Refresh door handles...

[mbhforum]

LOL, I did this already after reading the stories on here! Mine have a carbon wrap on them so it's going to be really bad for me if one fails.

I have a matte black wrap in mine. The switch is on the inside of the door and they don’t actually replace the door handle itself.

 

[David29]

I got my (2018 showroom inventory model) Model S less than two weeks ago and just had my driver door handle fail. At first it wouldn't let me close the door (instantly unlatched) as the handle sensor seemed to think I was trying to open it. I was able to get the door to close by pressing the lock button on the touch screen then closing the door (I believe this makes the car ignore the user trying to open the door). It's been working on and off, but currently it extends correctly but pulling it does nothing and it doesn't fully retract without me pushing it in. Thankfully I already had a service appointment tomorrow to get my tire that came with a tear replaced, so they should take care of it then.

My car (279xxx) was built in September 2018 and was pulled from the showroom in late March. I'm not sure when it went into service as a showroom model, but it had 450 miles on it when I got it.

Ordinarily I would say that is a bad sign for the reliability of the recent door handles. But in fact, it may well be that the door handles got many times as much use, and accompanying wear and tear, in the showroom in those few months as they would have in normal use by an owner.

 

[BPeter]

I have a 2015 and have had 3 out of 4 handles replaced. If it wasn’t for mobile service and then fact it’s still under warranty, I might have sold the car already. The mobile ranger had the nerve to tell me on Thursday when he replaced my most recent door handle failure that it’s a “wear and tear” part and that’s why it’s failing. He recommended I turn off auto-present handles for less wear and tear. I consider this a safety issue if I can’t open the door with my children in the car during an emergency. What a joke.

Honestly the safety of the handles aspect isn't something I thought about before buying the car. I didn't even know the handles aren't physically linked to the latch. It seems like a pretty serious potential safety issue if the handle can do easily fail. Even the interior handle isn't physical and just has a sensor that releases the latch. What if that fails after an accident? How do you get out of the car?

 

[agloutney]

I’m fairly sure the inside ones have a physical connection. I know the rear doors have an extra release mechanism below the rear seat you can pull and release the doors even if there is no power at all to the car. Not 100% sure about the fronts though.

 

[P100D_Me]

What if that fails after an accident? How do you get out of the car?

Could be worse, we could have doors that opened upwards using motors

 

[wdolson]

My car is fro the same month as the OP, but they still work. I have noticed in the last year that one or two are getting slower than the others, so now the door handle present is a chord of handles presenting at slightly different times instead of all at once.

 

[Ampere_90D]

My car is fro the same month as the OP, but they still work. I have noticed in the last year that one or two are getting slower than the others, so now the door handle present is a chord of handles presenting at slightly different times instead of all at once.

Keep in mind that the door handles still work, they just don’t pop out. If you want a quick temporary (or permanent depending on how you feel about it) fix you can cut the hem off an old washcloth and use it as an opening ring. If you were feeling savvy, you might even 3D print some replacement handles that sit around and on top of the existing handle.

 

[camthehombre]

Nothing gives you more confidence for long term durability than the sound of your rear window catching the weather strip because it was too slow to drop when the door was opened, I hate it.

Is that were the sound is coming from? My right rear door just started to do this and I can only hear it from the inside so I can't tell what it was catching. Is it possible to adjust the microswitch or anything to make it actuate sooner? Or is there a specific part I need to replace? I did another handle already and it works fine now, but that one simply didn't do anything when pulled.

 

[wdolson]

Something very strange happened this evening. The passenger door handle bit my SO. I got to my side of the car a few seconds before she did and the door handles deployed. The passenger door handle was deployed about 5 seconds when it snapped back in with her hand on it. It pinched hard enough to break the skin on one of her fingers. She touched the handle, it came back out and she was able to open the door. The other three door handles remained out.

I've never seen that before.

 

[agloutney]

I’ve had them retract on me. There shouldn’t be much pressure as they are held in by a spring. However the element of surprise causes people to pull their hand away quickly which I guess can rap your knuckles. I tried it again without pulling away and there’s not much pinching pressure.