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steering wheel buttons and horn not working on brand new X

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As I was driving out of delivery center I noticed the steering wheel controls and horn were no longer working. So I went to the nearby service center and they told me they would have to schedule a "steering switch" replacement by a mobile tech.

Has this malfunction happened to anyone before?
 
Oh, you forgot to pay $10,000 extra for that option. :rolleyes:

Never heard of this problem, but like mswlogo, I am encouraged that it is a simple enough job that a mobile tech can do it. just speculating that a connector somewhere in the column didn't get connected properly on the line. Too bad they didn't catch this problem in QA.
 
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Yes, same problem! Delivery was last Thursday (12/12), all working fine. Next day the horn, the voice command button, back/menu button, and the heated steering wheel all suddenly stopped working. The scrollwheels still work (both), and the buttons on the left side still work. I've got a service appointment this Thursday. They said it will be a steering wheel and airbag replacement. (The fact that the heated steering wheel had also gone out seemed important to the them, that otherwise it might just be a switch or a loose/nicked wire, but in this case they suspected the airbag had caused a short.)

No horn is a safety issue so I've been driving it less than I'd like, which is disappointing, and I don't feel I've tested it as much as I'd like. Especially since the repair will be after the 7-day return window, though the return policy does mention that can be extended for extenuating circumstances. Love the car, and really hoping I won't find anything else major wrong that would make me think it wasn't built well and need to return it. We've also got a Model 3 so I'm familiar with the Tesla-ness of it -- that was the reason I went for an X, and I wouldn't return it for any reason other than poor build quality -- so I'm just hoping it's a one-off problem and not a sign of a lemon.

Just FYI, I went through one of the online delivery checklists, and the only problems I noticed at delivery were the trunk carpet wasn't attached, which they fixed right then; and they did a very poor job of cleaning it, pretty dirty outside, and all kinds of black hand smudges on the white seats -- but that was a good test of how they clean up! (Thankfully they cleaned up very easily.)

Here's hoping for no other issues!
 
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CSProf, thanks for your detailed answer!

We're also a two-Tesla family with a Model 3 which is frankly an awesome car and my wife's daily driver. But I can't quite get used to the low driving position as a long-time SUV owner (2 VW Touareg and 1 Model X100D previously).

On this forum I was recently reading about some Model X delivery delays because of an "airbag fault" . Might this be related to our issue? This morning I received a text from the SC that following their remote diagnostic they have to order parts. This sounds a bit more involved than a simple ranger visit, we'll see. I'll post updates here.

I also briefly considered returning the car but since it's otherwise spotless and seems fine so far I'll let Tesla do its thing. As a Tesla investor (sold the latest spike) I'm interested in getting a personal feel of their support quality, or lack thereof.

Here is a pic from delivery yesterday. Cheers,
 

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Yes, same problem! Delivery was last Thursday (12/12), all working fine. Next day the horn, the voice command button, back/menu button, and the heated steering wheel all suddenly stopped working. The scrollwheels still work (both), and the buttons on the left side still work. I've got a service appointment this Thursday. They said it will be a steering wheel and airbag replacement. (The fact that the heated steering wheel had also gone out seemed important to the them, that otherwise it might just be a switch or a loose/nicked wire, but in this case they suspected the airbag had caused a short.)

No horn is a safety issue so I've been driving it less than I'd like, which is disappointing, and I don't feel I've tested it as much as I'd like. Especially since the repair will be after the 7-day return window, though the return policy does mention that can be extended for extenuating circumstances. Love the car, and really hoping I won't find anything else major wrong that would make me think it wasn't built well and need to return it. We've also got a Model 3 so I'm familiar with the Tesla-ness of it -- that was the reason I went for an X, and I wouldn't return it for any reason other than poor build quality -- so I'm just hoping it's a one-off problem and not a sign of a lemon.

Just FYI, I went through one of the online delivery checklists, and the only problems I noticed at delivery were the trunk carpet wasn't attached, which they fixed right then; and they did a very poor job of cleaning it, pretty dirty outside, and all kinds of black hand smudges on the white seats -- but that was a good test of how they clean up! (Thankfully they cleaned up very easily.)

Here's hoping for no other issues!
Wait, are they replacing the airbag because it's simply part of the wheel assembly (usually), or was this issue also possibly not allowing for airbag deployment?
 
CSProf, thanks for your detailed answer!

We're also a two-Tesla family with a Model 3 which is frankly an awesome car and my wife's daily driver. But I can't quite get used to the low driving position as a long-time SUV owner (2 VW Touareg and 1 Model X100D previously).

On this forum I was recently reading about some Model X delivery delays because of an "airbag fault" . Might this be related to our issue? This morning I received a text from the SC that following their remote diagnostic they have to order parts. This sounds a bit more involved than a simple ranger visit, we'll see. I'll post updates here.

I also briefly considered returning the car but since it's otherwise spotless and seems fine so far I'll let Tesla do its thing. As a Tesla investor (sold the latest spike) I'm interested in getting a personal feel of their support quality, or lack thereof.

Here is a pic from delivery yesterday. Cheers,

Sorry to hear about your issues. Good they have already ordered parts. Look forward to seeing your updates.

But, I wanted to comment on your car. It looks great. What color is that? We have pearl white now, but our lease is up in a year so I am interested in color combos. Your car is gorgeous!
 
Sorry to hear about your issues. Good they have already ordered parts. Look forward to seeing your updates.

But, I wanted to comment on your car. It looks great. What color is that? We have pearl white now, but our lease is up in a year so I am interested in color combos. Your car is gorgeous!

Thanks! It's a midnight gray LR 7-seater with cream interior, my previous X was a blue 100D with black interior and carbon trim. This new combo works really well, the family seems to appreciate it; the oak veneer is is well done in little strips making it stylish and modern. And for resale gray might be easier. It took me a couple months to find a buyer for my blue X.
 
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Likewise like the higher ride, and likewise an investor hoping to see a good experience. :) Ha, we got the blue! Love it. Gray would have been our second choice.

I asked specifically if they thought the airbag was functional or faulty. They said it was functional; and that I would have seen a bunch of error indicators if it wasn't. But they believed the airbag had caused the other problems, so to be sure the problem was solved they would replace the steering wheel and the airbag (rather than just replacing say a switch and having it fail again because the root cause hadn't been addressed, something I definitely appreciate).

They did verify they had the parts on hand, which is good, as they said that because airbags are considered hazardous materials they had to be shipped ground, and couldn't be overnighted.

They thought it would take around 90min for the ranger to do the swap, that it wasn't particularly difficult to do.

I heard that it might require an alignment after a steering wheel replacement, but haven't had time to research that yet. Anyone know offhand?
 
Hi titus65, this happened to me 6 times since I bought my Model S last year. Every time they just replace the steering wheel buttons, airbag assembly and they get fried after a couple of months again.

It happens mostly in the winter.

The symptom I see before the buttons will get fried is that the right side display of the driver's dash screen will randomly switch to a different app without me touching anything. When this happens a few times, I know the buttons will get fried soon.

I am frustrated with this issue now and trying to negotiate with Tesla to replace my vehicle as they clearly do not have a solution to the problem.