Open Letter - MX Disappointments (but I love the car!)

[Bob Denny]

Open letter to Tesla - To start off, I really love this car!! Driving it is great. However for a $100,000+ car there are some disappointments:

1. The windshield glass, when looking in the direction of the Sun, has a milky look, and also many many small bright flaws in it. I've never owned a car with glass that looks this bad in the sun, ever. And yes, the glass is clean, using Invisible Glass and clean micro-fiber. It's IN the glass not crap on the surface. All of the glass has the micro flaws in it, you can see them clearly at some angles to the sun.
2. The cupholder with the sliding door is aggravating. That door slides closed "on its own" (not really, you just touch it then...). Human factors botch.
3. If you use a fob cover with a key ring (I have house, locker, and mailbox keys), and you carry the fob in your pocket, you will discover a wing door opening "all by itself". The worst was when I locked the car then started walking into the market facing away from the car. I don't know what made me look back... OMG. I know it takes a double click, but with the keys, and in your pocket, it's easy for the key to act a lever and effect a fast double-click. I think it's because it accepts two presses in very rapid succession. It needs to filter to two clicks somewhat slower.
4. The Slacker/Streaming system (after three software updates) still won't log in with Tesla Account. Well, Slacker no longer exists. It is now LiveXLive, and appears to have no knowledge of any arrangement or integration with Tesla. Really guys? I might suggest switching to Pandora now that Slacker is no more.
5. Incoming text messages are not alerted, nor are they read to you by voice. My wife's Toyota and every car I've rented in the last 3+ years has this feature.
6. Insufficient USB charging outlets from the front. There are two on the front wall of the arm rest, however the car came with the inductive charger cradle (which is cool!!) and that uses one of the two USB, and once I installed the uSD for the dashcam, no more USB from the front seat. My wife's Toyota has 4.
7. The "approach unlock" activates from too far away. I can't hang my fob/keys on the keyholder next to the garage door. If I do, the car keeps "lighting up" from like 20 feet away through the garage wall. If you have the keys in your pocket and are in the kitchen near the garage door, it will light up randomly as well. 5 feet or less would be just fine.

As I said I do love the car. I suppose my #1 disappointment is the glass.

 

[MXLRplus]

Those are certainly valid points.
As far as the bizarre door behavior, you need to turn off most the automatic settings for the doors. They are cute for about 5 minutes, then irritating for the remainder.

USB: Get a 2x USB cigar lighter adapter. Get a very short USB extension. Plug the inductive charger into the cigar lighter. Now you can put both music and \TeslaCam folders in one USB dataport, then you have two extra USB charging ports and an inductive charger. But yeah, WTF were they thinking? It's 2020 not 2010. At least 4 USB ports for the front and 3 for the back. Minimum.

Add: The Learn Rear Hatch Height procedure doesn't work. And why didn't they put in a foot activation mech like other cars?

 

[mswlogo]

Open letter to Tesla - To start off, I really love this car!! Driving it is great. However for a $100,000+ car there are some disappointments:

1. The windshield glass, when looking in the direction of the Sun, has a milky look, and also many many small bright flaws in it. I've never owned a car with glass that looks this bad in the sun, ever. And yes, the glass is clean, using Invisible Glass and clean micro-fiber. It's IN the glass not crap on the surface. All of the glass has the micro flaws in it, you can see them clearly at some angles to the sun.
2. The cupholder with the sliding door is aggravating. That door slides closed "on its own" (not really, you just touch it then...). Human factors botch.
3. If you use a fob cover with a key ring (I have house, locker, and mailbox keys), and you carry the fob in your pocket, you will discover a wing door opening "all by itself". The worst was when I locked the car then started walking into the market facing away from the car. I don't know what made me look back... OMG. I know it takes a double click, but with the keys, and in your pocket, it's easy for the key to act a lever and effect a fast double-click. I think it's because it accepts two presses in very rapid succession. It needs to filter to two clicks somewhat slower.
4. The Slacker/Streaming system (after three software updates) still won't log in with Tesla Account. Well, Slacker no longer exists. It is now LiveXLive, and appears to have no knowledge of any arrangement or integration with Tesla. Really guys? I might suggest switching to Pandora now that Slacker is no more.
5. Incoming text messages are not alerted, nor are they read to you by voice. My wife's Toyota and every car I've rented in the last 3+ years has this feature.
6. Insufficient USB charging outlets from the front. There are two on the front wall of the arm rest, however the car came with the inductive charger cradle (which is cool!!) and that uses one of the two USB, and once I installed the uSD for the dashcam, no more USB from the front seat. My wife's Toyota has 4.
7. The "approach unlock" activates from too far away. I can't hang my fob/keys on the keyholder next to the garage door. If I do, the car keeps "lighting up" from like 20 feet away through the garage wall. If you have the keys in your pocket and are in the kitchen near the garage door, it will light up randomly as well. 5 feet or less would be just fine.

