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Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues
- Thread starter DrComputer
- Start date
⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️
Village Idiot
Pentium2004
Former Vendor
Well if you asked Tesla these cars are perfect but they definitely have their glitches. Most are insignificant so far for me only 60 days in. The main ones I've had is homelink not working, door handles fall to represent even though I'm next to the car and pushing on it, charge port fails to release charger, center screen going black and rebooting while driving, streaming issues (appear to be fixed now) and autopilot trying to kill you.
mknox
Well-Known Member
The saving grace is that Tesla Service is absolutely fantastic. Any issue you have will be addressed, no questions asked, they'll give you a new S or X loaner at no cost and you car will come back cleaned and detailed like you've never seen before. One time, they even vacuumed the Tesla logo into the carpet in the trunk (discovered that a few days later).
Pentium2004
Former Vendor
I definitely agree they have been extremely helpful. Sometimes it seems they lack support from corporate.
My saving grace is taking the guy down the street to the MB dealer to drop off and pick up his 2017 AMG S65 which is slower, more trouble prone and more expensive. He has been back three times for a faulty fuel gauge and at 13 - 18 MPG he wants to know.
Nicki had wheel alignment problem from the factory. Not perfect, but pretty good since that has been her only problem caused by Tesla.
Nicki had wheel alignment problem from the factory. Not perfect, but pretty good since that has been her only problem caused by Tesla.
The real truth is yes. You will notice a lot of people answering with "Service is great and takes care of everything", which is true, but plan on 3 service visits at the minimum in the first 6 months of ownership with at least one related to an issue where you cannot drive the car. If you go in with that expectation you will be generally fine. My current experience:
Model S P100D: 136 days of ownership, 3 Service Center Visits, 13 days out of service, 1 Major Issues (Air Suspension Failure)
Model X 100D: 105 days of ownership, 3 Service Center Visits, 33 days out of service, 1 Major Issue (Parking Brake Needs Service, which rendered car undrivable) - Filed for Lemon Law Protection in NJ just to be sure
In addition be prepared for minor fit and finish issues and rattles and squeaks, all of which the Service Center will take care of without question typically.
Now that may seem like a terrible picture, which it is not great, but driving the cars is really great and nothing else on the market is close. Planning still to keep both currently, but honestly if the X has one more major issue in the next 18 months it will be Lemoned.
If you are the kind of person who doesn't notice minor issues you experience will be better and if you are a car guy who goes over you car with microfiber every weekend and every minor rattle screams in your ears you will find the Tesla experience a little more frustrating. I am more in the latter category but have made peace with my Tesla purchases
K2000 is at the hospital. Coolant pump was leaking and ground problem. They sent a towing but I had to rent a car. I will have to get K2000 back and SC is at 320 miles from home. Roadside assistance told me I had no such service when I called even though I knew for sure otherwise. The towing came from SC so why didn't they send another MS? No good marks on survey!
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⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️
Village Idiot
Plan on it maybe, but I would say odds are pretty good
When was the car manufactured? How many miles?K2000 is at the hospital. Collant pump was leaking and ground problem. They sent a towing but I had to rent a car. I will have to get K2000 back and SC is at 320 miles from home. Roadside assistance told me I had no such service when I called even though I knew for sure otherwise. The towing came from SC so why didn't they send another MS? No good marks on survey!
Chrisanne
Member
After the service visit this Friday, they told me that they have a 2018 firmware coming out to fix the air suspension message. They told me that if I am able to turn the car off and on again and it clears, then it is the software bug. They said it only happens on the newer model S cars. They fixed the trunk latch issue by realigning it.
PismoPat
Member
69bluesman
Member
S75D going on 6 months. Almost flawless...
Heater stopped working on day 2. SC fixed it same day.
Driver door handle (when pressed) won't present, day 3. I figured what the hell...I'll just push the button on the fob like normal. Problem solved.
Heater stopped working on day 2. SC fixed it same day.
Driver door handle (when pressed) won't present, day 3. I figured what the hell...I'll just push the button on the fob like normal. Problem solved.
Advice appreciated. Going to purchase (between $38 and $40K) a 2012 Model S performance (single owner) super low mileage (under 20K) always garage kept. Can you buy an extended warranty for this after purchase? Any known issues I should be aware of? Buying this instead of the new Model 3 I am wait listed on.
I think you only have 30 days after the end of the 4-year warranty to but the ESA, and that has likely passed for a 2012 Model S.
dgpcolorado
high altitude member
Short version: My screen (MCU) died. Doesn't seem to be as common a problem as drive unit failures but I have noticed a few other reports. Prior to the failure I had noticed that it lost the 3G connection periodically, despite being in a good signal area; might not be a coincidence. The Denver Service Center replaced the screen (and did some other work: replacing the right front knuckle joint that had been found to be loose in October but the parts had to be ordered). They had a hold on screen replacements, apparently until the new batch could be validated, or something like that. The new screen is LTE and was a warranty replacement.
Longer version: Noticed that my car wasn't charging on schedule and tried to start it in my garage and found that the main screen was blank. Tried to reboot but it did no good. Called the Service Center and they asked me if I had rebooted, when I said I had they transferred me to Roadside Service. Roadside asked me if I had rebooted and when I said I had they left a message for the Ranger (Mobile Service Technician) who serves my remote mountain location (more than 300 miles from Denver). Two hours later he called and talked me though pulling the main fuse to reboot the whole car. No good. He then ordered a new screen, with a plan to pick it up in Denver and bring it to my house to install. The screen didn't show on the day expected — the Ranger kept me fully informed by text messages and phone calls, which I appreciated.
