Passenger Restraint Fault - 6 hours after delivery....

[Spikagirl]

I too am having this failure... 6 hours after I took delivery. I am sad and angry. I have read many of the threads - and becoming more upset as I am learning that many folks have has 2, 3 and 4 repairs just to get it right.... and even re-failures after the warranty expires.

Does anyone have experiences with the repair being successful the first time?

The delivery process did not go well, and I felt like the universe was telling me to walk away (the car was fine, but the delivery associate was clueless and rude... creating a frustrating situation)..... I feel like in hindsight I should have listened....

Fault happened 12/1, service appointment is 12/5... Have not been able to drive in performance mode.. and concerned every time I drive with a passenger. Sooooo disappointed.

Spikagirl - the first time new Tesla owner

 

[Spikagirl]

Well... I am not on my third failure (after the second repair)..... next repair scheduled for 1/11. Looking into lemon law, I have not even made the first payment yet! 3 failures within 45 days.. it's absurd.

So far they have replaced the wiring harness (which showed damage apparently) and the seat belt buckle... who knows what's next. from the threads on here maybe the whole seat? i don't know.

Spikagirl - the first time new Tesla owner

 

[m73b54]

Take it easy ) It's under warranty - eventually they will fix it.
Are you surprised by the Tesla service quality? But the same is everywhere. Mechanics are terrible nowadays. Sometimes they do more harm than good. It is normal.

 

[Spikagirl]

Take it easy ) It's under warranty - eventually they will fix it.
Are you surprised by the Tesla service quality? But the same is everywhere. Mechanics are terrible nowadays. Sometimes they do more harm than good. It is normal.

I hear you.... I guess my continued faith in quality workmanship and value is deteriorating. Afterall, why should I accept sub-par workmanship when I am paying for a quality product? Or maybe I am not? I guess I did not realize I paid FULL STICKER PRICE for a non-functioning vehicle. I could have easily spent 1/10 on a beater and had a similar experience?

Coming from a manufacturing background however, "guess and check" approach to quality management is disappointing on a commercial item that is a tremendous cost to me at least. We shall see if "third time is a charm", but considering that my vehicle has been out of service 3 days within the first 60 days of ownership (5% downtime), and at limited functionality for 21 days (35%).... Well, why did I purchase the upgraded features if I cannot use them!

When the error is present, I cannot drive the car in performance mode.... additionally I am concerned about the safety of my passengers and have opted to not have them when this error is present. Not to mention I have to take time off work to take the thing to the dealership. Again, I paid full sticker price to drive a "performance" car in limp mode that can only safely contain 1 human 35% of the time. (I suppose arguably I could take passengers safely in the back seat, but my SO hates to be a "Miss Daisy")

So yea... I am taking it easy - sort of, but my patience and pocket book are running thin here. Surprised... Well, maybe I should not be - but if this is the baseline performance of Tesla - well it should have been called out in the contract that was the expectation of performance (both manufacturing and service).

 

[m73b54]

Unfortunately, that's how it is. I can tell you the story of one of my customers. She was about to buy a new Mercedes with MSRP $100k. When I looked at that Mercedes I saw these gaps:

She asked the dealership to fix it before taking a delivery. They answered - go f. yourself. They refused to do anything.
That's the service quality we have.

 

[Spikagirl]

Unfortunately, that's how it is. I can tell you the story of one of my customers. She was about to buy a new Mercedes with MSRP $100k. When I looked at that Mercedes I saw these gaps:
View attachment 1010054View attachment 1010055

She asked the dealership to fix it before taking a delivery. They answered - go f. yourself. They refused to do anything.
That's the service quality we have.

Sad sad.... I get it... I also know I have bad car juju.. I don't know why. But... I guess it is what it is.
My first car, '96 Saturn, motor blew up at 60k miles (I was diligent about service intervals at the dealer) <-- when I started to learn about cars and doing my own work
Second car, '99 Jeep Grand Cherokee - threw a rod at 110k miles (yes, it was the "bomb proof I6)
Third car, '04 Mustang Mach1 - Lemon, bad brake booster, in the shop 264 days of the first 365 days of ownership
Fourth car, '06 Toyota 4Runner - Actually.. best car ever.. I have built it up.. beat it up... and runs like a champ.. luckily it's my fallback when all else fails
<drove beaters in this time frame... worked out well.... '97 Sunfire and '99 caravan.... they were free and loaded with miles but milked 100k miles out of both.. had quirks of course
Fifth car, '11 Subaru STi - Not the car's fault, but rear ended 40 days after I purchased it... Not totaled but should have been.. nothing but problems after
Sixth car, '17 Ram 2500 6.4 Hemi - New trans at 70k and new motor at 110k... luckily lifetime warranty
Current car, this Tesla ... I was really hoping it would be like my Toyota.. or at least... like a "new" car that I could drive and flip in 3 years.. ugh.... so so sad.

 

[Krugerrand]

Yes, just relax. It is frustrating. I get it. You were excited for this new car. You were excited to flaunt the performance of it. Everyone understands how you feel.

However, perspective and patience. It’s not the end of the world. It’ll get fixed and then you’ll be able to enjoy it as you’d imagined and wanted.

