Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues

[ddenboer]

I would consider a comparable car another Model S. I actually expected it, and anything less than that is a bad experience.

It's not like my car is only there for a few hours and I want a loaner for the day -- I'm not expecting Tesla to do that at all. My car is going to be in there a minimum of two days, and possibly up to 7. Me having a POS Impala for Christmas when I have to ferry family around (family that was hoping to see my S) is not acceptable.

The other thing that bothered me so much with the experience is this: I made an appointment almost a month ago because I wanted to wait until parts were in for the bigger items before committing to dropping my car off. I found out this morning that none of those parts were in. :-(

The purpose of the appointment was to minimize my time (as I had previously experienced with other cars). In/out in 5-10 with the loaner. This took 2+ hours today.

 

[Norbert]

The other thing that bothered me so much with the experience is this: I made an appointment almost a month ago because I wanted to wait until parts were in for the bigger items before committing to dropping my car off. I found out this morning that none of those parts were in. :-(

Why didn't you turn around and take it back with you? If you were able to postpone, I'd have waited until after New Year in the first place. Maybe that's what I'd still do if it were me. (My experience with 3-party GM service (not Tesla) was that it can always take longer.)

 

[AnOutsider]

I definitely would have left with my car too.. Though, at this point I wouldn't have expected a loaner S. a Mercedes or similar class vehicle would have been appropriate though.

 

[efusco]

Having a minor recurring issue. Sometimes, after backing up or resetting my seat position from when my wife has driven, the passenger side mirror will not go to my preset position on the first tap of my position settings. A repeat tap once I've noticed that it isn't right and it does go to the proper position. All other presets seem to work fine, it's just the passenger side mirror that needs the extra press. It doesn't always do this, but maybe 50% of the time.

 

[teslasguy]

Well, after driving my new S for a few days now, I can honestly say that the sun visors are just about useless.
I am short (5'8"), and I know they changed the visors due to complaints from taller customers, but now they have scroogled us height challenged owners.
When I'm driving into the afternoon sun, there is just no position I can move the visor to that will block any of the blinding sun.
This is just crazy. It would be nice if when they replace these visors with ones that have the lighted mirrors they could give us the option of the original, larger visors or these newer downsized versions.
also, did anyone else actually get a "due bill" for missing items? I've seen posts on here that referenced a due bill, but I got nothing.
But then again my car was delivered early when I wan't even home.

 

[Thumper]

I find that no visors can ever be adjusted to block sun in all directions as I drive. There is that spot over the center mirror, and low angles etc. My solution is to keep a ball cap under the seat. You can cock the bill to block just the sun and leave your remaining field of vision usable.

 

[Francis Lau]

Yesterday my S developed a variant of the previously reported sunroof opening glitch. Since I've had my car for 2-1/2 months and this was the first time I'd opened the sunroof since installing 4.0, I assumed at first it was a software 'feature'. Here's the rundown:

1. Dragged down on the graphic in the Sunroof page on the touch screen: the sunroof panel popped up and stopped. After I released my finger from the screen the graphic returned to showing the sunroof as closed.

2. Dragged down on the graphic again: sunroof opened to the selected position and the graphic update appropriately. Dragged up on the graphic: sunroof closed normally.

3. Repeat 1. and 2.: same behavior.

4. Called Ownership and described behavior. Tesla rep at first claimed it was a new feature of 4.0 and said he thought it was kind of 'abrupt' the way it now worked. Asked me to try using the slider control instead of dragging down on the graphic. Same behavior: sunroof pops up and stops; slider graphic returns to 'Closed' indication. Second swipe opens the sunroof to selected position.

5. I notice that on the initial attempt the sunroof pops up, but only part way to the 'Vent' position. Coupled with the 'Closed' indication, I argue that it can't be a feature, but must be a glitch: Ownership rep agrees to write it up.

6. After several more experiments where it takes two attempts to open the sunroof, suddenly it starts working as it always has up to yesterday: one swipe, and the sunroof opens to the selected position with appropriate indications on the touch screen. Since then I've tried it half a dozen times over several hours: the anomalous behavior of 1. and 2. hasn't recurred.

So I take away from this that while there may have been a software change with 4.0 that affects sunroof behavior, it's not necessarily intentional and it certainly isn't consistent. BTW, the rep told me that there will be a 4.1 rev coming out in the next few weeks. He also responded to my queries about the smartphone app by saying that the ball is in the App Store's court: the iPhone version, at least, is released and awaiting Apple's approval.

I am experiencing this exact issue as well. I will call ownership today.

 

[efusco]

Well, after driving my new S for a few days now, I can honestly say that the sun visors are just about useless.
I am short (5'8"), and I know they changed the visors due to complaints from taller customers, but now they have scroogled us height challenged owners.
When I'm driving into the afternoon sun, there is just no position I can move the visor to that will block any of the blinding sun.
This is just crazy. It would be nice if when they replace these visors with ones that have the lighted mirrors they could give us the option of the original, larger visors or these newer downsized versions.
also, did anyone else actually get a "due bill" for missing items? I've seen posts on here that referenced a due bill, but I got nothing.
But then again my car was delivered early when I wan't even home.

I'm a bit closer to 5'11" and was surprised at how effective the visors were since they're so tiny. They're useless for holding up a sunscreen in the window and it would be nice if they were a bit bigger, but if much bigger they'd block my vision when down.

