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Somethings I dont like about the "S"

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@100KWH my S is a late (August 2015 build, original nose but a Gen 2) and I had a number of rattles that I am OCD about....Luke from Tesla Richmond fixed them all...now I don't have any rattles, squeaks, rubbing etc. at all.....my wife's April'ish build Model X has a number of rattles so I'll be back to Tesla to have these fixed in due course, however due to previous experience I am confident Tesla will addressed those rattles.

Nice! When we first got Valentine she had even more rattles - Tesla did fix most of them but the current rattling is unfortunately really hard to detect, and somehow never seems to be demonstrable on the roads around the roads at Crows Nest :(

There's another rattle directly in front of the driver that Tesla are supposedly aware of, but said that it's a 'fleetwide issue' and a permanent fix will come 'in due course'. It hasn't yet.
 
I too had a few rattles emanating from the dash, (2015 P90D) - Tesla service were very helpful and eventually all were fixed.

Agree with large pillars blocking vision - having said that go and sit in a 458, 488 Ferrari or a Maclaren - much worse as are the mirrors.

I'm only AP1 - but love it. No complaints at all.
 
S, X, and 3 all have room to store a spare tire and jack in the rear, for those willing to carry the extra weight around and give up that storage space.

Don't find the S to have any more blind spots than most other similar vehicles. Combination of well adjusted mirrors and rear view camera keeps me pretty traffic aware. Sensor packs and standard cameras also give additional situational awareness.
 
Nice! When we first got Valentine she had even more rattles - Tesla did fix most of them but the current rattling is unfortunately really hard to detect, and somehow never seems to be demonstrable on the roads around the roads at Crows Nest :(

There's another rattle directly in front of the driver that Tesla are supposedly aware of, but said that it's a 'fleetwide issue' and a permanent fix will come 'in due course'. It hasn't yet.

@100KWH I had similar situation in the dash whereby my S would only rattle consistently on one stretch of road down in Sorrento (about a 1 km stretch)....it did rattle at other times but not enough to be able to get the phone out and record the sound etc.....so I simply recorded driving on the this stretch of road bringing the phone closer to where the noise is with video and away...was clearly heard by the SC and addressed...perviously they kept saying to me they couldn't make it rattle etc., which is understandable given it's intermittency, but it bugged me none the less and I was worried it would get far worse out of warranty so pursued it....Luke was brilliant about it and never made me feel bad for being so OCD....
 
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@100KWH I had similar situation in the dash whereby my S would only rattle consistently on one stretch of road down in Sorrento (about a 1 km stretch)....it did rattle at other times but not enough to be able to get the phone out and record the sound etc.....so I simply recorded driving on the this stretch of road bringing the phone closer to where the noise is with video and away...was clearly heard by the SC and addressed...perviously they kept saying to me they couldn't make it rattle etc., which is understandable given it's intermittency, but it bugged me none the less and I was worried it would get far worse out of warranty so pursued it....Luke was brilliant about it and never made me feel bad for being so OCD about it....

Ah sounds good. I think I'll try that next time I come across the sounds. One time I did record it but they still wanted me to demo it to them - luckily that was for a rattle that could be demonstrated.
 
First time poster, first time Model S owner too. I'll add to the list (and reiterate) some of the above 'wish we had' features other cars have.
- Blind spot indicators in the mirrors, I have two other cars with these and it just works better than looking at the dash.
- On screen notification of text messages and read out text messages (again, used to this in other vehicles I have).
- Stability in the media system before gimmicks (constant resets shouldn't need to happen).
- Surround camera view when parking.
- More technical details about the car available in the dash display.
- The ability to mess with the car (every car I've owned has been modified).

I went on this Tesla journey knowing I was buying in to something that was not the most reliable car out there, would be frightening to own out of warranty, and given Tesla thinks more like a software company than a manufacturer the systems would always have glitches but for now the benefits are outweighing the downsides.
Nice first post, and welcome to the club!
I agree with every point, except perhaps the ability to mess with the car.
The media system hasn't really changed since I've had my car. Even V9 is really just a skin, the underlying media system didn't really change.
They really do need to get the Apple/Android integration happening.
 
I'll add two gripes of my own though: I don't like how there are still rattles in the car 'even though' mine is 'already' a 2018 model year. I can't imagine how bad some of the earlier ones must have been/are.

I can live with it as I play music 99% of the time but when not, it can be a somewhat annoying experience.

