Another Model X Problem!!! 3rd row seat stuck in down position.

[Debaser]

You should contact [email protected] about this. The latches should allow some flexibility, not lock if there's an obstruction, or not lock at all. I'm not even sure what the benefit of locking latches is when the seat is all the way down.

That's a great idea. To respond to the general question that people might have, no, I did not push the seatback down in a hard manner when it locked. I just did my normal routine of pressing the shoulder button once to tilt the headrest, then pressing it again to release the seatback. Then I just pushed it forward, leading to the seatback landing and locking. Very obviously, there was enough space for a pillow (the size of a small dog) to be in the seat. The pillow did not stop the seatback from locking in the down position, but it DID supply enough upward pressure to prevent the shoulder button from working and allowing me to free it.

Basically, if a small dog had been there, the dog would not stop the seatback from falling and locking, but it WOULD stop the seatback from being able to be released and lifted back up. I tried with all my might (and I deadlift a good amount of weight), but I could not even break the seatback to lift it off the pillow. So, ultimately, a small dog being there would kill the dog, unless cutting tools were used to cut the seatback free.

 

[flar]

Just to be clear, you were pressing down on the seat with all of your deadlifting skills, right? (The reason I ask is that you said you could not lift it off of the pillow). If you were lifting up on the seat then you were convincing the latch to dig in harder and preventing the unlatching. To ease a stuck latch you always press the object towards the closed and locked direction, not towards the open direction. (Also, you shouldn't have to press hard, you just have to ease the pressure so that the hooked latch can clear the bar it is hooking around.)

 

[hdgmedic]

^^^^This

 

[Debaser]

Just to be clear, you were pressing down on the seat with all of your deadlifting skills, right? (The reason I ask is that you said you could not lift it off of the pillow). If you were lifting up on the seat then you were convincing the latch to dig in harder and preventing the unlatching. To ease a stuck latch you always press the object towards the closed and locked direction, not towards the open direction. (Also, you shouldn't have to press hard, you just have to ease the pressure so that the hooked latch can clear the bar it is hooking around.)

Maybe you weren't understanding. The seatback came down and locked, so that the seatback and the seatbottom were parallel. I tried pressing the shoulder button to unlock it, but the shoulder button would not respond. I tried pushing the seatback DOWN perhaps to engage a latch that would then let the shoulder button respond, but this did not work. So as a last ditch effort, I tried pulling UP on the seatback in order to see if I could break something free, but this did not work either. The lifting UP part was about deadlifting.

 

[aesculus]

Found the solution, which highlights a major design flaw. There was a small pillow in the seat that my daughter uses with her booster seat. The pillow is dark so I did not see it when I laid the seatback down. The seatback locked into place, making it impossible to lift up, but there was enough pressure from the pillow to prevent the shoulder button from working. I had to pull the pillow from the rear through the intersection of the seatback and the seatbottom. Then the button would work.

Something like this happened to another months ago. It confused and frustrated them too. I have had my own issues with these latches as they are extremely temperamental to pressures both ways along with timing, lifting/pushing etc. If the seats would automatically move after pressing the button I would probably accept the electronic latching. But just to undo a latch that a 30 cent stranded cable could do easier? Not so much.

 

[systemcrashed]

Moral of the story here is to make sure third row is clear before folding it down. Objects left in the seat trigger the passenger sensor and disable the latch release. I definitely want the latch release to auto disable when an occupant is detected.

 

[dropd]

Just to be clear, you were pressing down on the seat with all of your deadlifting skills, right? (The reason I ask is that you said you could not lift it off of the pillow). If you were lifting up on the seat then you were convincing the latch to dig in harder and preventing the unlatching. To ease a stuck latch you always press the object towards the closed and locked direction, not towards the open direction. (Also, you shouldn't have to press hard, you just have to ease the pressure so that the hooked latch can clear the bar it is hooking around.)

I just took delivery on Friday and I've had trouble with getting the rear seats back up as well. Basically unless the rear seat is pushed down *all the way*, it becomes impossible to lift back up again. You can hear the motor when you press the button but tugging up on the seat does nothing. It's a little counterintuitive but I found I had to smash the seat way down with my hand while pushing in the button before I could then pull it up and release it. So, if you had left a pillow there, I can see how it would be very hard to get the seat to move down far enough to successfully unlatch it.

 

[systemcrashed]

A pillow or any object left in the seat when it is closed will deactivate the button altogether, the latch will not electronically disengage, pushing the seat back down while pressing the button will not help in this case.

 

[vandacca]

That's a great idea. To respond to the general question that people might have, no, I did not push the seatback down in a hard manner when it locked. I just did my normal routine of pressing the shoulder button once to tilt the headrest, then pressing it again to release the seatback. Then I just pushed it forward, leading to the seatback landing and locking. Very obviously, there was enough space for a pillow (the size of a small dog) to be in the seat. The pillow did not stop the seatback from locking in the down position, but it DID supply enough upward pressure to prevent the shoulder button from working and allowing me to free it.

Basically, if a small dog had been there, the dog would not stop the seatback from falling and locking, but it WOULD stop the seatback from being able to be released and lifted back up. I tried with all my might (and I deadlift a good amount of weight), but I could not even break the seatback to lift it off the pillow. So, ultimately, a small dog being there would kill the dog, unless cutting tools were used to cut the seatback free.

