Update from Tesla service on screen yellowing

[re04586]

Yet several people have won arbitration cases against Tesla for just this specific issue so I don't care what Tesla's lawyers think, clearly this is covered under the warranty Tesla provides. Seriously... Do you work for Tesla or something? Good lord...

Jeff

LOL - they should do a case study on this guy one day.

Never back down, never give an inch, just continue to blast away with no regard. This guy is special.

 

[SucreTease]

For what it's worth, this is the wording of the Tesla New Vehicle Limited Warranty for Model S:

Basic Vehicle Limited Warranty

Subject to separate coverage for certain parts and the exclusions and limitations described in this New Vehicle Limited Warranty, the Basic Vehicle Limited Warranty covers the repair or replacement necessary to correct defects in the materials or workmanship of any parts manufactured or supplied by Tesla that occur under normal use for a period of 4 years or 50,000 miles (80,000 km), whichever comes first.
​

It does not restrict the type of "defects" (i.e. exclude cosmetic defects). It does, however, go on to list the following limitations:

Warranty Limitations

This New Vehicle Limited Warranty does not cover any vehicle damage or malfunction directly or indirectly caused by, due to or resulting from normal wear or deterioration, abuse, misuse,negligence, accident, improper maintenance, operation, storage or transport...​

So, as I read it, the only argument that can be made that limits Tesla's obligation is "normal wear or deterioration". However, it states esla's only obligation:

The exclusive remedy available to you under this New Vehicle Limited Warranty is the repair or replacement of new or re-manufactured parts by Tesla for the covered defects.​

This does mean that Tesla repairing the screen with the UV treatment is a fulfillment of their obligation under the warranty.

 

[re04586]

This does mean that Tesla repairing the screen with the UV treatment is a fulfillment of their obligation under the warranty.

Agree, and I would certainly accept this as a fix under the condition that it clears the border 100% and is more than a temporary fix that would require me continuously coming in for additional treatments.

 

[Skipdd]

LOL - they should do a case study on this guy one day.

Never back down, never give an inch, just continue to blast away with no regard. This guy is special.

Hmm, sounds familiar, think there is someone well known in the DMV area that has made that their signature.

 

[aesculus]

At first I was dumbfounded by your responses, but now find myself with some odd admiration in how you can continue to defend the indefensible and carry on a debate against all facts staring you right in the face.

This statement sounds eerily familiar. Oh wait. It's on the news multiple times a day.

 

[FlatSix911]

They have already provided explanation last month.

No car is ever perfect. I have had several cars in the past (Range Rover, Porsche, Infiniti, BMW) that had cosmetic defects such as dash lifting, door gaps, seat bubbles, finish rubbing off, lettering coming off buttons, ect. Rarely does a manufacturer ever warranty cosmetic issues. If this even has made you regret buying a Tesla, you are going to be similarly regret buying from every other car company as well.

The fact that Tesla investigated a fix and is providing it free of charge is an action that rarely would ever happen from any other company.

This is complete nonsense from Tesla... they should be ashamed of the poor customer service messaging they are promoting.

 

[mxnym]

I don't know who posted this, so I don't know for certain the various captured pages are from the same warranty, but:
Yellow Border Warranty Coverage
The first image is obviously for the vehicle warranty, and the exclusion page image specifically says this (emphasis mine):[QUUOTE]General appearance or normal noises and vibrations, including, but not limited to, brake squeal, general knocks, creaks, rattles, and wind and road vibration for which there are no malfunctioning parts requiring replacement[/QUOTE]While I DO think Tesla SHOULD fix this problem, IMO, the way that exclusion reads (only necessary to read the bold part), the MCU is NOT malfunctioning (it is still fully functional) and does NOT require replacement. However, my opinion must be wrong here, because otherwise the Tesla lawyers should have easily won in arbitration.

 

[SigRed12]

@mxnym, The "operation" of the screen may not be impaired, but the degraded appearance is the result of a malfunctioning part ... the glue (or whatever the tech term is) due to a manufacturing error.

 

[AWDtsla]

I don't know why this is still being debated. The facts are clear. The screen visual issue is considered to be "cosmetic" by Tesla. Arbitration considers it to be covered by warranty. While public awareness of this problem is slight, it clearly will be perceived as a negative factor along with other warranty issues Tesla is balking about. The rest of this discussion is speculation.

Tesla hears you. Tesla don't care.

 

[neroden]

It would be extremely shortsighted for Tesla If belt-tightening translates into denying legitimate warranty claims. Tesla should be focused on satisfying it’s loyal customer base, not alienating it. The press would have a field day with this.

