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Early P85D, lots of minor issues, anybody else?

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I've had my P85D for about 6 months now, and man do I love how this car drives. It's so much more fun that my previous 85 which I had for about two years. Very happy with the upgrade.

However, in these short 6 months and 3000 miles of driving I've encountered what feels like an abnormal amount of issues (all minor thankfully) that, while fixed promptly by the Service Center, have been a constant source of annoyance for me and detracted somewhat from my enjoyment of the car.

This is the list of things I've encountered that have been fixed on my three visits to the Service Center so far:

- The passenger seat belt used to lock up very easily. My wife used to have to unbuckle herself, fully retract the seatbelt, and buckle up again while in motion for it to not constrict her.
- After rolling up the driver side window after the first long exposure of the car to the sun, the window got covered in some black, gooey excess butyl that was in the door assembly. It took a while to get the window fully cleaned up of this sticky stuff.
- The front passenger door handle used to be a bit unresponsive. Sometimes it would take a few pulls to open the passenger door.
- The front motor developed a loud popping noise that would happen on acceleration and right when regen kicked in. They fixed it by retorquing it.
- When making tight turns at very low speeds (e.g. when navigating around a parking garage) there was a popping sound that seemed to come from the steering system.
- There used to be a lot of noise coming from the front window triangle at freeway speeds.
- The front passenger side handle used to make a clunk noise when it receded.
- The front driver side door sometimes made a pretty loud, ugly noise unlike the regular thud when closing it. It turned out to be the door assembly unlatching or something like that.

And this is the list of issues that I currently have:

- There is a crackling sound coming from the upper dash portion that happens when driving on anything but the smoothest of roads. This one is particularly annoying because it's constant. If I apply some downward pressure on the dash it silences, but I can't keep my hand there all the time while driving.
- There is a creaking sound that sounds like someone stepping on an old wooden board that happens when accelerating from a complete stop. I can drown this one in music easily, but when it's otherwise quiet in the cabin it's pretty noticeable.

These are all minor things and mechanically the car has had no major issues at all and drives great. However, I've been thinking about it and I don't think I've been able to truly enjoy the car with no issues for more than maybe 2 or 3 weeks since I bought it. It feels like there's always been something going on with it that detracted from my enjoyment of the car, and I try to wait until multiple things pop up before going to the Service Center to have them fixed as a batch since they're all individually pretty minor.

I'm wondering if other people who got early P85Ds that were built during the mad rush to deliver by the end of 2014 are also dealing with issues like these (I got my car on December 30th). I knew what I was getting into when I bought one of the first P85Ds. I was thinking that I might hit some issues with the dual motor configuration or the autopilot software, but at the same time I was expecting that a car with VIN 67XXX would be much better built overall than my previous VIN 72XX from early 2013. In some ways it feels better built, but in some others not so much.

What are other people's experiences?
 
It sure sounds like a lot of your issues stem from either a rush assembly (doubt that) or are items new to the model that had not been properly sorted. Squeaks and rattles usually are caused by new parts that are not properly secured or sound proofed. I would lean on the service people and make sure they are fully aware of all the issues you are enduring. I am not sure this could qualify under the lemon law or not.......you could read all the fine print and decide. I am sure there is an end in sight but.........how much longer you have to endure is another question.
 
@blaz, I took delivery of my P85D on 12/22/2014 and I've only had a few minor issues:

- The only one in common with your list is the front window triangle wind noise. I think they replaced some rubber seal around the door or something because this seems much better now.
- Since delivery I have had an issue with the front driver side tweeter vibrating, making a sound similar to a blown speaker but it also makes some noise when the sound is off. The tweeter has been on back order until recently and it is supposed to finally be installed this week.
- I had an issue with the 3G antenna being faulty upon delivery and they replaced that quickly to resolve the issue.
- I had a water leak in the pano roof that they say they've seen before and they fix with some type of "caulking". It would only happen in very heavy rain and that is rare here in south Texas so I can't say for sure if it is resolved.
- Roof rack mounting point on the passenger rear popped up easily. They did another quick fix here with some type of "glue" that makes it stick down.
- Dome light on the passenger rear side was broken and fixed.
- They proactively replaced my charge port because it was deemed to be in the serial number range of ones with known issues.
- There were a few other minor issues resolved via firmware like the ticking iBooster noise and erroneous collision avoidance warnings, etc.

Overall, I'm extremely happy with the car and have no complaints. All these minor issues are far outweighed by the enjoyment of driving the best car on Earth!

Hope you get all your issues resolved to your satisfaction.

Regards, Ben
 
Mine is an early build as well. I have the following issues, but have not yet had them repaired (no time to drop the car off, plus not exactly mission critical in my mind.)

