2 painful years with a Model S

[Sprfst]

I wanted to post a brief description of my 2 year experience with a Tesla Model S 2021 refresh. Hopefully this can be found by others who are thinking of getting one.

The performance is superb. It is very fast and fun to drive. The technology in the UI is above all others. The range is good and enough to easily do local trips for work or pleasure. OTA updates are excellent.

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to not believe it, the quality is so poor I cannot think of anything else I have ever experienced that is built so badly.

In two years it has had the main battery die, windshield cracked from tiny pebble, rubber door seals crack and fall off, driver window leak water, climate control sensors break, 20 grand for a small dent in the driver rear fender after someone scraped me at low speed (insurance doesn’t have a certified shop in my region either), ordered and paid for winter wheel/tire package listed as “in stock” in August, only to be without them come December leading me to report it to the BBB (never did get the tires), paint chipping off, exterior door handle broke, glove box release/latch broken, and lastly the covering of the steering yoke is coming off.

This car was nearly 100k when we got it. All I can say is never again will I want anything to do with Tesla.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Some of your complaints are legitimate but when you insert items such as:

• Cracked windshield
• Collision repair costs

...the rest of your post just comes off like complaining about car ownership.

For future reference, if your post is about build quality, I'd stick with the important related points to strengthen your stance.

Also, more swear words to drive the point home. I give this rant a solid 6/10 for strong points but a little wandering and not quite enough passion.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

I think every car company has their lemons. My car has had one part replaced so far for $80 in 83,000 miles. How early of a refresh version did you get? They might have figured out most of those issues by now. What do you think your next vehicle will be?

These refresh owners seem quite happy. Steering wheel peeling seems to be the main issue.

I love my model s plaid!!!

So i have owned my plaid since October 2021 .i have owned a few performance high horsepower cars including r8 v10 plus Lamborghini Gallardo 2010 GTR alpha 9 1200hp c7 z06 1000hp 2018 zl1 M5 f10 etc I enjoy drag racing not much of a road course guy. Besides the mind altering acceleration...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[Sprfst]

Some of your complaints are legitimate but when you insert items such as:

• Cracked windshield
• Collision repair costs

...the rest of your post just comes off like complaining about car ownership.

For future reference, if your post is about build quality, I'd stick with the important related points to strengthen your stance.

Also, more swear words to drive the point home. I give this rant a solid 6/10 for strong points but a little wandering and not quite enough passion.

The windshield was of very poor quality. Because of Tesla’s method of car construction, the fender has to be cut out from the car resulting in huge prices for simple fixes. I would not call an informative post on issues that have arisen in 2 years a rant. I think it is important for future customers to know what they are getting involved in.

 

[macmovieman]

I wanted to post a brief description of my 2 year experience with a Tesla Model S 2021 refresh. Hopefully this can be found by others who are thinking of getting one.

The performance is superb. It is very fast and fun to drive. The technology in the UI is above all others. The range is good and enough to easily do local trips for work or pleasure. OTA updates are excellent.

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to not believe it, the quality is so poor I cannot think of anything else I have ever experienced that is built so badly.

In two years it has had the main battery die, windshield cracked from tiny pebble, rubber door seals crack and fall off, driver window leak water, climate control sensors break, 20 grand for a small dent in the driver rear fender after someone scraped me at low speed (insurance doesn’t have a certified shop in my region either), ordered and paid for winter wheel/tire package listed as “in stock” in August, only to be without them come December leading me to report it to the BBB (never did get the tires), paint chipping off, exterior door handle broke, glove box release/latch broken, and lastly the covering of the steering yoke is coming off.

This car was nearly 100k when we got it. All I can say is never again will I want anything to do with Tesla.

Sorry that you had all of those issues!

I too have had our model s plaid for 2 years now and zero issues in fit and finish and quality. I have been nothing but impressed with the car and this wis our third Tesla and we came from BMW and Mercedes.

Excited to get a roadster when they are available.

 

[Atomadam]

ive had mine since 2021, just minor annoyances that have been taken care of by warranty.

 

[Ostrichsak]

I think every car company has their lemons. My car has had one part replaced so far for $80 in 83,000 miles. How early of a refresh version did you get? They might have figured out most of those issues by now. What do you think your next vehicle will be?

These refresh owners seem quite happy. Steering wheel peeling seems to be the main issue.

I love my model s plaid!!!

So i have owned my plaid since October 2021 .i have owned a few performance high horsepower cars including r8 v10 plus Lamborghini Gallardo 2010 GTR alpha 9 1200hp c7 z06 1000hp 2018 zl1 M5 f10 etc I enjoy drag racing not much of a road course guy. Besides the mind altering acceleration...

teslamotorsclub.com

This is a pretty odd problem to have in 2023. I've seen some used Plaids for sale with 40k or so miles and the yoke is a disgusting mess. There's no reason for something like poor steering wheel/yoke covering quality in a flagship car of ANY manufacturer in 2023. I get that the yoke was an all-new design choice but the materials used for it aren't.