Since I have no other car, and no way to get a rental, I found that I was able to drive my S60 in what I call "limp mode": all the driving controls work fine but things that are controlled by the main screen do not, of course. All the readings on the instrument cluster worked, save for the odometer and the air temperature. The turn signals worked but did not click, since the audio system was not functioning. I presume that the controls are designed to work with an MCU failure as a safety measure (but what happens with the Model 3?). I did, however, find one safety issue that didn't work: no defroster (since climate control wasn't working). When my windshield fogged I had to crack the windows, which was a bit "brisk" in single digit temperatures!
The main problem with driving the car in limp mode was that the default charging was exceedingly slow: 2 amps at 240 V, of which only about 280 watts made it into the battery — that's about one fourth the speed of Level 1 charging! So, even a short 38 mile trip would take a day and a half to charge back the miles. Not very practical.
After the screen didn't show in Denver, the Ranger decided not to have me wait any longer and he delivered a rental car and flatbed trailered my car across the mountains to Denver. At that point I was dealing with Denver Service by phone, as usual. Once the hold on screen installations was released — I'm still not clear on just what was going on — they got the fix done in a couple of days; the other work had already been done (and saved me an extra trip across the mountains since I had an appointment for Feb 5th). Rather than have the Ranger bring the car back to me, I drove the rental to Denver and picked up my car. I was just in time to use the new Poncha Springs Supercharger Station, which had been turned on the previous afternoon; that allowed me to take the shorter, more scenic, route home for the first time. Lovely day for a drive across the mountains (thanks to our unusually warm, dry "non-winter" this year).
My car is a May 2014 build S60, which I purchased as a CPO in March 2016 with fewer than 7000 miles on it. The current mileage is 44,000. I've had one door handle and one drive unit replaced, in addition to the screen and knuckle joint. Other than that the car is pretty solid and drives very well. I'm down about 10% on the battery capacity — ~186 RM at 99% — perhaps because most of my miles are road trips and I have Supercharged the car more than 169 times. I have fewer than 13,000 miles left on my warranty and have to decide whether to keep it or trade in for another CPO with a bigger battery (for faster Supercharging) and a fresh warranty or trade it in for a Model 3. I'm leaning toward keeping my S60 out of warranty since the cost of trading it in would likely be much higher than repairs.
Longer version: Noticed that my car wasn't charging on schedule and tried to start it in my garage and found that the main screen was blank. Tried to reboot but it did no good. Called the Service Center and they asked me if I had rebooted, when I said I had they transferred me to Roadside Service. Roadside asked me if I had rebooted and when I said I had they left a message for the Ranger (Mobile Service Technician) who serves my remote mountain location (more than 300 miles from Denver). Two hours later he called and talked me though pulling the main fuse to reboot the whole car. No good. He then ordered a new screen, with a plan to pick it up in Denver and bring it to my house to install. The screen didn't show on the day expected — the Ranger kept me fully informed by text messages and phone calls, which I appreciated.
Since I have no other car, and no way to get a rental, I found that I was able to drive my S60 in what I call "limp mode": all the driving controls work fine but things that are controlled by the main screen do not, of course. All the readings on the instrument cluster worked, save for the odometer and the air temperature. The turn signals worked but did not click, since the audio system was not functioning. I presume that the controls are designed to work with an MCU failure as a safety measure (but what happens with the Model 3?). I did, however, find one safety issue that didn't work: no defroster (since climate control wasn't working). When my windshield fogged I had to crack the windows, which was a bit "brisk" in single digit temperatures!
The main problem with driving the car in limp mode was that the default charging was exceedingly slow: 2 amps at 240 V, of which only about 280 watts made it into the battery — that's about one fourth the speed of Level 1 charging! So, even a short 38 mile trip would take a day and a half to charge back the miles. Not very practical.
After the screen didn't show in Denver, the Ranger decided not to have me wait any longer and he delivered a rental car and flatbed trailered my car across the mountains to Denver. At that point I was dealing with Denver Service by phone, as usual. Once the hold on screen installations was released — I'm still not clear on just what was going on — they got the fix done in a couple of days; the other work had already been done (and saved me an extra trip across the mountains since I had an appointment for Feb 5th). Rather than have the Ranger bring the car back to me, I drove the rental to Denver and picked up my car. I was just in time to use the new Poncha Springs Supercharger Station, which had been turned on the previous afternoon; that allowed me to take the shorter, more scenic, route home for the first time. Lovely day for a drive across the mountains (thanks to our unusually warm, dry "non-winter" this year).
My car is a May 2014 build S60, which I purchased as a CPO in March 2016 with fewer than 7000 miles on it. The current mileage is 44,000. I've had one door handle and one drive unit replaced, in addition to the screen and knuckle joint. Other than that the car is pretty solid and drives very well. I'm down about 10% on the battery capacity — ~186 RM at 99% — perhaps because most of my miles are road trips and I have Supercharged the car more than 169 times. I have fewer than 13,000 miles left on my warranty and have to decide whether to keep it or trade in for another CPO with a bigger battery (for faster Supercharging) and a fresh warranty or trade it in for a Model 3. I'm leaning toward keeping my S60 out of warranty since the cost of trading it in would likely be much higher than repairs.
mknox
Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear that. My early 2013 has had 3G dropouts since day 1, but so far, so good with the MCU (he says knocking on wood!)
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