How reliable is your Model S?

[Xenoilphobe]

I've owned three Model S's:
1. early 2013 P85 - sold at 50K miles - never left me stranded - had a door handle light replaced - wife wanted AP, so we sold it..
2. March 2014 P85+ - still driving at 85K miles - never left me stranded - 12 volt battery replaced, tires, windshield replaced due to rock strike, windshield washer motor failed outside warranty cost me $34 for the part and about 1 hour to do it myself, one door handle failed, fixed myself with a solder gun and a microswitch replacement - cost about $10.
3. June 2016 90D (wifes car) - 27K miles - rock solid, no issues.
4. waiting for the truck.... that new Y isnt what I call an SUV, its more crossover and my Model S has more utility than it does.. also debating the Roadster NG, but with two kids in college (one now, one in a year) the budget will not support it..

 

[bnsfengineer]

Before I bought my Model S I was reading a lot of complaints here about rattles and creaks in Model Ss and the next time I was out in my ICE I actually listened to every little noise for the first time. The car was loaded with squeaks and rattles, but I didn't notice them most of the time because of the noise from the engine and exhaust.

My Model S makes little noises from time to time. There is something in the dash that squeaks sometimes and something in the right rear that rattles sometimes, but I think the right rear might be something stuffed into the cubby in the back. Even subtracting the exhaust and engine noise from my old ICE, my Model S makes fewer noises than the ICE did, I just notice them more because there is overall less noise.

I did have one speaker that distorted with certain frequencies of noise. It often would happen when talking to a woman on the phone. The service center replaced that and no more issues there.

I did have the original 12V battery go earlier this year and had the fun of replacing the battery. There is a firmware bug that causes the mirrors to unfold if the car is parked in the garage with the mirrors folded for more than about 36 hours and it wakes up. I've been documenting it with the local SC, but so far no fix.

Every issue I have had have been rather minor annoyances. Overall I've had fewer issues than I had with my 1992 Buick in its first 3 years and I kept that car for 24 years. Though I have a feeling this car is going to be more like trying to get something done on a Apple II today in less than 10 years.

Hey Buddy, just finished reading your blog...very informative and love the story about the 24 year old Buick! you need to do another.

 

[bnsfengineer]

Delivered 9-17 now has 14k and it came standard with one backup light and the headlights were not upgraded to adaptive which I finally just had replaced. The car has been flawless and if the budgets there in the future I can't see any reason to ever buy another make. I do have a lot of haters both at work and family who make fun of the cars stating they will be out of business soon and then what will I do with an obsolete car!!

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

My pre-owned 85D has had insane rattle issues - from the dashboard, from the speakers, from the sunroof, from the rear/trunk area, from b pillars. Clicks from front suspension, clicks from the hood.

I love driving the car, but it's getting really old really fast and I am thinking of just selling it or trading it in. Other things have been totally fine.

What year and how many miles? I wonder if that is why the previous owner sold it.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

Delivered 9-17 now has 14k and it came standard with one backup light and the headlights were not upgraded to adaptive which I finally just had replaced. The car has been flawless and if the budgets there in the future I can't see any reason to ever buy another make. I do have a lot of haters both at work and family who make fun of the cars stating they will be out of business soon and then what will I do with an obsolete car!!

So you ordered the PUP, but they didn't install the upgraded headlights? I've wondered about this before. My headlights don't do anything special. How can I tell what headlights I have?

I have a December 2016 build, with a little over 30,000 miles. Not a single reliability issue. SC fixed a couple minor door trim rattles at first year service. I have one motor, no sunroof, and coil suspension, so I'm hoping that eliminates a few reliability issues.

 

[sandpiper]

I've had two. The 2014 had some issues - more than I want to list. None of the problems left me stranded but they were a pain for sure. My 2018 has been bulletproof so far. But I definitely plan on getting annual inspections.

 

[bnsfengineer]

So you ordered the PUP, but they didn't install the upgraded headlights? I've wondered about this before. My headlights don't do anything special. How can I tell what headlights I have?

I have a December 2016 build, with a little over 30,000 miles. Not a single reliability issue. SC fixed a couple minor door trim rattles at first year service. I have one motor, no sunroof, and coil suspension, so I'm hoping that eliminates a few reliability issues.

No Pup as of 7-17 they included them in standard build, they are the adaptive that would only come with premium pack. They have the addl. led's in them and they really don't do much! Probably not worth all the trouble I went through to get them replaced!