The windshield was of very poor quality. Because of Tesla’s method of car construction, the fender has to be cut out from the car resulting in huge prices for simple fixes. I would not call an informative post on issues that have arisen in 2 years a rant. I think it is important for future customers to know what they are getting involved in.

Blaming Tesla's "thin" windshield for rock damage due to something as subject as the size of the pebble is about as solid footing to stand on as those who claim Tesla caused their nails in their tires.

The damage repair methodology is common across all manufacturers. Again, this has nothing to do with Tesla regardless of what some insurance company or body shop will have you believe.

Again, you have valid complaints but these other things serve only to diminish your legitimate issues. Classic case to sticking to the legitimate issues making a stronger case than trying to make a longer list of diluted complaints.

I want to see Tesla better their quality same as anyone but when people post about nails in tires and cracked windshields from rock damage it allows them to weasel out of the things they could genuinely fix if they felt it was legitimate problems. Instead, it just looks like another case of sour grapes and someone ranting to try to discredit Tesla with stuff that exists across all manufactures.

 

[Drew-MS]

I wanted to post a brief description of my 2 year experience with a Tesla Model S 2021 refresh. Hopefully this can be found by others who are thinking of getting one.

The performance is superb. It is very fast and fun to drive. The technology in the UI is above all others. The range is good and enough to easily do local trips for work or pleasure. OTA updates are excellent.

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to not believe it, the quality is so poor I cannot think of anything else I have ever experienced that is built so badly.

In two years it has had the main battery die, windshield cracked from tiny pebble, rubber door seals crack and fall off, driver window leak water, climate control sensors break, 20 grand for a small dent in the driver rear fender after someone scraped me at low speed (insurance doesn’t have a certified shop in my region either), ordered and paid for winter wheel/tire package listed as “in stock” in August, only to be without them come December leading me to report it to the BBB (never did get the tires), paint chipping off, exterior door handle broke, glove box release/latch broken, and lastly the covering of the steering yoke is coming off.

This car was nearly 100k when we got it. All I can say is never again will I want anything to do with Tesla.

Sorry to hear about your experience. My August 2021 built Plaid with 40k miles has been flawless so far. Besides the yoke peeling, I've had no other issues with the car. My car has the 19s, and the tires were replaced at 34k miles.

 

[dn325ci]

Sorry this is happening to you. My experience has been different, but everyone has their perspective.

Sell and enjoy the great beyond!

 

[Unclepaul]

While nobody makes a perfect and fault free car, it sounds like you had expectation that your ownership experience would have had less issues.

Many others have posted that their cars have been fault free and never needed to go into service for any reasons.

Guess it is to be expected that some will have more issues than others.

Sorry that you needed to suffer so much.

I also have some pealing of the yoke covering. Tesla told me that it was a supply issue they are well aware of, and have indicated they will replace mine free when the improved model becomes available. Not really a biggie. I'm hoping the new yoke will have a horn button. Somehow I am surviving.

 

[Lance From Jax]

I wanted to post a brief description of my 2 year experience with a Tesla Model S 2021 refresh. Hopefully this can be found by others who are thinking of getting one.

The performance is superb. It is very fast and fun to drive. The technology in the UI is above all others. The range is good and enough to easily do local trips for work or pleasure. OTA updates are excellent.

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to not believe it, the quality is so poor I cannot think of anything else I have ever experienced that is built so badly.

In two years it has had the main battery die, windshield cracked from tiny pebble, rubber door seals crack and fall off, driver window leak water, climate control sensors break, 20 grand for a small dent in the driver rear fender after someone scraped me at low speed (insurance doesn’t have a certified shop in my region either), ordered and paid for winter wheel/tire package listed as “in stock” in August, only to be without them come December leading me to report it to the BBB (never did get the tires), paint chipping off, exterior door handle broke, glove box release/latch broken, and lastly the covering of the steering yoke is coming off.

This car was nearly 100k when we got it. All I can say is never again will I want anything to do with Tesla.

Sounds VERY much like my Audi A6.

 

[WyoDude]

I think it is important for future customers to know what they are getting involved in.

Doing the Lords work making sure people know buying cars with 100k miles will start having things break…

 

[krsgio]

I'd agree that while those all would be annoying for such a new car most of those items were likely fixed under warranty beside the windshield and the "20k ding".

 

[RSpanner]

This is a pretty odd problem to have in 2023. I've seen some used Plaids for sale with 40k or so miles and the yoke is a disgusting mess. There's no reason for something like poor steering wheel/yoke covering quality in a flagship car of ANY manufacturer in 2023. I get that the yoke was an all-new design choice but the materials used for it aren't.

Blaming Tesla's "thin" windshield for rock damage due to something as subject as the size of the pebble is about as solid footing to stand on as those who claim Tesla caused their nails in their tires.