As I said I do love the car. I suppose my #1 disappointment is the glass.

Your windshield is NOT clean. I ended up polishing mine with an orbital. Microfiber/Invisible Glass, LOL, won’t touch it. I used magic eraser with invisible glass inside (still not as good as it could be, but not about to run orbital inside, but that’s what it needs). Then I polished and sealed outside.

Get a FOB guard. Many on Amazon. No problem since I added that.

My messages come in fine on iPhone. You must enable sync messages on Bluetooth settings on Bluetooth connection on iPhone.

My two car garage has X on the left, 6 feet then car on the right. Entry to house is near garage door on the right side of the right bay. I hang my key there. Car locks just about at that point.

 

[ChadS]

Our X is 2.5 years old. I definitely agree on 6 and 7. (We have an old tea tin just inside the garage door, and put the key in there).

Our windshield doesn't seem to have the same problem...I can't see what yours looks like, so if you are near a service center you might want to look at other Xs in their lot to see if they all have the same problem, or if it's just your car.

As mswlogo said, click on the Bluetooth icon in the upper right, and you can sync messages - it works great with my Android as well. You may have to turn this setting back on every now and then after firmware updates.

The default internet music service works fine on our cars. I know it used to be slacker...did they change it? I know they added optional access to some other service, but we haven't changed any music settings since we got the cars. I've also got a desktop Slacker account that switched seamlessly to LiveXLive, so I assumed the same happened with the cars. So maybe it's just a problem with your car's account...it's worth asking service.

Good luck!

 

[lowtek]

I paint corrected and polished my car including the glass, makes a big difference.

 

[MXLRplus]

...
My messages come in fine on iPhone. You must enable sync messages on Bluetooth settings on Bluetooth connection on iPhone.

My two car garage has X on the left, 6 feet then car on the right. Entry to house is near garage door on the right side of the right bay. I hang my key there. Car locks just about at that point.

Bizarre. Even the POS rental F-150 and 3 year old Nissan didn't require "Enable Sync" to send and receive messages. Can you explain where this setting is? I just assumed it was beta.

Here's what my iOS 13.3.1 says:

 

[davezforce]

Bizarre. Even the POS rental F-150 and 3 year old Nissan didn't require "Enable Sync" to send and receive messages. Can you explain where this setting is? I just assumed it was beta.

Here's what my iOS 13.3.1 says:

View attachment 538227

Touch the Bluetooth icon top right on MCU, then select your connected phone. Under that there will be options for syncing phone with messages. Make sure phone is connected.

 

[MXLRplus]

Touch the Bluetooth icon too right on MCU, then select your connected phone. Under that there will be options for syncing phone with messages.

I'll give that a try. I just assumed it was broken like the AM radio.

 

[davezforce]

I'll give that a try. I just assumed it was broken like the AM radio.

Lol. Sometimes it does turn off like suggested above, it probably is after a new firmware. I’ll have to pay more attention after the next one.

 

[MXLRplus]

Thanks! I needed to go under my iPhone Bluetooth connection list, find Tesla, hit the "I" icon to the right, and TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS.
Then touch the Bluetooth icon on the Tesla's top left MCU screen, and enable something there too.