Weirdly, the press seems totally uninterested in reporting real problems like this. (Exceptions: InsideEVs, Electrek.)

 

[neroden]

As someone who works in aerospace on LCD displays I can tell you this about what is being seen. This appears to be delamination. This is a very difficult thing to get right and much of our competition has issues with doing it correctly for long term use. There are many variables as to how fast it progresses and what makes it worse but heat is a major item that contributes to the degradation. I'm guessing that many of the ones that got bad quickly had sun on the screen with the display off which has a black screen and can easily get above 140 which is about the temperature where degradation increases exponentially.

I can tell you that even though it looks bad (and as a Model S owner I hate it too) it does not affect the operation of the screen or touch functions. It is totally cosmetic.

I agree Tesla should stand behind it and either put pressure on their supplier to get it right or get a new supplier. My Signature S didn't have the yellow border but it did get the bubbles (another delamination issue) which is actually way more annoying and has the possibility to make that area of the screen unreadable.

I have the bubbles. I'm currently waiting for the bubbles on my screen to actually make part of the screen unreadable before reporting it as a warranty issue.

 

[neroden]

All of them are offering a free 1 time fix. No one knows if it is temporary or permanent. As far as I can tell, they apply a LOCA and cure it with a UV lamp to fix the delamination.

Do we know if the fix works on the bubbles, or do I get a new screen for the bubbles?

 

[neroden]

They have said 100% it is not a warranty issue. The one time free fix is a courtesy fix, not a warranty repair.

It's a warranty repair and they've lost three arbitration cases by my count from this thread. I think they better get a clue fast.

They can call it cosmetic until it affects the readability of the screen. Then it's functional. By all accounts it gets progressively worse until it affects readability.

 

[aesculus]

Do we know if the fix works on the bubbles, or do I get a new screen for the bubbles?

Different problem. Some who had the bubbles had the screen replaced and got one that yellowed.

 

[FlatSix911]

I don't know who posted this, so I don't know for certain the various captured pages are from the same warranty, but:
Yellow Border Warranty Coverage
The first image is obviously for the vehicle warranty, and the exclusion page image specifically says this (emphasis mine):General appearance or normal noises and vibrations, including, but not limited to, brake squeal, general knocks, creaks, rattles, and wind and road vibration for which there are no malfunctioning parts requiring replacement

While I DO think Tesla SHOULD fix this problem, IMO, the way that exclusion reads (only necessary to read the bold part), the MCU is NOT malfunctioning (it is still fully functional) and does NOT require replacement. However, my opinion must be wrong here, because otherwise the Tesla lawyers should have easily won in arbitration.

Thanks for posting this information...

 

[FlatSix911]

I have the bubbles. I'm currently waiting for the bubbles on my screen to actually make part of the screen unreadable before reporting it as a warranty issue.

You don't need to wait... Tesla will replace the defective screen under warranty once bubbles appear... unlike the Yellow Screen

 

[neroden]

You don't need to wait... Tesla will replace the defective screen under warranty once bubbles appear... unlike the Yellow Screen

View attachment 433909

All right. Thanks for the info!

I'm still going to wait... because I'm hoping they'll have really fixed the yellow screen problem before I replace my bubbly screen But I'll do it before my extended warranty runs out in 2021.

 

[markb1]

It seems to me the yellow border is probably a symptom of some underlying defect. Tesla needs to fix the underlying defect. If the UV treatment just removes the yellowing, but it comes back later due to the underlying defect not being fixed, Tesla hasn't done enough. Of course, Tesla won't tell us what's causing the yellowing, nor how the UV treatment solves it, so I'm just left guessing.

 

[SucreTease]

I don't know who posted this, so I don't know for certain the various captured pages are from the same warranty, but:
Yellow Border Warranty Coverage
The first image is obviously for the vehicle warranty, and the exclusion page image specifically says this (emphasis mine): "General appearance or normal noises and vibrations, including, but not limited to, brake squeal, general knocks, creaks, rattles, and wind and road vibration for which there are no malfunctioning parts requiring replacement" While I DO think Tesla SHOULD fix this problem, IMO, the way that exclusion reads (only necessary to read the bold part), the MCU is NOT malfunctioning (it is still fully functional) and does NOT require replacement. However, my opinion must be wrong here, because otherwise the Tesla lawyers should have easily won in arbitration.

What is the source of this? I provided a link to Tesla's current warranty, which does not match what you posted.

 

[mxnym]

What is the source of this? I provided a link to Tesla's current warranty, which does not match what you posted.

I don't know the source. I saw the link in reddit, I think it was as a post where someone was arguing the same as most here, that the screen yellowing is a warranty issue.