Consumer Reports: Model X - Least Reliable Car?

[DrivingTheFuture]

Just passed 40K miles on my Model S. This was bought in March 2014 so it wasn't first off the line. As someone said above...driving reliability is great. Everything else is horrible. I'm a super-satisfied kool-aid drinking happy Telsa owner, but in less than 3 years I've had:
- Nosecone replaced
- Entire motor replaced due to high-pitched squealing sound that started after 2 years
- Entire dash pad replaced
- Dashboard screen replaced twice
- Passenger seat and driver's seat both replaced (two years apart for completely different issues)
- AC fans replaced
- Countless rattles attempt to be fixed
- Tailgate pieces replaced as I had significant water intrusion into the tail light assemblies causing one of the tail lights to fail completely
- Two chrome pieces needed to be glued back on
- The infamous frunk dent
- I have a rear seat-belt on order

That's off the top of my head. Fantastic car, yes. Reliable? Nope.

Service center has been great (despite appointments a month out).

Seems you have a good balance of accepting these defects and yet not getting your panties in a bunch. I decided before we ordered our X that it is worth the risk of running into these things if we get to drive a car that is 5-10 years ahead of anything else on the road both software wise and hardware / design wise.

 

[ckessel]

Sadly, I'm not surprised. Those doors...sigh. I've spent some time sitting in the X and seeing the doors and I do like what the falcon wing doors bring in functionality, but it's been a year now since the first trickle of X's and they're still not reliable. We have multiple threads just on TMC about doors that didn't detect obstacles and opened into things. Who knows how many non-TMC folks have had issues. You see responses here on TMC along the lines of "It's your responsibility to be ready to intervene".

All that money spent on hardware and software for a system that you can't rely on. Yet you have to rely on those same sensors to align and close the door correctly...it's just crazy.

Someday they'll probably fix that, let's hope so.

Even if they do eventually get the software/sensors right, perhaps more serious is the falcon doors have the mind boggling design such that they can collide with the front doors. Each car is going to have the doors opened thousands and thousands of times. When I was ferrying kids to baseball/football/etc practice, I might open the all the doors 10-15 times a day. Often in somewhat haphazard usage scenarios like: holding them halfway open, partially close them, then yank it back open to grab my sunglasses, a kids coat falls off the seat and hangs half out the door causing me to futz with the door, telling one kid to keep the partially closing door open for their sibling, etc.

If the doors collide 1 in a 1,000 times or 1 in 10,000, you're going to have a large percentage of people that have the doors collide at least once over their lifetime of ownership. Holy crap, how on early did Tesla get all the way to production without realizing that's a horrible design? Makes me wonder what critical team member they lost after the S was designed, the person that would have went "Uh, guys, that's stupid, don't design doors that can collide".

The structure of the car itself has to be redesigned to prevent that. Tens of millions of dollars in tooling, dies, and robotic programming that'll have to be changed. Just...wow, words fail me. It really shakes my faith in Tesla's design and quality capabilities for the Model 3.

I love my 2012 Model S. It had its share of teething issues, but nothing remotely close to the problems the X has. A friend is looking at the X and it makes me sad to say I've recommended against buying it.

 

[Electroman]

Even more sad part is, X would have been a greater hit just with traditional doors. Will be more reliable and cheaper and come to the market perhaps an year earlier.

 

[calisnow]

...Just...wow, words fail me. It really shakes my faith in Tesla's design and quality capabilities for the Model 3.

 

[Andrewf]

I purchased a model x before hearing about consumer reports review or seeing the forums. I decided to look up the forums because of the immediate problems with the latch and wind noise. If I had thought that were problems I would have no t purchased the model x. I know it's risky purchasing a car in its first year.
But I had this impression that Teslas were rated extremely well and reliable. Now I see long waits for service, recurring service because problems are not resolved etc. What really concerns me that there are issues -door latches ,wind noise and others that should be resolved before delivery. If that was done there would not be as many unhappy and inconvenienced customers. I don't believe there is any follow ups after service is done. Resolving issues that occur frequently might be addressed.
I have kept my wife's old car because the 2nd day she went to drive the door latch wouldn't open. I am seriously considering selling it. I am aggravated with so many glitches.

 

[cwerdna]

How We Survey - Consumer Reports

Yep. Car Reliability FAQ | Answers to Reliability Questions - Consumer Reports provides more context.