Funny how it works on Ford, JLR, Audi, Nissan, GM, Hyundai and a few I'm probably forgetting without changing anything.

I still can't create a new text (it can't understand why a K and C sound alike in English), but I really don't need to.

NEXT: Why doesn't it read it to me? Or am I missing another setting? It wrote the message on the dashboard instead of saying it.

 

[davezforce]

Thanks! I needed to go under my iPhone Bluetooth connection list, find Tesla, hit the "I" icon to the right, and TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS.
Then touch the Bluetooth icon on the Tesla's top left MCU screen, and enable something there too.

Funny how it works on Ford, JLR, Audi, Nissan, GM, Hyundai and a few I'm probably forgetting without changing anything.

I still can't create a new text (it can't understand why a K and C sound alike in English), but I really don't need to.

NEXT: Why doesn't it read it to me? Or am I missing another setting? It wrote the message on the dashboard instead of saying it.

If you use the scroll wheel and highlight view messages it should read them out loud. Make sure you have that setting checked on under your iPhones Bluetooth profile in the Tesla Bluetooth menu

 

[davezforce]

Thanks! I needed to go under my iPhone Bluetooth connection list, find Tesla, hit the "I" icon to the right, and TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS.
Then touch the Bluetooth icon on the Tesla's top left MCU screen, and enable something there too.

Funny how it works on Ford, JLR, Audi, Nissan, GM, Hyundai and a few I'm probably forgetting without changing anything.

I still can't create a new text (it can't understand why a K and C sound alike in English), but I really don't need to.

NEXT: Why doesn't it read it to me? Or am I missing another setting? It wrote the message on the dashboard instead of saying it.

I have used the Tesla to initiate a text. To initiate a voice command for yourX, tap the voice button on the upper right side of the steering wheel, after you hear the tone you can say “Text Dave” then it will ask your what to say. Although because I have the iPhone I find it easier to send texts by just saying the “Hey Siri” command. It works better for sending I find. But if your not on an iPhone or don’t use the hey Siri command the other way should work.

 

[Bob Denny]

On the "unclean windshield" ... you would think the delivery center would do whatever it takes to get rid of the schmutz that remains after peeling off the shipping film. right? I have seen this milky stuff and more importantly the million tiny flecks since I took delivery and cleaned it (many times) with invisible glass. I will get out the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and see what happens, and report back. I'll test it in one spot first, and if it fogs or scratches the glass, I'm-a-gonna be really irritated. I don't have an orbital, this is just a car I drive and keep clean as best I can. If I have to "correct" the glass with an orbital, polish, and sealant (and how long does that last?), I'm writing a nastygram. For $100,000 the glass should be perfect off the floor like every other car I have rented or owned for the last 30 years!!!

Thanks everyone, I'll answer other things as I test them. By the way, no problem sending messages, viewing them on the screen,etc. What I said is that incoming messages are not read by voice when they arrive. This would be cool because I could use hands free to dictate a reply or call. I'll run another test tomorrow.

 

[mswlogo]

Cleaning the windshield Magic Eraser? Claybar? Invisible Glass?

On the "unclean windshield" ... you would think the delivery center would do whatever it takes to get rid of the schmutz that remains after peeling off the shipping film. right? I have seen this milky stuff and more importantly the million tiny flecks since I took delivery and cleaned it (many times) with invisible glass. I will get out the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and see what happens, and report back. I'll test it in one spot first, and if it fogs or scratches the glass, I'm-a-gonna be really irritated. I don't have an orbital, this is just a car I drive and keep clean as best I can. If I have to "correct" the glass with an orbital, polish, and sealant (and how long does that last?), I'm writing a nastygram. For $100,000 the glass should be perfect off the floor like every other car I have rented or owned for the last 30 years!!!

Thanks everyone, I'll answer other things as I test them. By the way, no problem sending messages, viewing them on the screen,etc. What I said is that incoming messages are not read by voice when they arrive. This would be cool because I could use hands free to dictate a reply or call. I'll run another test tomorrow.