 

[ucmndd]

I have a December 2016 build, with a little over 30,000 miles. Not a single reliability issue. SC fixed a couple minor door trim rattles at first year service. I have one motor, no sunroof, and coil suspension, so I'm hoping that eliminates a few reliability issues.

Same build date, same options, but I’m at 76,000 miles. Was just in service yesterday for some maintenance items - alignment and hepa filter replacement, etc.

It’s a complete rattle trap now, I chase them down every now and then but it’s a losing battle. Fully reliable - had some of the common cosmetic stuff replaced under warranty like yellowing MCU screen and burnt out DRL, but that’s it.

Biggest disappointment is my range at 100% charge, which is down almost 12% from new.

 

[darxsys]

What year and how many miles? I wonder if that is why the previous owner sold it.

That’s what I am thinking, too. Late 2015. It had 35k miles when I got it. Seemed like a great deal. Not anymore.

If the SC doesn’t fix it in the next few months, I’ll just get rid of it.

 

[darxsys]

Before I bought my Model S I was reading a lot of complaints here about rattles and creaks in Model Ss and the next time I was out in my ICE I actually listened to every little noise for the first time. The car was loaded with squeaks and rattles, but I didn't notice them most of the time because of the noise from the engine and exhaust.

My Model S makes little noises from time to time. There is something in the dash that squeaks sometimes and something in the right rear that rattles sometimes, but I think the right rear might be something stuffed into the cubby in the back. Even subtracting the exhaust and engine noise from my old ICE, my Model S makes fewer noises than the ICE did, I just notice them more because there is overall less noise.

I did have one speaker that distorted with certain frequencies of noise. It often would happen when talking to a woman on the phone. The service center replaced that and no more issues there.

I did have the original 12V battery go earlier this year and had the fun of replacing the battery. There is a firmware bug that causes the mirrors to unfold if the car is parked in the garage with the mirrors folded for more than about 36 hours and it wakes up. I've been documenting it with the local SC, but so far no fix.

Every issue I have had have been rather minor annoyances. Overall I've had fewer issues than I had with my 1992 Buick in its first 3 years and I kept that car for 24 years. Though I have a feeling this car is going to be more like trying to get something done on a Apple II today in less than 10 years.

I have never in my life driven a car with so many rattles. Being a bit on the OCD side also doesn’t help. The fact that the SC hasn’t shown much or any care also doesn’t help. I will be going back for the third time in 2 months to try get it fixed.

 

[XCare EV]

I would always consider Model S as being very reliable compared to its gasoline counterparts but if you buy a 2012-2014, you will likely see rattle in some cars.

Most or the parts do not require maintenance and have little, to no, wear and tear. However, just because the components aren't meant to break, that does not mean that they cannot. This is the main reason why we started X-Care, the only 3rd party warranty for Tesla's that works with Tesla Service/Mobile Service.

The largest items and most recurring that owners have spoken about are; MCU, Instrument cluster, window regulators, Sensors, cameras, harnesses, air suspension/suspension, pano roof issues, door handles, falcon wing doors issues, charging issues, charge port doors, your internal heating systems/AC system (HVAC Systems), Electronic controls module, and the list goes on, all of which would be covered under X-Care. MCU alone is $3k replacement cost.

There are many people out there considering of buying a Tesla through a 3rd party dealer. Unfortunately, Tesla does not sell their extended warranty to customers who purchase a vehicle through a dealer - X-Care does. No matter who you purchased your vehicle from, we offer service agreements to all (and its likely cheaper)

$100 Deductible Per Visit
24 Hour Roadside Assistance
Trip Interruption
Rental Coverage
Towing

 

[dgpcolorado]

My 2014 S60 has turned out to be less reliable than my previous two cars — it has died twice in three years and 62,000 miles. I consider myself lucky that both times were at home, a car that dies on the road, with service locations so few and far between, would make for a really bad day (or week).

The first failure was the usual: dead MCU. I could drive the car with a dead MCU but I couldn't charge it, making it impossible to take to a service center. Mobile service can replace the MCU but at that time the Ranger didn't have the part and couldn't get it so after a few days he dropped off a rental car and transported my car 300 miles across the mountains to the service center. When it was fixed a week later I drove the rental to the service center to pick it up.

