J.D. Power Report Says Tesla Vehicles Prone to Problems

J.D. Power 2020 Initial Quality Study did not favor the quality of Tesla vehicles.

As part of its 2020 Initial Quality Study, Tesla owners reported more problems in their first 90 days of ownership than the other 31 U.S. auto brands included in the study.

The average for 2020 model-year vehicles was 166 problems per 100 vehicles. Tesla had 250 problems per 100 vehicles. Dodge and Kia both rated best at 136 problems per 100 vehicles.

The Initial Quality Study is one of the most respected indicators of quality in the industry. Now in its 34th year, the study examines problems experienced by owners of new 2020 model-year vehicles during the first 90 days of ownership. Initial quality is determined by the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score reflecting higher quality.

“Tesla receives an initial quality score of 250 PP100,” the report said. “The automaker is not officially ranked among other brands in the study as it doesn’t meet ranking criteria. “Unlike other manufacturers, Tesla doesn’t grant us permission to survey its owners in 15 states where it is required,” said Doug Betts, president of the automotive division at J.D. Power. “However, we were able to collect a large enough sample of surveys from owners in the other 35 states and, from that base, we calculated Tesla’s score.”

Tesla’s issues included paint imperfections; body panel alignment; trunks and hood closure; wind noise; and squeaks and rattles.

 

[thx1139]

The biggest thing I see is this is that the brands with the worst are the more expensive/luxury brands. That seems legit to me. I complained far more to Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus when I owned those brands. I expected far more from them. Also notice this is about issues like paint, body alignment, hood and door closures and noises.

Noises are a special issue. Since my 1st hybrid and then electric vehicles I have noticed noises more since the cars themselves are so much quieter. I didnt notice noises when I had a diesel Mercedes. I noticed the noise of the diesel engine. My BMW had a sporty noisy engine. My Lexus the same. Our Tesla's are whisper quiet. I remember back with our 1st Volt. I reported to the dealership a faint pumping noise and didnt know what it was. Before taking it in they told me that is the pump that runs to keep the gas mixed because it doesnt get used much. I would have never heard that over an ICE engine.

 

[dogphlap]

It is all down to our Lord and Saviour Mr Musk. I can't think of another company where the CEO is so personally responsible for the good and the bad. I noticed a marked change in attitude after he decided it would be a good idea to close the most if not all of the sales outlets and let the staff go (a decision that was revoked after much of the damage was done). There have been layoffs in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 of 7%, 8% and 9% (not in that order). If the company shows zero loyalty to its staff don't expect the employees to go the extra mile any more. Employees have mortgages or rent, maybe school fees to meet and mouths to feed, they are not widgets. Total lack of empathy leads to an attitude by those subject to it of 'it's just a job'. That is not how it used to be, that is why quality has not improved as production numbers have continued to rise. After 1 million vehicles and full order books for a decade the current sad state of the vehicles being pushed out to the public is not an unfortunate coincidence, it is what is to be expected.

The continual increase in production and sales since Musk took over is down to that man (50%+ year on year for a decade), a brilliant fellow. I can't think of anyone better suited to the role but with the good comes the bad. In many ways we are seeing the Henry Ford story played out again.

 

[nuts]

The biggest thing I see is this is that the brands with the worst are the more expensive/luxury brands. That seems legit to me. I complained far more to Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus when I owned those brands. I expected far more from them. Also notice this is about issues like paint, body alignment, hood and door closures and noises.

Noises are a special issue. Since my 1st hybrid and then electric vehicles I have noticed noises more since the cars themselves are so much quieter. I didnt notice noises when I had a diesel Mercedes. I noticed the noise of the diesel engine. My BMW had a sporty noisy engine. My Lexus the same. Our Tesla's are whisper quiet. I remember back with our 1st Volt. I reported to the dealership a faint pumping noise and didnt know what it was. Before taking it in they told me that is the pump that runs to keep the gas mixed because it doesnt get used much. I would have never heard that over an ICE engine.

Took delivery of my m3 back in Oct 2018, where I had 19 separate issues identified at home delivery. 14 of those were fixed after a year of owning the car, after 8 separate service center appointments, and 3 home visits. They included cosmetic paint issues(paint missing, damaged) requiring a respray of more than half the vehicle, along with 3 of the 4 wheels. But they also involved sharp/unfinished roof glass and other more substantial issues, such as issues with the charging system.

In the end, i winded up with even more problems due to careless repairs, including scratched glass, scratched headlights (gouged), and an interior that looks like it has gone through a war zone. (damaged and marred). All on a vehicle with less than 150 miles on it, 138 of those miles were from Tesla employees and third party body shops.

Also, they had the vehicle for upwards of nearly 4 months. Paying $66k for a vehicle, you'd expect a slightly better experience.

