a distraction (eg- does not separate parked and in-motion UIs, allows navigating 4 menus deep for a feature before throwing up a verbose text warning about why interacting with an option the 5th deep menu would be dangerous). Honda's credibility and market didn't receive any scrutiny for it. Maybe touchpanels for any major control systems without tactile backups is a stupid idea?
  - rad_gruchalski 6y ago
    Civic is a €20k car.
- unityByFreedom 6y ago
  We've all been asking that question for 5+ years since they began the FSD lies. Never made sense to promise major software ahead of time in any industry much less promise to support old hardware. That's always been a death knell.
- jeromenerf 6y ago
  I would not consider an anecdote as a pertinent indicator to invest in the company but a warning to invest in a car. Recalls are pretty common across cars manufacturers, even the ones seen as reliable, such as Mercedes or Volvo. As for as anecdotes go, I have rented an almost brand new Toyota that would turn the lights off on 90 degrees turn, that was frightening :)
- pjc50 6y ago
  Other way round: if a company can market cars so well they're selling out faster than they can be built, it doesn't matter how well they actually work once they've arrived at the customer. The market cap is down to the effectiveness of Tesla marketing.
- ReptileMan 6y ago
  The world will run on lithium ... and Tesla wants to be on the bleeding edge of the tech. It's just that painting a car around the battery pack is the sexiest and highest margin way to sell it. Now if there is a new battery chemistry on the horizion you can start to worry.
- TeMPOraL 6y ago
  Inertia. I think they're still coasting on the reputation from back when they released Model S.
- octorian 6y ago
  Chances are that newer models (S/X with MCU2, the Model 3, etc) don't have such bad issues. Beyond that, I can easily think of a few reasons... First, this doesn't affect the parts of the car necessary to actually drive it. (Remember, the dashboard on the Model S is a separate component.) The actual "car" part of the car still works just fine, and you can even reboot this part while driving without causing problems. Second, most people who actually own these cars tend to be somewhat protective of the company's image. Therefore, while you'll see plenty of ranting on Tesla-specific forums, it rarely leaks out into the greater conversation. Third, and most importantly, all of the reporters who write articles covering Tesla are doing so from the perspective of an outsider looking in. They jump all over the great features and new easter eggs, but are completely and utterly oblivious to all the "quality of life" issues you'll only ever notice if you actually own the damn car and drive it every day.
- zaroth 6y ago
  I think it’s not particularly surprising that cars have parts that fail early and need replacing. I had a similar failure in my Infiniti 2006 G35. The Bose stereo had a cap that would blow, which would cut power to the whole center stack, including climate control and defog. The radio was a $2,000 part, and they never extended the warranty. I ended up replacing the climate control panel with a non-US version of the part that bypassed the radio. It’s good that Tesla extended the warranty in this case, as they should have. I think there’s one key part that’s even better, and as far as I know totally unique to Tesla; > So the moment I qualified for an upgrade to their newer MCU, I just went ahead and scheduled that. Sure, it actually costs me money, but in exchange I get a faster UI, better software support, and hopefully fewer issues. Tesla has actually designed a harness to allow their newest generation of MCU to be retrofitted into their older cars, and will factory support this upgrade. This gives you access to all the latest infotainment and driving visualization features that came out well after the car was made. I don’t know of any other car manufacturer which supports their late model cars like this.

capableweb 6y ago

> Its gotten so bad that there's almost a 50/50 chance of needing to reboot it every time I drive Holy. Shit. If this is true (I no reason to doubt you, yet at least), the market cap of Tesla makes even less sense. Who in their right mind would invest in a car company that can't even build a car that work half of the time you're using it? Especially since all controls are depending on the console as well.

washadjeffmad 6y ago
Honda's HondaLink panels in their Civics since 2013/14 can occasionally have poor or no responsiveness or display. The UI is also poorly designed enough that accomplishing anything with it is a distraction (eg- does not separate parked and in-motion UIs, allows navigating 4 menus deep for a feature before throwing up a verbose text warning about why interacting with an option the 5th deep menu would be dangerous). Honda's credibility and market didn't receive any scrutiny for it. Maybe touchpanels for any major control systems without tactile backups is a stupid idea?
- rad_gruchalski 6y ago
  Civic is a €20k car.
unityByFreedom 6y ago
We've all been asking that question for 5+ years since they began the FSD lies. Never made sense to promise major software ahead of time in any industry much less promise to support old hardware. That's always been a death knell.
jeromenerf 6y ago
I would not consider an anecdote as a pertinent indicator to invest in the company but a warning to invest in a car. Recalls are pretty common across cars manufacturers, even the ones seen as reliable, such as Mercedes or Volvo. As for as anecdotes go, I have rented an almost brand new Toyota that would turn the lights off on 90 degrees turn, that was frightening :)
pjc50 6y ago
Other way round: if a company can market cars so well they're selling out faster than they can be built, it doesn't matter how well they actually work once they've arrived at the customer. The market cap is down to the effectiveness of Tesla marketing.
ReptileMan 6y ago
The world will run on lithium ... and Tesla wants to be on the bleeding edge of the tech. It's just that painting a car around the battery pack is the sexiest and highest margin way to sell it. Now if there is a new battery chemistry on the horizion you can start to worry.
TeMPOraL 6y ago
Inertia. I think they're still coasting on the reputation from back when they released Model S.
octorian 6y ago
Chances are that newer models (S/X with MCU2, the Model 3, etc) don't have such bad issues. Beyond that, I can easily think of a few reasons... First, this doesn't affect the parts of the car necessary to actually drive it. (Remember, the dashboard on the Model S is a separate component.) The actual "car" part of the car still works just fine, and you can even reboot this part while driving without causing problems. Second, most people who actually own these cars tend to be somewhat protective of the company's image. Therefore, while you'll see plenty of ranting on Tesla-specific forums, it rarely leaks out into the greater conversation. Third, and most importantly, all of the reporters who write articles covering Tesla are doing so from the perspective of an outsider looking in. They jump all over the great features and new easter eggs, but are completely and utterly oblivious to all the "quality of life" issues you'll only ever notice if you actually own the damn car and drive it every day.
zaroth 6y ago
I think it’s not particularly surprising that cars have parts that fail early and need replacing. I had a similar failure in my Infiniti 2006 G35. The Bose stereo had a cap that would blow, which would cut power to the whole center stack, including climate control and defog. The radio was a $2,000 part, and they never extended the warranty. I ended up replacing the climate control panel with a non-US version of the part that bypassed the radio. It’s good that Tesla extended the warranty in this case, as they should have. I think there’s one key part that’s even better, and as far as I know totally unique to Tesla; > So the moment I qualified for an upgrade to their newer MCU, I just went ahead and scheduled that. Sure, it actually costs me money, but in exchange I get a faster UI, better software support, and hopefully fewer issues. Tesla has actually designed a harness to allow their newest generation of MCU to be retrofitted into their older cars, and will factory support this upgrade. This gives you access to all the latest infotainment and driving visualization features that came out well after the car was made. I don’t know of any other car manufacturer which supports their late model cars like this.