The second gripe is that I only wish we bought ours after the MCU refresh. Having driven on some 75D loaners with the new MCU is night and day; Android 1.0 vs 7.0; greased lightning vs sawing wood. I look forward to one day being able to swap mine out. If I can.
Yes as an owner of the first and also the most recent MCU, I’m sorry to have to agree with you
 
@100KWH my S is a late (August 2015 build, original nose but a Gen 2) and I had a number of rattles that I am OCD about....Luke from Tesla Richmond fixed them all...now I don't have any rattles, squeaks, rubbing etc. at all.....my wife's April'ish build Model X has a number of rattles so I'll be back to Tesla to have these fixed in due course, however due to previous experience I am confident Tesla will addressed those rattles.
Tesla service techs are always no fuss. Its very pleasurable dealing with them.
 
Sorry I'll fix my vehicle info for the forum, I have a 2017 P100D Model-S I purchased used.
My point on reliability is not based on internet gripes alone (yes I know people tend to only get vocal about bad things online), my own experiences so far are as follows.
My own car has only done 12,000 or so kms, it is going in shortly to get an air suspension leak fixed, TPMS fixed (a few times a week I get a warning on the dash saying the system has failed), it has various rattles around the sunroof and windows, the MCU isn't what I'd define as a stable operating device. I understand all cars have issues and from what I read the service in Australia where I am is very good, but for the price we are paying these are issues you'd expect at maybe 120,000, not 12,000 and some of them (the MCU stability) should not even exist.
To rub salt in the wound years ago we had a Jeep Grand Cherokee, certainly not known for reliability. We sold that at 75,000kms with not one rattle and no issues ever needed to be addressed during servicing.
I mentioned the ability to get visual display of text messages, this isn't about being an idiot and texting/driving. I'll give you an example of where this is really handy. Lets say you have organised to meet someone at place 'x', on your way there they send a text to say they are running late, or there is no parks so they've parked around the corner. You never see or hear the notification, Tesla is not alone though, my wife has a Euro SUV and it is the same but my other car alerts you on screen and it will even read the message out for you. On the flip side the integrated Google Maps is faultless, love it.
It is a shame because the drivetrain in the Tesla is perfection, exceptional.
 
@P100D_Me any reason you don't have a footer? Like I am assuming you have a new P100D? From my experience the latest generation S and X's (with new grey/blue trim fittings) are very well refined and no way would I say unreliable.

Australia, where? Joining the TOCA (Tesla Owners Club of Australia)?
I'd love to add a profile pic and fill out some details but I can't find where that is done in my account on here, but I am in Melbourne.
I'm not sure on the TOCA yet, maybe, but I've been a car club guy for many years with other makes and models and I find I don't really get in to the whole club thing these days. My day job is in the automotive world so come the weekend I don't want to know about cars, LOL.
 
Sorry I'll fix my vehicle info for the forum, I have a 2017 P100D Model-S I purchased used.
My point on reliability is not based on internet gripes alone (yes I know people tend to only get vocal about bad things online), my own experiences so far are as follows.
My own car has only done 12,000 or so kms, it is going in shortly to get an air suspension leak fixed, TPMS fixed (a few times a week I get a warning on the dash saying the system has failed), it has various rattles around the sunroof and windows, the MCU isn't what I'd define as a stable operating device. I understand all cars have issues and from what I read the service in Australia where I am is very good, but for the price we are paying these are issues you'd expect at maybe 120,000, not 12,000 and some of them (the MCU stability) should not even exist.
To rub salt in the wound years ago we had a Jeep Grand Cherokee, certainly not known for reliability. We sold that at 75,000kms with not one rattle and no issues ever needed to be addressed during servicing.
I mentioned the ability to get visual display of text messages, this isn't about being an idiot and texting/driving. I'll give you an example of where this is really handy. Lets say you have organised to meet someone at place 'x', on your way there they send a text to say they are running late, or there is no parks so they've parked around the corner. You never see or hear the notification, Tesla is not alone though, my wife has a Euro SUV and it is the same but my other car alerts you on screen and it will even read the message out for you. On the flip side the integrated Google Maps is faultless, love it.
It is a shame because the drivetrain in the Tesla is perfection, exceptional.
Was the car a Tesla CPO or purchased in the market. The former should be in perfect condition.
 
Sorry I'll fix my vehicle info for the forum, I have a 2017 P100D Model-S I purchased used.
Lets say you have organised to meet someone at place 'x', on your way there they send a text to say they are running late, or there is no parks so they've parked around the corner. You never see or hear the notification, Tesla is not alone though, my wife has a Euro SUV and it is the same but my other car alerts you on screen and it will even read the message out for you. On the flip side the integrated Google Maps is faultless, love it.
It is a shame because the drivetrain in the Tesla is perfection, exceptional.

