My Terrifying Trip in a Tesla Model 3: Part 2

Editor’s note: EV Car Answers CEO and Co-Founder, Jason Fox, shares his dangerous drive in a Tesla Model 3. This is part 2 of 2.

Recently I described my terrifying ordeal with my Tesla Model 3 (2019) on October 20, 2024. Twice the car powered off with almost zero warning and both times, I was barely able to get off the road without incident. Had I been traveling on a highway, fair chance I would have caused a serious accident.

After conversations with Tesla, we drove on back roads from Saratoga Springs to Westchester County—a heart pounding trip, if there ever was one.

Service Center

The next morning (October 21, 2024), I brought the car to a Tesla service center. There it sat for days in a seamlessly endless queue. The initial loaner car I got was filthy – inside and out – and I had to return it within 24 hours because it was also making awful creaking sounds. This experience, while less hair-raising, hardly restored my faith in Tesla. The next loaner was a Model Y.

Impressions of a Model Y Loaner

A few days with the 2021 Model Y was mostly a pleasant experience. The views out are commanding, there is plenty of space for rear passengers, and lots of carrying capacity in the trunk. Other than that, it’s basically a raised Model 3. The handling isn’t as taut as you’d expect from a raised car but the biggest negative is the drive felt jittery and uncertain over uneven pavement. All Teslas are known for their very firm rides but I wasn’t expecting the car to feel unplanted.

That said, I’d definitely consider the Model Y as a future car as the 2023 and 2024 cars have a revised suspension.

Catastrophic Failure

The rest of the week went by with no updates until Friday when they finally told me that the rear motor had catastrophically failed and the whole drivetrain needed to be replaced. Luckily the car was under warranty for the drivetrain (and battery) still, even if everything else was not.

The car required a firmware update, too, which took another 24 hours but it was finally ready to picked up 11 days after I brought it back it in.

The Aftermath

Although the car is fixed, one annoying new development: it constantly prompts me to set-up my key card. Tesla says this sometimes happens after a firmware update. It’s a minor issue but I haven’t been able to fix it.

So, in conclusion, not sure if there are any lessons to be learned here except to say I hope you never have this experience. I gather it’s fairly rare but there are plenty of other harrowing examples on Reddit and elsewhere. And in fairness, I suppose this could happen with any car. In the meantime, we cover Tesla inside out so read on. Drive safely.