worst fears - need comfort

[calisnow]

Quite possible. My mid-2013 build is far more solid and problem-free than more recently produced cars. I've never had the plethora of issues that folks here are describing.

@AmpedRealtor - my theory is the big to push to grow production that happened in Q3/Q4 (I think) has thrown quality control downhill again. My 70D was purchased Q1 2016 - if you look at quality ratings they keep increasing all the way up to 2016. I've had zero problems in 20K+ miles - but clearly I'm not everybody. It seems deliveries much newer than mine are having more issues. Mine was an inventory car with a few hundred miles - maybe that helps? Perhaps they go over inventory cars a second time before the customer gets them?

The poor quality control is a matter of priorities. Sending rockets into space is fun. Sitting in the factory working on QC is not fun. Elon would rather work on fun projects instead of boring practical ones.

Also maybe it's good business - sales keep growing. That is the only metric in the long run that matters. If sales keep growing you are satisfying the market. At some point he will have to get quality under control but he does periodically point to stats saying the cars are getting more and more reliable. Even CR admits that WRT the S.

 

[StoXto3toY]

Unlike many if not all other automakers, some of the people who purchase Tesla vehicles have a religious like dogmatism towards the company. A sort of "can-do-no-wrong" attitude about Elon and the company as a whole.

That doesn't really matter one way or another to me, because people are free to feel and believe what they want. But this becomes a problem when others are attempting to have an objective conversation regarding something Tesla, such is the case here.

I think the forum may want to consider instituting a reputation system, similar to those on other boards. This may seem OT at first, but I post my suggestion here as this thread serves as evidence for its potential utility.

 

[Max*]

Unlike many if not all other automakers, some of the people who purchase Tesla vehicles have a religious like dogmatism towards the company. A sort of "can-do-no-wrong" attitude about Elon and the company as a whole.

That doesn't really matter one way or another to me, because people are free to feel and believe what they want. But this becomes a problem when others are attempting to have an objective conversation regarding something Tesla, such is the case here.

I think the forum may want to consider instituting a reputation system, similar to those on other boards. This may seem OT at first, but I post my suggestion here as this thread serves as evidence for its potential utility.

The forum used to have a reputation system, upon redesign they got rid of it for some unknown reason. You can view a persons reputation by clicking their profile and seeing how many likes or dislikes they get.

But any reputation system is pointless. The tesla kool-aide drinkers will rep each other, and the tesla haters will rep each other. So... what does it really measure?

 

[oktane]

Unlike many if not all other automakers, some of the people who purchase Tesla vehicles have a religious like dogmatism towards the company. A sort of "can-do-no-wrong" attitude about Elon and the company as a whole.

That doesn't really matter one way or another to me, because people are free to feel and believe what they want. But this becomes a problem when others are attempting to have an objective conversation regarding something Tesla, such is the case here.

I think the forum may want to consider instituting a reputation system, similar to those on other boards. This may seem OT at first, but I post my suggestion here as this thread serves as evidence for its potential utility.

That begs the question, what is a high rating? Someone who blindly supports Tesla or someone who owns a Tesla but is more objective/critical?

This is a bit like a Trump/Hillary debate. There is an even split and each side thinks they are the only voice of reason.

 

[Max*]

I'm glad I'm correct and everyone agrees with me.

 

[Robwoodruff]

I suggest turning the auto folding mirrors off for the winter. Unless you need them for parking clearance, the subzero temps are a really tough environment. I honestly wish I could put the door handles in extended mode for the season and spare them their little durability test each frigid morning.

I also turn the auto folding mirrors off for the winter. I live too far away to go to the service center to get it fixed and it does not bother me having them always out. I haven't had any other problems in 14 months, 32,000 miles.

 

[StoXto3toY]

The forum used to have a reputation system, upon redesign they got rid of it for some unknown reason. You can view a persons reputation by clicking their profile and seeing how many likes or dislikes they get.

But any reputation system is pointless. The tesla kool-aide drinkers will rep each other, and the tesla haters will rep each other. So... what does it really measure?

