MX Purchase help - 2016 Reliability

[Srubi]

Hi Guys,

I'm debating the purchase of a 2016 P90D Signature. Build 12/15 so one of the very first! I just received service records. They are almost 30 pages long. I wasn't but now am concerned with an early MX.

Nothing is anything crazy and I would buy it with an extended Tesla warranty. But I'm coming from five years of Porsche ownership where I never once had an issue. I'm starting to get cold feet. The price is competitive and its under 20k miles. Am I being unreasonable (they seem to be early in ownership)? Or is this par for the course.

Thanks.

Here is a summary:

1/16 - Left falcon door doesnt open
3/16 - Secure 2nd Row Seat latch cables, resecure door wiring harness, FR window doesnt roll up
3/16 - Resecure rain sensor, LR front door will not latch, replace front door assembly, calibrate LF window, replaced RH falcon door sensor
5/16 - Drivers door doesnt close to fully latched position, Front passenger door doesnt open/close, door latch replacement, replace LH, RH front door seals, replace rear door ultrasonic sensors, replace cowl to retrofit windshield washer check valves, 3rd-row seatback replacement, rear spoiler sealant applied to remove wind noise.
7/16 - Replace key fob batteries
12/16 - Drivers door issues, replaced LF door latch
11/17 - Navigation doesnt initialize, inspect position of AC condenser pipes, inspect front half shafts
7/18 - Replaced sun visors
11/18 - Front right liner wheel arch liner replaced

 

[rjdoc74]

I wouldn’t touch this car with a 10 foot pole. I had a 90D VIN 25xx made in March of 2016. After 43 days in the shop over 10 months period, Tesla finally bought it back from me. Coming from Porsche, there is a high chance you won’t be happy with this car. Plus it has a dead end autopilot HW1. I now drive 2018 P100D and it’s an entirely different vehicle.

I don’t care how good of a deal this is, I wouldn’t buy it.

 

[Tube Guy]

Funny all my Porsches break. POS.

 

[K-MTG]

I have a 2016 X but mine was built a little later in May (VIN 57xx). I was lucky as my issues were merely cosmetics and I never had door issues.

I only had my X in service initially (for cosmetic issues) but over the last two years it was for annual service and new tires (am at 49k miles). I did purchase the extended warranty as well.

I would just look at the service logs to make sure nothing serious happened in the past year - otherwise I am sure everything else was already fixed. And you really shouldn't have anything to worry about since you plan on getting the extended warranty.

 

[Srubi]

Yeah, it looks like 6 of the 9 issues were in 2016. In 2018 it was really pretty basic. That makes me feel better.

I saw the vehicle and the seals on the roof around the doors are pretty sloppy. Ive seen plenty of pictures of this. I assume Tesla would fix it?

 

[Super_Popular]

I agree, I personally would stay away from Sig X's. Windshield will most likely have ghosting, doors and seals will most likely always have issues and unless it's a CPO car the warranty will come to an end soon.

Try to find a CPO 90, skip the P...it's really not needed and will only have more issues.

 

[KSilver2000]

Have a June 2016 build X P90DL. Better build quality than the 2018 X. So far no issues with mine (knock on wood); no windshield ghosting, no FWD issues, no seal issues, nada.

I’ve said it many times throughout these forums. IMO, it doesn’t matter if you bought a 2016, 2017, 2018, or 2019 Tesla. It’s always a crapshoot when it comes to build quality. Some of the 2018’s I saw at the delivery center while waiting to pick up mine should never have made it through QC at the factory and then the delivery center—at least if QC is ever done, which I doubt is done given what I’ve seen.

 

[Terthen]

Yeah, it looks like 6 of the 9 issues were in 2016. In 2018 it was really pretty basic. That makes me feel better.

I saw the vehicle and the seals on the roof around the doors are pretty sloppy. Ive seen plenty of pictures of this. I assume Tesla would fix it?

Do you have more details about the roof seals? One thing with Tesla's is a seemingly simple repair involves
replacing a large part instead of just what broke . The seal on the roof part of one of my FWD doors tore, but the replacement involved replacing the entire roof glass on that side. So it may not be a cheap easy repair. This is on our 12/2016 model X, which luckily was still under warranty. I guess if this is a CPO it would get covered though?

 

[Srubi]

I dont have more info at this time but the vehicle will be looked at by tesla as part of standard service. I asked them to look at the seals.

