Just picked up Model X today, has defects

[amadiva]

Wondering if this car sounds like trouble, given a few problems already on Day 1 of delivery.

I was excited to pick up my new 2020 Model X today in Devon. Vehicle looked great, 23 miles. Is a long range, 7 seater.

I gave it a pretty thorough inspection using a checklist I downloaded from somewhere on this forum. Aside from a few minor exterior defects, there was an ugly looking weld on one of the pillars under the right falcon door. Picture attached. I was told by the dealership that all Model X's have this and is within specs. I did want the car and didn't feel it was necessarily a deal breaker so I took delivery.

However as I was walking out to the car I noticed that the self presenting door was not functioning, something I had somehow overlooked before signing all the paperwork. I alerted an associate who told me I had to do something "on the app" to turn this feature on. Figuring this would not be difficult to troubleshoot myself, I did not pursue this further. When I got home, however, I discovered that that the function was already turned on, and that the app had nothing to do with it. I tried resetting the car, driving it out of the garage to an open area, and walked to and from the vehicle probably a dozen times, without success in triggering the self presenting door. It just won't auto-open, which was/is a famous selling feature of the vehicle. The door will open if I click the fob but sadly no auto-open as expected.

Long story short, they told me I could take the car into service on Monday 12/16.

Then, later this evening I tried to access the owner's manual in the glove box, only to find that the glove box would not open after pressing the button many times. I got out of the car, walked back in, and now mysteriously the glove box button is working. However the inconsistency of it along with the other issues above is troubling me.

Has anyone on here had these issues and if so were they isolated incidents? Has anyone ever returned a Model x within the 7 day period? Do you get your registration/title fees back if you do that? I really don't want it to come to that, but I don't have the time to deal with some kind of a lemon. I paid cash and had no trade in, so a return in this case would be relatively clean. If i do return it, I will likely not purchase another Tesla.

Any opinions or insights or experience with these specific issues would be appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[Evoforce]

Glove box an easy SC fix. I don't know about the auto open door. Don't you have a warranty for these slight issues? That is an epoxy weld and it is usual. Your manual is located on your touchscreen. Give the Service Center a chance to fix these small problems. Congratulations on getting your new car!

 

[Yosry]

After one year, the self presenting feature stop working, but was easy fix at SC, the sensor and module went bad, a common issue, not sure in your case , as your car is new

 

[jboy210]

That "weld" in your picture is not a weld. It is body seam filler covering a seam overlap where two pieces of metal meet. It forms a waterproof bond so water does not creep under the metal and start forming rust. They then paint over it. This is common practice in modern cars, but often hidden behind some sort of covering like trunk or floor liners.

Expect the paint over the filler to develop cracks over time since paint is inflexible and the sealer material is silicon seal-ish and flexes. Google 3m seam sealer, watch Youtube videos, or see Wikipedia article on the stuff.

Seam sealant - Wikipedia

 

[jmcmill]

That "weld" in your picture is not a weld. It is body seam filler covering a seam overlap where two pieces of metal meet. It forms a waterproof bond so water does not creep under the metal and start forming rust. They then paint over it. This is common practice in modern cars, but often hidden behind some sort of covering like trunk or floor liners.

Expect the paint over the filler to develop cracks over time since paint is inflexible and the sealer material is silicon seal-ish and flexes. Google 3m seam sealer or watch Youtube videos on the stuff.

Seam sealant - Wikipedia

Exactly, this is not a defect.

 

[rocketdallas]

When I originally picked up my car, I was unable to get the auto presenting door to work either during my inspection of the vehicle while they processed my paperwork. I remember turning the option on with the main screen and nothing happening. When I spoke with my delivery advisor, he told me sometimes it takes a moment for it to turn on, and sure enough, five minutes later it worked perfectly. Not sure what happened, but I haven't had any issues since.

Congrats and I'm sure you'll love your new X. Your SC will take care of the glovebox and door issue, no worries.

 

[jerseygirl18]

have you tried a Reset from the scroll wheels on your steering wheel??
it may help

 

[silverwolfe08]

Tesla service should easily fix the issues you have. But first, I would use the manual to make sure it's not something on your end.

https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/model_x_owners_manual_north_america_en.pdf

Self-presenting driver door: Page 9 of the manual explains how to enable this feature. It needs to be turned on using the car's touchscreen ( Controls > Vehicle > Automatic Doors) and you need to have the fob on you when you approach the driver door.

Glove Box: Make sure your glove box wasn't locked when you tried to open it. The manual explains the circumstances that leads to the glove box being locked on page 20.

