Yellow screen? Force Tesla to Replace it!

[Didgie]

It's only easy if they're sure the new screens won't suffer the same fate.

From what I read this was a batch issue and not affecting the new batches of screens, so if true then just replace with the appropriate batch.

 

[whitex]

So, I got my result today and my decision was DENIED. "Customer did not provide a preponderance of evidence that there is a manufacturing defect in materials or workmanship that substantially impairs use, safety, or value of the vehicle that is covered by the warranty."

Note, the arbitrator, "Patti", at the beginning of the call, was like "Hi Ryan!" - almost as if they knew each other. I would not at all be surprised at this. She didn't really even seem to listen to what I was saying, and Ryan just meandered around his usual stuff; I think this was a done deal going in.

Remember my screen started yellowing within 90 days. So NCDS is certainly believing Tesla in a lot of instances that this is a "wear item" that needs replacement (even within 90 days) like brakes, tires, etc.

At this point, due to the other problems I've had repeatedly with my Model S, I'm probably going to pursue a lemon law buyback.

Note that if they hadn't done this, I probably wouldn't have.

My IC screen is yellowing as well, and I'm supposed to get that replaced next week, I'm guessing that's going to be a denial as well.

I haven't even had my car a year, and honestly the ownership experience has been one of the worst ones I've ever had.

Swing by a Tesla showroom and ask them if you can take a yellow sharpie to the screens of the cars there, or do they believe it would affect the vehicle value. If it doesn't affect value, you should be able to go nuts on the screens there, adding yellow borders to screens.

 

[Matias]

Ignorant question, but hasn’t this been tweeted to him a number of times? He does seem to read all of his tweets. I fall in the camp of “he knows,” and has prioritized it as something to be solved in due course w/o spending huge money. A distraction from the core mission.

He possibly can't read all the tweets he gets. It would be full time job (which he already has at least three). IIRC he said somewhere, that he randomly reads tweets when he pleases to do so.

 

[Matias]

Has anyone Tweeted Elon directly to highlight the Yellow Screen fiasco?

Yes.

 

[whitex]

He possibly can't read all the tweets he gets. It would be full time job (which he already has at least three). IIRC he said somewhere, that he randomly reads tweets when he pleases to do so.

He cares about spending, announcing he'll be looking at all expenses personally. Thousands of cars with failing screens means millions of dollars worth of expense - he absolutely knows. Even if some bean counter decided to cut off warranty, that bean counter would be gloating to his management who in turn would be proud up the chain how they saved Tesla millions of dollars.

Please don't invent a new excuse for what Tesla does - "because Elon doesn't have time to notice". Well, he took on the job of VP of Service, it's his job to know things like this, where Tesla is pissing of thousands of existing owners. If he doesn't, he should fire himself.

 

[vexige]

vexige , that is nasty, I feel for you having to look at that every day.
Is Tesla's policy on this screen the same as the MCU screen? Cosmetic, it'll be fine!

Out of interest was that yellowing like the MCU screen where it just appeared one day without warning or is this more gradual?

It is gradual, see posts #724 and 728

 

[pgkevet]

Count me in.

I dropped in at Digbeth and spoke to a cute receptionist (made me wish i was 50yrs younger). She has been told that the fix is permanent but acknowledges no long term proof. They have no time scale on when they will get access to the tech, admitted they have a lot of affected customers, coudn't give a number but agreed it may well be as high as 100. I made the point that while my screen is early changes, customers aren't going to be willing to wait months...
I have my car booked for a road test next week re a chatter on hard acceleration, and also booked later for an annual check-over so I;m goingto be pressing this issue each time. I'm also thinking of a formal letter to the manager re timescale to fix or replace.

 

[MSVroomVroom]

This really makes me uncomfortable going forward because it seems like Tesla's warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on, they can arbitrarily decide pretty much anything isn't covered so long as the car "still gets you from point A to point B" as Ryan says.

I'm a bit afraid that issue this is a canary in a coal mine. It is our warning that Tesla doesn't believe it has any obligation to their customer's to honor their warranty. If there is something Tesla no longer feels like fixing they will just make up a reason to weasel out of it. Tesla is pretty clearly showing it's lack of morals. They aren't even trying to be apologetic about it.

A car isn't a disposable item. When you buy a car you are buying into the company for a few years. Even if Tesla makes great cars I'm not sure they are a company you want to rick such a large purchase on anymore.

 

[PhilDavid]

I'm a bit afraid that issue this is a canary in a coal mine. It is our warning that Tesla doesn't believe it has any obligation to their customer's to honor their warranty. If there is something Tesla no longer feels like fixing they will just make up a reason to weasel out of it. Tesla is pretty clearly showing it's lack of morals. They aren't even trying to be apologetic about it.

A car isn't a disposable item. When you buy a car you are buying into the company for a few years. Even if Tesla makes great cars I'm not sure they are a company you want to rick such a large purchase on anymore.

This is a slippery slope if they start claiming most things that fail are just normal wear tear.