 

[theonetheonly]

I just bought a used 2016 Signature p90D Tesla - fantastic deal, with only 16K, built 11/15.
I decided to pull the trigger on it based on the fact that it comes with a 4 year/50k warranty so issues should be covered - and the free supercharging is a nice bonus.
Plus my thought had been the previous owner would have ironed out any issues (turns out the only did one service way back in early 2016 but still ...)

There are a couple of niggles that I am taking in the car to the service station for - wind noise while driving, seals looking warped.
Assuming they will get sorted.

And Tesla does not sell CPO.
They sell used - my car had scratches and dings that we’re not in pictures they sent. There was still twigs and leaves all over the car that had not vacuumed.
It was a terrible buying experience.
When I brought it up to the agent when I was picking it up, the response was ‘you can walk away, your choice’

But I do have to make a statement about build quality - I also came from a Porsche (got totaled, distracted driver t boned me) and I miss the Porsche big time.
My Porsche had 80K on it (in 4 years, I drive like a mad man) and didn’t make a squeak. This car makes more noise than it ever did.
Even my 8 year old noticed.
I decided to change up the internal lights and was fiddling around with the body work, and it is flimsy. The Porsche was a tank.
The leather in the Tesla is already wrinkling, the Porsche’s was blemish free.
I guess it’s a reason that a Porsche is a Porsche


Having said all that, I am growing to love the convenience of FWD when loading kids in and out, having the door open for me as I walk up.
And it fulfills the promise I made to myself that the Porsche was the last ICE i would buy.

Ideally, would have waited 2 years to let the EV market sorry itself out. Maybe buy a Taycan (yes, blasphemy on this forum)


TLDR : similar boat, chose to buy based on free super charging and that warranty will cover any probs. It’s not a Porsche.

 

[Lancew]

I have an April 2016 build when Elon was sleeping at the factory at that time. It has been very sturdy except for a few replacement latches and an a/c. No falcon wing door issues. One seat issue that they replaced that was rocking.

 

[rjdoc74]

I just bought a used 2016 Signature p90D Tesla - fantastic deal, with only 16K, built 11/15.
I decided to pull the trigger on it based on the fact that it comes with a 4 year/50k warranty so issues should be covered - and the free supercharging is a nice bonus.
Plus my thought had been the previous owner would have ironed out any issues (turns out the only did one service way back in early 2016 but still ...)

There are a couple of niggles that I am taking in the car to the service station for - wind noise while driving, seals looking warped.
Assuming they will get sorted.

And Tesla does not sell CPO.
They sell used - my car had scratches and dings that we’re not in pictures they sent. There was still twigs and leaves all over the car that had not vacuumed.
It was a terrible buying experience.
When I brought it up to the agent when I was picking it up, the response was ‘you can walk away, your choice’

But I do have to make a statement about build quality - I also came from a Porsche (got totaled, distracted driver t boned me) and I miss the Porsche big time.
My Porsche had 80K on it (in 4 years, I drive like a mad man) and didn’t make a squeak. This car makes more noise than it ever did.
Even my 8 year old noticed.
I decided to change up the internal lights and was fiddling around with the body work, and it is flimsy. The Porsche was a tank.
The leather in the Tesla is already wrinkling, the Porsche’s was blemish free.
I guess it’s a reason that a Porsche is a Porsche


Having said all that, I am growing to love the convenience of FWD when loading kids in and out, having the door open for me as I walk up.
And it fulfills the promise I made to myself that the Porsche was the last ICE i would buy.

Ideally, would have waited 2 years to let the EV market sorry itself out. Maybe buy a Taycan (yes, blasphemy on this forum)


TLDR : similar boat, chose to buy based on free super charging and that warranty will cover any probs. It’s not a Porsche.

How much did you pay if I may ask?

 

[theonetheonly]

How much did you pay if I may ask?

Bit north of 85k - had all the bells and whistles I wanted, including the 6 seater option.
Given that a 100D spec’d the same way was 130K, I’m hoping this doesn’t end up biting me in the ass!

There were an assload of scratches that I had to get fixed, getting it wrapped now.
My plan usually is to drive my cars into the ground. Hope this lasts long enough to do so.

