Should I buy a 2016 Tesla X

[geordi]

LOL I actually know exactly where that is, I worked near there one summer.

There ARE third party shops that will work on Teslas, but that is in spite of the company not in cooperation with them. They have intentionally made it extremely difficult to work on anything but the older "classic" Teslas - and will lie to your face that the service department is "not a profit center" which is complete BULL.

It's also not a surprise at all that a Mercedes dealer wouldn't work on non-Mercedes, that's true of most dealerships for any brand. They only want to handle their own products. You need to find a reliable third-party, but in WV it is possibly going to be difficult b/c of the scarcity of Teslas there.

With your location it might not be worth the travel cost to have me come and do something as simple as the steering wheel controls if that was the only thing - BUT I'm willing. It might work out better though if you happen to know anyone with tractor attachments for sale, I'm renovating some property and need to get some tools. Looking for Category 1 or SSQA bush hog, rototiller, land plane....

 

[towndrunk]

Thanks I’ll go ahead and order it. I’m not sure I trust my mechanical skills. I’ll see if I can find somebody that can put it in.

i’ve tried absolutely everything just can’t get the Wi-Fi to work. When I try to use a hotspot with my cell phone, it’s only showing two bars in the Tesla, but it will not hook up.

Can you try someone else's hotspot? Does your hotspot work on a tablet or laptop?

What's your garage situation, detached? Own or rent?

We rent but our garage is line-of-sight from our LR window, so I installed a Google mesh network, with one unit in the garage and the other in our LR window. The one in the garage is in a Christmas popcorn tin with half the side cut off to make parabolic reflector facing the LR window. Not the best, actually too far apart, but still manage to get 20-50 mbs downloads, compared to 200 in my LR, so still gets the job done. Plus I can get reports of log uploads and downloads so I know when updates were installed.

 

[jaj111]

My Mercedes dealer who I’ve dealt with a lot. Pretty good company really they had another Tesla a couple months ago. They actually tried to fix it all. It was a valence some kind of cosmetic thing and Tesla would not sell it to them. I’m sure others will disagree with me who have more experience. But Tesla customer service has a lot to be desired.

As far as the Wi-Fi it will recognize my home Wi-Fi and my phone hotspot. It just won’t connect. Discovered something else with the key fob. And this includes both key fobs I can push the button and open the trunk and doors. It’s just when I walk up to the car it doesn’t open and car does not recognize the key. Once inside, I have to put it in the middle Consol to drive. Both key fobs were working for the first few days and both stopped working at the same time

 

[jaj111]

Can you try someone else's hotspot? Does your hotspot work on a tablet or laptop?

What's your garage situation, detached? Own or rent?

We rent but our garage is line-of-sight from our LR window, so I installed a Google mesh network, with one unit in the garage and the other in our LR window. The one in the garage is in a Christmas popcorn tin with half the side cut off to make parabolic reflector facing the LR window. Not the best, actually too far apart, but still manage to get 20-50 mbs downloads, compared to 200 in my LR, so still gets the job done. Plus I can get reports of log uploads and downloads so I know when updates were installed.

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately my present home situation. I’m not close to the Wi-Fi. But I do have a mesh system and literally put one of my mesh boxes near the car. It does show up when searching for Wi-Fi. Also, my phone shows up. Even sitting in the car has weak signal though. But will not connect.

 

[jaj111]

LOL I actually know exactly where that is, I worked near there one summer.

There ARE third party shops that will work on Teslas, but that is in spite of the company not in cooperation with them. They have intentionally made it extremely difficult to work on anything but the older "classic" Teslas - and will lie to your face that the service department is "not a profit center" which is complete BULL.

It's also not a surprise at all that a Mercedes dealer wouldn't work on non-Mercedes, that's true of most dealerships for any brand. They only want to handle their own products. You need to find a reliable third-party, but in WV it is possibly going to be difficult b/c of the scarcity of Teslas there.

With your location it might not be worth the travel cost to have me come and do something as simple as the steering wheel controls if that was the only thing - BUT I'm willing. It might work out better though if you happen to know anyone with tractor attachments for sale, I'm renovating some property and need to get some tools. Looking for Category 1 or SSQA bush hog, rototiller, land plane....

My Mercedes dealer who I’ve dealt with a lot. Pretty good company really they had another Tesla a couple months ago. They actually tried to fix it all. It was a valence some kind of cosmetic thing and Tesla would not sell it to them. I’m sure others will disagree with me who have more experience. But Tesla customer service has a lot to be desired.

As far as the Wi-Fi it will recognize my home Wi-Fi and my phone hotspot. It just won’t connect. Discovered something else with the key fob. And this includes both key fobs I can push the button and open the trunk and doors. It’s just when I walk up to the car it doesn’t open and car does not recognize the key. Once inside, I have to put it in the middle Consol to drive. Both key fobs were working for the first few days and both stopped working at the same time

 

[brainhouston]

The fob thing might be a setting, I recall someone had same issue

 

[DCGOO]

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately my present home situation. I’m not close to the Wi-Fi. But I do have a mesh system and literally put one of my mesh boxes near the car. It does show up when searching for Wi-Fi. Also, my phone shows up. Even sitting in the car has weak signal though. But will not connect.

You might try a simpler password. I've found that the code used by the in-car keyboard does not necessarily send out the same character set used by the PC you may have used to set up your WiFi. Most of the problems surround passwords with spaces or some form of a dash. Standard letters and numbers are generally okay, but passwords that include _ - \ | ? & may be typed incorrectly. Basically beware of any of the shifted characters above the numbers.

 

[xavl123]

Actually, the buttons on the right side of the steering wheel work part time. It’s odd. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they don’t. As far as the wheel, it just doesn’t work.

