Most Reliable Model S Handles? Gen 3 vs Rebuilt

[kirkhilles]

So, I have a late 2014 Model S that's new to me and all handles work fine, but I have fears they will fail in the future (and have a girl that'd freak out if it didn't present at car rider pickup line from school). I would like to be planning towards getting all 4 to where I don't really need to think about them again.

I know that the Driver's side has been replaced at some point recently, so I'm assuming a 3rd gen but I'm assuming the rest are 2nd gen.

I've read that the 3rd gen are supposed to be "bulletproof" but I've also read of a few failures from users here. I just asked Tesla and they said the cost is "$300 to $330" which is a very nice, parts-only price in comparison to the $1k per door. I'd go that route, but ONLY if I knew that I wouldn't need to worry about them again. I'd hate to have it fail months later and have paid all that money and not be able to do anything to fix it other than to repeat the process.

Are the 2nd gen rebuild kits the answer? Is it worth it to replace all 2nd gen handles proactively? Does the problem recur later or is this the way that Tesla should've designed them in the first place?

 

[hpartsch]

I'd save the money and hold off. If it didn't fail already - it might be good for a number of years. 3 of mine are original and my car is a 2013.

 

[beatle]

+1 to that. You're not talking about a failure that will leave you stranded or one that will have other collateral damage. I'd just wait and replace as needed.

 

[cookie99]

you can still open the door from the inside...

 

[amiral_sub]

Rich rebuild advices those from evtuning

 

[random155]

gen 3 from Tesla are going to be the way to go. There are less moving parts and the known issues seem to have been eliminated. The caveat is that Tesla needs update the software every time one gets replaced. Its no longer 100% diy with Gen 3's.

 

[kirkhilles]

gen 3 from Tesla are going to be the way to go. There are less moving parts and the known issues seem to have been eliminated. The caveat is that Tesla needs update the software every time one gets replaced. Its no longer 100% diy with Gen 3's.

Yep, but honestly at $300-$330 range (at least for the time being), that's pretty much the cost for them new and, well, Tesla is the only source to get the parts anyway and they aren't selling a whole ton of Model Ses, so I can't imagine that too many people would pay $150-$200+ for a used one.

I'm still concerned to hear of some issues with them (not sure what specifically the problem is) or I'd likely suck-it-up and replace the rear passenger side one, so at least I'd know it'd never fail while in car rider pickup line. Oh well. Either way, it's a HUGE relief to know it's not going to cost $1k+ per handle either way.