Car Reliability History | Detailed Ratings also lists average problem rates for each system along w/definitions for each system.

I can see the '16 Model X's trouble spots were drive system, climate system, body hardware, power equipment and audio system. This mostly seems inline w/the Model X problem reports we've seen here. No surprise.

It is also not the least reliable vehicle. Per Why 'Consumer Reports' rips Tesla for lousy reliability
"The Model X has a long way to go. It’s the sixth-least reliable vehicle in our survey, and there are some monumental challenges with that vehicle," Fisher said Monday in Detroit at an event hosted by the Automotive Press Association. "It’s unclear whether they will get the falcon wing doors right ever.""

So, there were 5 in their survey that we worse.

 

[akira3d]

So, there were 5 in their survey that we worse.

It was the worst mid-size SUV. The topic title should probably be changed to reflect that.

 

[Dynamo123]

I had one of the first Model S's that was made in 2012. It had soooo many problems. And you know what? Tesla fixed every last one of them until the car was perfect. If you are having issues with your X, call service and make them fix everything that is wrong with your It. I now have an X and it's amazing. Sure it has a few fit and finish issues, wind noise etc. but I won't stop until they get this one right too. This is the most advanced car the world has ever seen. You could go back to a Lexus or Mercedes GL, but there is zero comparison and Tesla will make it right.

I purchased a model x before hearing about consumer reports review or seeing the forums. I decided to look up the forums because of the immediate problems with the latch and wind noise. If I had thought that were problems I would have no t purchased the model x. I know it's risky purchasing a car in its first year.
But I had this impression that Teslas were rated extremely well and reliable. Now I see long waits for service, recurring service because problems are not resolved etc. What really concerns me that there are issues -door latches ,wind noise and others that should be resolved before delivery. If that was done there would not be as many unhappy and inconvenienced customers. I don't believe there is any follow ups after service is done. Resolving issues that occur frequently might be addressed.
I have kept my wife's old car because the 2nd day she went to drive the door latch wouldn't open. I am seriously considering selling it. I am aggravated with so many glitches.

 

[K-MTG]

I had one of the first Model S's that was made in 2012. It had soooo many problems. And you know what? Tesla fixed every last one of them until the car was perfect. If you are having issues with your X, call service and make them fix everything that is wrong with your It. I now have an X and it's amazing. Sure it has a few fit and finish issues, wind noise etc. but I won't stop until they get this one right too. This is the most advanced car the world has ever seen. You could go back to a Lexus or Mercedes GL, but there is zero comparison and Tesla will make it right.

I just want to take it once and have all of my issues fixed for good, not feasible to keep on trying to get something fixed, especially when the appointments que wait is so long. Hoping that everything will be fixed for good when I take my car in for the annual inspection next year. (I gave up currently after 3 service visits)

 

[ohmman]

I just want to take it once and have all of my issues fixed for good, not feasible to keep on trying to get something fixed, especially when the appointments que wait is so long. Hoping that everything will be fixed for good when I take my car in for the annual inspection next year. (I gave up currently after 3 service visits)

I think this is a smart approach because the longer you wait, the more experience the SC has with fixing the issues you have. Fixes that currently take 2 days might only take an hour to complete after a year has passed.

The problem is when you have issues that prevent you from driving the car or using it properly. Then you're forced into appointments and waiting. I'm sure things are getting better every day, though.

 

[Scrith]

I dropped off my 6-month old X at the local service center for the third time today and got a Model S loaner again (a P90DL like last time) and, once again, upon driving that car for 5-10 minutes I was clearly left with the feeling that it is just a better car...less noisy (wind and creaks), more solid feeling, and it just feels better to drive (more responsive...not in pure acceleration, since I drove it fairly conservatively like my X, just in general responsiveness to my steering, acceleration, and braking inputs). I guess that is to be expected since the X is heavier, but something about the X just doesn't feel quite right in comparison. I know, this probably isn't very helpful, I'm just trying to convey what it feels like to go from driving only an X for 3-4 months to a (very high performance) Model S.

My X is a regular 90D with almost every option by the way. And I definitely miss the view from the driving position of the X (the view out the front of an S, for a tall person at least, is terrible thanks to a very low windshield and thick sunvisor). And the stereo sounds significantly worse than the one in my X (both premium sound systems).