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Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues
- Thread starter DrComputer
- Start date
Goodness that's incorrect! That's the number of miles put into the car since the charging session started. You don't see anything special for dual chargers. You'll simply see a higher amperage. But you'll only get this on an EVSE providing more than 40A of current (e.g. the HPC).
artsci
Sponsor
They were able to improve it but not completely get rid of the gap. Originally I had over 1 cm gap along the front right and left corners of the hood. That was reduced to about 0.5 cm, so it's completely flush, but definitely better. It does require a little more force now to close the hood.
The weird thing is that they shouldn't have that amount of variance between paint batches, period. It's possible we're over sensitized to it now that its been pointed out in the photo, but to me, the bumper is a shade of silver, not grey. If my whole car was the color of the bumper, I'd be very disappointed. I'm sure they'll fix it, but, the QC out of the factory seems to have really, really suffered with the end of year push. Mismatches like this, and the mixed up interior trims do not require an expert to spot.
The silver and the Dolphin Grey don't look very similar to each other in person. I can't imagine that anybody could miss that. Keep in mind that the car is in sunlight in these photos, and the Dolphin Grey paint becomes dramatically lighter in sunlight than when it is in shadow. It may be that the plastics have a bit more metal flake in the paint, so they're lightening more when the sun hits them.
kishdude
P #130
Glad they are doing this. I just looked at the other pics you have posted from your delivery etc and you can definitely see the difference in color on front and rear bumpers even in the shade.
anybody seen the error "key no longer in car. car will not restart" (or something close to that) even though the key is still sitting in my pocket? this has happened three times (and then gone away after a few minutes). no impact yet. i have never had any problems with the handles coming out, unlocking or allowing me to start the car. on 4.1.
NigelM
Recovering Member
Welcome to TMC!
This happened to me once or twice but I realized that the key was being hidden behind my phone. Keeping them in separate pockets fixed the problem. If you have a bulky jacket or similar, Tesla recommends putting the key in the drinks holder as the optimal position.
This happened to me once or twice but I realized that the key was being hidden behind my phone. Keeping them in separate pockets fixed the problem. If you have a bulky jacket or similar, Tesla recommends putting the key in the drinks holder as the optimal position.
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kishdude
P #130
Happens all the time when I have my iPhone in the same pocket as the key. Also happens in my other cars with keyless entry as well.
For the first time ever, my "Since Last Charge" didn't reset after charging. No way to manually reset it that I can tell either.
Todd Burch
14-Year Member
Tesla service dropped by my house Tuesday night to close out the punch list of items that I had since delivery. Here's my report:
1. As people have said, the service was OUTSTANDING. Pete (a former gold star Porsche mechanic) came to my house around 7pm to look at my items. Despite the late hour (and knowing that he had a two hour drive ahead of him), he was happy to sit and answer all of my questions and thoroughly investigate all of my issues. He even took part of the car apart for me so I could see the guts.
2. One of the issues had to do with my fog lights. As it turns out, the fog light wire harness wasn't even plugged in! No WONDER I couldn't see them working! Pete made short work of fixing that. He says he knows exactly what happened. Apparently, when the nose cone design changed, a few of the original design noses were going on later cars, which Tesla wanted to keep only for sigs (or something like that--didn't get that entire story). When they noticed this, they had the original noses removed and replaced with the new ones. Apparently my car was one of these. It seems as though when they replaced the nose, they unplugged the fog light wire harness but failed to plug it back in! MORAL OF THE STORY: Check your fog lights to make sure they're working. The car doesn't need to be in drive. Just turn on your headlights, make sure the fogs are on, and check your lights!
3. Many of us were having difficulty closing the passenger door. I was one of them. This is NOT an alignment issue. It is indeed a pressure issue, and is due to the fact that the cabin is so well sealed. When you close the passenger door, the pressure builds up between the inner and outer seals, making the car difficult to close. (This also explains why it's still difficult with the driver's window open, which you think would alleviate the pressure. It's not due to pressure in the cabin, but BETWEEN the inner and outer door seals on the passenger side.
On the bottom of the passenger door, you'll find a round plug. Remove it and put it into the glove compartment. That should fix the issue, at least for now. BTW: This is an "unofficial" fix. I'm doing it because it fixed the problem. YMMV. (Note: I did not notice an increase in cabin noise after removing this plug).