- I have the similar issue with the passenger door handle being less responsive. It seems to have improved over time, but is still tougher than the drivers door to open.
-The noise from the dash I have as well, but not constantly. It happens infrequently enough that I originally thought it pebbles hitting the windshield.
-I get popping from the front end, but only under full steering lock. I originally chalked it up to the AWD system.
-If I accelerate more than modestly in reverse there is a neat pop sound. (I normally back up my steep driveway)
-The chrome on the mirror arms is bubbled up. I haven't heard of this before, perhaps I washed it too hard?
-I As well have the usual humidity in the reverse lamps.
-I swear up and down none of the interior controls are very responsive since the firmware update that introduced TACC.
-The way the triangle window fits against the weatherstripping doesn't LOOK solid, but it doesn't whistle at speeds.
-Something else I have not seen anyone else mention is that my seats have some front-back play in them. Like a rocking chair, but not along the track. (Next Gens FWIW)
-Also, even with careful methodology, I have the crease in my Frunk lid.

P67233. Arrived in early Jan 2015.
 
Ordered mine the morning after the event... got it Dec 21st, the 3rd one delivered to my SC.

I guess I've been lucky... besides seatgate (a supply chain failure, not a mechanical failure), a really odd TACC problem I just posted about last night, and the potential air shock issue that appears to affect a LOT of the MS's, nothing else has gone wrong (knock on wood). The earlier firmwares did have their issues, but nothing that had me questioning the safety of the car.

Sorry you have not had that experience. However, reading this board a lot, there were a few really unlucky folks that had a motor or battery pack die a few miles out... but I guess that happens to everything that comes off a line regardless of manufacturer. Tesla has been great so far in taking care of the anomalies.
 
Blaz, I have one of those early P85Ds. There were some delivery issues with getting it to Canada during the Christmas/YE rush so I didn't take delivery until late January, but it was built in early December.

I'm sorry that you have had so many issues and I can understand your frustration. I have had some, but nothing too major:

1) 12V battery warning second day that I had the car. No issues came of it. Tesla swapped cars with me for 3 days while they overhauled the SW and FW. No problems since then.

2) Was just starting out from home one morning and the dash board went completely blank. Car still worked though. I pulled over, spoke with Tesla service, they had me re-boot the dash - and everything was OK after that.

3) I had some issues with the charge port getting a good initial connection - either at home with my HPWC or even at the SC. Usually had to do several attempts to get the green flashing light. It took 2 service calls and eventually they swapped out the charge port. This never became a serious issue, but it is resolved now.

4) Yes, I have the dreaded frunk crease even after taking many 'closing the trunk lessons' and being very careful about it.

Maybe more items than you want in a new car, but nothing that disabled the Tesla or even inconvenienced me - as I always had a Tesla loaner when they were working on it. And they usually came to the house to make the swap.

Good Luck going forward. Maybe as suggested above, lean on the local service centre to do an intensive service of the entire car.
 
I've had my P85D for about 6 months now, and man do I love how this car drives. It's so much more fun that my previous 85 which I had for about two years. Very happy with the upgrade.

However, in these short 6 months and 3000 miles of driving I've encountered what feels like an abnormal amount of issues (all minor thankfully) that, while fixed promptly by the Service Center, have been a constant source of annoyance for me and detracted somewhat from my enjoyment of the car.

This is the list of things I've encountered that have been fixed on my three visits to the Service Center so far:

- The passenger seat belt used to lock up very easily. My wife used to have to unbuckle herself, fully retract the seatbelt, and buckle up again while in motion for it to not constrict her.
- After rolling up the driver side window after the first long exposure of the car to the sun, the window got covered in some black, gooey excess butyl that was in the door assembly. It took a while to get the window fully cleaned up of this sticky stuff.
- The front passenger door handle used to be a bit unresponsive. Sometimes it would take a few pulls to open the passenger door.
- The front motor developed a loud popping noise that would happen on acceleration and right when regen kicked in. They fixed it by retorquing it.
- When making tight turns at very low speeds (e.g. when navigating around a parking garage) there was a popping sound that seemed to come from the steering system.
- There used to be a lot of noise coming from the front window triangle at freeway speeds.
- The front passenger side handle used to make a clunk noise when it receded.
- The front driver side door sometimes made a pretty loud, ugly noise unlike the regular thud when closing it. It turned out to be the door assembly unlatching or something like that.

And this is the list of issues that I currently have:

- There is a crackling sound coming from the upper dash portion that happens when driving on anything but the smoothest of roads. This one is particularly annoying because it's constant. If I apply some downward pressure on the dash it silences, but I can't keep my hand there all the time while driving.
- There is a creaking sound that sounds like someone stepping on an old wooden board that happens when accelerating from a complete stop. I can drown this one in music easily, but when it's otherwise quiet in the cabin it's pretty noticeable.

These are all minor things and mechanically the car has had no major issues at all and drives great. However, I've been thinking about it and I don't think I've been able to truly enjoy the car with no issues for more than maybe 2 or 3 weeks since I bought it. It feels like there's always been something going on with it that detracted from my enjoyment of the car, and I try to wait until multiple things pop up before going to the Service Center to have them fixed as a batch since they're all individually pretty minor.

I'm wondering if other people who got early P85Ds that were built during the mad rush to deliver by the end of 2014 are also dealing with issues like these (I got my car on December 30th). I knew what I was getting into when I bought one of the first P85Ds. I was thinking that I might hit some issues with the dual motor configuration or the autopilot software, but at the same time I was expecting that a car with VIN 67XXX would be much better built overall than my previous VIN 72XX from early 2013. In some ways it feels better built, but in some others not so much.

