Service Issues and Degradation - 1 year and 45k Miles - May 2016 Facelift S

[Mattzilla]

Tesla Service Issues and Rated Miles after One Year and 45k Miles



Late May 2016 70D

1. Tesla Service (6 visits total - 3 in Seattle, 2 in Portland, and 1 in Santa Barbara)
   
   
   1. 07-02-2016 - 9.5k miles - Alignment ($125), rattles (Tesla addressed), Supercharging errors during road trip (Tesla said the fault was with the chargers and not my car), and tech found that the front made creaking noise when wheel was turned to extremes (Tesla installed nylon washers).
      
      
   2. 08-19-2016 - 16k miles - LED headlamp failed (Tesla replaced), mobile charger failed (Tesla replaced), rattles (Tesla addressed).
      
      
   3. 10-31-2016 - 24.5k miles - Rattles (Tesla addressed), purchased 25k mile service ($700), and purchased 75D OTA upgrade ($3200 - Tesla installed new badge).
      
      
   4. 11-14-2016 - 26k miles - Rattles (Tesla addressed) and rear driver door handle was squeaking when extended/retracted (Tesla realigned handle).
      
      
   5. 01-02-2017 - 32k miles - Tire blew out (was still using OEM Eagle Touring tires) while on a mountain outside of Ventura, CA with no cell reception (Tesla gave me a loaner tire to make it back to WA [approximately 1k miles away] - Had 4 new Michelins installed at a local Costco upon returning home).
      
      
   6. 05-26-2017 - 44.5k miles - Charge port error (Tesla replaced charge port), bluetooth error (Tesla determined this to be a bug and so they didn’t need to take action), and consistently slow Supercharger speeds that are never able to top 87kW regardless of location or conditions (Tesla escalated issue to engineering - still waiting to hear back).
      

1. Battery
   
   
   1. 75D is EPA rated for 259 miles (according to Tesla)
      
      
   2. My car achieves 247 EPA rated miles at 100% charge as of 05-31-2017
      
      
      1. Car charges to 90% on a nightly basis and has been garage kept about half of its life (it did have to endure several months where temps dipped below freezing outside of a garage).
         
         
      2. Car is charged to 100% at least twice a month, sometimes 4 times within a month to allow me to drive to the airport and back on a single charge (I live in rural WA).
         
         
      3. Car has been on 3 road trips, one of them 6k miles roundtrip, and has used many Superchargers in 12 different states.
         
         
      4. Car has rolled in at Supercharges with 3-4 rated miles on a few occasions during the colder months.
         

 

[Max*]

Late May 2016 70D

75D is EPA rated for 259 miles (according to Tesla)

So do you have a 70D or a 75D?

Nevermind, I see in your sig you upgraded OTA to the 75D.

 

[Mattzilla]

So do you have a 70D or a 75D?

Nevermind, I see in your sig you upgraded OTA to the 75D.

On one of the service visits I noted upgrading and the cost (back then).

 

[Mattzilla]

I've crossed the 50k mark and figured I'd share my new service log (50k miles after 14 months of ownership):

Service (8 Tesla Service visits total - 4 in Portland, 3 in Seattle, and 1 in Santa Barbara)

1. 07-02-2016 - 9.5k miles - Alignment (Tesla charged me $125), rattles (Tesla addressed), Supercharging errors during road trip (Tesla said the fault was with the chargers and not my car), and tech found that the front made creaking noise when wheel was turned to extremes (Tesla installed nylon washers).
   
   
2. 08-19-2016 - 16k miles - LED headlamp failed (Tesla replaced), mobile charger failed (Tesla replaced), rattles (Tesla addressed).
   
   
3. 10-31-2016 - 24.5k miles - Rattles (Tesla addressed), purchased 25k mile service ($700), and purchased 75D OTA upgrade ($3200 - Tesla installed new badge).
   
   
4. 11-14-2016 - 26k miles - Rattles (Tesla addressed) and rear driver door handle was squeaking when extended/retracted (Tesla realigned handle).
   
   
5. 01-02-2017 - 32k miles - Rear passenger tire blew out (was still using OEM Goodyear Eagle Touring tires) while on a mountain outside of Ventura, CA with no cell reception (had to hitchhike down the mountain and call Tesla service when cell reception was available again… Tesla gave me a loaner tire to make it back to WA [approximately 1k miles away] - Had 4 new Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ tires installed at a local Costco upon returning home [installed at 33.8k miles]).
   
   
6. 05-26-2017 - 44.5k miles - Charge port error (Tesla replaced charge port), bluetooth error (Tesla determined this to be a bug and so they didn’t need to take action), and consistently slow Supercharger speeds that are never able to top 87kW regardless of location or conditions (Tesla escalated issue to engineering - still waiting to hear back).
   
   
7. 06-21-2017 - 46k miles - Having sent a few case example e-mails to Tesla regarding my slow Supercharging speeds and having heard nothing from them in nearly a month since my last service visit, I called Tesla Service Seattle and spoke with Brandon who said he would escalate my case again and make sure the case example e-mail with pictures was forwarded to engineering. He thanked me for my patience and said that I should hear something “soon."
   
