Imperfections in the 2016 MX

[irvineboy]

I recently saw a video an 2017 MX 100D owner posted about his gripes with Tesla's attention to detail, or lack of detail when building these cars. He showed the falcon doors squeeking only on the driver's side as it was closing but not on the passenger's side. He should a lot of issues with alignment on the trunk and the doors and also within the interior of the car. Areas where the plastic meet the headliners are not perfectly flush. He was overall happy with the car but upset that Tesla isn't more attentative when building these cars.

I'm looking at the earlier 2016 models. Since they are the earlier models, will these things be even more apparent?

 

[Derek Kessler]

Maybe. Maybe not. Most of these are things your local Service Center will fix if you ask.

 

[outie]

Some areas better, some worse for earlier models. It's really a mixed bag in terms of build quality. Namely, after they fixed some issues they introduced something else for newer builds.

 

[irvineboy]

Can someone highlight what old problems can new problems?

Stuff like squeaky hinge and unaligned doors, will they fix?

 

[ninefiveone]

Does the 4 year warranty not transfer to the next owner?

 

[travwill]

I saw the same video today. I had to comment on it has the car he had did have a lot of bad alignment, that wavy dashboard, bad panels, etc.

Honestly, my 2016 had one trunk alignment issue the SC caught but overall the rest of it is great. It doesn't have anything that newer 40-50K VIN build had. Mine is a 8K VIN number built in March 2016 and built better than that one it seems. It has had latches and sensors replaced due to improvements but that has slowed down now. The overall build though seems better.

I am shocked that they still roll off the lines misaligned and not of quality you would expect for a $120K car but I'd say you can order with confidence and just be prepared to look it over at delivery well and even have it fixed or reject. Best approach if you are really nervous may be to find an inventory at a SC close by that you can check out before deposit or purchasing even, like on the lot ;-)

 

[animorph]

None of the alignment problems are permanent. I figure if you get a used Tesla the previous owner probably fixed all of those problems. A good reason to inspect before buying, but not a reason not to buy. Of course there does seem to have been a few individual cars with way too many problems. It might be wise to avoid those if you can, like any other car.

 

[rjdoc74]

I saw the same video today. I had to comment on it has the car he had did have a lot of bad alignment, that wavy dashboard, bad panels, etc.

Honestly, my 2016 had one trunk alignment issue the SC caught but overall the rest of it is great. It doesn't have anything that newer 40-50K VIN build had. Mine is a 8K VIN number built in March 2016 and built better than that one it seems. It has had latches and sensors replaced due to improvements but that has slowed down now. The overall build though seems better.

I am shocked that they still roll off the lines misaligned and not of quality you would expect for a $120K car but I'd say you can order with confidence and just be prepared to look it over at delivery well and even have it fixed or reject. Best approach if you are really nervous may be to find an inventory at a SC close by that you can check out before deposit or purchasing even, like on the lot ;-)

I have a march 2016 built MX VIN 25xx. Had sensors, latches and a seat replaced. But no alignment issues. And I have automatic spoiler which I love and ventilated seats (which I love as well).

 

[anicolao]

Stuff like squeaky hinge and unaligned doors, will they fix?

I just picked up my wife's model X from the service center today. The driver's side door was repaired by a third party and the alignment now looks great, totally flush, where before it was sticking out.

The center row seats were very squeaky, and they lubed them and they're now fine.

No issues with the Falcon Wing Doors. No charge for the fixes done, even though the body shop is third-party.

alex

 

[irvineboy]

So it's good to know that even if I buy a used 2016, as long as it still within the four year warranty, they would fix any issues even if I am the second or third owner right? The warranty travels across owners correct?

 

[DarkMatter]

So it's good to know that even if I buy a used 2016, as long as it still within the four year warranty, they would fix any issues even if I am the second or third owner right? The warranty travels across owners correct?

Be careful if you're buying used from a non-Tesla dealer. Some of the cheaper cars out there are actually manufacturer buyback (lemon) cars and won't be covered by the warranty. Always pull a Carfax or Autocheck on anything you're looking at.

Otherwise, yes, the warranty transfers.

 

[Tjhappel]

There a few lemon law units being sold currently and I completely disagree about staying away from them. They are completely covered under warranty and in California they even have a state mandated 12 month 12k mile warranty for the issues the ly were lemon'd for.

You could argue that almost all the first x's would have been considered lemon's if you got a good lawyer. They had part back orders that took over 30 days to fix so automatically you could have kicked the car.

I'd recommend anyone willing to buy a lemon (which you'll likely only find in California) to look into them. They're selling 20k below wholesale auction prices... pretty good deals.

 

[DarkMatter]

There are plenty of Lemon cars being sold in Texas as well. Do the laws work the same there? I suppose it is down to your individual willingness to accept risk.

 

[travwill]

Buying a previous lemon/manufacturer buyback is a personal choice for sure. In most cases you'll still have the warranty from manufacturer (double check that with Tesla). The title will be marked lemon/buyback depending on state and that is the dinger. You need to likely be willing to 1) keep the car as it'll be very hard to sell to any other private party with that permanent note on its title, and 2) you may have a lot of repairs that crop up again so be prepared to deal with them.

Comes down to if you want to risk that for amount of savings it is versus regular used car with warranty from private/dealer.

 

[mamunoz]

It is funny that video showed up for me yesterday too. I have a 2016 and had a few similar issues with my 90D shortly after delivery. My FWD squeaked too, plastic trims not seated right, rattles from speakers. Just little things. SC fixed in all in a few days and never made me feel like I was being nit picky or anything.

 

[DarkMatter]

One of my FWD squeaked at delivery. A service person popped out and fixed it in less than two minutes. It's disappointing that it didn't get caught at the factory or PDI, and encouraging that it was so easy to fix.

 

[jlarmstr]

This is the number one problem, in my opinion, with Tesla and, if they should fail and go under, will be the primary cause. They have major quality issues on the fit and finish of their cars in general. Unlike any I have ever seen. It's easy to say 'no big deal, they will fix it' and they will, in fact, I bought my X knowing I would be doing exactly what I would be doing next week (a few weeks after delivery) and that is taking it in to the service center to fix everything that was wrong.

On my MX, one item that was screwed up, and not caught at the factory, was a paint drip under the clear coat on the passenger side front door. THey had to order a new panel and will replace it, but in this case they SC will not replace it... they will take it to a local body shop and pay them to replace it.

These little issues are overlooked by people who are true enthusiast for the car and embrace the vision of the company, but as it goes mainstream, these issues potentially will sink them. I have never bought a car that there was not some little thing not quite right, I see it in most cars to be fair.... but with my Tesla's there are dozens of them, and it does not make one confident in the capability of the company.The issue is cars that cost in the 90-150K range should be in mint (mint!) condition, owners should not be troubled by buying a brand new car and turning around and putting right into the shop to fix what should have been done right the first time. I hope they fix these events and tight up the quality soon. I am heavily invested in them with this purchase, I need them to flourish.

 

[irvineboy]

Jlarmstr, Agreed with you on every point. That's why I'm trying to convince the boss that we really need an Aston Martin instead of a Tesla!

 

[G1000Pilot]

For an American car (compare to other American cars) the craftsmanship and quality is superb. Is it as good as a European made vehicle? Definitely not, but for what it is, it's great