Tired of the $100,000 Car

[number12]

gaps, poor prep, poor paint, missing paint, fwd creaking sound, popping sound, fwd not flush w/ the top of the car, hood not aligned, rear bumper not aligned, chrome piece falling apart, rubber molding falling apart, wind noise from said failing rubber molding,. the list is quite long and seem to be adding more to the list before i get to actually drop it off to the SC.

What's your VIN? That list sucks. Did you find most of those at deliveryV

I live 3 hours from SC so you have me scared

 

[Darren Donovan]

It may not be obvious to people that do not follow the auto industry closely, but quality and reliability is much better for $55k (and $20k) cars than $100k cars.

High volume manufacturing is a key enabler, you just cannot get the same quality or reliability from low volume, regardless of price. This is especially true for hand crafted cars that often sell for $1M.

I should clarify that quality is defined as the car actually being built to its engineering specification. It is not about how high the specifications are.

GSP

This begs the question: why do manufacturers brag about their "hand built" cars, as if that's an indicator of quality? Most exotic cars fall into this category. IMO robots build cars better than humans.

 

[jelloslug]

In which part of the world $100k+ is a 'highincome household'? Anyway, if 20-29% of >$100k households will buy Tesla then market for Tesla is huge, that's w/o even considering Model 3.

Where I live $100k is a "high income household".

 

[Chopr147]

Why do you jump to the conclusion that the Tesla would be their only vehicle? I suspect much less than 10% of Tesla owners do not
also own an ICE car.

If the Model 3 was out already I would join the no ICE household stat. That is my plan in the near future

 

[jelloslug]

Okay, not a troll, just confusing. The Model S is a relatively low volume car like an Aston Martin. It also has a feature that you are paying extra for. It's a bit like buying a car with a V12 engine. So is your point to start seeing it as being in a different group of vehicles?

Umm, I think you should check your numbers. Tesla sells more Model Ses every month in the US alone than Aston Marten does in a year world wide.

 

[Chopr147]

What's your VIN? That list sucks. Did you find most of those at deliveryV

I live 3 hours from SC so you have me scared

No need to be scared. Some Tesla delivery issues have been reported but it has lessened over time. I would venture most people get their vehicles w/o any issue at all like I did. There is another thread for just this.

tesla: Low volume in comparison to GM of course. All together less than 200,000 vehicles sold at this point in time.
I believe there are plans to sell more in the near future.

 

[jmsurpri]

Just my 2 cents and a bit of griping. I've had my 85D for ~7 months, 6700miles. I paid nearly $100K for it. I am a techy and was completely enamored by the technology as well as the performance. This purchase was more than 2X the cost of my previous vehicle and was a stretch to be able to afford it. I purchased instead of leased because I envisioned this to be my car for a long time. While I enjoy the performance, there are other aspects that I don't enjoy and unfortunately didn't think about before purchase, but have sort of ruined the experience for me. I still love the car, but just saddened that these issues exist.
1. Comfort- when I purchased the car, I envisioned taking lots of long distance trips with my wife and kids and seeing the country. The car seems more geared towards a sporty driver experience. The suspension is way too firm and the constant jiggling is very aggravating even for a short time. My wife likes to sleep in the car during long drives and has a really hard time doing so in the Tesla because of the hard seats and bumpy ride. I look over while she's trying to sleep and she is literally constantly bouncing in the seat, even on smooth highway roads. She's never had an issue in any of our other cars. My kids complain in the back that their legs fall asleep because of the short seat height (and they are short <= 5ft teenagers). Lastly, I am even more disheartened because at the last minute I added air suspension and paid extra for what I thought would be the smoothest ride.
2. Fit n finish- About a month ago I started getting lots of rattles. I am hopeful that the SC will be able to fix these, but it is more rattly than most cars I've ever owned. There are currently about 7 rattles that I can pinpoint, and numerous others that I can't locate. Going over manhole covers or other large imperfections sets off a cacophony of rattles throughout the cabin.
3. AP- AP was a huge selling point for me. The idea of taking long trips to see the country with AP at the wheel was very enticing. Now that there is more emphasis on keeping hands on wheel and applying enough torque to keep the nag away, I feel like the AP concept is not as interesting anymore to me. Yes I'm well aware that it was 'hands on wheel' from the very beginning, but it somehow feels much different now. I don't have 8.0 yet so hopefully it's not as bad as it seems.

So at this point, I do have a bit of buyers remorse and if I could do it over, I probably wouldn't buy. I sometimes can't believe I dropped $100K for a vehicle, but if the issues above didn't exist, I would most likely be a happy camper!

 

[Hota]

That's not even remotely true. The original 60, 85, and P85 all have exactly the same motor. The 60 was limited by battery power. The 85 was limited below the P85 by software. The 60 compared to the P85 is 6 second vs 4 second car strictly based on how much voltage the car could put out at 1300 amps. The 0-60 difference would be even greater had the P85 not been traction limited.

Except you are 100% wrong.

I forgot who, wk057 or ingineer, did just that. Replaced an old salvaged S60 battery and put in an 85kwh battery and turned it into a P85 with a software/firmware update.

Now, there are limits, the ludicrious has a different fuse, the 100D does things differently too. But you should be able to take a 90kwh battery into a 60kwh car, and get the performance of the 90D with a software/firmware update.

Okay bad example, but those limits aren't always the battery. For example, the 90D and the P90D have different motor/inverters because the output is limited by the motors and factors other than the battery.