Let's not get all sensational here, as it will hurt your credibility. The seat back doesn't weigh that much, so I'm certain that a small dog or child will prevent the seat back from closing down all the way (and thereby preventing it from locking down into place).

If you have a pet mouse, then all bets are off. However, mice have compressible ribs, so they would be able to squeeze themselves out of there.

Moral of the story? Forego the small dog and get a mouse instead.

 

[Xminus6]

Ugh, this just happened to me, right when we have guests in town. It's infuriating that they didn't include some sort of manual release mechanism somewhere in the seat at the very least. In reality, the electric actuation of the seat is pure stupidity. It being electronically controlled doesn't allow us to do anything that would benefit from electronic control. We can't activate the switch from a remote device, or even from the control panel on the main screen. The seats don't actually DO anything when you press the button like automatically fold down or up, they just release a latch.

So, you have to physically be right there at the switch to activate it in order to manually move the seats. Tell me again why a cable and lever wouldn't have made the car, 1) simpler, 2) lighter, 3) more reliable?

I previously had a Ford Flex with manual third row seats that required two strap pulls. Maybe it wasn't as "elegant" but, you know what, it always worked.

 

[outie]

It's Tesla; they like to reinvent the wheel, yet the new wheel doesn't work any better.

 

[Terthen]

Ugh, this just happened to me, right when we have guests in town. It's infuriating that they didn't include some sort of manual release mechanism somewhere in the seat at the very least. In reality, the electric actuation of the seat is pure stupidity. It being electronically controlled doesn't allow us to do anything that would benefit from electronic control. We can't activate the switch from a remote device, or even from the control panel on the main screen. The seats don't actually DO anything when you press the button like automatically fold down or up, they just release a latch.

So, you have to physically be right there at the switch to activate it in order to manually move the seats. Tell me again why a cable and lever wouldn't have made the car, 1) simpler, 2) lighter, 3) more reliable?

I previously had a Ford Flex with manual third row seats that required two strap pulls. Maybe it wasn't as "elegant" but, you know what, it always worked.

Sorry to hear that. This happened to us and now I am afraid we will have guests over and it will break. To top if off they do t even repair the latch. I had to wait 6 weeks for the "right part" to arrive which in reality was the entire seat, the right ppart being black leather seat. The Tesla way I suppose...

 

[Xminus6]

Crazy thing is: I just used that seat a week ago and it was fine. We're now having to make special accommodations this weekend to work around having a five seater when we bought a six seater.

 

[J__T]

Ugh, my passenger side 3rd row seat is locked and stuck in the folding position also. Nothing is on the 3rd row seat when it folded. Looks like a trip to SC on Monday...

 

[Terthen]

Ugh, my passenger side 3rd row seat is locked and stuck in the folding position also. Nothing is on the 3rd row seat when it folded. Looks like a trip to SC on Monday...

Mine was also the passenger side. Xminus6 was yours passenger side too?

 

[Xminus6]

Mine was also the passenger side. Xminus6 was yours passenger side too?

Yes.

 

[Xminus6]

Sorry to hear that. This happened to us and now I am afraid we will have guests over and it will break. To top if off they do t even repair the latch. I had to wait 6 weeks for the "right part" to arrive which in reality was the entire seat, the right ppart being black leather seat. The Tesla way I suppose...

I'll likely be in the same boat as we have Ultrawhite Ventilated seats. They don't make those anymore.

 

[Terthen]

For those interested (and for those considering the extended warranty), the repair quote for this is about $5000 ($4800 for seat, $200 for labor). I asked as I am considering not getting the extended warranty, so keeping track of how much these repairs might costing me... wish they would just fix the latch?? Maybe they will just switch to a manual latch in the future, I'd opt for that immediately.

 

[J__T]

Tesla really needs to do a better job tracking their service center part orders and updating their service center or customers when the ordered part has a tracking # either thru texting, phone, or email.

On Monday 6/26, SC confirmed the 3rd row passenger side will not come back up issue, put in an order for replacement seat, and was told it takes ~1 week for the replacement seat to arrive. Then when I arrive for my appointment today to replace the malfunction seat and among other issues, the service center representative says it has not arrived, do not know the shipping status of replacement seat, and gives me a longer 4-6 weeks shipment timeline.

So just a reminder to everyone who needs 3rd row seat or any parts to be replaced, please call or email your SC before going in to make sure the parts have arrived or else it's just a waste of time driving to the service center and back.

 

[Terthen]

Tesla really needs to do a better job tracking their service center part orders and updating their service center or customers when the ordered part has a tracking # either thru texting, phone, or email.

On Monday 6/26, SC confirmed the 3rd row passenger side will not come back up issue, put in an order for replacement seat, and was told it takes ~1 week for the replacement seat to arrive. Then when I arrive for my appointment today to replace the malfunction seat and among other issues, the service center representative says it has not arrived, do not know the shipping status of replacement seat, and gives me a longer 4-6 weeks shipment timeline.

So just a reminder to everyone who needs 3rd row seat or any parts to be replaced, please call or email your SC before going in to make sure the parts have arrived or else it's just a waste of time driving to the service center and back.

Agree--actually after I had my seat replaced, I got a call a week later saying my part arrived. I was like, uh, I don't need another one you guys just replaced it last week.