please help: Front door latch just failed have to drive 400 miles in AM with latch warning beeping!

[EV Family]

@vandacca I believe he was referring to the FWDs and how they sense obstacles. This seems to be an malfunction/mechanical failure that is beyond SW.

Really disappointed to hear this is still an issue. I do wonder how many people/what percentage of delivered Xs are experiencing door latch issues. If you read the forums, you'd think it is more than 50%, but I think it's probably under 10%. However, anything more than a one off issue is not acceptable, especially at this point.

I don't know if I buy the 10% thinking. I have followed these forums 7 days a week for years and have read just about anything that is written here regarding the X. I thought for sure my May 2016 build with a vin just shy of 5,000 would exclude me from what I believed to be a one off thing as well. In fact Elon's whole being on the production finish line, sleeping bag, and perfect build X comments coincided with my build period. I even tell friends, Elon likely laid eyes on this one. My latches should very well have been the "newly designed" latches that some here have been told about.
I believed it was a small percentage early on, but being impacted by it at this point in the game makes me think differently.

The car is amazing, makes me sad I have to drive something else back home for 6 hours. It handles and drives effortlessly unlike anything else I've ever driven but man from day one and every single time I approach the car I can't help but feel is today the day that everything I read about comes to fruition?
Well that day came last time.

 

[Xminus6]

It would seem that someone at Tesla engineering would have anticipate door electrical/motor systems failure and designed a hardware workaround. -Apparently they didn't!!

I agree. The front doors seem to be presenting the most usability issues. It's baffling to me that there isn't an easy manual failsafe for the front doors. Even in the short time that I've encountered the front doors of Model Xes I've found them to be pretty unintuitive and they actually undermine my confidence in the car. The FWD are oddly less of a mental barrier for me than the failings of the front doors with its regular swing radius and defective latches. Other than the pedals, steering wheel and seat, the front door is the one mechanism that you must interact with every time you drive the car. For that to be in any way questionable is nuts to me.

 

[xkwizit]

While incidents like the one @Pjjava34 faced do make me nervous as I have had a similar failure as soon as I drove out of the SC after they worked on some fit'n'finish issues and since I have a 10-day road trip planned from NorCal to Canada. The trip has been planned to enjoy the ride in Model X as the airfare is just $200/person.

However, I don't think I would beat up TM or EM if the car fails. It's my decision to take the car with a low VIN (28xx) on a road trip just after a couple of thousand miles on it. Just as it was my decision to convert my reservation to a confirmed order knowing that several thousand initial cars for even legacy car manufacturers come with problems. And which car on the planet has latches that are software driven? That's a completely new frontier. And being a software professional, I know how it's completely impossible to test every damn scenario possible.

Model X is otherwise structurally solid, is a joy to ride and Tesla is doing their best to make things right including firing the vendors when they fail to perform.

If EM can land the rocket back on Earth, he has the engineers to fix this too. Till then, hold on to the roller coaster ride as it was your own decision to get the car earlier.

 

[X Yes?]

Thanks pjjava34 for your candor and honesty. It's post like these and the (hopefully) ensuing embarrassment for Tesla, that will force them to address this problem. Keeping information like this on the DL will not get this problem solved. I could care less about supporting the stock price. I'm just waiting to see if this is a fixable problem, before I order. Your later delivery X is not inspiring confidence.

I have an engineering background, this does not sound like this is a SW problem; it is very disingenuous for Musk to proclaim all of these problems will be fixed by a few SW updates. I will certainly not be putting my Family at risk until there is a solution. They should not be delivering cars that fail so quickly after delivery. (Not good for Tesla either, with the tremendous cost of roadside assistance and Service Center repair).

 

[vandacca]

@vandacca I believe he was referring to the FWDs and how they sense obstacles. This seems to be an malfunction/mechanical failure that is beyond SW.

