Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
However when i test drove one in dallas I didn't notice any noises from the sunroof - but then again I could have been caught up in the adrenaline.

Maybe I'm getting paranoid now, but when I drove the one with the pano roof in Newport Beach, the Tesla rep kept insisting on cranking up the stereo. I turned it down, but she cranked it up again and kept talking about how great it sounds. I was really interested in aspects other than the stereo and found that a bit annoying, but now I hope it wasn't to cover up other noises I wasn't meant to hear!
 
I don't notice any noises from my pano roof so far. Hopefully it's an isolated incident that gets fixed right away.

Dave, you've probably been cranking up your Sound Studio too much :) (You've already been drowning out the air-escaping-from-the-balloon whine during hard acceleration!)

Three reported cases so far so, there's definitely a pattern...
 
Maybe I'm getting paranoid now, but when I drove the one with the pano roof in Newport Beach, the Tesla rep kept insisting on cranking up the stereo. I turned it down, but she cranked it up again and kept talking about how great it sounds. I was really interested in aspects other than the stereo and found that a bit annoying, but now I hope it wasn't to cover up other noises I wasn't meant to hear!
That's a dodgy rep. During my test drive I never turned the stereo on. I figured I could listen to the stereo in a static car - I wanted to drive. I started the drive w/ the roof and windows open and then midway through my rep closed everything up. I was impressed w/ everything. I never heard the acceleration whine...
 
I drove most of my test drive without the audio on as well. My vote is for dodgy rep. I also never heard any noise from the pano roof during the Dallas event, but then I wasn't listening for it either. Except for the rear seat headroom, I could easily do without the pano roof.
 
Maybe I'm getting paranoid now, but when I drove the one with the pano roof in Newport Beach, the Tesla rep kept insisting on cranking up the stereo. I turned it down, but she cranked it up again and kept talking about how great it sounds. I was really interested in aspects other than the stereo and found that a bit annoying, but now I hope it wasn't to cover up other noises I wasn't meant to hear!

That's utterly ridiculous; I wouldn't have put up with that. I'd have politely asked her to turn off the radio, stating that I wanted to hear how quiet the car is.

If for some utterly bizarre reason that didn't work, then I would turn the car around so I could discuss it with her manager.
 
That's utterly ridiculous; I wouldn't have put up with that. I'd have politely asked her to turn off the radio, stating that I wanted to hear how quiet the car is.

In hindsight, I should have. I was excited to be able to get a test drive on the spot (no appointment) and was appreciative of the opportunity. I was driving in unfamiliar territory, trying to pay attention to the route directions while at the same time, trying to absorb as much of the experience as I could. There was probably no ill intent, but with this talk of squeaks and noises, I wish I had been a little more insistent regarding the radio.

- - - Updated - - -

That's a dodgy rep. During my test drive I never turned the stereo on. I figured I could listen to the stereo in a static car - I wanted to drive. I started the drive w/ the roof and windows open and then midway through my rep closed everything up. I was impressed w/ everything. I never heard the acceleration whine...

I wish I had done that. I did not touch the roof at all during the test drive.

I did hear the inverter whine... When I turned the radio down, it was just before I punched it on a small straightaway and the rep even pointed it out as a "cool sound" that the car makes (then turned the music up again). Maybe she is a big music lover and that is what she likes about the car and just wanted to show the sound system off... who knows?
 
Did she mean the cool sound the tesla supposedly fixed?

I'll go on record as saying the sound is in no way objectionable and really not that loud. (It may be louder for back seat passengers), and is only noticable when you really floor it. The Tesla rep said something like "did you hear that? Isn't that cool?" at that point in the test drive.

Perhaps this has been fixed on later cars, but I would have no way of knowing.
 
I did notice the whine once last week, but forgot about it so haven't tried to replicate. I don't have performance model, so maybe it's more pronounced there, or maybe I'm just not the leadfoot I was in my younger days.

No noises from pano roof when closed.

Ranger came out to install my front plate holder last weekend and said the logs showed issues with 12V battery and it may need to be replaced, but I have seen no messages about it.
 
Seems the wiper speed was set by someone used to gentle California rains. The high speed is about 40 pct slower than on our other two cars and is barely passable for low speeds in rain.

Uh-oh. That's a complete deal-breaker.

EDIT: any followups on the battery issues? Have they been "shaking themselves out" or are people still having unusually high battery losses?
 
Last edited:
Uh-oh. That's a complete deal-breaker.

EDIT: any followups on the battery issues? Have they been "shaking themselves out" or are people still having unusually high battery losses?
Things such as wiper speed that can be upgraded by software should never be considered a deal-breaker.

What "battery issues"!? There are no reported Model S battery issues that I've heard of. Reference, neroden?
 
I was referring to this:

Just because of some inconvenience, I have not charged for a couple of days, nor driven the car (!). and the charge is down pretty far. There is another thread on the 1% per day discrepancy. Over the week I have noted miles available on Tues 80, Wed 72, today 62. Thats more than 1% a day. I will do a lot more empirical data collection over time but this is initially worrisome. And of course I am going to plug it in!

- - - Updated - - -

And this:

Noticing a higher than expected drop in the “rated range” number after unplugging. After completing a standard mode charge to 251 miles, I disconnected the charge cable. 2 3/4 hrs later rated miles were down to 243.

- - - Updated - - -

And this was the response, but it wasn't confirmed to work:

As Doug said, it's possible the battery is out of balance. I would keep driving and charging it each night and it'll shake out. Also it's good that you're letting it sit after charging. Balancing occurs after charging so it's good to let it sit for 30 mins or so afterwards (cable can remain plugged in).

- - - Updated - - -

Things such as wiper speed that can be upgraded by software should never be considered a deal-breaker.
Can that be upgraded by software? Some motors only go so fast.
 
Any standard mode charge level over 240 I would expect a fast drop off. Since 240 is "full" ... and I've noticed that, too. Now, the report about 80 -> 72 -> 62 warrants investigation.

As for wiper speed ... I use rain-x so it's not an issue for me. I practically don't need the wipers.
 
I am extremely impresseed with form, fit and function of the car in its first week. Looks like this may be the best place to surface an issue for discussion. In our torrential rains the past week, the S has performed admirably with one exception. Seems the wiper speed was set by someone used to gentle California rains. The high speed is about 40 pct slower than on our other two cars and is barely passable for low speeds in rain. While RainX may solve the problem, I wanted to serif anyone else in FL or TX has experienced the something in a deluge and discuss any requests to Tesla on this topic. Thanks.

Just curious, there are 5 positions on the wiper stalk:
1) OFF
2) Automatic wiper - low
3) Automatic wiper - high
4) Manual low speed
5) Manual high speed

Which position was you at (3 or 5) that you thought was 40% slower than your other cars? Thanks.
 
Last edited:
The string of 12V battery failures & replacements was actually due to a bug in recent software that drained the 12V battery. So the batteries were fine -- just a software bug (which halted rollout of that software).
 
Also, they are working on the excessive battery use while sitting. Apparently Elon was adamant that the car start up instantly when the driver sits down so all the computers are kept up and humming all the time. They are working on ways to cut this idle power usage.