 

[rjdoc74]

Bit north of 85k - had all the bells and whistles I wanted, including the 6 seater option.
Given that a 100D spec’d the same way was 130K, I’m hoping this doesn’t end up biting me in the ass!

There were an assload of scratches that I had to get fixed, getting it wrapped now.
My plan usually is to drive my cars into the ground. Hope this lasts long enough to do so.

IMHO, this may not be as much of a smoking deal as you think and you may have bought yourself a huge headache (I really hope not).

My 2016 MX VIN 25xx was bought back by Tesla and I now drive 2018 P100D, which I bought inventory in September with almost 30K discount. With $7500 tax credit and section 179 business deduction, I will probably pay less than what you paid for your car. However, section 179 may not be available to you as you have to own a business.

Having had both 2016 and 2018, let me tell you that 2018 is a completely different car. My 2016 was a rattle box, 2018 is completely silent. Even front door latches are almost silent (they went through like 5 generations of front door latches since 2016). I can go on and on.

There is also a battery degradation issue with 90D battery you may want to know about: 90 battery pack degradation

Tesla has gotten MUCH MUCH stricter with warranty repairs. If you think you will just drop it off and point to issues you think need to be fixed, you may be in for a rude surprise. It will be a constant fight most likely. You will hear "this is within spec" a lot.

There is also the issue of old dead-end HW1 autopilot.

In any case, good luck with your car. I personally wouldn't buy this car for that price.

 

[theonetheonly]

Yup. Too late for me and I didn’t have the business option.- hoping my car doesn’t turn out to be a lemon like yours like did.
I had the exact same debate before going for the pre-owned option.

I can definitely see that the cars got better with time, but can’t imagine that very early ModelX had those same severe issues yours did.

Read about the battery issue - same as above. It is an issue but I have to hope I dodged that bullet.
My current degradation appears to be within what most drivers have experienced, esp as I have seen it in Winter so far

And it’s not so much that this car rattles, aside from the window wind noise, it’s quite.
I’m just comparing it to my Porsche - which was solid and everything had heft.
I left out my issues regarding handling - comparing the two is unfair.

My biggest regret is not having HW2 - I like my tech

 

[rjdoc74]

Yup. Too late for me and I didn’t have the business option.- hoping my car doesn’t turn out to be a lemon like yours like did.
I had the exact same debate before going for the pre-owned option.

I can definitely see that the cars got better with time, but can’t imagine that very early ModelX had those same severe issues yours did.

Read about the battery issue - same as above. It is an issue but I have to hope I dodged that bullet.
My current degradation appears to be within what most drivers have experienced, esp as I have seen it in Winter so far

And it’s not so much that this car rattles, aside from the window wind noise, it’s quite.
I’m just comparing it to my Porsche - which was solid and everything had heft.
I left out my issues regarding handling - comparing the two is unfair.

My biggest regret is not having HW2 - I like my tech

My first car didn’t have severe issues. Just a bunch of little issues which I felt were unacceptable. The worst was windshield ghosting at night. They replaced the windshield, but it didn’t help. My wife refused to drive that car as all traffic lights and rare car lights were doubled with ghosting.

 

[theonetheonly]

My bad - just specc'd a similar MX100 in white (mine's blue) and it's 142K - feeling quite pleased now

 

[theonetheonly]

My first car didn’t have severe issues. Just a bunch of little issues which I felt were unacceptable. The worst was windshield ghosting at night. They replaced the windshield, but it didn’t help. My wife refused to drive that car as all traffic lights and rare car lights were doubled with ghosting.

That would be an insane issue to have. Can't believe Tesla let that through QC - I'm hoping if it hasn't happened yet, it won't.

I just jinxed myself now, didn't I?

 

[Srubi]

I'm also going to go forward with a p90d from a private party. It's in for service right now with Tesla to get up to date. Will end up being a bit cheaper than theonetheonly's vehicle. I didnt notice any ghosting when I drove the vehicle but it was during the day and I wasnt really looking for it.

 

[theonetheonly]

I'm also going to go forward with a p90d from a private party. It's in for service right now with Tesla to get up to date. Will end up being a bit cheaper than theonetheonly's vehicle. I didnt notice any ghosting when I drove the vehicle but it was during the day and I wasnt really looking for it.

How much of the warranty is left - frankly, the only reason to buy pre owned from Tesla is that you reset the 50k/4 yr warranty from the second purchase.