Maybe. These types of dichotomies exist in many other forums and those reputation systems seem to function well.

Maybe we just need to mandate a Tesla Fanboy badge

 

[theslimshadyist]

Hi all. My worst fear about this car is starting to come about. I took delivery of this car on 1/24/17. Now I'm starting to get some issues with the car.

1. folding mirrors are getting squeaky and the driver side doesn't fully extend all the way almost 100% of the time.
2. driver side passenger door is making a weird click noise every time it opens
3. every time when i plug in the cable to charge i always get this yellow light blinking and the dashboard is giving me a "charge cable unlatched" problems.

All this is showing before I even hit 700miles on this car. Should I be worried or is this something similar people go through with their cars.

SIGH

#3 is a finicky one for me and what I've learned over several times is to plug the wand in firm and quickly. This will significantly reduce the trigger for the charging error code.

 

[croman]

I live in Chicago. Have a December delivery ap2 and have had no issues with my folding mirror. 2200 miles and counting. Hopefully no issues ever but that's unlikely.

 

[Canuck]

bktiger86, this nothing. don't let it get you upset.

Agreed. These thing happen in life. No use letting it get you upset. Tesla loses on warranty repairs so you know they are working on quality control but these are large, heavy vehicles with tons of moving parts and things will go wrong. My vehicle also has had issues that needed fixing but nothing all that different than my wife's BMW. And at the end of the day, I'm driving my vehicle and not a BMW, which is a huge plus to me. The internet attracts people with complaints to post about them. Very few people come here and post "My Tesla's been great." So there's a skewed view about Tesla's quality here.

No - he is right to be upset. It's a brand new car, at or near $100K - FIVE YEARS INTO PRODUCTION BEHAVING LIKE A YUGO. To tell him "it's nothing" implies his time is worth nothing and he has nothing better to do but screw around with service centers on items which should have been fixed by quality control before they took his money.

I will never understand this logic. The only way it would make sense to me is if by getting upset you didn't have to waste time at the service center. But we know that's not the case. If I got upset when one of my door handles failed to retract, it would only serve to reduce my quality of life. So I had the attitude that "these thing happen" and I appreciated what a great car I have overall, and I didn't let it upset me since being upset didn't serve any useful purpose in this scenario. It does in many other scenarios, but not this one.

Way to go, that will make him feel really good.

Exactly. I like your attitude. The name of the game is to have a good quality of life and boost others up, rather than rile them up, at least in my opinion.

I have noticed a number of forum members seem prone to exaggeration. It might just be a fact of forums. Don't let it get to you too much.

It's a fact of human beings - the author of this sentence included.

It's also a "fact of human beings" that some steal, rape and murder so I don't get your point (or rather, excuse). We should try not to exaggerate or blow things out of proportion just because other humans do.

 

[dragoljub]

Update on my first service experience.

The Santa Clara service center did a good job taking care of me on short notice. Dropped off the car in the morning and got a rental loaner.

I described the folding mirror problem and they said they would just replace it. I was not comfortable having a brand new part swapped after only 300 miles so I decided to wait on it. Still occasionally it does not fully unfold in the low-power mode when mirrors are only on the 12V battery. If its not resolved in a week or so I'll get the mirror replaced.

When picking up the car one of the admins mentioned they are actually out of driver side mirror parts so it might be a wait for replacement.

Work done:

• Full alignment, tow was off in the front so thats fixed now.
• Front bumper bottom trim (near emergency frunk release) is properly seated and no more plastic bowing
• tire pressure back to 45 PSI all around

I'm glad they got it turned around in a day but still disappointed that the folding mirror could not be fixed with lubricant or otherwise. It seems strange to think that they would offer full part replacement on the spot for something that is supposed to be taken care of with a firmware fix. I'm not sure if they use refurb parts or what so I'll wait.

The upshot is I'm now installing the latest AP2 firmware update for less restrictive AP off highways.

 

[MS16]

I just picked up a New Refreshed S90D on Feb 11th 2017. I have some of the same issues. Taking it in to service this morning. You are not alone.

