Has your Model S Ever Failed to Start in the Morning?

[bareyb]

Hi Gang,
Just ordered my Model S and it should be here late October. My ONLY concern (because it's an unknown) is reliability. Simple question. Has your Model S ever failed to start up in the morning and you had to get a ride to work? There are 3 days a week I have meetings and if I don't show up, 80 people showed up for nothing and will have to turn around and go back home. It would be a disaster. In your opinion, can I use this as my primary mode of transportation or should I make other arrangements on days I absolutely can't miss work?

 

[JPP]

It is my daily driver (I'm a physician, and it is not cool for me to not show up at the hospital). I would venture a guess that if you could take a truly accurate poll of Model S owners (or get TM to analyze/release their treasure trove of data on failures/service calls per day/week/mile etc) that the 'failure to start' would be no worse than on a similar population of ICE vehicles.

 

[bareyb]

It is my daily driver (I'm a physician, and it is not cool for me to not show up at the hospital). I would venture a guess that if you could take a truly accurate poll of Model S owners (or get TM to analyze/release their treasure trove of data on failures/service calls per day/week/mile etc) that the 'failure to start' would be no worse than on a similar population of ICE vehicles.

That is my hope. If it's on par with my Lexus vehicles I'd be thrilled. Somehow I suspect there might be some minor problems cropping up that need attention, but other than those three days, my schedule is pretty flexible. I appreciate the input.

 

[mitch672]

The problem I've had a few times is the keyfob not being "seen/recognized". The solution is usually the same each time, get out of the car and re-enter, this has worked the 2 or 3 times this has happened to me in the last 9 months... There really is no "starting" a Model S, it's always on. If your keyfob is not recognized, it won't go into drive though, but a I've said, getting out and back in has always worked for me.

 

[Cosmacelf]

6,000 miles and 6 months and the answer is no, it has never failed to start.

 

[bareyb]

The problem I've had a few times is the keyfob not being "seen/recognized". The solution is usually the same each time, get out of the car and re-enter, this has worked the 2 or 3 times this has happened to me in the last 9 months... There really is no "starting" a Model S, it's always on. If your keyfob is not recognized, it won't go into drive though, but a I've said, getting out and back in has always worked for me.

See, those are the kinds of things I expect to happen and I can live with them... It's a brand new car company and I know enough about Elon Musk's vision to know they'll get those small issues resolved. Considering what they've achieved, it's a wonder there aren't a lot more. I just want to make sure I'm not getting caught up in "wishful thinking" about the reliability and should I be making some backup plans. I can drive my wife's Van on meeting days for instance. But I sure as hell don't want to! That would mean she'd be driving the Tesla....

I probably should have made this a Public Poll though...

 

[Beavis]

Almost 10,000 miles and the answer is no.

 

[kendallpb]

6,000 miles and 6 months and the answer is no, it has never failed to start.

9,700 miles in 7 months and it "starts" every time.

 

[meduri]

19.5K miles in 9 months and I start my day at 4am. Never had reliability issues.

 

[Plug Me In]

6 months 7000 miles. Maybe a total of 10-12 days that I didn't drive the car (or any car except for rental on vacation). 100% reliable.

 

[Discoducky]

Who voted yes?

 

[bareyb]

Who voted yes?

I know... I probably should have made the Poll pubic. I asked the Mods if that could be done after the fact.

 

[Al Sherman]

When I first got the car during what I (YMMV) consider the early adopter phase; I always assumed it would fail at some point. I expected it and it didn't bother me since I'm a fanboy and had been waiting for this car all my life.
My car has actually been flawless except for the bad batch of 12 volts that we had to work our way through. I'm closing on 5000 miles and 6 months of driving. At this point it never even crosses my mind that the car wouldn't start. The bathtub curve? Perhaps.
I still think the car is a stunning achievement, and the most amazing driving experience I've ever had. Now I just look forward to having a reason to drive somewhere. The car ALWAYS starts and I never consider the possibility that it wont.
Bottom line: It's a car. It's just a better car than anything you've ever driven.:smile:

 

[lolachampcar]

What Al said except 4500 miles on MS#1, 2800 on MS#2 and 1000 on MS#3 with zero reliability issues (my wife and I use it as primary transport).

 

[GSP]

If I was in the OP's situation I would make sure I had backup transportation available to get to work. Regardless of what my primary transportation was.

GSP

 

[stevezzzz]

What Al and GSP said!

My numbers:

19K miles in 2-1/2 years in the Roadster: one 12V battery failure.
14K miles in 11-1/2 months in the S: one flat tire (picked up a nail).

Otherwise they both have been supremely reliable transportation. By the way, I voted 'No' in the poll, because of the way it was worded.

 

[dsm363]

Anything could happen even with an ICE so you'd need a backup plan for either car (taxi if it came to it and missing the meeting was not an option). Had one 12V issue but since then, not any problems.

 

[zero]

6 months 5000 miles. Had one issue with my touchscreen not starting... but car still started and worked. In fact this was the only issue that I've ever really had with the car and was solved with a quick reboot of the touchscreen by holding down the scroll wheels. To answer the poll NO!

 

[mknox]

The closest I came is when I got home from work and my UMC wouldn't connect to the car. I couldn't get through to Tesla (turns out a glitch with my cellular carrier and their 800-number... now resolved) and I was worried about getting to work the next day. I finally got the UMC to work and had it changed out at the SC the next day.

 

[nrcooled]

I agree with Al on this one too. Never had an issue that prevented me from driving the car. Everyday I get in and get to work reliably. I fully expected to have to be patient with the car as it "matured" through some growing pains but I haven't had a single issue out of the car from a reliability standpoint.

Full disclosure: For 24 hours my driver's side door handle decided it didn't want to let me in. I simply rolled down the windows using the FOB and opended the car door from the interior handle. It did not prevent me from getting to work. Service, of course, took care of it in short order. The problem has never come back.