 

[mhonig]

If the Model 3 was out already I would join the no ICE household stat. That is my plan in the near future

I will take delivery of my Model S 90D next week. We will have all bases covered: We have a 60 panel solar array for power for the Tesla, backed up by the grid and a natural gas generator. Also a diesel BMW X5 and a gasoline Lexus SC430. Hopefully, we will have lots of transportation choices

 

[Snerruc]

gaps, poor prep, poor paint, missing paint, fwd creaking sound, popping sound, fwd not flush w/ the top of the car, hood not aligned, rear bumper not aligned, chrome piece falling apart, rubber molding falling apart, wind noise from said failing rubber molding,. the list is quite long and seem to be adding more to the list before i get to actually drop it off to the SC.

Strange, my S60 was built in July and is as near to perfect as a car can be expected to be. Paint slightly better than MB and BMW s I have owned. Very miner cut line problem . Inside fit and finish fine everything works as it should.
The man who flew in and delivered it said they almost never see problems with S. They still see X that are not perfect, but they are getting close. Tesla still doesn't have the resources to build several thousand trial cars before building customer cars. Early customers , in truth, are beta testers and most knew this. Elon has said that the first several thousand M3 will go to employes, spaceX, etc. much closer to what other companies do. Remember, the biggies still have troubles with early production units. Not a good idea to buy an early production anything.

 

[jelloslug]

Strange, my S60 was built in July and is as near to perfect as a car can be expected to be. Paint slightly better than MB and BMW s I have owned. Very miner cut line problem . Inside fit and finish fine everything works as it should.
The man who flew in and delivered it said they almost never see problems with S. They still see X that are not perfect, but they are getting close. Tesla still doesn't have the resources to build several thousand trial cars before building customer cars. Early customers , in truth, are beta testers and most knew this. Elon has said that the first several thousand M3 will go to employes, spaceX, etc. much closer to what other companies do. Remember, the biggies still have troubles with early production units. Not a good idea to buy an early production anything.

Yep, my Model S (built in July also) was just fine. I found one small flaw in the paint and one minor scratch on a plastic trim panel and that was it.

 

[Chopr147]

Damn, 60 solar panels? I have a 10 kw system which is just enough for my household. I pay $12 a month in electricity...LOVE it!
Good luck with your Model S. I have only had mine 1 month so I havn't yet figured out the usage for charging

 

[Chopr147]

Remember, the biggies still have troubles with early production units. Not a good idea to buy an early production anything.

This is something we all should remember when complaining about Tesla . Some of the large automakers have been doing this for over 100 years and still, every new model has issues. I don't get the misaligned panels though, should not happen or get thru quality control.
I stayed away from new models when possible.
Tesla fit and finish is "mostly" great! Some minor complaints but it is still nicer interior than my wife's Lexus

 

[Snerruc]

This is something we all should remember when complaining about Tesla . Some of the large automakers have been doing this for over 100 years and still, every new model has issues. I don't get the misaligned panels though, should not happen or get thru quality control.
I stayed away from new models when possible.
Tesla fit and finish is "mostly" great! Some minor complaints but it is still nicer interior than my wife's Lexus

I saw a BMW X5 the other daywith an atrocious hood fit. They hadn't even noticed it. Also, co efficient of expansion of aluminum is much higher than steel. Cut line widths need to take this into account.

 

[willcasp]

This begs the question: why do manufacturers brag about their "hand built" cars, as if that's an indicator of quality? Most exotic cars fall into this category. IMO robots build cars better than humans.

I think that modern times agree with you. Back in the day when most cars were hand built, the higher priced cars such as Rolls Royce and Aston Martin were arguably better, higher quality, and used better materials.

That all changed with the age of robots and the laws of large numbers. Honda will find more corner cases for software bugs in their fleet of millions of cars than Ferrari or Astin Martin will ever find in their single digit thousands. Talk to a Ferrari owner about issues with their navigation systems. Items that the mass manufacturers have solved a long time ago.

The bespoke manufacturers are living on the romance of the past.

 

[willcasp]

Every time I get into my Tesla I see a stark reminder that they did not spend a lot of money and effort on the interior compared to other cars in the $100K price point. I am satisfied with that because I wanted the technology. Similar scenario with a pre 2000's 911 or exotic sports cars like the Ferrari F40.

 

[artsci]

This post will surely stir the pot and get an endless number of replies. Controversy seems to be the intent

 

[RogerHScott]

Every time I get into my Tesla I see a stark reminder that they did not spend a lot of money and effort on the interior compared to other cars in the $100K price point

Are you referring to the overall aesthetic (a minimalism that some like and some do not) or to specific quality issues in the
realization of that aesthetic?

 

[WATTS-UP]

So EM's statement some time back that a Tesla model "S" can be updated is false. What he should have said that some Model "S" can be updated but not all. If you dropped $100,000.00+ you will be able to update your car and if you didn't drop the big bucks well, your SOL.

 

[deonb]

1. Comfort- when I purchased the car, I envisioned taking lots of long distance trips with my wife and kids and seeing the country. The car seems more geared towards a sporty driver experience. The suspension is way too firm and the constant jiggling is very aggravating even for a short time. My wife likes to sleep in the car during long drives and has a really hard time doing so in the Tesla because of the hard seats and bumpy ride. I look over while she's trying to sleep and she is literally constantly bouncing in the seat, even on smooth highway roads. She's never had an issue in any of our other cars. My kids complain in the back that their legs fall asleep because of the short seat height (and they are short <= 5ft teenagers). Lastly, I am even more disheartened because at the last minute I added air suspension and paid extra for what I thought would be the smoothest ride.

This is interesting. What wheels do you use? My ride was a bit uncomfortable but after I switched from 21" to 19" it's on par with a BMW 540i I would estimate. I also have air suspension.

Still can't sleep due to all the rattles, squeaks and whirs though, but that's a different story.