Even at Tesla, not every employee of the 100,000+ are exceptional. Bad eggs slip through. The problem isn’t Tesla, the problem is people in general; no pride in their work, doing just enough to keep their jobs, no ambitions to be and do their best etc…

Additionally, I’ve heard more times then I can count this argument that if someone has paid a certain amount of money that suddenly they should be treated differently. BS. A customer is a customer and having more money to spend doesn’t make anyone special.

That a product that costs more should suddenly never break or be defective. BS. As long as flawed humans are involved in anyway or any part of manufacturing the product, mistakes are going to happen, products are going to have issues/defects. The final sale tag on the product means nothing.

Hang in there. Your car will get fixed and you’ll be enjoying it as wanted and you’ll soon forget anything was ever wrong.

 

[Spikagirl]

Yes, just relax. It is frustrating. I get it. You were excited for this new car. You were excited to flaunt the performance of it. Everyone understands how you feel.

However, perspective and patience. It’s not the end of the world. It’ll get fixed and then you’ll be able to enjoy it as you’d imagined and wanted.

Even at Tesla, not every employee of the 100,000+ are exceptional. Bad eggs slip through. The problem isn’t Tesla, the problem is people in general; no pride in their work, doing just enough to keep their jobs, no ambitions to be and do their best etc…

Additionally, I’ve heard more times then I can count this argument that if someone has paid a certain amount of money that suddenly they should be treated differently. BS. A customer is a customer and having more money to spend doesn’t make anyone special.

That a product that costs more should suddenly never break or be defective. BS. As long as flawed humans are involved in anyway or any part of manufacturing the product, mistakes are going to happen, products are going to have issues/defects. The final sale tag on the product means nothing.

Hang in there. Your car will get fixed and you’ll be enjoying it as wanted and you’ll soon forget anything was ever wrong.

Hmmmm, I was not trying to send the message "I paid soooo much for this car I expect different treatment...."Clearly, I have owned beaters that I paid $500 for.... without warranty, "as is". I accept that. If that is the kind of product Tesla wants to promote "as is", I suggest that be the case.

Rather, "I procured a product, where the expectation was that it was in proper functioning order and met the specifications of the contract." That happened to have a warranty to protect against "slips of incompetent people" perhaps, or "bad day Monday's", or even faulty processes that allowed for non-compliant products to slip through QA (even at the sub-supplier level!).

However, three times? Same issue? Different people? Different locations? Seems to me it is more than "Joe the assembler had a bad day". This means it failed from the factory, failed again after Joe "fixed it", then failed a third time after "Sam" fixed it... feels more like a deeper seeded problem that is more fundamental, perhaps even at the sub-component/sub-supplier level... or maybe an assembly process challenge?

Regardless... tomorrow will be repair #3, maybe the third time is a charm!

 

[Spikagirl]

Well... they repaired it... test drove it... and I got it home... next drive, failed again.. is 4th time a charm?

 

[m73b54]

What did they do this time?

 

[Spikagirl]

What did they do this time?

repair #3 was a diagnostic t showing connection that was loose somewhere.. (I don't have the exact verbiage in front of me).... They repaired a wire connection (not sure if that was just reseating a plug.... or if they had to actually solder a wire into a terminal or what...), then noted they took it on an extensive test drive.

I drove it home.. packed the car to head up north for the weekend.... my passenger and I sat in the car, put it in drive.. boom. Same error in the driveway.

So Sad.. heading back to the service dealer on Friday.

 

[m73b54]

Yes, that's crazy but it's very hard to pinpoint these intermittent issues. I hope they will fix it this time.

 

[Spikagirl]

Yes, that's crazy but it's very hard to pinpoint these intermittent issues. I hope they will fix it this time.

Agree.. but it is not really intermittent.... once the error appears, it is there to stay for sure. Which is *nice* I guess, because the error is there clear as day... but what seems to trigger the error is someone sitting and/or moving the seat. This time, not only will I request a test drive.. but a test drive with someone in the passenger seat while exercising the seat as well.

 

[Spikagirl]

Anddddddd picked it up.. they replaced a seat tensioner module (I think that is what they called it)... went to dinner.. then on the way home.. failed again.

#5.

Except now, I not only have the fault re: passenger safety restraint.. I also have a pedestrian warning fault.

So sad...

 

[m73b54]

Ridiculous.

 

[Spikagirl]

Ridiculous.

I know right.. dropping it back off this afternoon.. reminded them this is now the 5th time.. They said they are talking to their engineers... but I am also talking to a lawyer..

 

[brkaus]

Keep records of amount of time it’s been in service. Look up your states lemon laws, and consider asking for a buyback before you spent $$ on a lawyer and mention the word lemon.

 

[Spikagirl]

Keep records of amount of time it’s been in service. Look up your states lemon laws, and consider asking for a buyback before you spent $$ on a lawyer and mention the word lemon.

Already having those conversations. Luckily I have legal insurance so I am getting legal guidance - but have not broached the topic yet with Tesla.

 

[brkaus]

Already having those conversations. Luckily I have legal insurance so I am getting legal guidance - but have not broached the topic yet with Tesla.

I’ve been told once you mention lemon or talked to a lawyer it’s pretty much a conversation with Tesla legal. For better or worse.