How bad are Falcon Wing doors?

[FarmerDave]

We had a lot of issues with the Falcon Wing doors on our Signature model. It's a 'bonus' to early adopters. All the problems were resolved by Tesla with revised sensors, windows, and weather stripping. Even with those issues the doors were a blessing when loading grandkids into their car seats (no back bending or twisting, protection from rain and snow). We love them.

 

[ngng]

i bought my x used. gave it a good wash yesterday and noticed a few paint chips with touch up on the doors. previous owner def opened the doors into something lol

 

[elguapo]

Love the FWDs and have from day one in March 2016. No real issues and far prefer them over the doors of our old minivan or the massive doors on our Q7 that can never actually be fully opened as they’re too big. The FWDs are actually WAY more functional and helpful than I anticipated.

 

[5thgear]

3 1/2 years into my X, no issues. During a summer/winter wheel swap by a ranger in Y2, Tesla had to re-align and replace the passenger FWD latch cover. But that’s it. The doors are considerably faster than motorized minivan doors. I will say that the performance of the doors improved massively after an OTA update about a month after I bought it. Heavy snow does have to be removed. All of the other issues are common with any car that has any type of doors.

 

[Richbot]

I've had 2 issues with them since 2016, neither having to do with water. One, the key fob in my pocket when I'm putting things in or taking out of the trunk results in me accidentally pushing the button and opening one - hands free. Two, one time in a parking garage with a honeycomb type roof - beam of concrete that is 2-3 feet lower than the top of the garage floor, fooled the sensors and the door tried to open into the space it thought it had up to the ceiling and caught the part that sticks down an extra 2-3 feet. Scratched the paint. For that one, I've learned, if I have to park in something like that with a bizarre roof structure, don't even open up the FW doors. Otherwise, no issues and in fact more effective in tight spaces than regular doors.

This has been an issue for me on this car generally - the fob has a TON of range - more than any car I've had with keyless access. Got an alert once the trunk was open when I had just looked at it and it was closed, had to have been at elast 100 yards.

 

[T.R.T.e.s.l.a.]

This was 2016 Model X. I think it was fixed with later versions

Nope.
My late 2018 (registered in Jan 2019) lets water get into the back seats every time it's raining.
I took it to the SC to see if they could something about it and they say it sucks, but there's nothing they can do about it.
Apart from that i like FWD.

 

[jboy210]

This has been an issue for me on this car generally - the fob has a TON of range - more than any car I've had with keyless access. Got an alert once the trunk was open when I had just looked at it and it was closed, had to have been at elast 100 yards.

Tesla uses BT LE on their fobs. That has 50-100 meter range. Or as one wiki page says:

Bluetooth 4.0 range is usually of the order of 50m to 100m due to the need for the sender to conserve battery power. Where larger batteries are used or the device is indirectly powered by the mains, ranges up to hundreds of meters and in some extreme cases 1Km can be achieved.

 

[ngng]

Nope.
My late 2018 (registered in Jan 2019) lets water get into the back seats every time it's raining.
I took it to the SC to see if they could something about it and they say it sucks, but there's nothing they can do about it.
Apart from that i like FWD.

you can add a small 3m channel piece to prevent this

 

[edwch]

I've never noticed any water issues with the FWD over the past 3 years. The biggest issues are things that you learn to be careful with which are not issues with manual doors (just like you would with manual doors when you don't have FWD).

1) as mentioned make sure you don't accidentally push the key fob in your pocket. It's really easy to do and when I first got it, I was closing it on accident a lot.
2) makes sure the back seat passengers are fully seated before you close the door - or you can have them close it on their own.
3) look out for yourself and others when the door isn't fully opened up due to obstruction. I've had a few times where either myself or passengers weren't looking and hit their head on the door.

 

[ngng]

the one thing that surprised me about the fwd, is how much room they take up inside the car once closed

 

[CounsellorTroy]

I love my FWDs. I have not had any of the problems mentioned and I live in a snowy/rainy area. If there is only one negative, it is cleaning them as I live on a dirt road, and getting the dirt out of the crevasses on top requires being fastidious.

 

[Urundai]

1st week of ownership - opened doors inside garage and had a small buy fee scratch. Learnt my lesson to be careful.
Overall, love the doors. Haven’t had any problems and it’s super convenient to open/close umbrella when raining without soaking the inside of the car with rain water

 

[Harvey Danger]

The only reason why I dont buy X are FW doors. I saw a videos of rain/snow falling in. Doors are slow. Doors not closing. Doors not opening in winter. Doors hurting kid libs and fingers. Doors hitting people when opening etc. I want to know from owners. Do you like your FW doors?

Are FWDs getting better?

 

[Batt Car]

FWDs are not a problem. YouTube search “car door accidents” and see hundreds of regular doors opening on people, slamming on fingers, legs, arms, pets, you name it. Oh and of course failing to latch, seals letting in water, and stupid people backing into garages with them open, opening them in car washes, and the always funny opening into the road as a car is passing which rips them off the car. I have had FWDs for 4 years. The only thing I could complain about (not really) is that they attract a crowd when they open In any parking lot.

 

[houstonian]

Any recent experiences on how FWDs have been holding up?

 

[ChadS]

5.5 years and 75k miles, and our doors are great. We use them a lot.

One of the sensor mountings came loose when the car was a year or two old, so for a little while it would sometimes think there was an obstacle and not open fully - so we'd have to hold the button down to get it to open. Mobile service fixed that quickly, and no problems since.

 

[Genie]

2.5 years daily use, no FWD problems. There is a spot in the jamb above the rear wheel where the door has rubbed through to shiny metal, I seem to remember it always being there since new. SC said they all have that but I doubt it.
The sensors are fine, the doors have never bumped anything, I have a low garage ceiling and they open as close as they can without contact.

 

[Les236]

5 years, 67,000 miles, use them a lot. Never any issues or alignment problems.

 

[ent3ndu]

They really seem hit or miss to me. When they work they kick butt. When they break good luck getting back to normal.

 

[Falcon73]

I wish our MX had normal doors. The FWDs have leaked multiple times on each side. The SC replaced the seals on the left side so I hope it helps but rainy season is over.

Also there is considerable scratching type damage on the paint from them. I've put PPF on to help minimize further damage.

I try to open them as infrequently as possible and often wish I could permanently seal them.

I guess my experience is worse than most and the deteriorating external seals are the least of my gripes with FWDs.