For what Tesla will charge you to fix that button you might as well just buy a new yoke or regular tesla steering wheel and install it yourself. plenty of videos online on how to do it.

 

[jaj111]

The fob thing might be a setting, I recall someone had same issue

 

[jaj111]

I’ve tried everything I have found on-line to try. Nothing works

 

[jaj111]

LOL I actually know exactly where that is, I worked near there one summer.

There ARE third party shops that will work on Teslas, but that is in spite of the company not in cooperation with them. They have intentionally made it extremely difficult to work on anything but the older "classic" Teslas - and will lie to your face that the service department is "not a profit center" which is complete BULL.

It's also not a surprise at all that a Mercedes dealer wouldn't work on non-Mercedes, that's true of most dealerships for any brand. They only want to handle their own products. You need to find a reliable third-party, but in WV it is possibly going to be difficult b/c of the scarcity of Teslas there.

With your location it might not be worth the travel cost to have me come and do something as simple as the steering wheel controls if that was the only thing - BUT I'm willing. It might work out better though if you happen to know anyone with tractor attachments for sale, I'm renovating some property and need to get some tools. Looking for Category 1 or SSQA bush hog, rototiller, land plane....

I ordered the steering wheel controls from eBay. Just not too sure of my skills I’m not very mechanically inclined lol.

 

[geordi]

I ordered the steering wheel controls from eBay. Just not too sure of my skills I’m not very mechanically inclined lol.

Go to Service.tesla.com and pull up the service manual for your car, you can find the full procedure for taking apart the wheel - look at the steering wheel removal procedure, obviously you aren't going to pull the wheel. If after reading through that you are scared off... Hit me with a message and we can talk about a reasonable service cost. I do have an upcoming job in PA near Harrisburg. It isn't exactly close by, but it's closer than I am now.

 

[jaj111]

Go to Service.tesla.com and pull up the service manual for your car, you can find the full procedure for taking apart the wheel - look at the steering wheel removal procedure, obviously you aren't going to pull the wheel. If after reading through that you are scared off... Hit me with a message and we can talk about a reasonable service cost. I do have an upcoming job in PA near Harrisburg. It isn't exactly close by, but it's closer than I am now.

I appreciate it You will not be close at all Ugh I may try this myself Thank you

 

[geordi]

Taking apart the wheel really isn't too bad of a job, I did it during a road trip. If you are vaguely certain which end of a screwdriver to point at the problem, you should be able to handle this.

 

[SamN44]

Having just sold our 2016 Model X for a new one -- this thread confirms that was the right choice.

 

[geordi]

Having just sold our 2016 Model X for a new one -- this thread confirms that was the right choice.

Curious, why would you think that? EVERY ONE of the Model X through the current editions have the same flaw in the front half shafts, that design flaw has not yet been confirmed to be fixed. Other issues seem rather minor by comparison.

 

[SamN44]

Curious, why would you think that? EVERY ONE of the Model X through the current editions have the same flaw in the front half shafts, that design flaw has not yet been confirmed to be fixed. Other issues seem rather minor by comparison.

The cost of maintenance of these cars out of warranty is high and the lingering threat of the HV battery going bad gives a lot of anxiety. My 2016's battery warranty would have expired this July. Reading this forum, it's clear that you have to be able to learn to work on the car yourself out of warranty, because the service centers aren't helpful. The cost to keep the car, in my mind, eclipsed the price of a new one once Tesla let me transfer our free supercharging. The hourly rate for the service center in Kennesaw, GA is $200/hr. Although the car may have the same flaws, it is now not my problem.

In my 2.5 years of ownership the half shafts were replaced, the pyro fuse replaced and the MCU was upgraded to MCU2 because MCU1 apparently stops working. Luckily I bought that car when the big ticket items like the half shafts were already issued a TSB for the $350 replacement. The service center still held me hostage for a $160 diagnostic fee even though I knew the problem. As the second owner, I sold the car with 40,000 miles. It was great, but you could tell the air shocks were at end of life and the control arms needed to be replaced. Who wants to put 5k into an 8 year old car only for it to drop a cell in the HV battery.

The 2016 has some great features -- AP1 with radar is great, the self presenting doors actually work (lol), real leather on the steering wheel and seats. The way Tesla treats maintenance with regard to parts (replace everything - no actual fixing) and the lack of 3rd party mechanics that will work on the X make it feel more like an iphone that you have to upgrade every few years rather than an heirloom.

If you haven't sat in a X, you owe it to yourself to test drive one. It feels much more refined.

 

[geordi]

I know it is - I own two of them and both are 2016. The doors opening aren't so great, the firmware has jacked with that thanks to Tesla. I doubt your control arms needed replacement, there is nothing to adjust on the factory arms and aftermarket are installed to solve the tire wear issues BECAUSE there is no adjustment from factory. Air shocks are a TBD - these are shielded to protect the air bag, it is unfortunate that the damper is not separate but much of the ride is due to how the air suspension is programmed. Elon likes low riders, so he wants them to ride like that.

The biggest issue I have with them is related to what you mentioned: The service centers are impossible to deal with, and the car is OVERLY complicated with no good reason to be. It has powered headrests! The sheer number of electric motors in it is ludicrous and probably adds close to a ton of weight. Then there's that massive windshield, which I just discovered a crack in mine today. Joy, now I get to have something else fixed.

 

[EbS-P]

Issues in the last 25 months of ownership of a 2016. Axels were bad and when acquired. Random supercharging error. Driver’s window regulator. 19k miles in 25 months. 43k on the odometer. 242 miles of range.

 

[youngmcdonald]

No.