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Purchased a used Model X from Tesla - Issues/concern

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Unfortunately, not all MOT stations are equal, especially when it comes down to advisories.
This

My wife’s car had an advisory about the windscreen wipers smearing and a glass chip that needed filling. The wiper had a small leaf caught under that blade and when asked where the chip was they couldn’t find it again. It’s as if they only put them on to give the illusion of thoroughness

I’m not saying you car is bad or nor, we’ve no real way to judge how serious things actually are, it’s almost certainly somewhere between the one extreme and the other, but raise with Tesla and see what they say.
 
I bought an approved used BMW X5 a few years back. Safe in the knowledge it had a comprehensive check box BMW and a warranty.
Within a week it told me it needed new pads and discs. When I enquired how it needed new brakes after only 100 miles they initially tried the “you’ve been braking hard” line. I wasn’t impressed. They changed the brakes.
Only when they did, they failed to put the under tray back on properly and it broke off.

I told the dealership I had lost confidence in the car and rejected it. Got my money back and went and bought from another dealer.

Unfortunately used cars, even “approved used”, are a bit of a gamble. Buying from a reputable dealer helps, but Tesla are struggling. There’s loads of stories of ex demos with wheel scuffs and little dinks. If they want to retain customers longer term they need to up their dealership after sales standards.
 
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When I was last at a SC I met a chap whose X was in for (I think) it's 5th set of halfshafts and just coming up to end of warranty. Perhaps other X owners might comment. Was it halfshafts or other front end control bits?
Access to this vehicle's service history might be useful....

No issues with half shafts after Tesla also started to replace the front motor joints at the same time to solve the 'shudder'. The half shafts + motor mount on our X was replaced some 30K miles ago, no issues since.

The front suspension arms also have a new revised design, again ours was replaced under warranty a long time ago.

The only other suspension issues I know about on the X is over 150K miles the air suspension will need replacing/work, but they are apparently standard Mercedes parts so quite easy to do.

Brake calipers on the S/X are essentially Brembo brakes used in all kinds of high performance cars for the last few decades, so they are well tested designs, they really shouldn't have any issues with 'leaks'.

OPs car sounds like a dud though, and Tesla acting like all good used car dealers - hope to get away with stuff.
 
Hi Guys,

First of all i would like to thank you all for your advice and comments, apologies i couldn't reply back to some of the comments as i was really busy with family and kids but i do have an update for you from Tesla.

Tesla Service centre at Northampton gave me a call in the morning and told me that we have assigned an Mobile Technician who will pick you vehicle up at 2pm and drop a loan car to yuo so we can rectify all these issues.

I then decided that this has happened twice to me (i rejected an Model x a month ago because it was not drivable on te collection day and had put a deposit down for this vehicle where i ahd to wait 3 weeks for Tesla to re-send my funds back to my account so i can pay for this vehicle) i was going to reject this car.

so at 3pm i made an appointment with Mercedes Benz to test drive there EQB (7 seater) and purchase that brand new instead, unfortunately, they didn't have one in stock so they showed me a GLB which i didnt like.

because Tesla centre is oppisite of Mercedes Benz dealership i thought i will go in to the Tesla centre to obtain a copy of the MOT test certificate so i can make a complain to the DVSA about Jaguar Land Rover who did the inital MOT.

I met with the Tesla Service Manager who wanted to talk to me and advised me that we have checked the car and this shouldn't had passed MOT and we will be fixing the following things;


- Both Lower Arm Bushes
- OSF CV Boot
-NSF brake calliper (only replacing 2 new pins)
- Windscreen test for Haze and holographic lights at night (potential windscreen replacement)
- USB for Front and back replacement/fixing (as all 4 USB's are not working
- rear seat switch as the seat is not tilting
- Wing door driver side impact damage
- Panal alignment (boot and trunk is not aligned with the body)
- CCS adapter and tow hitch
- Auto Present door module
- Passanger door not aligned with falcon door.

Even though i showed them images of the OSF upper arm being riped he said that we are going to check this and if it needs replacing we will replace it because they didnt see the split when they checked it today, but when i showed him the photo of the damage, you can clearly see the split on it. I said if your not going to fix it i will take the car to an independent MOT test centre again to get an MOT done and if it fails again i will be coming back to Tesla.

as i asked him for an MOT certificate he then explained to me, if you was to go to the DVSA route of making a complain, we can't carry on work the work as DVSA would need to recall this car to one fo there inspection site on how it was passed it's MOT by Jaguar Land rover and if we fix eveyrthing today they will be saying why have you fixed the issues and we can't do anything, and getting an inspection done by DVSA could take weeks for an appointment or we have all the parts available right now and we can fix your car.

I told the Tesla service manager that what i want you to do is speak to Jaguar land rover and give them the stick from your side and my side that you have passed an MOT of an faulty car and didn't even put any advisories regarding the CV joint, and suspension arms. so just fix my car for now.

i told him that i am not rejecting the car only if you fix everything i asked for, and i spent £55,000 on a car not £5000 and do not tell me that this is all under Tesla Tolerance level. because according to Tesla policy if the gator, suspension arms have a split on them there is a Tesla tolerance level, if they meet that level they don't replace it, but according to MOT testers that is a major Fail. and he was telling em that all MOT are done under the descrition of the tester and it's really a grey area apparantly. but when i spoke to the MOT tester and made him speak to him as well whilst i was at the site that MOT tester told him that this is a major fail if it's split.

so guys, what do you think shall I let them fix all the issues mentioned above and get it re-checked by an independent garage or involve DVSA and trading standards?

Thanks!
 
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Personally, I wouldn't go anywhere near this car, especially if you're dropping £55K on it.

Obviously just my opinion!
Likewise.

