Is the Model S a "real" car yet?

[Canuck]

I have a lease on a Nissan LEAF, and the car has had exactly 0 issues in 8 months and 8K miles. Nothing breaks on these.

My Nissan Leaf Forum View forum - Problems / Trouble Shooting

Can you please tell this to my Leaf which I had to have towed in for repairs recently.

 

[JPP]

I have 26k miles...yes, a real car. Two routine annual service visits (...yes, 1 did include an 'elective' drive unit replacement). Great service and support. The car gets better with each firmware update. It is my daily driver. No complaints....

 

[rogbmw]

Is my Tesla a real car - short answer = YES.
My car is a 4xxx serial number, delivered in Feb 2013. It is my everyday car. I plug it in at night, and it is ready to go in the morning. I make routine trips of 200 miles in a day with no worry.

Has it been perfect - no. Has Tesla service met my expectations - NO- THEY HAVE EXCEEDED THEM. They have always taken care of any issue promptly, professionally, and they come to me and bring me a loaner.

When I purchased our Model S, I wanted a car that I had to make no compromises. I wanted to drive it like every other car I have owned. Everyday.
Would I purchase it again - ABSOLUTELY.

 

[SherSlick]

Firstly: Their service is excellent. Nice, easy to work with, looked at other issues that may not have been actual warranty work. I personally didn't have them come swap out the car, but I could have.

However: In the first week of owning it a firmware update "broke" the driver rear door handle. Not a huge deal, but nevertheless it occurred. I am aware the extent of testing cars from major manufactures go through as I have seen trucks used in environments that could kill a person in a matter of hours. Would I use my Tesla in similar field conditions, probably not, but I only rarely saw field work. 99.999% of the time I was simply driving to the office, for that I would take my Tesla.

When it comes down to it the trade off is: new exciting features rolled out all the time vs 5 years of the exact same car before the next model year refresh. As such you lose some reliability at the gain of (nearly) always having the latest and greatest.

 

[lagann]

In 7 months I've had my car in the shop for numerous small repairs and one large repair. I actually was just on the phone with Tesla over it because it's starting to get ridiculous. I love my car a lot, but I haven't had a moment where I've had the car and something wasn't broken. Now I have two pretty significant issues, one where they think they'll have to replace the security module, and another where there is no idea yet. From my experience the car is not reliable at all. I'm worried about when the warranty ends because I couldn't imagine the costs that all these repairs are adding up to. It sucks, too, because I'd love to be able to put people's minds at ease and say "The car never has any problems!", but I am not lucky enough for that. My friends and coworkers poke fun at it all the time because they'll go "so what's wrong with the car now?"

 

[Canuck]

In 7 months I've had my car in the shop for numerous small repairs and one large repair. I actually was just on the phone with Tesla over it because it's starting to get ridiculous. I love my car a lot, but I haven't had a moment where I've had the car and something wasn't broken. Now I have two pretty significant issues, one where they think they'll have to replace the security module, and another where there is no idea yet. From my experience the car is not reliable at all. I'm worried about when the warranty ends because I couldn't imagine the costs that all these repairs are adding up to. It sucks, too, because I'd love to be able to put people's minds at ease and say "The car never has any problems!", but I am not lucky enough for that. My friends and coworkers poke fun at it all the time because they'll go "so what's wrong with the car now?"

Wow, that sucks. My comments at the office are completely different. When my car went in for its yearly service, the staff couldn't believe that Tesla dropped off a white P85+ loner for the day (they all also told me the car is much better in white!). Also, when I had problems with the left rear door handle sticking and squeaking, they sent a ranger who fixed it in the parking in about 2 hours without it even having to go into the shop. The people at the office couldn't believe that, and I was pretty impressed to.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

On my second Model S now and have never had any significant issues (with the drivetrain and such) but did have several little, mostly-cosmetic niggles with my first one that got resolved eventually. It helps that Tesla has valet service to take care of such issues.

But, I'd have to admit that, at the back of my mind, there's always that tiny element of fear that something may go wrong. A fear that's not really grounded in reality. Despite that, have happily done several roadtrips. Can't imagine ever owning a non-Tesla again.

 

[lagann]

Wow, that sucks. My comments at the office are completely different. When my car went in for its yearly service, the staff couldn't believe that Tesla dropped off a white P85+ loner for the day (they all also told me the car is much better in white!). Also, when I had problems with the left rear door handle sticking and squeaking, they sent a ranger who fixed it in the parking in about 2 hours without it even having to go into the shop. The people at the office couldn't believe that, and I was pretty impressed to.

Yeah I wish I was like that. Besides the small things, I've had to have a charger replaced, the wiper motor replaced, the rain sensor replaced, the panoramic roof stopped working and had to be overhauled, and now I have to have the security module replaced after having to have the keys replaced 3 times now. Also, I'm getting a shuddering issue with the car and we have yet to see what's causing that. I wonder what will go wrong 2 months from now this time.

 

[eye.surgeon]

Another busy man here. 2 months of ownership, zero issues.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

30,000 miles in one year - car has never stranded me - and the minor stuff is taken care of by the Service Center - I love that they drop a car and take yours from work, home, where ever. Total cost to date was two new tires at $500.... Online now bidding for one for the wife.... she can't wait...