 

[AnOutsider]

Mod Note: Posts discussing the diag screen have gone here: Please Enter Access Code - Page 8

 

[kishdude]

Well, after driving my new S for a few days now, I can honestly say that the sun visors are just about useless.
I am short (5'8"), and I know they changed the visors due to complaints from taller customers, but now they have scroogled us height challenged owners.
When I'm driving into the afternoon sun, there is just no position I can move the visor to that will block any of the blinding sun.
This is just crazy. It would be nice if when they replace these visors with ones that have the lighted mirrors they could give us the option of the original, larger visors or these newer downsized versions.
also, did anyone else actually get a "due bill" for missing items? I've seen posts on here that referenced a due bill, but I got nothing.
But then again my car was delivered early when I wan't even home.

I'm 5'10" and live in Arizona - constant sun and I think that the visors are adequate for me. There is obviously a time when the sun is very low on the horizon that it doesn't block, but this happens with all my cars.

 

[ckessel]

They said they'd be willing to send it to a 3rd party body shop (in Los Angeles) and see what they can do, but told me that past attempts on other cars yielded almost no difference. They said that there's very little that they can do.
...

William, is there any update you can share? That "very little that they can do" is disconcerting. I think Tesla will (eventually, I'm sure service will be slammed) fix bugs, clean the window gunk or replace the window, and such, but it sounds like you have things that can't be addressed barring replacing the vehicle.

I'm quite literally staring at the wire transfer screen in my bank browser, but without knowing how a case like yours is going to pan out, I'm reticent to hit send.

 

[nolngrgrsngslde]

William, we all would love to know how your situation is being handled. Also, pictures are great.

Ckessel, will your bank allow a wire transfer to another party without a notarized , faxed, letter? E-trade make me send one. Then they shut down my account for suspicious activity. After they sent the wire.

 

[Lloyd]

I definitely would have left with my car too.. Though, at this point I wouldn't have expected a loaner S. a Mercedes or similar class vehicle would have been appropriate though.

Other manufacturers will not do this either. The individual dealer may do this for you as a service at their expense if you are a good client and have paid full retail for their cars etc. I took my $115K BMW in for Warrenty service which required several days for parts etc. and got a corolla also. That's ok with me, and I would not expect Tesla to do any different.

 

[Ditpixs]

I just got my Model S back from being serviced in Menlo Park and I feel they did a great job taking care of me!

A few days after picking it up at the factory, I discovered my A/C wasn't working (Turns out it was a leaking o-ring in the A/C system). I was able to arrange for a ranger to come to my office, trailer my car down to the service center for repair and then return the car to me. They also provided a mid-size rental car. Not only did the ranger meet me at my convenience (he came in early), but he also dropped me off to get the rental.

To get the car back to me, they asked if it was OK for them to drive it up the 50 miles (which I gave them) and met me right on time outside my office. They also took care of returning the rental for me.

So while it would have been nice to get the car in perfect working condition from the factory, I am very pleased with how they handled things.

Aaron

 

[JRP3]

I would consider a comparable car another Model S. I actually expected it, and anything less than that is a bad experience.

You really expect them to have extra Model S's available for loaners when they are scrambling trying to get vehicles out to customers? Would you have wanted your delivery delayed so others could have a Model S loaner?

 

[nolngrgrsngslde]

I bragged about the S for so long. If my car is not perfect, i expect the "i told you so" and other ridicule. At least until they fix the issues. I feel for William.

The last thing i want is to be seen in a corrolla. I am keeping my bimmer for a while.

 

[MikeK]

I had the sunroof issue repeatedly this morning. I took a couple of pictures of the area that was photographed by @kishdude.

Is this what your excess sealant looked like? It is slightly sticky, and it seems that the rear seal of the sunroof beds into it when the sunroof closes, so I can easily believe that it's sort of sticking as it tries to lift up. In fact, as I went out just now to take pictures, I see that on the driver's side, it has actually started to get pulled up. This wasn't the case even this morning.

Passenger side, I'm pointing to where you can see a depression in the sealant where the rear seal of the sunroof pressed into it.

Driver's side, I'm pointing to where the sealant has started to pull away. It's blurry, though, so see the next picture.

Clearer picture of the peeling sealant. Ignore the finger as I'm not pointing at anything.

 

[AnOutsider]

Other manufacturers will not do this either. The individual dealer may do this for you as a service at their expense if you are a good client and have paid full retail for their cars etc. I took my $115K BMW in for Warrenty service which required several days for parts etc. and got a corolla also. That's ok with me, and I would not expect Tesla to do any different.

Whenever I take any of my Audis in for service, I get a car from their fleet of service loaners. They're usually very nice cars (as to tempt you into buying, I suspect).

 

[montgom626]

Whenever I take any of my Audis in for service, I get a car from their fleet of service loaners. They're usually very nice cars (as to tempt you into buying, I suspect).

Same thing when I had an A8, they always gave me an A4.

 

[ckessel]

I had the sunroof issue repeatedly this morning. I took a couple of pictures of the area that was photographed by @kishdude.

Thanks for the pictures. I'm not quite clear on the problem. Is there too much sealant and it's spilled over where it shouldn't? Is the sealant the right amount to prevent leaks, but it's conflicting with the mechanical action of the pano roof?