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Late 2016 / Early 2017 S Owners: How Are Your Daytime Running Lights Holding Up?
- Thread starter houstonian
- Start date
fcastrillo86
Member
I got Revision F headlights a few weeks ago. When I took delivery of my used S a month and a half ago, one headlight DRL was yellowing, while the other hand half of the "brow" burnt out. I'm hopeful that they got things right with Rev F
He seemed to be genuinely unaware of the scope of the issue. He did say he's replaced a lot of S headlamp assemblies.
Cheburashka
Active Member
13 months after customer pay. Would be the 4th light on this side. I think I am going to keep my eyebrow waxed from now on.
So officially two lights are now worth 10% of my cars value according to trade in value from Tesla as of last month.
So officially two lights are now worth 10% of my cars value according to trade in value from Tesla as of last month.
Cheburashka
Active Member
How hard is it to DIY replace these? I understand bumper has to come off, but I'm not sure how hard that is on this car.
Cheburashka
Active Member
Disappointed that Tesla wouldn't goodwill that repair considering you already had out of pocket expenses due to what is an obvious design flaw from Tesla's side.
I can’t speak for facelift model but I just changed the headlights in my pre refresh and it was pretty easy. 10 pop rivets two bolts and two torx screws for the bumper.
I had a conversation with the manager and basically said if this was a drive component and Tesla continued the course as it has with these headlights......we wouldn't be having this conversation. As people wouldn't stand for it. Yet being cosmetic...who likes to drive with a crappy looking car?
For those that are out of warranty we have little choice. I don't have time to do a headlight install for one that might work off eBay. Yet I think $1495 for one headlamp is excessive.
Positive note. The new tech that fixed my door handle liked my license plate.
Another was that manager really wanted to take the time to understand why I requested the call from her. We spoke. I just explained. The lights are junk. If someone could talk to me they might look at my service file. See that my lights are getting up there in $. Customer might be.
Can we fix it? No app doesn't allow that. Hoops to jump through to get half satisfaction. Way too many.
buzescu
Member
I also changed 4 till the new F. These are holding. I've had them for 8 months. Crossing fingers.
So apparently yes,
Amstel44
Member
My passenger side eyebrow just went out on my Sept ‘16 S, which I bought used two months ago. IMO, nobody should ever have to go out of pocket $1k+ on any car less than 5 years old, but I know I’m SOL bc the 4 yr warranty expired a few months ago. Given the widespread nature of this DRL issue, it’s obviously a defect rather than normal wear & tear, which is the sort of thing manufacturers often address with a warranty extension.
Another data point for you guys:
2017 Model S
Driver side failed at a little less than 2 years 24k miles
Passenger side failed at a little less than 3 years 33k miles
The driver side failed again at 3 years 5 months 34k miles.
The car will be out of warranty this year. It's absolutely unacceptable that Tesla expects the customers to replace them out of pocket after warranty, just to have them fail again in two years. Worst of all the SC wouldn't even admit that this is a known defect. Each time I go in they act like they have never seen this issue their entire life.
This model S so far is orders of magnitude less reliable than a Mercedes, which is already one of the lowest bars in the ICE world.
2017 Model S
Driver side failed at a little less than 2 years 24k miles
Passenger side failed at a little less than 3 years 33k miles
The driver side failed again at 3 years 5 months 34k miles.
The car will be out of warranty this year. It's absolutely unacceptable that Tesla expects the customers to replace them out of pocket after warranty, just to have them fail again in two years. Worst of all the SC wouldn't even admit that this is a known defect. Each time I go in they act like they have never seen this issue their entire life.
This model S so far is orders of magnitude less reliable than a Mercedes, which is already one of the lowest bars in the ICE world.
nomis_nehc
Member
Well, I am pretty annoyed, and probably be pissed once I see the repair estimate. On the 4th set now, and passenger side failed again, and my warranty expired 2k miles ago.
Cheburashka
Active Member
HOW TO: Replace Headlights in Refresh (2016+) Model S
So like many others, I've been having issues with my DRLs "burning out" on my Model S. I'm on my 4th set of headlights now. Tesla has changed revisions of the headlights throughout the years and we are now on revision F (mid 2021). Let's hope that the problem doesn't come back. The DRL's...
teslamotorsclub.com
I did the replacement myself the other week and posted a how-to. Overall it was pretty easy. I'm on the F revision for both sides now. Hopefully these ones last longer than a year.
HOW TO: Replace Headlights in Refresh (2016+) Model S
So like many others, I've been having issues with my DRLs "burning out" on my Model S. I'm on my 4th set of headlights now. Tesla has changed revisions of the headlights throughout the years and we are now on revision F (mid 2021). Let's hope that the problem doesn't come back. The DRL's...
I did the replacement myself the other week and posted a how-to. Overall it was pretty easy. I'm on the F revision for both sides now. Hopefully these ones last longer than a year.
My left light has failed, waiting on the right side to do the same. Did you get the F revisions from Tesla and install it yourself then? Or got them from E-Bay?
I'm waiting to see if these F revisions do fix the problem before I look into replacing them myself. Or go snip a wire and disable them permanently.
Cheburashka
Active Member
Yep I found one on eBay. One was replaced by Tesla (warranty), the other one I did myself (eBay, now out of warranty).
SucreTease
Teslarian
I do wonder if Tesla is still using these lights on the refreshed Model S, or whether they have developed a better headlight. The current headlights have been rated Poor by the IIHS, even though those from the Model 3 and Y were rated Good (top rating). Clearly Tesla now is able to design a good performing headlight.
My passenger headlight eyebrow had developed the dim yellow on the inside edge closest to the car nose, as many have posted here, and was replaced under warranty by mobile service. After getting the new one (F revision), it is nice an uniform. But that made me realize that the driver side one is not evenly lit.
Although hard to capture in the photo without overblowing the highlights, in person the center 50% of the eyebrow is noticeably dimmer than either the inside or outside edge. It was not glaringly obvious when compared to the failure on the passenger one, so I didn't bring it up with the service center until seeing what a new replacement looks like.
Mobile service came out and said it is LED degradation, but not outright failure. They said a "section" actually has to be "completely out" for warranty replacement.
I don't mind the unevenness if it stays like this, as it's relatively subtle in most circumstances. but, I'm just wondering if this is an impending sign of failure in a few months (when I'll be out of warranty)?
Although hard to capture in the photo without overblowing the highlights, in person the center 50% of the eyebrow is noticeably dimmer than either the inside or outside edge. It was not glaringly obvious when compared to the failure on the passenger one, so I didn't bring it up with the service center until seeing what a new replacement looks like.
Mobile service came out and said it is LED degradation, but not outright failure. They said a "section" actually has to be "completely out" for warranty replacement.
I don't mind the unevenness if it stays like this, as it's relatively subtle in most circumstances. but, I'm just wondering if this is an impending sign of failure in a few months (when I'll be out of warranty)?