They may reach a point where customer ill-will, arbitration and legal costs surpass whatever they think they will save by not fixing defects.

 

[DougUnplugged]

An interested observer here. I have a Model 3, but I alerted my brother and nephew to the yellow screen issue several months ago. My brother had the screen repaired with the Tesla fix last week. He is satisfied with the repair and says that it removed the yellow.

My question, if I am not too presumptuous, after reading this entire thread, is as follows: Has anyone had the yellow reappear after the Tesla fix? If not, rather than look into a class action or the press, why not wait and get the yellow repaired by Tesla? Obviously, if the Tesla fix is not adequate, I believe replacement would be warranted.

Maybe I have missed something in all these posts, but the appearance to me is that Tesla worked on on a fix and now has rolled (or is rolling) out the repair.

As to the posts that reference using the lemon law to return the car, please be aware that most states require the vehicle to have a safety or substantial defect(s) that have been attempted to be repaired at least three times. As a neutral observer, I would not call the yellow a substantial defect. Perhaps there are other issues that have not been resolved, but the yellow screen will not help in a lemon law buyback.

 

[hill]

I wonder if the media would get involved if there were owner protesters marching around in front of the SC with their ridiculously long lines. It's a shame that may have to come to that.

Ask, Is the new screen fix permanent?
"oh yes, I promise!"
Will you put that in writing?
"I'll have to get back to you on that. Try calling back tomorrow"
.

 

[SeminoleFSU]

For those saying they can't believe Tesla doesn't just replace the screens.... Think about the enormous cost... it would likely be the end of the company! Before you jump in and say no, the cost should be borne by the supplier, if Tesla pursued this and succeeded it would likely put their supplier out of business (from sheer costs) and then no screens = no Model S or Model X's being built.

Of course this is just my theory but otherwise why not do it if it's clearly a manufacturer defect??

My guess is this is just one of many thousand cuts like the Walmart solar fiasco and many others that will ultimately take down Tesla especially if we get any downturn in the world economy, which seems like it could happen any moment. Sorry for the realism. I'm sure I'll get a 1000 funnies and dislikes for stating what is probably reality.

Tesla stockholders and owners should hedge accordingly.

 

[Lakewood305]

I have it also again. Worse on the replacement screen. Summer seems to do it. I have had the screen replaced before now they have canceled the service appointment for it twice and tell me they are waiting on tooling with no ETA. They used to be the best at the jumping on service two years ago. Once the three hit it went to hell. Call the SC and may hold 30 minutes to an hour.
Guess they are calling the tooling the UV treatment.

Does it affect the model 3 screens? Daughter has one on order and want to make her aware before delivery.

 

[Alxdo2]

Hey guys,

Kind of late to thread, however I have a newer 2018 MX that has screen yellowing on the MCU. I called my local ranger who is my friend as we don't have a service center here yet, however one is coming in the next few weeks. He told me that he is unable to change out the screens anymore and the UV treatment would be the only option. Which is odd because he changed out my friends Model X screen about 2 months ago due to the same issues. He told me could not do the UV treatment and he would have to schedule an appointment for me at the new service center that is opening sometime at the end of the year.

I have read a lot of the thread here and people have mentioned about opening an arbitration and going through the process with Ryan. If I wanted to do this, where would I start? Sorry for jumping in the thread. If the answer to this is anywhere feel free tag the comment if possible.

Thanks for your help.

 

[markb1]

Hey guys,

Kind of late to thread, however I have a newer 2018 MX that has screen yellowing on the MCU. I called my local ranger who is my friend as we don't have a service center here yet, however one is coming in the next few weeks. He told me that he is unable to change out the screens anymore and the UV treatment would be the only option. Which is odd because he changed out my friends Model X screen about 2 months ago due to the same issues. He told me could not do the UV treatment and he would have to schedule an appointment for me at the new service center that is opening sometime at the end of the year.

That sounds about right. He cannot replace the screen because of corporate policy. That policy is fairly recent, and they used to replace screens for this. The UV treatment is only done in service centers, not by mobile service.

I have read a lot of the thread here and people have mentioned about opening an arbitration and going through the process with Ryan. If I wanted to do this, where would I start? Sorry for jumping in the thread. If the answer to this is anywhere feel free tag the comment if possible.

Thanks for your help.

The first post of this thread explains the process pretty well.

 

[raj_n]

I just got this response from Sunnyvale, CA service center when I set up an appointment for yellow border issue [2018 MS].

"Good morning, thank you for making an appointment at the Sunnyvale service center for the yellowing of the screen. Very sorry that happened to your Model S, as of now engineering is working on a fix regarding the issue. Once engineering has come up with a proper repair we will be able to fix that for you during a future visit. Once again very sorry that happened to you, I am saving a note in your profile as an activity which will show that you do have this concern. Please contact the Sunnyvale service center directly for any information in the future regarding if the fix has come out before making an appointment again for this issue. They will not be able to see any responses here. Thank you for your time!!"