1. Drivers side mirror not unfolding fully. Seems to be temperature related, and also slightly squeaks.
2. Alignment is off. Car pulls to the left. I drove it off the lot with 6 miles on it. This is most disappointing.
3. Front bumper lower intake right side trim is not on correctly and slightly causing the painted lower bumper to bow out.
4. Driver side top part of door clicks when resting arm there. Perhaps I need to push the trim down to fully set and lock clips.

Hope all is resolved for you soon. At least I was able to rip off the front plate bracket with no paint damage.

My September delivery also came delivered with alignment problems. It had 8 miles when I took delivery. Don't they perform alignments at the factory?

It took two trips to the SC to get the alignment improved, but the vehicle still wanders on the freeway at speeds >60mph and they still can't figure why.

5 months into ownership and I'm still trying to get a myriad of quality issues resolved, many of which should have been caught at the factory.

 

[oktane]

My car also dances around within the lane at high-speed. A low-speed feels pretty solid. I figured it had something to do with not enough toe-in. We might have a fairly neutral toe rather than inwards to decrease tire wear. It might also be a property of the factory tire.

 

[MS16]

My car also dances around within the lane at high-speed. A low-speed feels pretty solid. I figured it had something to do with not enough toe-in. We might have a fairly neutral toe rather than inwards to decrease tire wear. It might also be a property of the factory tire.

Yea, it's definitely disappointing. I've never had a car that tracks so poorly on the freeway. There is a thread on TMC on this subject, so we're not alone with this issue.

 

[DarkMatter]

Yea, it's definitely disappointing. I've never had a car that tracks so poorly on the freeway. There is a thread on TMC on this subject, so we're not alone with this issue.

For efficiency's sake there is almost no toe. Between that, the high tire pressure, the relatively wide tires, and the high weight I agree that this car does not like some forms of road imperfection. I find Sport steering makes it easier to correct, or you can ask for the toe to be set to the most toed in spec and live with the slight efficiency drop to get some improvement.

 

[somnambule]

Unlike many if not all other automakers, some of the people who purchase Tesla vehicles have a religious like dogmatism towards the company. A sort of "can-do-no-wrong" attitude about Elon and the company as a whole.

Perhaps. But I also haven't seen many "OMG, my car has a problem! My worst fears have been realized!! EGADS!!!" type posts on other automakers' forums. If something goes wrong, people take the car to the dealer. If that doesn't resolve the problem(s), they take to the forums. At least, that's what I've seen on the GM and BMW forums I frequent.

So on balance, Tesla seems to attract more than their fair share of both extremes: the "do no wrong crowd" as well as the "anything short of perfection is an abject failure" crowd.

 

[Bryantclan]

I have both an S and an X that we picked up in mid Dec. X has had no issues, S had the driver side tail light fail and I had the same mirror problem on the left side mirror.

The mirror seems to be fixed after the last update, my guess is they had the torque stop set to low, so it thinks it is fully open in the stuck position.

As for other car manufacturers, this is my business partners 2016 GMC 2500, one of 18 the dealership is replacing the head gasket on at around 7k miles.

I will happy take a tail light issue over that.

 

[DarkMatter]

Yeah, but General Motors is still working out their initial quality problems. Cut them some slack.

 

[dragoljub]

We still own a 2014 S85 and I have not noticed the same tracking issues on that car. Also the 2014 S85 air suspension seems to be firmer with no clunks as you go over speed bumps.

I too have experienced better highway tracking in normal steering mode rather than comfort.

For efficiency's sake there is almost no toe. Between that, the high tire pressure, the relatively wide tires, and the high weight I agree that this car does not like some forms of road imperfection. I find Sport steering makes it easier to correct, or you can ask for the toe to be set to the most toed in spec and live with the slight efficiency drop to get some improvement.

 

[jcaspar]

My 3.5 year old Tesla has been very reliable with excellent quality, certainly better than any European car I have ever owned, especially BMW. While it may not quite meet that of Chevrolet, that is a high bar as they have the most JD Powers awards for initial quality.