What are other people's experiences?

How did you fix the seatbelt? I have to hear about it all the time figured it was nothing, but after reading your post I guess it may be an actual issue.
 
I took delivery about a week later than you but I am in Canada and my car was sitting in the midwest for a couple of weeks so my car may have been built before yours. I have none of these issues - my only issues relate to poor design - like the placement of the center console, and lack of USB ports. Moisture also seems to get inside the window seal when it rains or the car is washed. The car itself will be dry but if I roll the window down and back up it will be coated with water.
 
my only issues relate to poor design - like the placement of the center console, and lack of USB ports. Moisture also seems to get inside the window seal when it rains or the car is washed. The car itself will be dry but if I roll the window down and back up it will be coated with water.

On the outside of the window, not the inside, right ?? some cars more than other that I've had will do this, but never on the inside unless something's really wrong.

Awaiting 70D VIN 87xxx and I haven't been a luxury car buyer so I don't even really mind an extra blob of goo running down my window... as long as my pano roof never leaks. and even more importantly, the motors and core systems keep running and running and running... thankfully I'm not hearing A/C or heating issues, cooling issues, many motor or drive issues... well then there's that 12V DC... :cursing:
 
How did you fix the seatbelt? I have to hear about it all the time figured it was nothing, but after reading your post I guess it may be an actual issue.

The service center fixed it. I don't know exactly how they did it but it hasn't been problematic since.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks for the responses everyone. I have to say the folks at the Centinela Service Center in LA have been absolutely outstanding in how they've taken care of me, so I have nothing but praise for them.

I guess I've just happened to be hit with a few more of the more annoying issues that you can get: constant squeaks and rattles every time you drive. I'm generally OK with having things here and there not work perfectly for a while (like an unresponsive handle or a constricting passenger seatbelt) as long as I don't have to deal with them every single day and constantly think about them.

I'm bringing my car for service again on Monday. Hoping we can get rid of these last remaining things.
 
I've had my P85D for two weeks now. This is my second Tesla - first was a P85, that had some interesting issues early on.

But - 'touch wood' - not one thing to complain about with this car. Hopefully stays that way :)

@wayner - my LS430 always had moisture on the window when it rained or was washed. So never rolled the windows down unless I had to, until it was dry :) So does my BMW X5
 
I've had my ex-inventory P85D since Feb 20th (it was a Dec 2014 build, VIN69205) and have the same seat belt locking up problem although it only occurs with fast acceleration. After 10k miles, the biggest problem has been a leaky pano roof when subjected to very heavy rain. They say they fixed that 3 weeks ago when I took it into the Service Center. Having not been exposed much to heavy rain since, I can't tell if that's true but I haven't seen it leak since.

I also get a mildly annoying knocking sound from the seat belt anchor area down by the drivers seat when going over bumps. It developed over time. I think it's just the belt mounting point knocking against the side of the seat. No biggie.

To my surprise, when it was at the SC recently, they installed Next Gen rear seats. I believe those are not available any more? I must have got one of the last VIN's with those intended to be fitted.

Other than that, it's been pretty good compared to my old S85 which had more problems. It is a much better built car than the original 2WD variants and with the Autopilot functions and of course the "insane" mode makes it unbeatable IMO.
 
My P85D was built Dec 20, 2014, and was a inventory deal with 1911 miles when I bought it. Although my delivery was rocky everything since has been perfect with only a very, very minor issue with a broken Lightning plug. I was surprised and still am about lack if problems. Tesla has done a couple of preventative replacements, e.g. The charge port door.

This is in my 4200 miles has been as reliable as it gets.
 
Sorry to hear about early-build issues. I have one of the very first P85Ds and that were built during the last week of Nov. 2014 and took delivery on 12/12/2014 (first one logged on TMC!)

Given what has been reported this far, I have to say that I feel very fortunate to have only experienced 2 issues (neither of which seems to be unique to my car or the P85D model):

1. Loud motor hum upon motor power > 15 kW [details here: P85D: loud motor humming sound at highway speeds and over 15kW power (or regen)] which ended up in a rear drivetrain replacement

2. Rattle from rear-right corner when going over rough roads or Botts' dots [details here: P85D shock issue (air suspension)] which is now a known issue with all D models with air suspension, still to be fixed by a new Bilstein shock design

Otherwise, the interior and exterior trim has been flawless. I am personally very impressed with the finish quality from a car company that has only been around for around a decade with a model that is only a few years old!

The only thing I wish was of better quality is the paint. It seems a tad too soft for my taste, but I'm aware of the California requirements for water-based paint.

Good luck to other early P85D owners!

-Marc
 
Well I spoke too soon lol Today I find the cruise control won't work. Anybody else been getting this? If you try to engage at speed it says "cruise not available". Tried a reboot..nothing. All the sensors, camera etc are clean and not damaged. It might not be limited to early P85D's either. I know someone who has a new 85D and he's getting the exact same problem and it also surfaced today.

I have mine booked in at the local SC next Tuesday. Unfortunately I can't now do my long roadtrip up North as I had planned :(