As far as being a repeat customer, its unlikely at this point, until they get full L5 autonomous driving, and im not going to ever purchase one of these vehicles new likely again, and if i do, it will be for the lowest base model they have as I expect these vehicles not to carry good residual.

 

[FredRainer]

Hello folks (1st time here) I drove about 30.000 km my M3 AWD LR starting 0219. After an accident with about 230 km/h on German Autobahn, I stepped out of the car myself with 2 light damaged rips and some few bruises on the left side - next day I sat on my desk at customer's office. Next identical M3 arrived 2 m later. I am an undead, practicing M3 fan, in thanks Elon, Franz and Tesla team.
Since the very beginning 1.5 y ago, I never had any complain regarding quality, functions, reliability. I am very sorry for those MS/X/3 owners having issues, but I cannot confirm any.
Regarding my experience I refuse above mentioned "report" being FUD&FAKE payed by ICE&bigOil - as usual.
(I own 2 shares symbolically, I am no employer or subcontractor)

 

[Speed Demon]

I wish J. D. Powers had included me in their survey. For them to publish a graph showing Dodge having the fewest problems with the new cars that they sell, makes me really doubt the honesty of their survey. And they put Tesla last? Did I get the only good one? I have owned my 2019 Model X almost a year with NO problems. My son has a Model 3 and he has had no problems with it.

 

[Yinn]

I wish J. D. Powers had included me in their survey. For them to publish a graph showing Dodge having the fewest problems with the new cars that they sell, makes me really doubt the honesty of their survey. And they put Tesla last? Did I get the only good one? I have owned my 2019 Model X almost a year with NO problems. My son has a Model 3 and he has had no problems with it.

You have to account for how the survey is done. The survey indicates 250 problems per 100 Tesla’s. That’s an average of 2.5 problems per car. Your two didn’t have any. @nuts had 19. Between those three cars that’s an average of 6.3 already. There needs to be 5 more problem free cars to compensate for @nuts just to get down to the 2.5 avg that JD power found.

Which brings me to more bad news. You’ve had two problem free. I haven’t owned one yet that hasn’t had problems and I’ve had 4 including a 2020 Raven, which is more problems than I’ve had with any Dodge I’ve owned.

I wish I could at least say they’re technology related since a single Model X packs more technology than any other Dodge, but there have been mechanical issues, safety issues, trim issues that other manufacturers have gotten right.

Model S had its first service upon delivery due to sagging/unattached weather stripping. Followed immediately by a misaligned door latch that prevented it from closing. This is upon delivery.

Model X needed it’s first service upon delivery and resulted in a due bill. The entire rear hatch needed to be replaced.

2nd Model X needed service..upon delivery. A-Pillar trim was not attached. Hood was misaligned.

Fourth Model X was ok at delivery. That’s 4 cars, 5 problems. Problems I haven’t had with any Dodge, Ford, Chevy or any other manufacture. And that’s just at delivery. 0 miles placed on the car from me. And if memory serves me right, JD allows 10,000 miles of problems to be reported.

Everyone’s experience will differ, but keep in mind for every one car with 19 problems, you need to find 8 problem free cars just to reproduce JDs numbers...

 

[SteveD]

I cannot believe that Tesla is dead last in the JD Powers report. I have had a M3 for 2 years. Zero service calls. Not perfect is every way but pretty close. We have about 24K on the car. I am loving how the car keeps getting better OTA updates. I own a Kia Sedona, really nice car in lots of ways but it has a super annoying Bluetooth connection that wants to update your contacts list almost every other time you get into the car. Took it to the dealer and basically I am stuck with the funky system as long as I own the car. That's just one example. With the Tesla, the car gets better and better with age. I wonder if some of the problems are people having difficulty learning the technology? It does have a learning curve. People are likely to call tech support if they can't figure out how something works.

 

[Electric700]

I had zero problems in the first 90 days with my Tesla. Overall, my experience has been positive and I am happy driving 100% electric! I will likely buy another Tesla.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Unfortunately the Dodge comes with an engine that makes the driving experience equal to a lawn tractor. I've owned 3 Model S's, with over 150,000 miles behind the wheel, never going back to an ICE, I don't care how much they paid Just Damn Pay (JD Powers) for their positive review of their brand.

Also the truck doesn't have paint... so that solves 75% of the complaints

 

[jboy210]

I think Tesla has issues, but so do all cars. We lease so get 2 new cars every 3 years. Usually upper end cars like BMW (12+), Lexus (6+), and a few others Jeep and Infinity (each 1 only - never again).

The latest BMWs had loads of issues of the same magnitude (squeaks and rattles, lights mis-installed, etc) nothing that impacted day to day operation of the vehicle. The BMW rattles though were met by service with complete unwillingness to deal with the issue. Talks of how dash rattles are difficult to troubleshoot and occur all the time. I ended up having my wife drive the car down the road while I put my head down in the passenger foot well reaching up under the dash to locate the source. It took me about 30 minutes to determine the problem was improperly tighten screws. Once I tightened them the rattle went away.