Really disappointed to hear this is still an issue. I do wonder how many people/what percentage of delivered Xs are experiencing door latch issues. If you read the forums, you'd think it is more than 50%, but I think it's probably under 10%. However, anything more than a one off issue is not acceptable, especially at this point.

I agree that a lot of these issues appear to be hardware malfunction/mechanical issues. However, it's not entirely impossible that the issue is still software related.

The software could be causing the hardware to malfunction (e.g. repeatedly not latching at the right moment can cause undo stress on the latch to make it fail prematurely). Some people have reportedly heard a lot of clicking noises, which may be related to the latch being over-used or abused.

Or perhaps, this is a software issue (e.g. software is confused and not activating the latch) and the problem is being blamed on the hardware. It's entirely possible that Tesla doesn't know if the hardware has been compromised, so they're simply replacing existing latches to be safe.

Many DS have reported to owners that their door latches have been replaced, but ultimately, we don't know why. Is it because they were worn out due to a SW bug, or because they were not designed well and failed or because they decided to beef up the latches to better handle these outlier software bugs/situations? Who knows.

 

[Drivin]

Hi, don't panic, this problem existed in X1000 VIN, so you are not alone. !

Exactly!
Don't worry about it - other people have the same issue! Mellow out a bit!

One thing you can do is hold the car door closed while driving it:
The Tesla Model X Has Lovely Doors But Owners Can't Operate Them

it probably just takes some time to get used to doing that - sort of like driving while holding a mattress on top of a roof.

 

[erebay]

A faulty door latch is a safety issue. I am surprised a recall hasn't been issued to fix all latches.

I'm also surprised Tesla suggested you drive 400 miles in a car with an unlatched door with passengers inside.

 

[newtman]

Given its quirks, I'm still very glad we traded our S in for an X.

Given the amount of time I spend far away from service centers on road trips, I'm particularly relieved I didn't got for an X, though I'd love to add one to the stable in a few years when they work out the biggest issues.

 

[ksquared]

With a six-person family, the X was really the ideal car for us, relative to the S (which has basically equivalent practical value to my current sedan). But these issues do seem relatively prevalent. Caveat emptor given the early nature of this company and product. I'm still happy that I've ordered one, though apprehensive about what my experience will be like given these ongoing issues. Hope Elon is paying close attention to this forum.

 

[Waldek]

if you have just problems latching the doors and they trying to be pulled but declined to fully latch then I found some solution. I had same issues like trying to close and failing multiple times to suck the doors in... even with little push from outside or pull from the inside. But when you roll your window completely down and try to close doors they latch properly (at least for me). And even if you are outside of the car trying to close you can just get your hand in through open window (after closing doors already) and pull button to close window just don't forget to take your hand back and pull it all the way up (second click) to full auto-close. Dang after this vehicle locked with windows closed I see that doors closes different way when window is rolled fully down than when window is fully open. When window fully down the closing is stronger than with window up. May help you just in case for few days before you get to service. After a few tries like this my doors started to work fine and now don't plan to go urgently to service just when I am ready to leave car for a few days there to work my list down

 

[ohmman]

@Pjjava34, very glad you got the rental - your safety comes first, but sadly at the cost of comfort. It'll get fixed, and maybe that tow bill will remind Tesla that they need to be more proactive on these issues.

Have a safe trip home.

 

[Dr ValueSeeker]

I don't know if I buy the 10% thinking. I have followed these forums 7 days a week for years and have read just about anything that is written here regarding the X. I thought for sure my May 2016 build with a vin just shy of 5,000 would exclude me from what I believed to be a one off thing as well. In fact Elon's whole being on the production finish line, sleeping bag, and perfect build X comments coincided with my build period. I even tell friends, Elon likely laid eyes on this one. My latches should very well have been the "newly designed" latches that some here have been told about.
I believed it was a small percentage early on, but being impacted by it at this point in the game makes me think differently.

The car is amazing, makes me sad I have to drive something else back home for 6 hours. It handles and drives effortlessly unlike anything else I've ever driven but man from day one and every single time I approach the car I can't help but feel is today the day that everything I read about comes to fruition?
Well that day came last time.