The second failure was a few weeks ago and unusual: The car wouldn't unplug from my charge cable and wouldn't turn on. I got brief messages about the "charge port unlatched" and "needs service" before the IC went blank. I pulled some fuses to see if I could get the car to reboot but all I got was another brief look at the error messages before the car shut down again. Remote viewing by Mobile Service and Roadside suggested that the car needed to be taken to a Service Center. Being out of warranty, Roadside got a quote for towing: $1400! I called my insurance company (State Farm) and found that they would arrange the tow because it was to "the nearest place that the car could be serviced." Since I couldn't unplug my charge cable, and the older cars don't have an easy way to unlock the charge port, I put the UMC through the rear window and taped it up for the long transport journey. (What happens if it is a Supercharger cable that won't unlock? Could make for some impressive "idle fees"!)

Since it was late March and the end of quarter delivery push was on, the service center didn't even look at my car until April 1st (but kept me well informed by text message). They told me that it took them nine hours to find the problem, although they comped me all but one hour, which was very nice of them. Turned out to be a corroded 1mm wire to the charge port from what I was told. They also replaced the charge port because of cosmetic damage while they were working on it.

In addition to the two dead-car-not-going-anywhere incidents, I've had the usual slate of small issues that needed fixing, most of them reported in an earlier post in this thread:
•Two door handles repaired (the same one, as it happened)
•One UMC failure while on the road, it was replaced by the Tigard OR service center
•One 12 V battery replacement, at about three and a half years from when the car was built — I typically get eight to nine years for 12 V batteries on cars
•Right front knuckle assembly replacement
•Loose right front rotor dust shield fixed
•Drive unit replaced due to noise (entirely expected, given the vintage of my car — the Q revision rebuilt drive unit has many more miles on it than the original and remains silent)
•Power steering bolts replaced because of a recall (I expect the passenger side airbag replacement in the near future)

Also of concern is that my battery is down 15% (176 RM at 100%) and that is making longer trip legs much more difficult. My car has only 69k miles on it, so that much degradation was unexpected, although I understand that the small S60 batteries get worked a lot harder than larger batteries. Still, -15% in 69k miles?


Is my car fun to drive? Yes. Reliable? Not really. Given the discussion above, I guess I should consider myself lucky that I have hardly any rattles, and those only on rough roads.
It is my only car, so "plan B" is my bicycle and the kindness of neighbors.

 

[Jsvette56]

I've bought 5 Teslas. Wife's early 2016 Model 3 was caught in a 9 car pile up and totaled. My 2013 Model S had two noisy motors replaced but had no other issues when I sold it and bought a 2016 Model S which has had no issues whatsoever. My wife's replacement Model 3 has had no problems either. I bought my daughter a performance Model 3 replacing her BMW and she has had no problems.

The early Model 3 that got totaled had issues and spent some time in the SC where the suspension system was changed due to an extremely rough ride.

It seems that early production cars are likely to have issues but if you wait 6 months or so then most problems have been corrected.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

I would always consider Model S as being very reliable compared to its gasoline counterparts but if you buy a 2012-2014, you will likely see rattle in some cars.

Most or the parts do not require maintenance and have little, to no, wear and tear. However, just because the components aren't meant to break, that does not mean that they cannot. This is the main reason why we started X-Care, the only 3rd party warranty for Tesla's that works with Tesla Service/Mobile Service.

The largest items and most recurring that owners have spoken about are; MCU, Instrument cluster, window regulators, Sensors, cameras, harnesses, air suspension/suspension, pano roof issues, door handles, falcon wing doors issues, charging issues, charge port doors, your internal heating systems/AC system (HVAC Systems), Electronic controls module, and the list goes on, all of which would be covered under X-Care. MCU alone is $3k replacement cost.

There are many people out there considering of buying a Tesla through a 3rd party dealer. Unfortunately, Tesla does not sell their extended warranty to customers who purchase a vehicle through a dealer - X-Care does. No matter who you purchased your vehicle from, we offer service agreements to all (and its likely cheaper)

$100 Deductible Per Visit
24 Hour Roadside Assistance
Trip Interruption
Rental Coverage
Towing

If you don't already, you should offer a service to de-rattle our cars for us.

 

[sorka]

85K miles currently.

Front cv half shafts replaced 4 times under warranty. The last time was at 70K miles but it was still replace under the 50K warranty since the third time was done at 50K and the problem returned, as usual, within a several K miles. They told me they were aware of the issue and that I should just hold tight until a permanent fix was devised. Since the 3rd repair attempt didn't succeed....again...they were basically on the hook to fix it regardless of how long I was out of warranty. At 70K miles the problem was bad enough that I asked them to either fix it again or put in writing that the car was safe. They decided it was bad enough that they were not willing to guarantee the safety in writing so they replaced them again.