The other day I noticed a noise when on a uneven road in my Model X. So I guess I need to do this same thing with that car.

 

[MichaelP90DL]

I wish J. D. Powers had included me in their survey. For them to publish a graph showing Dodge having the fewest problems with the new cars that they sell, makes me really doubt the honesty of their survey. And they put Tesla last? Did I get the only good one? I have owned my 2019 Model X almost a year with NO problems. My son has a Model 3 and he has had no problems with it.

That surprised me also.

 

[Yinn]

That surprised me also.

It's all about the count of problems per car that makes it seem worse than it is. It only takes one. Even in this thread, only two people have said they've had problems. Yet if we were placed on the survey, we'd still end up in last place. Averages always screws it up. It only takes one lemon to make the whole thing sour.

 

[AdamMacDon]

Putting Dodge and Chevy near the top for reliability is extremely suspect for me and does not reflect my personal experience with those brands, haha. Not that Tesla is so great. I think the problem here is trying to just lump everything into "problems" is extremely vague. With Tesla it is easy to find minor issues like terrible paint or misaligned body panels. We all have these issues. But my problems with my Chevs or Dodges would be like "my engine is hemorrhaging coolant into the oil". Significantly more impactful and distracting. With my Tesla most of the issues I just ignore. Crappy paint job that shows primer in some hidden areas? Not ideal but I can live with that. Drivetrain issues I am pretty sure Tesla is now pretty dang good. Sure older Model S car's would chew up drive units, but the 3 seems really good and is their most high volume car.

 

[jasinflorida]

I'm not sure where JD Powers got its numbers but they sure did not speak to any of us. I took delivery of my 2019 Model 3 LR RWD in March of 2019 after having my new Audi convertible totalled. Not only was the car nearly perfect upon delivery but so was the purchasing and delivery process. It wasn't until 6-months later that I experienced my only problem...a leak in the trunk. I took it to the local Tesla service center and they installed an updated seal that completely fixed the problem. The trunk was dry as a bone from that point on.

A few weeks ago I traded my Model 3 for a new 2020 Model S LR+. Same excellent experience with both buying and delivery. I've owned the car for a month now and have had zero problems either at delivery or at present.

 

[JayyyDeee]

How do you get added to the survey ... I want to throw my issues into the QC hat. I think I have around 7 in 2 years of ownership

 

[Killroy]

The Tesla Daily Podcast had some great detail of the flaws of the rating systems.

 

[drtimhill]

Putting Dodge and Chevy near the top for reliability is extremely suspect for me and does not reflect my personal experience with those brands, haha. Not that Tesla is so great. I think the problem here is trying to just lump everything into "problems" is extremely vague. With Tesla it is easy to find minor issues like terrible paint or misaligned body panels. We all have these issues. But my problems with my Chevs or Dodges would be like "my engine is hemorrhaging coolant into the oil". Significantly more impactful and distracting. With my Tesla most of the issues I just ignore. Crappy paint job that shows primer in some hidden areas? Not ideal but I can live with that. Drivetrain issues I am pretty sure Tesla is now pretty dang good. Sure older Model S car's would chew up drive units, but the 3 seems really good and is their most high volume car.

This whole report has ben debunked pretty completely. The basic problem is they include in "quality" items like users needing to read the manual to use the car features, or not understanding how to use the audio system. Well, guess what? Simple old-fashioned cars like a Dodge are going to do well on that, but imagine where a Tesla falls? So this is not about "quality" in any real sense of the word at all.

 

[Prlouisj]

I’m in my 8 month of ownership and I’ve had 1 service appointment to replace the radio transmitter which was a know issue for some Model 3 owners. I’m otherwise very satisfied.

 

[ferozek]

I completely agree 100%, my 2016 model X had been in service five times the last 6 months. Often something happens after a software update. It started happening after my warranty ended. The MCU went down twice after the software update costing me $2100 (I requested for MCU version 2 as it was available and requested to keep the old one. After the service was done, they installed the same old version 1.2 and they did not give me back my old one). Another battery issue after another software update luckily it was covered.
Then a crazy thing happens where two sections of the roof flew off while driving on freeway. It was so scary. I reported to Tesla, but nothing was done. It was definitely a safety issue, but Tesla does not care and cost me another $1500. They said it will be noted. Just last week after another update, my Model X had a message that says the Vehicle may not restart bring into service. Seriously! All the issues has not been any of my faults and Tesla continue to charge me. It is so frustrating. At this point it is hard to trust driving my car specially for a long drive. I think people/customer will start to realize how untrustworthy Tesla car's are long term. Tesla management, I hope you read this post and do something about the issues quickly.