The damage repair methodology is common across all manufacturers. Again, this has nothing to do with Tesla regardless of what some insurance company or body shop will have you believe.

Again, you have valid complaints but these other things serve only to diminish your legitimate issues. Classic case to sticking to the legitimate issues making a stronger case than trying to make a longer list of diluted complaints.

I want to see Tesla better their quality same as anyone but when people post about nails in tires and cracked windshields from rock damage it allows them to weasel out of the things they could genuinely fix if they felt it was legitimate problems. Instead, it just looks like another case of sour grapes and someone ranting to try to discredit Tesla with stuff that exists across all manufactures.

I am not a glass scientist or specialist. My experience with our Tesla in the last two years has been good, but the windshield SEEMS to be softer material than in the many many other cars we have had. Pitting is more pervasive than any other car, from multiple Audi ,Ford, Porsche,etc cars. IS there an independent entity that does just Windshield diagnostics, reviews on the quality of windshields that anyone knows of? Thanks.

 

[Ostrichsak]

I am not a glass scientist or specialist. My experience with our Tesla in the last two years has been good, but the windshield SEEMS to be softer material than in the many many other cars we have had. Pitting is more pervasive than any other car, from multiple Audi ,Ford, Porsche,etc cars. IS there an independent entity that does just Windshield diagnostics, reviews on the quality of windshields that anyone knows of? Thanks.

Purely anecdotal.

That's like saying that I've never had to replace a windshield in 8 Teslas so therefore Tesla makes indestructible & bulletproof windshields!

But yet people do that all the time on forums like this. They make their isolated experience seem like a regular occurrence or trend. Then people take their posts as gospel, parrot the info and before you know "lots of people..." is how the same statement begins even though it's really not.

There's federal tests/standards that car manufacturers OEM suppliers must meet as it pertains to windshield durability and safety. This idea that Tesla uses "softer" windshields is silly.

 

[Atomadam]

While nobody makes a perfect and fault free car, it sounds like you had expectation that your ownership experience would have had less issues.

Many others have posted that their cars have been fault free and never needed to go into service for any reasons.

Guess it is to be expected that some will have more issues than others.

Sorry that you needed to suffer so much.

I also have some pealing of the yoke covering. Tesla told me that it was a supply issue they are well aware of, and have indicated they will replace mine free when the improved model becomes available. Not really a biggie. I'm hoping the new yoke will have a horn button. Somehow I am surviving.

OH man that horn button....whos bloody idea was that???? Thats one of the only things i hate....

 

[RSpanner]

Purely anecdotal.

That's like saying that I've never had to replace a windshield in 8 Teslas so therefore Tesla makes indestructible & bulletproof windshields!

But yet people do that all the time on forums like this. They make their isolated experience seem like a regular occurrence or trend. Then people take their posts as gospel, parrot the info and before you know "lots of people..." is how the same statement begins even though it's really not.

There's federal tests/standards that car manufacturers OEM suppliers must meet as it pertains to windshield durability and safety. This idea that Tesla uses "softer" windshields is silly.

So you have a degree in Chemical Engineering or know someone who has one? Or are you making a general statement based on...what?

 

[RISC601]

I wanted to post a brief description of my 2 year experience with a Tesla Model S 2021 refresh. Hopefully this can be found by others who are thinking of getting one.

The performance is superb. It is very fast and fun to drive. The technology in the UI is above all others. The range is good and enough to easily do local trips for work or pleasure. OTA updates are excellent.

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to not believe it, the quality is so poor I cannot think of anything else I have ever experienced that is built so badly.

In two years it has had the main battery die, windshield cracked from tiny pebble, rubber door seals crack and fall off, driver window leak water, climate control sensors break, 20 grand for a small dent in the driver rear fender after someone scraped me at low speed (insurance doesn’t have a certified shop in my region either), ordered and paid for winter wheel/tire package listed as “in stock” in August, only to be without them come December leading me to report it to the BBB (never did get the tires), paint chipping off, exterior door handle broke, glove box release/latch broken, and lastly the covering of the steering yoke is coming off.

This car was nearly 100k when we got it. All I can say is never again will I want anything to do with Tesla.

I am in a similar situation in regard to the winter tire/wheel package. They charged my Amex fast enough, but haven’t seen the tires/wheels. They report to be unable to track them nor do they have any sort of ETA.

 

[Ostrichsak]

So you have a degree in Chemical Engineering or know someone who has one? Or are you making a general statement based on...what?

Why is any degree required for the statement in my post that you quoted? Did you even read it?

 

[maximizese]

I am in a similar situation in regard to the winter tire/wheel package. They charged my Amex fast enough, but haven’t seen the tires/wheels. They report to be unable to track them nor do they have any sort of ETA.

I assume your Amex charge is pending or in pre-authorization, because I'm not sure they are allowed to charge your card until the merchandise is shipped and verified. Might want to research that a little more. When did you put your order in, when did they charge your card, did you receive a notice that the tires/wheels were shipped and from where?