Model X Still in Beta

[Colin Campbell]

Wow what a ride over the last 3 days. I have to say after driving the Model I have never had such a great driving experience. Its faster than any SUV I have ever been in, and more luxurious than any luxury car, and the most advanced I have ever experienced. It's smooth and quiet. And its fun.

However, it is cutting edge or bleeding edge meaning one has to expect a few bugs. I can handle that fact but separating from my newly adopted pet after 3 years of waiting has been more painful than I realized.

Here were the issues:

First problem I had was that the Assisted driving won't turn on. No matter what I did it would not turn on in any scenario. I called support who said I did pay for it but maybe they installed the wrong software.

The second bug I noticed was the back fin did not come down when in park mode. Figured out I was the bug. Complete user error as you have to actually walk away from the vehicle. Twice I put the key away and snuck up to vehicle to ensure the doors were actually locked and noticed the spoiler had come down. Chalk this one up to user error.

Third was that screen froze. All of the functions of the vehicle continue to work thankfully, but everything else froze on center console. I googled it and learned what many other Tesla owners know. You can reboot by pressing the two buttons on the steering wheel. After I did this it promoted for an upgrade which I accepted. It hasn't frozen since.

It's cutting edge, almost too cutting edge for my taste, and it would have been nice if they had worked out these kinks, but I am ok with a few issues at the beginning.

Then issue 4 hit.
Happened yesterday at IKEA after loading up the car with wife's latest project, I walked up to the driver door when it graciously opened for me to enter. I went to close the driver door and it would not close. Something went wrong with the mechanism. I couldn't close the door manually either. It just would not close. Called support and we tried a few things to no avail. I risked it and drove it home holding the doors closed driving it back to the service center the next day where I wished it farewell.

Service center has been amazing and I came into this expecting to have issues. But it's like getting a puppy, bringing it home, falling in love with it, and having to send it away for training. Let's just hope she will be behave when she comes back.

Beta tester #945,

Colin

[email protected]

 

[Ryan MF]

The door issue is particularly problematic. It seems like several people have had the same issue so likely there is some systemic issue either with the hardware/software on the door latching mechanism. Hopefully it's an easy fix..

 

[digicool]

The more I read about the door issue, the more it bothers me. I used to work in the consumer electronics industry. Even for a couple hundred dollar gadget we invest a ton of resources for quality control. I am really annoyed that for a 100+K car, Tesla did not catch whats sounds like an easily surfacing issue.
Worst of all, the first owners who paid a lot of upfront cash are the ones who get to test the car for Tesla. That's fair only if Tesla agrees to simply exchange with them their best yet yield once the issues are ironed out.

 

[Colin Campbell]

I like the idea. How about 100 free shares for every beta tester All joking aside, I feel like they Tesla is really breaking through so many barriers and creating something that goes way beyond anything that exists today. The car exceeded my expectations in so many ways yet fell short with basics like closing the front door. I am the CEO of a highly successful tech company so completely understand how these things sometimes role out. Probably should classify the first 1000 as beta testers though...Google has done a good job of staying in beta for years. Innovators like myself will pay for progress but we all have to be prepared to deal with issues.

Beta #945,

Colin

 

[Mark Z]

The original front door latches on my front doors needed replacement. No other solution for a permanent fix. The temporary fix for the non-latching door was to keep trying for as long as 20 minutes.

If the front door will not electrically move, then the door latch switch (in the door) may need to be manually activated. You can use a key or other object that fits where the U shaped metal passes through the slot. The goal is to trigger the switch. In my case, the touch screen was activated, so I knew the switch had been triggered. Here is the original post that provides more detail ("windshield glass" should be "door window glass"):

Model X Auto Opening and Closing Door Issues

Problems sometime occur when the vehicle is being shown or dried when the front doors are left open. If the electronics time out while the doors are open, abnormal results may occur. One solution has been to power the vehicle down for 90 seconds with no other manual or electric efforts. Upon power up, front doors and/or windows may need recalibration. It's a process of moving the doors or windows through their entire open/close cycle. While this may never be needed, it's good to know that Tesla Motors can provide instruction over the phone that will help.

One more thing... The front doors have a mechanical door handle inside just like Model S. The front doors will always unlatch, although if the motors are not powered, the door will have resistance during the entire manual open/close process.

Note: In my situation, the comments above do not apply to the Falcon Wing Doors. However, the FWDs allow for manual open/close operation if needed.

 

[K-MTG]

The original front door latches on my front doors needed replacement. No other solution for a permanent fix.

After the replacement, did you run into any problems with the doors?

 

[Mark Z]

After the replacement, did you run into any problems with the doors?

One time, and someone else is experiencing the problem as I type. The solution will be added to the thread above.

 

[Colin Campbell]

Update from Beta 945:

I sent the car in after two days due to issues with the front driver door and auto steering/cruise control not functioning. They resolved a number of the issues within 3 days and I was happily reunited with my Jarvis (the name my daughter gave the Model X).

Here were the resolutions:

1. Correct Front Latch door by replacing the mechanism. Interestingly, they replaced it with an "old part number" and will "order the newest part number when vehicle returns in the future". (So it is very clear that the early vehicles had a faulty latch on both the driver side and passenger side doors. My vehicle has been functioning with the old latches but will followup to ensure they replace it with the new latches. They should probably share this information with Model X owners who received old door latches. Better to be open and transparent than to have frustrations like the one I had, driving the car with the driver side door open.

2. Auto Steering and Cruise control not enabled. This was correct. "Callibration -Front Radar Sensor" was done. Everything working great now.....what an amazing feature! I can't imagine not having it. Worth the extra $2,500. I have done a few highway trips and it truly is mind blowing. I hope to provide feed back in the future on how they can improve it.

3. Charging dock snapped off (This was my daughters fault) -They replaced lightning rod doc at no charge. (My sense is that it should have a swivel so that kids who grab it from the back don't snap it. I have seen this on some chargers).

4. Courtesy inspection found that the right passenger door is difficult to close. The "found door alignment was slightly off" Performed right door alignment.

5. Upon inspection, found right door not opening from handle properly. Removed and replaced front door latch with "old part number". "We have ordered new part number and when vehicle returns to shop in the future we will replace."

All and all it looks scary but I know I am in good hands with the Tesla team in Dania Beach. Secondly, after getting it back it has remained technically flawless. A few little user errors but the family is coming along. More for a later entry.

It truly is the most advanced SUV, Fastest SUV, luxurious SUV, Safest SUV, and coolest SUV ever. A few issues at the beginning are expected especially when I am in the first of 1000 of owners.

Colin and (Javis)