4. My pano roof was also sticking. Pete lubed up the pano roof, and opened/closed it about 6 times. It fixed the problem, at least temporarily. The next day, the roof wouldn't open on the first command. But later in the day, it did. I'm going to hold off on this one to see if a software fix solves the issue.
5. On delivery, I had some sort of sticky adhesive on the driver/passenger windows. Wouldn't come off with glass cleaner, and barely came off scraping hard with fingernails. Pete used Purple Power on it, and after sufficient scrubbing, cleaned it off!
In short, my issues are all fixed (with the exception of the pano roof) and Tesla service was ABSOLUTELY AWESOME.
Almost 1000 miles. Drives like a dream!
1. As people have said, the service was OUTSTANDING. Pete (a former gold star Porsche mechanic) came to my house around 7pm to look at my items. Despite the late hour (and knowing that he had a two hour drive ahead of him), he was happy to sit and answer all of my questions and thoroughly investigate all of my issues. He even took part of the car apart for me so I could see the guts.
2. One of the issues had to do with my fog lights. As it turns out, the fog light wire harness wasn't even plugged in! No WONDER I couldn't see them working! Pete made short work of fixing that. He says he knows exactly what happened. Apparently, when the nose cone design changed, a few of the original design noses were going on later cars, which Tesla wanted to keep only for sigs (or something like that--didn't get that entire story). When they noticed this, they had the original noses removed and replaced with the new ones. Apparently my car was one of these. It seems as though when they replaced the nose, they unplugged the fog light wire harness but failed to plug it back in! MORAL OF THE STORY: Check your fog lights to make sure they're working. The car doesn't need to be in drive. Just turn on your headlights, make sure the fogs are on, and check your lights!
3. Many of us were having difficulty closing the passenger door. I was one of them. This is NOT an alignment issue. It is indeed a pressure issue, and is due to the fact that the cabin is so well sealed. When you close the passenger door, the pressure builds up between the inner and outer seals, making the car difficult to close. (This also explains why it's still difficult with the driver's window open, which you think would alleviate the pressure. It's not due to pressure in the cabin, but BETWEEN the inner and outer door seals on the passenger side.
On the bottom of the passenger door, you'll find a round plug. Remove it and put it into the glove compartment. That should fix the issue, at least for now. BTW: This is an "unofficial" fix. I'm doing it because it fixed the problem. YMMV. (Note: I did not notice an increase in cabin noise after removing this plug).
4. My pano roof was also sticking. Pete lubed up the pano roof, and opened/closed it about 6 times. It fixed the problem, at least temporarily. The next day, the roof wouldn't open on the first command. But later in the day, it did. I'm going to hold off on this one to see if a software fix solves the issue.
5. On delivery, I had some sort of sticky adhesive on the driver/passenger windows. Wouldn't come off with glass cleaner, and barely came off scraping hard with fingernails. Pete used Purple Power on it, and after sufficient scrubbing, cleaned it off!
In short, my issues are all fixed (with the exception of the pano roof) and Tesla service was ABSOLUTELY AWESOME.
Almost 1000 miles. Drives like a dream!
We had several problems with the car from day one -
- Right front door had to be slammed hard and it popped open on its own on one occasion.
- Car needed front end alignment and the steering wheel was installed off center.
- Rear hatch and Right front door needed adjustments (they had uneven gaps)
- Tilt wheel made a loud snapping sound when coming down from the highest position.
- Windshield washers were hitting too low.
The good news is after two trips to Fremont service dept. they were able to fix all the problems except for the tilt wheel. It still makes a snapping sound. Hopefully if it totally breaks down, it will happen under the warranty period. The bad news is I have a new problem with the climate control going haywire on manual setting (I don't use Auto). If I set the temp. to Lo it goes up to 78 or 80 on its own. Sometimes the reverse happens and if I set the temp. to 78 0r 80 it suddenly goes down to Lo on its own. I also have the problem of the charge cord not wanting to go into the port although the door handles are in out position. However if I open the door then it goes in. The $1000 sound system upgrade is junk. I can not even tune into local AM stations without static.
I enjoy driving the car but so far it feels like an expensive guinea pig with more problems than any new car I have ever owned and I have owned several BMWs and MBZs etc.! So much for Elon Musk's promise of building the "best car in the world". Now all theTSLA stockholders and EV fanatics are going to jump all over me. By the way whatever happened to Tesla's promise of replacement lighted mirrors, sunshade etc. I haven't heard a word about it anywhere.