Looks like they are not planning to reach out when the "fix" available. Also, they didn't mention anything about the UV fix..

 

[mechapreneur]

All I know is that my 2015 screen showed no signed of yellowing for two years, then it had tab bond failure and got replaced. The new screen yellowed within six months, but no tab bond failure so maybe the yellow glue is better?

I guess I can just wait until they come up with a more permanent fix. The yellowing is annoying, but functional, and every loaner I've borrowed has it.

 

[Biancanz]

Since this is probably helpful to many I will do my best to summarize the current state of the Tesla yellow screen issue as it stands today.

• A yellow border forms around the center touchscreen on Model S and Model X cars.
• This has been going on since 2016.
• The cause is likely heat / oxidation impacting the glue between the LCD and the glass.
  • Tesla's lawyer has been claiming that the issue is caused by "sunlight".
    • Ryan, Tesla's lawyer, has been specifically asked why the roofs are still glass if sunlight is an issue. He has been unable to answer this.
  • No one know for sure if Tesla is responsible for applying the glue or they get it from the supplier with the glue already applied.
• Tesla's official stance on this issue (backed up by numerous accounts from service centers and the lawyer) is that the screen is a wear and tear item since the issue presents itself over time as a result of "the environment". It seems possible the root cause of "sunlight" might be because it is mentioned as an exclusion in the warranty.
• For years, Tesla would just replace a yellow touchscreen under warranty. They stopped doing this over six months ago.
• Tesla has been cancelling service requests for fixing this issue for months. At some point they started telling people that they could pay for a replacement screen for about $1300.
• Tesla has a UV treatment for the issue.
  • There have been some reports of the treatment failing to fully remove the yellow banding. In those cases Tesla has replaced the screen (this has only been confirmed for arbitration claims. We do not yet have proof of them doing this outside of arbitration). The UV does seem to have worked for some.
  • Tesla only has three of the UV units at this moment. Tesla's lawyer who handles arbitration cases seems to have the power to dictate where these units are sent.
  • A few reports state the UV treatment takes a few hours and the car needs to be in a dark place during it.
  • There are conflicting reports from representatives at Tesla as to if the UV treatment is permanent. Tesla's lawyer handling the arbitration cases has claimed it is but others have stated it is not.
  • Tesla was saying that the UV treatment was a one time goodwill gesture.
  • Representatives have confirmed that this is temporary. The lawyer claims it is permanent
  • Tesla's lawyer claims they have been testing the effectiveness of the treatment by leaving screens on the roof of HQ.
• Several people have gone through arbitration with NCDS to get their touchscreens fixed.
  • It appears Tesla is losing most of these cases but there are two known wins for Tesla. In those cases it seems Tesla is still doing the UV treatment.
  • There have been several reports of deceitful tactics being employed by the Tesla lawyer. It appears he is willing to flat out lie to the arbitrators in order to win a case. There are numerous reports that he claims the owner never presented the car for service. He will try hard to make you look like an impatient luxury car owner who hasn't given Tesla a chance to do anything.
  • Most people seem to be contacted by the Tesla lawyer after filing in an attempt to avoid arbitration. If you negotiate with him you can likely get the screen replaced with the same 30-day guarantee that would come from arbitration.
• The issue also exists on the instrument cluster but in most cases does not appear to be as severe.
  • Service centers are not aware of a UV fix for the IC.

I have a 2018 Model S in New Zealand with the Yellow Border MCU issue. Just had the car at the SC last week. I noted the Yellow Border again and was told they would have a "UV unit" shortly to fix the issue - Tesla was making these units? With only 3 units in the world they have a lot of work to do to solve this problem! The word "shortly" seems very optimistic! My 2015 P85D loaner's screen was perfect. When I asked why I was told that the P85D had tinted windows - so sunlight was not as harsh. I told him that my S lives in a garage 90% of the time so the brief sunlight it gets means the MCU's screen are very fragile indeed! I hope I get this fixed and my FSD hardware upgrade before I sell the car... Might be a bridge too far... Annoying and I'm a Tesla fan boy... sigh

 

[Electric-fied]

I have it also again. Worse on the replacement screen. Summer seems to do it. I have had the screen replaced before now they have canceled the service appointment for it twice and tell me they are waiting on tooling with no ETA. They used to be the best at the jumping on service two years ago. Once the three hit it went to hell. Call the SC and may hold 30 minutes to an hour.
Guess they are calling the tooling the UV treatment.

Does it affect the model 3 screens? Daughter has one on order and want to make her aware before delivery.

Tooling is the “fix”” aka the cheap way out for Tesla. Very known issue since 2016 refresh models and around February 2019 they came out with a completely different screen.

Mode 3 is its own entire unit similar to a tablet so highly unlikely to develop this issue.

 

[AW9nineteen]

View attachment 444470

Oh. My. Lord. That’s unbelievable. My order is a week out, is it inevitable to happen? Or will I be safe with 5-20% tint on all of the windows but front?