The weld thing is normal, it's not a defect or something they can adjust.

 

[CreamSoduh]

Just return it, my auto present has been working for years I can't imagine it going bad since I'm so used to it. No reason you should have to deal with that from the jump, return it

 

[amadiva]

Thanks for your insights. So it sounds like these issues are pretty minor and easy fixes, yet may be unusual to have them occur in succession on a brand new car. I will see what they tell me on Monday. Obviously I don't want to return the car but don't want to get stuck with a headache.

 

[Doc Brown]

Exactly, this is not a defect.

That might not be a defect - but I don’t think you’ll find another mass-produced car with such poor fit/finish and workmanship. There’s still a hole/gap in that seam! Seriously. I can go in my garage and take a picture of the seams in three Toyotas and a Jeep in my garage and none of them look anything like that seam. That’s just poor workmanship.

anyone whose ever done bodywork or restored a car would laugh at the quality of that seam.

My X is due in a week or so - I hope it’s put together better.

 

[amadiva]

Update 12/15 - My last post was a saved response that should not have been sent. This is my update:

Have found more serious issues with my X. I am going to post them for discussion/insights but also as a possible warning on the adaptive cruise / possibly autopilot feature.

First, I want to clarify that the self presenting door is definitely turned on in the car, and that the glove box should not have been locked (was not in valet mode).

Today I decided to take my car on a day trip, drove it to central PA and back, around 200 miles round trip. Noticed some serious and possibly not so serious additional things:

1) First and probably the worst - I put on the adaptive cruise control on a 2 lane minor artery with infrequent traffic lights. I have been using adaptive cruise for over a decade in other brands, so adaptive CC is a feature I am very comfortable using. Was driving behind another car at an ample distance of "5" in the right lane. Switched to left lane and noted a red light coming up, so I pressed my brakes when I entered into the left lane to slow it down. This should have turned off the adaptive cruise. However, instead of braking, the car actually accelerated presumably trying to catch up to the set speed, after detecting that it was no longer behind the slower right-lane vehicle. I freaked out slightly but kept my cool and mashed on the brakes while flipping the AP/CC paddle on the steering wheel forward to manually shut off the cruise control. This fortunately did the trick but left me wondering WTF just happened. Braking is supposed to turn off the adaptive CC, no??

2) Cruise control would not keep my setting of Speed limit + 0, nor a fixed speed limit that I set, when re-initiated during the drive, meaning that almost every time I turned it on, it would default to a setting of Speed Limit + 5 mph. This happened with both adaptive CC and autopilot. Perhaps the Tesla isn't supposed to remember your setting but that would seem like a very poor design.

3) For a brief period on I-76 for about 5 minutes, going 60-65 mph and constant (no acceleration or deceleration) on level ground, there was a mid-pitched noise that I can only describe as resembling the sound an airplane makes when it's getting ready to land. That rubbing mechanical noise like something is adjusting itself heard right before the landing gear clunks down. It was subtle but irregular and noticed by all in the vehicle (3 adults and a child). My 8 year old thought it sounded like dogs woofing. It made everyone uneasy but it went away and was not heard again.

4) Vibration from steering wheel for no particular reason noticed mostly while driving on the highway but also noticed driving moderate speeds around 40 mph on Route 3. The vibration would last maybe 1-2 seconds and seemingly without pattern -- not accelerating, decelerating, braking, nor changing lanes. My friend thought that it could have been Tesla's version of a lane departure warning; however I was pretty centered in the lane as I remember it.

5) Second row seats very stiff and hard to position. At one point, while trying to adjust the second row forward, because my kid wanted to try out the 3rd row, the 2nd row bench was stuck in a very forward but upright position. The edge of the seat was sitting just inches away from the back of the driver's seat. I was not able to move it back to a more normal position. Because this gave my daughter more legroom in the 3rd row anyway, I left it that way and drove back home. During the drive, the 2nd row suddenly flew into motion and banged up against my driver's seat and back toward the 3rd row. Fortunately no one was hit by the seat, but I *thought* the vehicle would not allow you to drive if the 2nd row seats were not in locked position.

Anyway this vehicle is riddled with what seems to me way too many flaws, all occurring within 48 hours of Ownership. I really wanted this car. I spent a lot of time researching and had everyone else around me hyped about it, including my daughter who will be totally upset if I return it. But it seems there is really no other viable choice. And that thing that happened with the CC accelerating through the brake is something I don't EVER want to experience again. I hope that when I return the vehicle, that the service center gives it a full inspection before releasing it for a repurchase.