I appreciate there may not be a suitable alternative immediately available but can imagine if I'd been through that much grief I'd be permanently wondering 'what next/what else'. For me at least, tarnished goods/experience would mean signing up for a few years of regret.
 
If they fix the car to a level you are happy with then take the car. The Tesla manager is reaching out..that shows that you have got the message through…accept but check. If (as I interpret your post) the MOT centre is in a Land Rover Jaguar garage then you know that the problem is not just Tesla…and from personal experience I can also tell you never buy a Volvo.. if you don’t take this car then someone else will get a very sorted MX
 
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If they fix the car to a level you are happy with then take the car. The Tesla manager is reaching out..that shows that you have got the message through…accept but check. If (as I interpret your post) the MOT centre is in a Land Rover Jaguar garage then you know that the problem is not just Tesla…and from personal experience I can also tell you never buy a Volvo.. if you don’t take this car then someone else will get a very sorted MX
That makes sense, according to the Tesla app they are doing a lot of things. Here is a print screen of what they are doing through the Tesla App..

I have never been a fan of any other makes apart from Honda or Mercedes.

I sold my S Class 2017 plate with maybach edition to get the Model X. But damn i miss my beast now lol

Screenshot_20221024_205301_Tesla.jpg
 

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I sold my S Class 2017 plate with maybach edition to get the Model X. But damn i miss my beast now lol
All I can say is our X has been our main family car since early 2017, so soon to be 6 years old. Its taken the family to the Atlantic highway in Norway, survived 5hr crawls on the M5 during Easter break.

There are car with more luxury interios, cars that are more efficient and cheaper, cars with more range/speed.....but there is nothing else on the road that has the drama and sense of occasion the X can offer up pretty much every time you get in it. Powered doors the panoramic windscreen, the massive amount of personal space, there is literally no other cars on sale today that offers all those things combined.

52217347983_c489aa3ee2_k_d.jpg


52220332097_9177677bbd_k_d.jpg


've just booked the ferry and accommodation for next summers road trip to Milan/lake Como, European road trips with the entire family is when the X really come into its own. The only car I would replace ours with is another X, but given the £100k+ asking price now versus the £71k we paid, and the fact we will loss 'free for life' Supercharging means our X is never going to be sold......there are much worse cars to be stuck with 'for life' :).
 
You bought a 5 yr old car that needs some attention to the brakes and suspension. Ask Tesla to fix it and you might have a good one.

There will be lots of 5 yr old Tesla’s that have never seen much of a garage. Buy another one and you might find just the same issues. At least this one will be fixed.
I'd second this. Buying used from Tesla is clearly a harrowing experience, but these are all consumable parts. Another 5 year old will have part worn equivalents, you'll end up with brand new components. Whilst the experience has not been ideal the outcome seems reasonable.
 
UPDATE:

So guys i just checked my Tesla app and saw this on the job card added on after doing further investigation; i found some good info!

i originally complaint regarding the vehicle having a dent underneath the falcon wing door when i first collected the car, and, the answer i got back was; "we can't align the falcon door and that it's made like this from Fremont factory, and the falcon door hits the body which results in damaging the inner door and paint work and we can't align the falcon door to match the front doors lining because falcon doors are not to be messed with."

Since my MX has gone back due to the dodgy MOT they had got done from Jaguar Land Rover, they added the following;

"Retrofit model x pinch strip carrier and bump stop"

Now doing some research on google, tesla has made a official service bulletin on how to fix this issue on Model X as it's a common fault, and it tells you a step to step guide how to re-align the falcon doors before retrofitting the Pinch strip. - See the attached bulletin doc by Tesla.

I am only sharing this information so if any other X owners are suffering from this they can officially go to Tesla and get this sorted out. They should fix the paint work and retrofit a new pinch sensors and bump stop for you for FOC.

i hope this helps. :)
 

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UPDATE:

So guys i just checked my Tesla app and saw this on the job card added on after doing further investigation; i found some good info!

i originally complaint regarding the vehicle having a dent underneath the falcon wing door when i first collected the car, and, the answer i got back was; "we can't align the falcon door and that it's made like this from Fremont factory, and the falcon door hits the body which results in damaging the inner door and paint work and we can't align the falcon door to match the front doors lining because falcon doors are not to be messed with."

Since my MX has gone back due to the dodgy MOT they had got done from Jaguar Land Rover, they added the following;

"Retrofit model x pinch strip carrier and bump stop"

Now doing some research on google, tesla has made a official service bulletin on how to fix this issue on Model X as it's a common fault, and it tells you a step to step guide how to re-align the falcon doors before retrofitting the Pinch strip. - See the attached bulletin doc by Tesla.

I am only sharing this information so if any other X owners are suffering from this they can officially go to Tesla and get this sorted out. They should fix the paint work and retrofit a new pinch sensors and bump stop for you for FOC.

i hope this helps. :)
Sharing that is great but gotta say you’re much nicer with them than I would have been. Which is NOT a criticism!
 
So, I don't use the falcon doors much on my 2016 M X, but had noticed the bumper stops eating into the rear fender well metal just above the tire. The divot was 1/16 inch deep on the right and 1/8 inch on the left, about 1/2 inch in breadth. After some back and forth, the SD, CA service manager covered the repair (minus the $200 deductible) under my extended service warranty agreement (goodwill adjustment, as the pinch strip software retrofit described in the service bulletin did not appear to be a covered service!!). They performed this maintenance: "Correction: Retrofit LH and RH Pinch Sensor Carrier, Retrofit LH and RH Bump Stops, Install Protective Patches." This is described in the service bulletin previously posted. I will upload a pic of the location and the patch, which appears stuck on top of the defect. My take on this is that normal driving vibration causes the bumper stop to rub against, and erode, the metal. :(

--JC, San Diego, CA, USA
 

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