How has the Model S held up after 3+ years?

[DMack]

Just got back from an annual Airsoft trip to Ballahack, we took the FJ and I was reminded why I keep it! Got thumbs up from many folks on the road who saw it, and was mobbed by the different airsoft teams who wanted to check it out at Ballahack. I have completely customized it to my needs and it really is one great machine.

Funny thing I noticed is I only get about 230 miles of range from a 19 gallon tank (heavily overloaded, driving ~80 MPH, with a rooftop tent, a foxing awning, exterior mounted jerry cans, a highlift jack, shovels, axe, 33" and 33" exterior mounted spare, supercharged etc..)

Hopefully when I blow the gas engine I can drop a diesel in this to squeeze a few more miles out of it, or in ten years Tesla might make something equally as capable. Would love to have the D4D Hilux engine in this setup and go from 12 MPG to 24 MPG.

Lol, yeah - I out some K2 All terrain tires in mine and my MPG went down significantly.
I can barely make it 2/3 of the way from Oakland ro Los Angeles on a fill up now, whereas before I could make it there in a single tank.

Needless to say, I’ll be able to make that trip on my MS without having to pay a red cent thanks to free supercharging.

 

[pdxrajiv]

MS85D, 2.5 years, ~60K miles, no issues thus far.

 

[Lasttoy]

I have 110k and so quiet i can hear birds. I dont understand what can be rattling? One guy found jelly beans in his?

 

[gde_eu]

so quiet i can hear birds

That ! it's exactly what impress me much, especially with sun roof open ! It's like riding with a bicycle, you are full in contact with exterior life ! No disturbance coming from the car.

Anyway, nothing to say about my 3 old S, no rattle or such so far.

 

[cwerdna]

Yes it gives you a warning but it may be too late. When I had the electrical issues last weekend I started researching the warning. I found an article written by an Edmunds Editor and he had borrowed a Model S from Tesla to do a review. While he was with his son getting on an LA Cali freewaythe car threw up multiple warnings and then suddenly died on the on ramp and he couldn’t get it to go into neutral to move it off the on ramp because it was dead in the water with no power and he didn’t know that it would freewheel if he put it in tow mode though I’m sure the steering without any electrical would be an absolute bear to try and move.

Do you have a pointer to this? (I have a guess as to what you're referring to but wish to confirm. It may/may not be the incident that I know of.)

 

[Hornedfrog1]

Do you have a pointer to this? (I have a guess as to what you're referring to but wish to confirm. It may/may not be the incident that I know of.)

Here’s the article Stuck on the Freeway - 2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test Stuck on the Freeway - 2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test

 

[cwerdna]

Here’s the article Stuck on the Freeway - 2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test Stuck on the Freeway - 2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test

Yep, that's the one I'm thinking of.

Due to that, their drive unit got replaced for a 2nd time, along w/the HV battery pack and 12 volt: Is the Third Drive Unit the Charm? - 2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test.

OP can look at 2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Wrap-Up | Edmunds under Maintenance & Repairs for the issues they encountered within about 17 months and ~30K miles.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

That one must have been made in Germany or reassembled in Germany

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-most-German-luxury-cars-have-much-poorer-reliability-than-other-cars

 

[Walker34]

2013 P85 with 128K, still very quiet, no rattles. Did have 3 DU's replaced and 2 door handles, but all seems well now. Would buy again and next car will be a Tesla, just trying to decide on the X or S.

 

[Hornedfrog1]

2013 P85 with 128K, still very quiet, no rattles. Did have 3 DU's replaced and 2 door handles, but all seems well now. Would buy again and next car will be a Tesla, just trying to decide on the X or S.

Just curious as to why you would want to buy another one after having replaced the counterpart to an ICE transmission three times. After many problems myself I’m fed up and not satisfied with accepting that mediocre is their best. If we just keep buying their cars and accepting that their reliability at best is crap, they will just keep producing Junk. If you purchased a Mercedes E Class and the tranny blew three times you’d be furious. No one would stand for that. Not trying to be argumentative. I truly am curious as to why so many tesla owners are willing to put up with shoddy work when we spend so much money.

 

[gde_eu]

why so many tesla owners are willing to put up with shoddy work when we spend so much money.

For me, there is simply no other option. I wanted the cleanest car possible to stop destroying our health and planet. It's the only company doing something in that direction and they need our help. So cost and reliability is a side effect (I'll never buy such an expensive car when all other car will be as clean).

They improve over time and replace with better parts. It's what is important for now. If they do nothing to improve it would be a different story.

 

[mspohr]

Just curious as to why you would want to buy another one after having replaced the counterpart to an ICE transmission three times. After many problems myself I’m fed up and not satisfied with accepting that mediocre is their best. If we just keep buying their cars and accepting that their reliability at best is crap, they will just keep producing Junk. If you purchased a Mercedes E Class and the tranny blew three times you’d be furious. No one would stand for that. Not trying to be argumentative. I truly am curious as to why so many tesla owners are willing to put up with shoddy work when we spend so much money.

Because the cars are just incredible.
(And the drive train problem was fixed years ago.)

 

[Nick B]

Just curious as to why you would want to buy another one after having replaced the counterpart to an ICE transmission three times. After many problems myself I’m fed up and not satisfied with accepting that mediocre is their best. If we just keep buying their cars and accepting that their reliability at best is crap, they will just keep producing Junk. If you purchased a Mercedes E Class and the tranny blew three times you’d be furious. No one would stand for that. Not trying to be argumentative. I truly am curious as to why so many tesla owners are willing to put up with shoddy work when we spend so much money.

I can't speak for others but in my case the DU was replaced because it started making noise. I could of probably kept on driving with it for quite a while and Tesla decided to simply replace it (took 1 day at the shop) instead of attempting to repair. my new DU (60 000km on it now) works perfectly and doesn't have the same symptoms as the previous one.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

The DU is akin to changing an alternator on an ICE ( complexity is low), a proficient installer can do in 90 minutes the required 4 wheel alignment post install adds and hour to the job.

So assume a novice installer, novice parts guy and add a couple hours—— half a day or about 4 hours worst case.

Also an ICE transmission has ~ 800 moving parts and a Tesla gear box might have 20 if you count the bearings and the single planetary gear. Not quite the same. Also early DU’s were replaced without need due to a loose wire causing the DU to shut down under heavy torque loads. This was fixed with a zip tie after discovery.

The motor in a Tesla is about the size of a 1 gallon paint can vs the iron block 375 Pound beast in most cars of comparable HP.

 

[GlmnAlyAirCar]

2015 70D, 95000 miles. Other than extensive stone chips on the hood, looks and feels new. The only issue I have had to pay for was a rear toe link that wore prematurely.

 

[sub]

These posts are really a question of personality rather than experience. Some people expect perfection. Is that unreasonable? I think it is. Some people accept the fact that no perfect car has ever existed to this point and can be rational about it, rather than feeling like the world is coming to an end. I can and have listed all the issues of some past cars in similar threads to make this point, no need to repeat.

I'm a new owner of an X, love the car. We had a couple of minor issues on delivery, charge port was extemely tight and there were a few bubbles in the clear coat on the hood. Both were fixed by SC, had a loaner for a few days. We have since found out we have the misaligned fwd seal issue that allows rain to drip onto back seat. Easy fix once I get around to getting it back to SC.

I live 2 hours away from closest sc, I still don't mind. Some people would have been posting all over the net about these issues, rational people just get it fixed UNDER WARRANTY and move on with their life and enjoy the best vehicles ever made imo.

I wonder who enjoys life more?