- Right front door had to be slammed hard and it popped open on its own on one occasion.
- Car needed front end alignment and the steering wheel was installed off center.
- Rear hatch and Right front door needed adjustments (they had uneven gaps)
- Tilt wheel made a loud snapping sound when coming down from the highest position.
- Windshield washers were hitting too low.
The good news is after two trips to Fremont service dept. they were able to fix all the problems except for the tilt wheel. It still makes a snapping sound. Hopefully if it totally breaks down, it will happen under the warranty period. The bad news is I have a new problem with the climate control going haywire on manual setting (I don't use Auto). If I set the temp. to Lo it goes up to 78 or 80 on its own. Sometimes the reverse happens and if I set the temp. to 78 0r 80 it suddenly goes down to Lo on its own. I also have the problem of the charge cord not wanting to go into the port although the door handles are in out position. However if I open the door then it goes in. The $1000 sound system upgrade is junk. I can not even tune into local AM stations without static.
I enjoy driving the car but so far it feels like an expensive guinea pig with more problems than any new car I have ever owned and I have owned several BMWs and MBZs etc.! So much for Elon Musk's promise of building the "best car in the world". Now all theTSLA stockholders and EV fanatics are going to jump all over me. By the way whatever happened to Tesla's promise of replacement lighted mirrors, sunshade etc. I haven't heard a word about it anywhere.
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Todd Burch
14-Year Member
With the exception of the climate control (which sounds like a software thing that can be fixed in a future update), I wouldn't put up with any of this. It sounds like you and I have entirely different cars--my issues have been very minor. Are you an early sig? Sounds like you have a lemon. Insist that these issues be fixed. If Tesla refuses to fix them, I'd explore your state's lemon laws.
It doesn't matter whether it happens during the warranty period or not, so long as you have a written record that you reported a problem with it during the warranty period. If the problem was reported while it was under warranty, but not fixed, then the fix is owed to you.
I disagree with you that the sound system is "junk". It's among the better-sounding car systems I've ever tried. I agree that the reception is not as good as I think it should be. They need to do some work on that front.
I'm sure you're disappointed and frustrated, but I must tell you that I have not had problems with my doors, charge port, steering wheel, alignment, climate control, or wiper sweep. It sounds to me like you have an unusually large number of quality problems that absolutely should not happen, and must be addressed, but which do not reflect the level of quality of cars that most people are receiving.
There are certainly some common problems, like the sticking roof, the funky automatic wipers and the difficulty with the passenger door (I have the former two, not the latter). I had a problem with the sunroof that I believe nobody else has reported here. It seems as they have a couple of common problems which are being worked on, and many cars have one or two squawks at or shortly after delivery. Tesla needs to do a better job of inspection on the cars coming off the line, and they need to address those common problems if they hope to have a good reputation in the long term. But the car is not of poor quality overall. It's very good.
As for the replacement visors with better mirrors, I assume that it takes time to spool up a supply chain for something like that. Since there is a viable temporary solution, I would expect that their focus has been on delivering the third row seats (which are finally starting to come), the parcel shelf, the HPWCs (which are also just starting to come). These are all "due bill" items that people have paid for and not received at all. Plus, there's the opportunity console, which many more people have complained about than the visors.
Homelink issue
Originally Posted by fizzazle
Not sure if anyone else was having a hard time with their homelink setup.
If you are not having luck with the homelink....open up your frunk and place the garage/gate opener in the frunk and hold down the button.
When i did this, the headlights flashed almost immediately.
Apparently the sensor is inside the frunk and sometimes the signal doesn't penetrate through the bumper from the outside. (the on screen instructions tell you to point the garage door opener directly at the bumper).
Hope that helps!
Originally Posted by fizzazle
Not sure if anyone else was having a hard time with their homelink setup.
If you are not having luck with the homelink....open up your frunk and place the garage/gate opener in the frunk and hold down the button.
When i did this, the headlights flashed almost immediately.
Apparently the sensor is inside the frunk and sometimes the signal doesn't penetrate through the bumper from the outside. (the on screen instructions tell you to point the garage door opener directly at the bumper).
Hope that helps!
waidy
Member
@MikeK: Would you be so kind to tell us what the temporary solution for the visors? I would love to make my S's visors function as visor.
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