Yes fair enough - I do understand where the value comes from. I guess it's one of those things that I haven't felt was 'missing', even as it would improve the experience if I had it. But then again, in those situations, it ends up being a call anyway.

Agree that the rattles and whatnot definitely degrade the experience somewhat - we paid the full $275k for the car, and I certainly shouldn't be expecting to take 4 visits to the SC to fix a few rattles. Oh well, now that's all behind me!
 
Yes fair enough - I do understand where the value comes from. I guess it's one of those things that I haven't felt was 'missing', even as it would improve the experience if I had it. But then again, in those situations, it ends up being a call anyway.

Agree that the rattles and whatnot definitely degrade the experience somewhat - we paid the full $275k for the car, and I certainly shouldn't be expecting to take 4 visits to the SC to fix a few rattles. Oh well, now that's all behind me!

You ticked the "dashboard squeaks and rattles" option by mistake, a lot of customers get caught on that one.:)
 
Having had my Model S for three+ years, it is perhaps a bit late to complain too much about how the car was designed. So I have learned to live with design features such as the wide A pillars -- I admit they are tough to see around, so i have learned to be a bit more cautious at intersections -- I bob my head around to be sure I can see what is hiding behind the pillars (and those big mirrors). Even so, sometimes I get surprised.
I do wish we had proper blindspot/cross-traffic warnings in the mirrors, that would be great. I have had some surprises.
No squeaks or rattles yet. But I do wish Tesla would fix the doggone audio system! They have had many years of complaints, apparently to no avail. Instead they put games in the car! Priorities are wrong, from my view. If I had those two things -- blindspot warning and reliable audio, I would be very content.
And i do agree that i hope I do not get a flat tire on some cold wet night several hours from help. Then again, I am past the point in my life when i would personally change one, especially tires as large and heavy as ones on a Model S. So I must rely on the kindness of strangers (and AAA).
 
Was the car a Tesla CPO or purchased in the market. The former should be in perfect condition.
Privately purchased, it was not through Tesla as a CPO. Doesn't concern me too much I have to take it in as the car is still under warranty anyway, it is just one of those things that for the asking price issues at such an early stage should not be happening..

You ticked the "dashboard squeaks and rattles" option by mistake, a lot of customers get caught on that one.:)
Oh I've owned a few cars where I didn't realise I'd ticked that box, drives me crazy.
 
Blind-spot warnings, cross traffic warning, no 360 degree view for parking at all sides, A Pillars to wide. (None of these things were guaranteed by the manufacturer when the car was purchased.) Gee whiz, how did anyone drive without these in any car much less at Tesla prior to 2012?

I remember the A Pillars in a 1959 Chevrolet Bel-air. It was as wide as a three year old tree trunk.

The Tesla S A Pillars are as wide as they are to accommodate the air bags.
 
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Blind-spot warnings, cross traffic warning, no 360 degree view for parking at all sides.
Blind-spot warnings, warning LED's in the mirrors aren't new, I suspect Tesla decided against that method because they had other plans....like showing you in the dash (not actually a better solution).
cross traffic warning, forgot about that one and yes that is really nice once you've driven a car with it. At least the rear camera has a reasonable wide angle but it still doesn't help when a big SUV is parked next to you.
360 degree view, with all the cameras they have this should be possible.

As you said these aren't functions they ever said were coming, but it does irk you when you see ads for a $40,000 car that has all that.
 
No it does not irk me. I read what came on this car and bought it like they offered it. It also does not have a 8 foot flat bed on the back or 31" wheels. I not going to complain because they don't offer that.

Yes, you are correct. They had have/had a plan and I guess they are following it. This was not an election to pick what we wanted on the car and expect them to install it.

I simply don't understand why people think they have valid complaints for a car that was not advertised to provide the features not on the car regardless if they are on cheaper cars elsewhere.

Please notice that I am not complaining about people that are complaining. They are entitled to complain if they wish. I am simply saying I don't understand why when no promise was made to them and broken to provide features.

Besides many of the updates that are discussed are going to likely require hardware updates. Since Tesla does not retrofit hardware (well hardly ever), if they update new cars with hardware, people will need to buy a new car to get the features. Next people will complain that although the features are there, they have to buy a new car to get the features.

Remember when there were no parking sensors on the S? Then they added them. All those folks that were upset because their car didn't have them and new cars do. Good example (I think).
 
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