   
8. 06-22-2017 - 46k miles - David, Tesla engineer, called me and said that my charge rate was being limited due to too many DCFC sessions. I explained that I have less than 100 DCFC sessions and asked what the limit was before Tesla begins throttling charge rates. He said that Tesla doesn't make the number known to the public. I then inquired about my average speeds being around 50kW. David said he didn't know why that would be but to keep an eye on the car and contact Tesla if an error appears during Supercharging. David said the car is good at self-diagnosis and it will let me know if anything is wrong. Disappointing response.
   
   
9. 07-01-2017 - 47.5k miles - Alignment (During a routine tire rotation at Costco a few weeks prior, the tech said that my tires had “abnormal wear” and that an alignment was likely in order. I arranged a service appointment and a Tesla tech checked my car and reminded me that Tesla has an “aggressive alignment” and stated that my tire wear was normal. Tesla checked my alignment anyway and found it to be just barely in the red on front “steer ahead” at -0.09, which they corrected to 0.00. I was told previously that an alignment is performed as part of my 50k service, which is coming up soon, so they wouldn't align today unless it was really bad at which point they were supposed to call me for authorization. Since Tesla performed the alignment without first calling me to confirm I wanted it, to my amazement they “goodwilled” the alignment and I didn't have to pay the normal $125 fee! Big thanks to Sarah at the new Tesla Portland service center!)
   
   
10. 07-31-2017 - 49,985 miles - Window switch (a few months ago I began experiencing an intermittent issue where my windows would not roll down - I made a video and sent it to the service center and they replaced my window switch under warranty), purchased 50k service ($850).

Battery

1. 75D is EPA rated at 259 miles (according to Tesla)
   
   
2. My car achieves 247 EPA rated miles at 100% charge as of 07-31-2017
   
   
   1. Car charges to 90% (or 222 rated miles as of 07-31-2017) on a nightly basis and has been garage kept about half of its life (it did have to endure several months outside of a garage during my first year of ownership where temps dipped below freezing).
      
      
   2. Car is charged to 100% at least 2 times a month, sometimes 4 times within a month, to allow me to drive to the airport and back on a single charge (I live in rural WA).
      
      
   3. Car has been on 2 long distance road trips, one of them 6k miles roundtrip.
      
      
   4. Car has used multiple Superchargers in 12 different states.
      
      
   5. On 06-24-2017 I range charged to 100%, or 247 rated miles, and departed my home in Ocean Park, WA for PDX. It was a 2.5 hour drive, or 130 miles. I picked up my sister from PDX and returned to Long Beach Peninsula, which was another 2.5 hour drive, or 117 miles. I did all of this on a single charge and arrived at Adrift Hotel (they have a L2 charger there) with 1 rated mile showing on the car. 130 + 117 is 247 miles, but the tripmeter on the car showed 250 miles, so I may have made a few wrong turns along the way. The trip planner was showing that I would arrive at Adrift Hotel with 1% battery most of the return trip. I decided to chance it and go for it, even though I could have stopped short of my destination to charge, but the rated mile indicator didn’t lead me astray and I made it. Good to know the trip planner and my battery still work well after all of these miles. I drove 5 mph over the speed limit the whole way, had the AC on, and it was 80-95 degrees outside. I would not have tried this during the winter.
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

 

[YauKwan]

Dang man. I thought the battery throttle only affected larger battery packs and would expect our cars to maintain the already slower 90-96kw charge speeds.

This is bs...

 

[idleuser]

Wow 50 charged and you're already getting throttled.. thanks for the log though!

 

[Tevvy]

You seem to push the limits of the range to the extreme! What do you do if the charge point you're aiming for isn't working? Do you have a back up plan?

Good log though. It scares me how many times you've been into the SC in 12 months. My car arrives next month and my nearest SC is 1.5 hours away, it will be a real PITA if I have to go anything like 8 times in 12 months!

Although I notice a lot of the visits are 'rattles'. How bad were they? And the nylon washers replaced after 9.5k miles? Is that normal?

I hope my car is less troublesome than yours - fingers crossed!

 

[Mattzilla]

You seem to push the limits of the range to the extreme! What do you do if the charge point you're aiming for isn't working? Do you have a back up plan?

Good log though. It scares me how many times you've been into the SC in 12 months. My car arrives next month and my nearest SC is 1.5 hours away, it will be a real PITA if I have to go anything like 8 times in 12 months!

Although I notice a lot of the visits are 'rattles'. How bad were they? And the nylon washers replaced after 9.5k miles? Is that normal?

I hope my car is less troublesome than yours - fingers crossed!

I live 3 hours from a SC, so believe me it has been challenging sometimes.

If I decide to push the range of the car I always make sure there are other charging options around just in case! But I've learned to mostly rely on the range indicator - it's done a great job of estimating my range on trips when I put my destination into the navigation.

Yes, the rattles drove me nuts. After all of those visits, I still have a few rogue rattles that occur intermittently, but the super annoying ones are gone. It's a common complaint in Teslas and a result of poor fit and finish. Hopefully you will have better luck in that department!

 

[schonelucht]

It's OK to throttle. It's not OK not to tell customers under which conditions throttling happens.