Magic eraser won’t do it. I did that inside as it’s all I could do. Outside is much worse.

I even created a thread on this topic with pictures showing the difference.

Cleaning the windshield Magic Eraser? Claybar? Invisible Glass?

Model 3 was the same way.

Oh, and the million tiny flecks are your micro fibers sticking to the scum. Once polished that won’t happen.

I thought I had it cleaned half a dozen times using various methods. Nope. Also tried clay bar.

One other thing I’ve heard works but I have never used is bonami glass cleaner. Make sure it’s the correct one though.

 

[Bob Denny]

On #5 (text messaging) I was incorrect. Once I turned on Sync Messages and Alert Messages, I got the alert, I was able to select Read it, which it did, and I was then able to dictate a voice response and send it back. That's excellent!!

I thought I had the option on but apparently not. Thanks for the correction!!

 

[Bob Denny]

Magic eraser won’t do it. I did that inside as it’s all I could do. Outside is much worse. I even created a thread on this topic with pictures showing the difference. Oh, ad the million tiny flecks are your micro fibers sticking to the scum. Once polished that won’t happen.
I thought I had it cleaned half a dozen times using various methods. Nope. Also tried clay bar. One other thing I’ve heard works but I have never used is bonami glass cleaner. Make sure it’s the correct one though.

@mswlogo Thank you very much. I tried Goo Gone in hopes of dissolving the scum, didn't work. Then I tried Magffic Eraser, no go on that as well. Thanks for letting me know that the clay doesn't work. I was going to go buy one. Interesting on the Bon Ami (which I remember as porcelain sink cleanser :-o ... I looked and Bon Ami glass cleaner appears not to be sold in the US? Canada, Ireland, England....

I still say that delivering the vehicle with the glass in that state is unacceptable. Or is the glass just bad and polishing it covers up for the manufacturing quality? I'd be curious to see if the polishing is permanent or if you have to keep doing it over time. Here's what it looks like, This is not the reflection of the dash! The upper half is lit by the sun and the lower part is in the shadow cast by the garage.

 

[MXLRplus]

There is actually a FMVSS specification for windshield glass clarity, it's 70% light transmission IIRC. There is a distortion limit too.

 

[Red-X]

We had the same problem with the windshield glass on our XLR Raven produced early June -19.
It is not because of dirt inside or outside. It is some problem with the production of the lamination inside the glass. It is not uncommon, other car brand could also have it.
I contacted the SC here in Sweden and they said it was just dirty! They cleaned it and told me the glass was ok. I denied that and asked them to bring a technician to look at it. I had luck because the sun was just in the right direction for the SC people to be able to see the trouble. Decision was to change the windshield for a new one.
The new windshield is much better but you could still see some minor defects.

 

[Bob Denny]

@Red-X Excellent. I have a hard time believing it is surface contamination as claimed by @mswlogo. It really does look like an integral characteristic, not surface. In any case, I should not have to grind and polish my glass with an orbital anyway. So I'll pursue a service replacement. Wish me luck. Thank you for sharing your experience. I really appreciate it.

 

[mswlogo]

@Red-X Excellent. I have a hard time believing it is surface contamination as claimed by @mswlogo. It really does look like an integral characteristic, not surface. In any case, I should not have to grind and polish my glass with an orbital anyway. So I'll pursue a service replacement. Wish me luck. Thank you for sharing your experience. I really appreciate it.

That would be the last thing I’d ever do. I dread ever getting my windshield replaced. They did my rear window on Model 3. I had to remove grease stains on headliner and reinstall molding after fixing some wires that were not tie wrapped correctly.

You’re not “grinding”. Polish is very mild. Commonly used to remove water stains. It was so easy and came out so nice I did my wife’s and a couple friends. Takes all of 20 minutes.

It is on the surface. No idea what it is. A good detailer will take care of it as well. Way less invasive than a new windshield. I had one car detailed that had 230K miles and original windshield. When I got it back it felt like there was no windshield. Amazing. I’ll do all mine once or twice a year now.