The design flaw is that the front shafts do not employ either of the two industry standard anti vibration damping devices. 1) The rubber donut, or 2) the shaft hanger with rubber insulated bearing holder to hold on to the shaft and prevent vibration.

That said, if the angle isn't too large, you can sometimes get away with having high power on a front axle without these anti vibration devices. So I lowered the car 1", fixed my front and rear camber, and the problem hasn't returned in 17K miles so it appears to finally be solved.

Other issues under warranty. Many squeaks and vibrations of which about 2/3rds were fixed successfully.

MCU was replaced at 50K miles. The replacement now has the ugly yellow border.

The drivers door handle failed. I fixed it be resoldering the broken wire from the harness and doing the harness re-route to prevent wire metal fatigue in the future.

 

[wdolson]

Hey Buddy, just finished reading your blog...very informative and love the story about the 24 year old Buick! you need to do another.

The Tesla Blitherings? I keep forgetting it's there. A bunch of things happened in my life in late 2016 and 2017 that derailed a lot of hobby projects.

Delivered 9-17 now has 14k and it came standard with one backup light and the headlights were not upgraded to adaptive which I finally just had replaced. The car has been flawless and if the budgets there in the future I can't see any reason to ever buy another make. I do have a lot of haters both at work and family who make fun of the cars stating they will be out of business soon and then what will I do with an obsolete car!!

You should ask them how they manage living with an obsolete car (ICE).

But more seriously, if Tesla was to fail at this point somebody would buy the assets and keep producing the cars. And somebody would step in and do something to keep the older fleet on the road. Supercharging might go away and life would generally be more difficult, but the fleet would still be operational. There already is a number of people restoring wrecks and keeping them going outside of the Tesla network.

Look at what happened to DeLorean. Their production numbers were a tiny fraction of the numbers Tesla has produced and there has been quite a community keeping them on the road. There is a company in Texas that is assembling a few new ones now.

I have never in my life driven a car with so many rattles. Being a bit on the OCD side also doesn’t help. The fact that the SC hasn’t shown much or any care also doesn’t help. I will be going back for the third time in 2 months to try get it fixed.

I would try reaching out to Rich Rebuilds Contact – Rich Rebuilds

He started his journey with Tesla here on this forum posting about his experiences restoring a Tesla that had been in a flood. He put it back on the road. He's in the process of starting a Tesla repair shop, but he's in Massachusetts. But I've heard he's pretty good at giving pointers to people who are trying to figure things out. Considering how many Teslas are in California, there may be someone like him, just less well known doing the same thing there.

 

[darxsys]

I would try reaching out to Rich Rebuilds Contact – Rich Rebuilds

He started his journey with Tesla here on this forum posting about his experiences restoring a Tesla that had been in a flood. He put it back on the road. He's in the process of starting a Tesla repair shop, but he's in Massachusetts. But I've heard he's pretty good at giving pointers to people who are trying to figure things out. Considering how many Teslas are in California, there may be someone like him, just less well known doing the same thing there.

Maybe I will if the SC doesn't fix all these issues during my next visit. I'll simply start fixing it myself and see how far I can get. I certainly care more about it than the SC technicians that just brush off half of my concerns.

 

[Seven7]

My model S cars have been reliable, the only problem I've had with my 2013 P85 was the drive unit replaced, but even that wasn't something that left me stranded, it just got noisy and service changed it out in about three hours. Not bad for three years. 2013-2016.

My 2016 P85D had no issues except for a charge port replacement. No other problems for another three years 2016-2019.

Bought a model 3 LR in July of 2018. No problems.

Received a new P100DL last month. No problems.

So, four Tesla cars over more than six years, nothing of any significance.

PS, when I did have to go to service they were always awesome, never brushed anything off.

 

[GotOne]

Dec 2016 P100DL, 58K miles... one minor problem to be repaired 4/16/2019... L headlight running light ("eyeliner") upper segment burned out. Tesla will replace both headlights to make sure they "match." Prior to the P100DL had a Dec 2015 P90D... never any problems after 27K miles. Tesla is the most remarkable car on the planet!

 

[aerodyne]

Lost charge port gasket...prolly my fault. Steering bolt recall. Both fixed by ranger. Once the dashboard went blank when I went into a tunnel when driving. Rebooted OK.

Down 1/2 percent on rated range at 28k miles.

And thats it! Love my MS!