Sorry to hear your story. But I'd say you brought it upon yourself. Living so far from the SCs and knowing the recurring issues with Model X, a wise person would have waited a year to get confirmation of the "fixes", not just take someone's words for it.

I thought, Tesla ranger service now covers up to 500 miles. Why do you need to drop your car off 400 miles away? Does Model X come with ranger service?

 

[EV Family]

Sorry to hear your story. But I'd say you brought it upon yourself. Living so far from the SCs and knowing the recurring issues with Model X, a wise person would have waited a year to get confirmation of the "fixes", not just take someone's words for it.

I thought, Tesla ranger service now covers up to 500 miles. Why do you need to drop your car off 400 miles away? Does Model X come with ranger service?

Please read first post to see that I'm on vacation and currently 400 miles away from the closest SC. I live within a few miles of one.

 

[X Yes?]

Sorry to hear your story. But I'd say you brought it upon yourself. Living so far from the SCs and knowing the recurring issues with Model X, a wise person would have waited a year to get confirmation of the "fixes", not just take someone's words for it.

I thought, Tesla ranger service now covers up to 500 miles. Why do you need to drop your car off 400 miles away? Does Model X come with ranger service?

Disagree. He probably thought when he plunked down 100K +, 6mos. after launch, he would get a product and service commensurate with the cost.

 

[Drivin]

knowing that several thousand initial cars for even legacy car manufacturers come with problems. .

I don't know why people keep repeating this.
For a car of this price range (the 2014 S Class, the LS 430, etc), I doubt that there are so many problems with new models - certainly not with "little things" like the door not working.
.

 

[vandacca]

I don't know why people keep repeating this.
For a car of this price range (the 2014 S Class, the LS 430, etc), I doubt that there are so many problems with new models - certainly not with "little things" like the door not working.
.

Of course a 2014 S Class didn't have any issues with the doors not working, because those doors were the exact same as the 2013 model. The only issues a 2014 S Class would have is with areas where they changed or innovated the design.

The problem with the X is that they innovated a lot of things all at once, so the number of issues grow exponentially. The innovation of a 2014 S Class pales in comparison.

 

[Drivin]

Of course a 2014 S Class didn't have any issues with the doors not working, because those doors were the exact same as the 2013 model. .

That isn't the point.
The point is that cars in this price bracket don't have a lot of problems for the first several thousand cars of a new release.
There were other changes in the S and all the other high end cars with a major redesign.

 

[systemcrashed]

I don't know why people keep repeating this.
For a car of this price range (the 2014 S Class, the LS 430, etc), I doubt that there are so many problems with new models - certainly not with "little things" like the door not working.
.

When I bought my 2007 BMW X5 (1st year production) we had several issues including the rear view camera and rear seatbelt, it took a couple months before the dealer had a new camera module. I also had a tire puncture in the first month (before run flat tires were common) and had to flatbed my car to a dealer on the east coast bc they had 1 tire in stock. The MSRP of that car was over $90k as you increase complication you increase the time it takes to get a stable build quality. In the case of my X5, all issues were fixed in time and the car served our family well for seven years. Model X will be no different. Also, we have a 2015 convertible and the top has malfunctioned within the first 3 months of ownership. These are machines and they are not perfect, you take the good with the bad. Otherwise, if you are happy driving a simpler car without the tech your odds of having these types of issues are less.

 

[DMH-DMH]

My driver side door latch was fixed within 1 day and sent 180 miles back to my office today. The service center and towing people couldn't have been nicer. I agree with the embarrassment part of Pjjava34 was talking about. It is not ideal to have a brand new car put onto a flatbed. At the same time, tesla goes out of their way to make things right. Once I got back into the car and punched the accelerator, all was forgiven.

 

[ohmman]

That isn't the point.

I agree. It isn't the point. But it was yours. At least, your examples.

Regardless, it's good to agree with you again.