Trapped

[Beta V]

Angel, my model X decided my life was too simple or I had not given her enough attention, so she decided to disable the lock on the driver-side door. When I pulled on the actuator, I could hear it whirr, but the door remained locked. I tried the console app unlock but it would not open. The other doors opened just fine, but not the driver-side door. I rebooted the console, but that didn't fix it.

I called Tesla for help, and after 20 minutes on hold, I got an agent who said she couldn't help me. Since I was already on my way to the dealership, I asked her to tell someone there that I was three minutes out and to come out and help the "angry old man in a Model X" in their parking lot. That didn't work either. I finally cajoled a passer-by to ask someone inside to help me. That took another five minutes. Finally, two, then three techs came out and they could not open the door either. It would have been worse (far worse) if it had just opened. I suggested trying C4. They soon gave up.

Anyway, they quickly hooked me up with a Model S loaner and said they would get back to me.

This is not Angel's first major issue. Let's see if I can recall them all:

Charging cable receptacle had to be filed down and then replaced.
A different charging cable problem: replaced
Horn: replaced
Tow bar assembly (on the car): replaced
The vehicle would no longer recognize me: Full reset of the system
Driver's seat gears failed: replaced
Key fob: replaced
Nav system failure: Several custom patches--now working.
Homelink erratic: <no solution yet>
Autodrive suddenly slows from highway speeds to 45 mph whenever it feels like it: <no resolution yet>

My fault: Tore off left mirror backing out and broke gull-wing door glass (hit garage door opener mechanism)

 

[Tam]

...The other doors opened just fine, but not the driver-side door...

I've heard a few cases of driver door lock/unlock failures for early adopters in 2015 and that has been solved but I guess not 100% since now it's 2019.

 

[Beta V]

It's a 2017 model so perhaps it still had the defective door mechanism. Now if they can only get it open to get at the parts. I'm thinking a cutting torch...

 

[Saghost]

I'm pretty sure there are no mechanical locks on the X. When the car decides that it's locked, it doesn't trigger the electronic release when the switch is pressed. You clearly have something else happening.

The pull handle in the front door is mechanical - it should bypass any problem with the electronics and motors and unlatch the door.

I'm gathering from the description that this somehow didn't work in your case - that opening the door by the inside pull handle and by the center screen both failed. That would pretty much have to be a hardware failure in the latch assembly itself I think; not something I've read of happening before.

 

[Beta V]

Great. I love being a "special case."

 

[skip8jj]

Great. I love being a "special case."

We have a 2017 X, vin 65XXX. Our driver's door had a similar problem. From the outside, when pushed on the door, the actuator would make a sound and sometimes the door would almost open. If I could catch an edge it would. As luck would have it, I happened to be at a SC and a Tesla Ranger pulled in for a charge. I asked him to check the door and he confirmed the problem and made a note saying he would have a Ranger come by my home and change the mechanism. The part, actuator mechanism, had to be shipped in. A week later it was all fixed. In the meantime, I opened the door from the inside using the mechanical door handle.

 

[Beta V]

The issue was addressed by installing a "2nd Generation" door latch assembly. This is distressing. Since they knew these parts were defective and subject to failure, why did they wait until I was trapped in the car before replacing it?

 

[mxnym]

The issue was addressed by installing a "2nd Generation" door latch assembly. This is distressing. Since they knew these parts were defective and subject to failure, why did they wait until I was trapped in the car before replacing it?

"Second generation" doesn't necessarily imply a defect in the first generation. However, I had a similar failure, as did someone above. In my case, I climbed through the vehicle for a couple weeks, as there is some distance between me and the service center and I am young enough to do so. Interestingly, my invoice says they replaced an actuator, same as the other person in this thread with a similar problem. In my case, the handle would not open the door, and when I called the service center, they suspected a door latch problem, so my experience sounds more like your case, but my invoice is more like the other poster. We may very well have three different cases that aren't even related, and given that, perhaps they don't know if/what is going to happen. It is also feasible that the person you spoke with has no clue what he's talking about and was doing nothing more than throwing in extra words to reassure you that it shouldn't reoccur. Lastly, and most sadly, it is possible that someone with the authority to do so decided that we could all crawl through our vehicles to use another door if this issue occurred.