ALL POSTS - motor whine or "HUM" (Milling Sound)

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Well the software update per the recall went well and the car still works with no issues (other than motor noise). But I've been waiting for over a month for an answer on the motor noise / warranty replacement. Kevin Spillane is involved and hopefully I will have an answer soon whether they will agree to a motor replacement or deny there is a problem.
 
So I finally got a response from Toyota on my motor noise claim. They said it isn't loud enough yet. Has anyone fought this battle successfully yet? It's loud enough for me. It started making noise around 10k and getting progressively worse (now at 20k). Very loud from 0 - 25 mph, not so bad on the freeway. Maybe I need a more experienced dealer in the San Diego area that can make a better recording?

Can anyone recommend a dealer / contact in SD county for this issue? Am I allowed to make a recording and send it to another dealer or Kevin Spillane directly? It would be nice to find a dealer that actually help try to get the car repaired instead of trying to find reasons NOT to fix the car.
 
How many forum members in line for a Motor replacement? Longo Toyota service rep just told me they are waiting on 4 replacement units. I have been waiting since early November 2015 and wanted to see if this is becoming a issue for people that have to return their lease vehicle soon.
 
banshee08 said:
How many forum members in line for a Motor replacement? Longo Toyota service rep just told me they are waiting on 4 replacement units. I have been waiting since early November 2015 and wanted to see if this is becoming a issue for people that have to return their lease vehicle soon.

How could it in anyway be an issue for a lease return?

1) The car is warranted
2) You don't own it
3) On the appointed day give them the keys (or pay the residual and keep it)
 
Thanks Tony. This is my first lease ever, not sure how the end of the lease will be carried out. I like to keep the car since the residual is pretty low but with this motor hum problem getting worst and waiting for replacement being so long, not sure I will be keeping the Rav4.
 
banshee08 said:
Thanks Tony. This is my first lease ever, not sure how the end of the lease will be carried out. I like to keep the car since the residual is pretty low but with this motor hum problem getting worst and waiting for replacement being so long, not sure I will be keeping the Rav4.

1) the motors have never failed

2) the noisy motors have always been replaced under warranty, even if it takes months
 
I can't believe I'm even posting in this portion of the forum! I have driven a leased EV for two years without a single hiccup. I've heard about noises, hums, failures, etc. but have had none of it for 25,000 miles. I just turned in my lease and purchased a 2014 and THOUGHT I did a thorough test drive. Jumped on the freeway to listen to the motor, checked the heater, all the things I've read about. But now after two week of around town driving I really put my foot down on a freeway drive to Orange County and when I hit 50-60, there is a definite hum/whine/or a noise that just sounds like the motor is WORKING too hard. I was used to complete silence and while the noise is not horrible, it is horrible to me in comparison to what I was driving. And REALLY annoying to have been sold a vehicle that obviously has a problem. I'm at 11,000 miles, so will likely wait until 15,000 miles to bring it in to Carson Toyota. I've read this Discussion from the beginning, but still want to confirm: (and of course, I'm really asking our expert Tony!)

1) Does the noise indicate any damage being done, and will something eventually fail if ignored long enough?
2) Any thoughts on Toyota selling a Certified vehicle with the hum - and I wonder if this is going to be common with the returned leases.
3) Any reason to go into Toyota to report the problem sooner than 15,000?

I'm pretty pissed off, but bottom line is that I do love this vehicle, and want to own one long term. So I'm in for dealing with the 'glitches.' But I really did not expect to be dealing with it so soon after purchase. Thanks for any input/suggestions.
 
DU approved and ordered at Magnussen in Palo Alto in OCTOBER. Still no replacement and it's March already. My lease will end before they fix the damn thing.
 
Ours was awful. Dealer agreed but it took many months for the replacement to arrive from Tesla.

It's OK now, hope it stays that way!

While the noise was somewhat annoying, my bigger concern was that it was embarrassing to be driving around in an EV, for which one of the claims-to-fame is silence--that sounded like an old jalopy.
 
The service guy at Toyota said that Tesla is hugely backed up doing rebuilds.

It's funny...I've seen many cases of people criticizing Volt for having an overly complex drive system. But on the Volt boards, I've can't recall ever seeing anybody report a problem. It's Tesla's elegant, simple, pure-electric system that has all the problems.
 
michael said:
But on the Volt boards, I've can't recall ever seeing anybody report a problem. It's Tesla's elegant, simple, pure-electric system that has all the problems.
I've known of a few Volt folks at work that had a few problems. On the BMW i3 Facebook group, there are some w/pretty trouble-free Volts and a few that were so bad, they were got buybacks via lemon law (these were the first I'd heard of). On a Leaf group, I saw another guy mentioning his '16 Volt's been to the dealer 2x in 4 months already (https://www.facebook.com/groups/BayLeafs/permalink/1019297098127951/?comment_id=1019487771442217&reply_comment_id=1019490474775280&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R9%22%7D).

That said, most people I've known w/Volts are happy w/theirs.
 
michael said:
The service guy at Toyota said that Tesla is hugely backed up doing rebuilds.

It's funny...I've seen many cases of people criticizing Volt for having an overly complex drive system. But on the Volt boards, I've can't recall ever seeing anybody report a problem. It's Tesla's elegant, simple, pure-electric system that has all the problems.

That means they have massive issues or just one person doing these. I hope they hire a proper engineer to fix these issues for good.
 
4EVEREV said:
michael said:
The service guy at Toyota said that Tesla is hugely backed up doing rebuilds.

It's funny...I've seen many cases of people criticizing Volt for having an overly complex drive system. But on the Volt boards, I've can't recall ever seeing anybody report a problem. It's Tesla's elegant, simple, pure-electric system that has all the problems.

That means they have massive issues or just one person doing these. I hope they hire a proper engineer to fix these issues for good.

Tesla likely built the first production motors for Toyota (and the Model S) in early 2012. This is FOUR YEARS LATER.
 
4EVEREV said:
That means they have massive issues or just one person doing these. I hope they hire a proper engineer to fix these issues for good.
I think Tesla is really trying to figure out this noise issue not just shim the gears and send it down the road.
This is a big issue for Tesla that they had better get right before they start putting these gear boxes in 100,000+ Model 3 cars each year.
I assume the redesign will be partially based on what Tesla learns from these rebuilds.
OK maybe I am just naive... Tesla has one guy on it and could not care less.
 
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