Answer - is the car ready - yes - its my solo daily driver in rain, snow, and horrible DC traffic.

 

[Majerus]

Almost 7k miles on mine in less then 3 months, 0 issues that required service.

 

[bonnie]

I'm sure my title is going to make waves here, but keep in mind that I'm posting because I'm considering purchasing a Model S at some point down the road.

I'm a very busy man, and simply don't have time in my life to visit a repair shop every other month. I have a lease on a Nissan LEAF, and the car has had exactly 0 issues in 8 months and 8K miles. Nothing breaks on these. That said, I'm used to driving a more luxurious car. I'd like town own a Tesla. The LEAF was nothing more than an experiment to see if I could go electric.

So, my question is very simple. Are we past the "early adopter" stage with Tesla yet? Are these real cars, in the sense that most owners only have to bring them in once a year, like you would with an ordinary car from one of the more established car companies? If not, what are your thoughts on how long before we get there?

Too busy to bother reading the forum? Surely not too busy to bother thanking the countless people who haven't been too busy to answer your post and save you those precious minutes ... I'm sure you meant to do that.

 

[neroden]

So, my question is very simple. Are we past the "early adopter" stage with Tesla yet? Are these real cars, in the sense that most owners only have to bring them in once a year, like you would with an ordinary car from one of the more established car companies? If not, what are your thoughts on how long before we get there?

It isn't as trouble-free as a Toyota Corolla (never take it in for service ever, and it's fine). It already needs less service than an Audi (notorious shop queens). Does that give you some sort of idea?

I've taken my Model S in twice a year, roughly. I probably only really needed to take it in half as often as that. Since I got unlimited ranger service (back when they still offered it), it's extraordinarily convenient. They drop off a loaner and pick up the car; then they drop off the car and pick up the loaner.

There were some obnoxious issues which were due to being early off the production line, ranging from potential galvanic corrosion under the hood to bad 12v batteries to subtly defective chargeports, all of which have been fixed in later VIN numbers. I also got some retrofits done (I wanted parking sensors and aero wheels, now I have them.)

The UMC is not a great design and still has problems; at the new lower price for the HPWC, I'd probably get that.

So yeah, I'd say it's past the early adopter stage in terms of repair record.

 

[DDotJ]

Mine is a fairly new car, 6000 miles and took delivery late November. No major problems and there hasn't been a time yet where the car has inconvenienced me or failed to get me somewhere.

I am also a pretty busy fellow (so busy in fact, I haven't even gotten my windows tinted yet!), so taking my car to the service center often is not going to work for me.

I have taken it to the service center for a tire rotation and they also took care of some minor things (wind noise type stuff) while it was in. Even if the car needs service, Tesla Service does a great job with the valet service where they picked up my car from my house and left me a loaner at my convenience and also dropped it off when they finished. The pick up took 5 minutes, and the drop off (well, i technically elected to pick it up from the service center on my way home) up took 5 minutes as well. It doesn't get any more seamless and convenient than that. They call (or text) me with updates frequently and are great with getting the vehicle turned around as fast as possible.

No need to worry, you're in great hands. And the car is just as reliable as any other car I've had. (or even more reliable)

It wasn't a real car at first, but in November of 2014 it materialized out of my dream and became a real car sitting on my driveway. Sometimes I have to floor the car for the g-forces and that feeling in my stomach to let me know I'm not still dreaming.

 

[Lerxt]

My first reaction reading OP first post was "Is the Nissian Leaf a real car yet?" I mean, how many real passenger vehicles stop after 150km or so of driving?

 

[jerry33]

But, I'd have to admit that, at the back of my mind, there's always that tiny element of fear that something may go wrong.

I've had that with every car I've ever had. No more, no less than the Tesla.

 

[caddieo]

Are these real cars, in the sense that most owners only have to bring them in once a year, like you would with an ordinary car from one of the more established car companies? If not, what are your thoughts on how long before we get there?

AFAIK, ordinary cars from the established car companies need to be brought in more than once a year if you follow their maintenance recommendations for oil changes, etc.. So the MS is actually more than a real car.

 

[ToddRLockwood]

Consider this: my 2013 Model S now has 32K miles. By now, I would have had six oil changes in any gasoline powered car, including the hassle of getting the car to and from the dealership. If your time is valuable, I highly recommend purchasing Tesla's optional service plan, which includes unlimited mobile ranger visits. With this service, most issues can be fixed in your garage or at your workplace, including the annual checkup. If the car needs to be taken back to the shop to be put on a lift (a rarity, since there's so little underneath), Tesla will bring a loaner Model S on a trailer and swap cars with you. It doesn't matter how far you live from the Tesla service center. I'm located 3-1/2 hours away.

All of this said, the problems I've encountered in two years of driving have been minor issues, none of which prevented me from driving the car.

 

[muleferg]

1. stop and smell the roses(Verb)
   To relax; to take time out of one's busy schedule to enjoy or appreciate the beauty of life. :love:
   

 

[Panu]

Consider this: my 2013 Model S now has 32K miles. By now, I would have had six oil changes in any gasoline powered car.

My Toyota manual says oil change is needed every 30K km or 2 years. I'm expecting to service my Model S a bit more often.