Yellow screen? Force Tesla to Replace it!

[Electric-fied]

Oh. My. Lord. That’s unbelievable. My order is a week out, is it inevitable to happen?

Depends what exactly did you order? Brand new? Raven or pre-raven? Used? 2016-up?

 

[MP3Mike]

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

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying. The touchscreen on the Model 3 is just that, a touch screen. The computer portion is behind the dash. You can take the screen off and the car is still functional. (You can still even change the music/AC/etc from the app on your phone.)

I would think that the Model 3 screen gets exposed to more heat since the back is exposed directly to the sun as well. (And that is through the windshield that is rarely tinted.)

 

[Beyondkona]

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.

Thanks for the detailed reporting. I have 2016 S90D, live in a year-round sunny climate with lots of UV. The car is garaged when not in use and has the all glass pano glass roof. At the time of purchase 3 years ago I installed Tesla-sold two section interior roof shade to protect the insider. So far, no UV-heat related problems with either screen, dash or any other interior components. An all glass roof, no matter what the manufacturer claims, is going to have its problems if you don't taken preventive measures. I'm either lucky or the shades and other measures have done their job to mitigate this kind of problem and slow aging.

 

[buzescu]

There is no consensus that the heat or sun is the issue. The model 3 MCU unit is liquid cooled also.

 

[brucekrymow]

New Model S owner - vehicle has rarely seen the sun, but Tesla Service called me back about it to let me know that there is a fix in the works and I'm on the list to be notified when it is ready. Don't have any better details beyond that.

 

[Electric-fied]

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying. The touchscreen on the Model 3 is just that, a touch screen. The computer portion is behind the dash. You can take the screen off and the car is still functional. (You can still even change the music/AC/etc from the app on your phone.)

I would think that the Model 3 screen gets exposed to more heat since the back is exposed directly to the sun as well. (And that is through the windshield that is rarely tinted.)

Sorry for the lack of clarity I meant it isn’t constructed like the s/x units and correct it is liquid cooled. It’s designed to be more heat tolerant (especially with its positioning).

 

[Electric-fied]

New Model S owner - vehicle has rarely seen the sun

Seen s/x fresh off delivery truck with less than month old build dates with bright yellow borders. Certainly not a sun is exposure issue (unless it was in direct sunlight those weeks waiting to ship out) even

 

[Gixx1300R]

very interesting

 

[MSVroomVroom]

There is no consensus that the heat or sun is the issue. The model 3 MCU unit is liquid cooled also.

Are the S and X screens liquid cooled?

 

[buzescu]

View attachment 444839 View attachment 444840 View attachment 444841 very interesting

What is interesting? The digitizer does not come off easy I see. The glue just chrystalized.

 

[MP3Mike]

There is no consensus that the heat or sun is the issue. The model 3 MCU unit is liquid cooled also.

Sorry for the lack of clarity I meant it isn’t constructed like the s/x units and correct it is liquid cooled. It’s designed to be more heat tolerant (especially with its positioning).

While the MCU computer is liquid cooled in a Model 3 it is under the dash. The MCU and touchscreen are not one unit like they are in the S&X. The touchscreen in the Model 3 is not liquid cooled. (You can take the screen off with just a few bolts and then drive your Model 3 headless.)

 

[buzescu]

While the MCU computer is liquid cooled in a Model 3 it is under the dash. The MCU and touchscreen are not one unit like they are in the S&X. The touchscreen in the Model 3 is not liquid cooled. (You can take the screen off with just a few bolts and then drive your Model 3 headless.)

I think you are wrong. The liquid goes through the screen. There are YouTube's on that.

 

[Gixx1300R]

What is interesting? The digitizer does not come off easy I see. The glue just chrystalized.

The yellowing is in the adhesive, The adhesive may not be fully cured when installed in the car since it is in a vacuum, I will know more when I remove the touch screen glass. This is a different type of adhesive that is in the MCU1.

 

[PhilDavid]

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.

Please understand the reason we are at 44 pages is because of all the nonsense and BS thrown at customers. If they said they will have a potential solution by a certain date, just about everyone would have been understanding. People get upset when they feel cheated, lied to, or just general BS thrown their way when all they want is the defective display to be fixed.

I think the key part here is that anyone accepting the UV Fix NOT SIGN anything they give you where the UV fix is presented as "good will." They could use this against you later by claiming you understood the defective displays are not covered by warranty. Normally I'd never suggest to be careful of something like this but after all the BS thrown as customers, I'd be very careful.

If they want to try the UV fix, I'd kindly ask them to try it, and internally they can call it what ever they want but do not sign anything where you accept this is a good will repair. Tell them as far as you are concerned this is a defective part that should be covered under warranty but they are welcome to call it whatever they want internally.

If they still ask for a signature, if it were me, I'd sign as follows:

Warranty repair for defective display
<Signature>.

 

[vexige]

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?

My windows are tinted...

Frankly, if I knew in March what I know now, I’d be still driving my S6

 

[whitex]

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.

Yes you did miss a couple of things:

1. Tesla claims the screen discoloration is part of normal wear and tear of the car (like your wipers rubbers or tires, except wears faster than wither of those).They want to do the repair as "good will" means you acknowledge this was not a warranty item, and the repair itself is not warranties at all, which means the screen could go yellow the very next day and they would simply say "not a warranty item, we did you a favor trying to fix it once, you're on your own now".
2. The "UV fix" is not widely available, and with only 3 machines taking few hours per car, chances are owners worldwide will have to drive with ugly displays for months if not years. If they establish it as good-will repair, they are not even obligated to ever perform the fix, so some owners may never get it.

 

[whitex]

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..

Sounds like you need a script to send a question email to the service email every day.

 

[VT_EE]

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.

Nope. My Model 3 screen is still perfect after 1 year with plenty of summer sun and heat exposure.

 

[whitex]

New Model S owner - vehicle has rarely seen the sun, but Tesla Service called me back about it to let me know that there is a fix in the works and I'm on the list to be notified when it is ready. Don't have any better details beyond that.

It's standard pacifying response, don't count on it. It was one of 3 different responses I got when I had an appointment to fix it (one of the issues for the appointment). I was never notified the fix is available, but when I contacted them recently they said it is and to book it, so it's booked for next week.

 

[ucmndd]

Nope. My Model 3 screen is still perfect after 1 year with plenty of summer sun and heat exposure.

Anecdotal reports are just that - anecdotal. Just because your personal experience doesn’t line up does not mean that heat isn’t a fairly obvious contributing factor in a significantly large portion of the affected population.

EDIT: Missed that this was discussing the Model 3, not S/X.