Model X falcon wing door water intrusion when opening doors in rain

[RHTrio]

Have any other Model X owners been experiencing this problem?

I recently went in for service for our Tesla Model X wing door seal water intrusion problem. We’ve been experiencing problem from the very beginning and have been in service countless times with temporary fixes (each time, the fixes only last for a few months) Now Tesla service is telling us that there is nothing that can be done and this is a common problem with all the Model X's. I’m still covered under warranty, but now I’m being told it’s going to be a $400 fix to replace the wing door seals and being told that Tesla is not covering it under warranty!!

 

[Vitaman]

That is ridiculous.
Hard to imagine that the warranty is written to exclude door seals.
Escalate

 

[RHTrio]

Thanks! Just wrote an email to the service manager!

 

[aesculus]

I am confused. Do they state that the new seals will fix your problem or not? If so then it should be covered under warranty.

If they claim they have new seals but they were not specifically designed to fix the problem you are experiencing but they may help will then???

BTW this is (was?) a common problem with Model X's and they did replace many seals in cars but perhaps it was not totally effective and it is a problem as designed. You did not tell us what vintage of MX (year?) you have nor what the former fixes were.

 

[DrEvil]

When I went for service last September (for my 2018 75D) they basically told me there's nothing they could do other than "educate the customer". They want us to scoop the water off the roof - literally what my service guy said. They were unwilling to reseat the seals. I consider it defect in manufacturing because it does not leak on the right side.

People complaining about yellow screens.... my kids fight about who has to sit on the left when it's raining because they know they'll get drenched. Short of complaining to Elon I can't see this getting anywhere.

If you guys want to start a Twitter complaint about it I will chime in.

 

[eye.surgeon]

This has been a problem since day one, heck even before day 1 people were pointing out this and several other obvious disadvantages to FWDs. But Elon wants what he wants and he wanted cool doors. It's just going to be that way. Consider it the price you pay for a cool party trick.

 

[gangzoom]

Never had any water intrusion on our 17 X, and we are in England, it rains ALOT here.

 

[OrbiterTI4]

Can you clarify where the water is coming in or where it falls to get people wet? The only time we had issues would be with the FWDs open and THEN opening the hatch, rain would roll off the rear hatch and come down between the second and third row, so if you caught a gust of wind it might hit the second row passengers head.

 

[aesculus]

To pile on a bit: Slope can make a big difference. If you are parked on a flat surface the seals might work ok but if on a slope, one side or the other is probably going to be dumped on. Many people also learn a technique to just open the FWD a few inches (ie immediately pause them) when they are in heavy rain. Let them drain for a few seconds and then open them fully or partial. Also avoid opening the rear hatch when the FWDs are open as this can dump water into the cabin too.

 

[mxnym]

Can you clarify where the water is coming in or where it falls to get people wet? The only time we had issues would be with the FWDs open and THEN opening the hatch, rain would roll off the rear hatch and come down between the second and third row, so if you caught a gust of wind it might hit the second row passengers head.

For those affected, it pours off of the FWD glass into the passenger compartment when the door is opened. Wind is not necessary, and as indicated by OP above, it may only happen on one side. I am fortunate to have not seen the issue on my 2017 X yet, but I did see it on one side of a 2016 X loaner once. While I don't know, I would think OP could push back via one legal means or another and have this corrected under warranty.

 

[EVnewbie]

We have a 2020 MX and had this issue with the falcon doors. The seals were covered under warranty and seemed to have fixed the problem. I took screenshots of posts from others who had gotten their seals fixed and uploaded them as part of requesting the service appt. They had the parts in and ready for installation on the day of my appt. It was a very smooth experience and best of all it was covered under warranty.

 

[mbp11]

I have had this problem and I got this solution from another Tesla web site and posted in here in another discussion:

>>>
I live in the SF Bay Area and was inundated as well, but about a month ago the issue came up on the forums and one of the members had a successful solution. He went to Ebay and found:

1/4'' X 10 ft HALF ROUND BLACK TRIM ACCENT BLACK MOLDING UNIVERSAL 0.25" Wide

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=1%2F4%...

And installed this long adhesive bumper on the upper edge of the top edge glass of the car, adjacent to the edge of the falcon wing door, (not on the door, but the flat surface of the top of the car) and ran it a little before and after the door. When the doors open, then spill water from the top of the door and the long bumper edge catches and redirects the water down the back of the car. He says that stops the water completely. It is pouring here in the SF Bay area, it works and I don't need the seals worked on

Yes, it is a design flaw, this aspect was not thought out well, but perhaps they will have some solution in the future. That is what we get for having fancy doors!
>>>>

Mike P

 

[Mr. Ed]

I have posted this fix before.

My homemade cure for $15 is here: 2nd Row Rain Water Problem Solved | Tesla

Pictures on my next post

 

[Mr. Ed]

Mr. Ed, Oct 19, 2018 It's not Space X rocket science!

 

[Mr. Ed]

It works even in heavy Florida summer storms

 

[Silicon Desert]

That is ridiculous.
Hard to imagine that the warranty is written to exclude door seals.
Escalate

Agree, and that is a ridiculous statement from service that "ALL" model X has this problem. I am at least ONE person never experiencing that problem in 3 years of ownership, so that is not "all"
Guessing seals were not properly set in the first place, or possibly door alignment gaps.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Never had any water intrusion on our 17 X, and we are in England, it rains ALOT here.

Tell me about it. Does it actually ever stop raining there? Seems every time I have ever been there, it was raining. Still worth coming. Love the people and the architecture. I just can't ever understand the humor or the different words you have for things I guess it is good testament that if your doors work well there, then they should work anywhere.

 

[mbp11]

Yes, it is Mr Ed! He is the one who figured this out!

And now I tell EVERYONE about it!

Mike P

 

[DoctorVenkman]

With the recent rain in Southern California I noticed this happening for the first time. Late 2018 build. Granted I've only opened the FWD's maybe 10 times in rain (one of the perks of SoCal) so I don't have a ton of experience with this specific issue. It's good to know that it's easily fixable with a little bit of vinyl trim.

 

[mattack4000]

My 2017 didn't do it, my 2019 did it. They adjusted the seals and it got a lot better, still not perfect.