 

[muncheroo]

It took me a bunch of SC visits to get all the gremlins out the car but there is no alternative that comes even close to what this car can offer.

 

[mkspeedr]

Return it immediately

 

[Mbrockus]

#4 sounds a drift out of lane warning.

 

[mswlogo]

Most of this sounds like teething pains for the owner.

I was messing with 2nd row wrong at first. There is a separate release for access to 3rd row and another for position adjustment control.

 

[Techniques]

Update 12/15 - My last post was a saved response that should not have been sent. This is my update:

Have found more serious issues with my X. I am going to post them for discussion/insights but also as a possible warning on the adaptive cruise / possibly autopilot feature.

First, I want to clarify that the self presenting door is definitely turned on in the car, and that the glove box should not have been locked (was not in valet mode).

Today I decided to take my car on a day trip, drove it to central PA and back, around 200 miles round trip. Noticed some serious and possibly not so serious additional things:

1) First and probably the worst - I put on the adaptive cruise control on a 2 lane minor artery with infrequent traffic lights. I have been using adaptive cruise for over a decade in other brands, so adaptive CC is a feature I am very comfortable using. Was driving behind another car at an ample distance of "5" in the right lane. Switched to left lane and noted a red light coming up, so I pressed my brakes when I entered into the left lane to slow it down. This should have turned off the adaptive cruise. However, instead of braking, the car actually accelerated presumably trying to catch up to the set speed, after detecting that it was no longer behind the slower right-lane vehicle. I freaked out slightly but kept my cool and mashed on the brakes while flipping the AP/CC paddle on the steering wheel forward to manually shut off the cruise control. This fortunately did the trick but left me wondering WTF just happened. Braking is supposed to turn off the adaptive CC, no??

2) Cruise control would not keep my setting of Speed limit + 0, nor a fixed speed limit that I set, when re-initiated during the drive, meaning that almost every time I turned it on, it would default to a setting of Speed Limit + 5 mph. This happened with both adaptive CC and autopilot. Perhaps the Tesla isn't supposed to remember your setting but that would seem like a very poor design.

3) For a brief period on I-76 for about 5 minutes, going 60-65 mph and constant (no acceleration or deceleration) on level ground, there was a mid-pitched noise that I can only describe as resembling the sound an airplane makes when it's getting ready to land. That rubbing mechanical noise like something is adjusting itself heard right before the landing gear clunks down. It was subtle but irregular and noticed by all in the vehicle (3 adults and a child). My 8 year old thought it sounded like dogs woofing. It made everyone uneasy but it went away and was not heard again.

4) Vibration from steering wheel for no particular reason noticed mostly while driving on the highway but also noticed driving moderate speeds around 40 mph on Route 3. The vibration would last maybe 1-2 seconds and seemingly without pattern -- not accelerating, decelerating, braking, nor changing lanes. My friend thought that it could have been Tesla's version of a lane departure warning; however I was pretty centered in the lane as I remember it.

5) Second row seats very stiff and hard to position. At one point, while trying to adjust the second row forward, because my kid wanted to try out the 3rd row, the 2nd row bench was stuck in a very forward but upright position. The edge of the seat was sitting just inches away from the back of the driver's seat. I was not able to move it back to a more normal position. Because this gave my daughter more legroom in the 3rd row anyway, I left it that way and drove back home. During the drive, the 2nd row suddenly flew into motion and banged up against my driver's seat and back toward the 3rd row. Fortunately no one was hit by the seat, but I *thought* the vehicle would not allow you to drive if the 2nd row seats were not in locked position.

Anyway this vehicle is riddled with what seems to me way too many flaws, all occurring within 48 hours of Ownership. I really wanted this car. I spent a lot of time researching and had everyone else around me hyped about it, including my daughter who will be totally upset if I return it. But it seems there is really no other viable choice. And that thing that happened with the CC accelerating through the brake is something I don't EVER want to experience again. I hope that when I return the vehicle, that the service center gives it a full inspection before releasing it for a repurchase.

Put an end to your buyers remorse and return it.

 

[Shateam]

Username checks out. I would definitely return it.

 

[jboy210]

Most of these sound pretty minor and are likely that Tesla does things in a way you don't expect. But it sounds like it is not the car for you. So return it. Someone else will get the car and be fine with it.

 

[ShawnA]

Hi Amadiva,

I had my X in the Service Center last week because the Auto present doors no longer "presented."
They replaced the Central Body Controller and everything is fine now...
Be sure to take both key fobs to the appointment - they will need to be reprogrammed when
the Central Body Controller is replaced...

Shawn