I received my first Model S (an S85) on December 31, 2012 and put 33,000 miles on it. I now have 4,000 miles on my second Model S (a 2014 P85) and thought I'd share how I see the car having evolved in almost 2 years and almost 54,000 VINs.
VIN 1653
-----------
My first car, being fairly fresh in the world of Model S (and Tesla for that matter), experienced many of the "very early adopter" issues that we've heard about.
My drivetrain died...twice...in the first 1000 miles (some kind of resistor issue, I think). One of my door handles failed, and another worked intermittently. My brake rotors squeaked. My steering clicked.
Fit and finish wasn't great. The bezel along the top of the touchscreen showed an uneven margin as you looked across it. My front quarter panel never properly snapped into place. The chrome trim around the doors was uneven. Significant gap and flush issues. The interior lights buzzed softly. The pads that meet when you close the hatch needed to be adjusted to prevent a very low frequency sound when driving due to the hatch acting like a big bass drum. My turn signal was malfunctioning and needed to be replaced. Butyl smeared across the roof when I opened/closed the pano roof. My seat belt made a soft rubbing noise when I moved. My defroster was ineffective. The car squealed when under full power. My windshield spontaneously cracked due to a manufacturing defect or assembly stress fracture.
And probably some other stuff I'm not remembering.
Tesla fixed almost all of these issues over time (the only gripe I had is that they said the quarter panel could not be fixed...so I ended up with a panel that wouldn't seat properly on a $90k car). Despite these problems, I expected there to be hiccups on a new car using new technology from a new car company, and Tesla did a great job taking care of the issues. Despite these things, the S was such an engineering marvel and a joy to drive that after an accident "totaled" my car there was no other choice than to get another S. This time, I upgraded to a P85.
(The D was announced about a week or two before my P85 arrived...so my Model S was discontinued and obsolete before I even received it...oh well, that's the price of innovation, and am glad for it!)
VIN55228
-----------
My P85 arrived in Oct 2014. I now have enough time with it to share what's changed, what hasn't, what's improved, and what hasn't. (And in one case what's gotten worse!)
First, build quality. While Tesla's not yet near the build quality of something like a Lexus with really tight gaps and really flush panels, it has improved dramatically...both interior and exterior. Although my first car had about 5-10 significant and noticeable gap and flush issues (if you were looking), there's only one issue with my current one. The chrome trim on the front passenger door is slightly misaligned with the chrome trim on the rear passenger door. I think that's something the service center can adjust. The touchscreen bezel is now straight and true.
My first car had a few slight rattles when going over rough surfaces--one example being a grooved metallic drawbridge surface. (Don't get me wrong, it was still better than any other car I'd ever driven). My current car is very solid--no rattles, no squeaks. It literally feels more solid.
My first car had some looseness in the driver's interior door handle. Gone in my new car.
My new car never gives off the balloon squeal--even under full power in various weather conditions.
My new car has coil suspension and 20" wheels, vs. air suspension and 19" wheels on my first car. The air/19s are definitely a smoother ride...I somewhat regret having gone with coils, but it's OK if it means less maintenance cost in the future. (I actually like not having to worry about suspension height). If I had to do it a third time, I'd have gone with air and 20" wheels...now my opinion of the perfect practical combo on this car. My first car had significant camber issues, and I needed new tires every 10-15k miles. Even though I now have a P, I can already tell the tire wear is less. This is partly due to getting the coils and likely much better alignment.
Interior sound is now a little louder, but this is primarily due to the coil suspension and the loud tires I currently have--something I can't blame on the car itself. The drivetrain noise itself is a little quieter. I'm sure that if I had a similar setup (air and OEM 19s) the new car would be quieter.
The electromechanical braking system is tighter...the brake mapping is not as soft. I see this more as a change as opposed to a clear improvement. Some people like it, some don't. In one sense it requires a little more concentration to get smooth braking, but in a panic situation it probably stops a little faster. It's nice not hearing the vacuum pump/master cylinder sounds when I brake.
The automatic hatch opening/closing is dramatically quieter on the newer cars. The auto-presenting handles come out a little sooner on the newer car--it could even come out sooner, if you ask me. The handles are far, far, far more reliable.
The pano roof is much quieter, too. The loud whistle when closing the pano roof at speed is now gone. Normal opening/closing operation is much quieter. (I often can't hear it at all when driving!)
Again, my car has the low frequency noise caused by the hatch vibrating and acting like a big bass drum. This is a bit irritating for me at speeds. I went to adjust this myself (it's easy to remedy), but found that the adjustable pads I had on my old car are no longer adjustable! Maybe the service center can fix it...either way the landing pads just need to be tightened so the hatch closes more tightly and doesn't vibrate while driving.
The only step backward that this car has taken in 54,000 VINs is related to the electromechanical braking system. The car now makes a clicking noise every 4 seconds above 25 mph. It's not audible when music is playing, but if you're in a soft part of the music or the radio is off, it can be super annoying. Hopefully this will be fixed in a software update (I think it can be).
I have had zero reliability issues. The car has functioned perfectly from a mechanical standpoint.
Elon said a while ago that the Model S will be the worst car they ever make. (I believe he was speaking in terms of build quality/reliability). Indeed, I think their "worst" cars are behind them. And if cars as awesome as the first Model S's rolling off the line are their worst, the future of Tesla is very bright.
VIN 1653
-----------
My first car, being fairly fresh in the world of Model S (and Tesla for that matter), experienced many of the "very early adopter" issues that we've heard about.
My drivetrain died...twice...in the first 1000 miles (some kind of resistor issue, I think). One of my door handles failed, and another worked intermittently. My brake rotors squeaked. My steering clicked.
Fit and finish wasn't great. The bezel along the top of the touchscreen showed an uneven margin as you looked across it. My front quarter panel never properly snapped into place. The chrome trim around the doors was uneven. Significant gap and flush issues. The interior lights buzzed softly. The pads that meet when you close the hatch needed to be adjusted to prevent a very low frequency sound when driving due to the hatch acting like a big bass drum. My turn signal was malfunctioning and needed to be replaced. Butyl smeared across the roof when I opened/closed the pano roof. My seat belt made a soft rubbing noise when I moved. My defroster was ineffective. The car squealed when under full power. My windshield spontaneously cracked due to a manufacturing defect or assembly stress fracture.
And probably some other stuff I'm not remembering.
Tesla fixed almost all of these issues over time (the only gripe I had is that they said the quarter panel could not be fixed...so I ended up with a panel that wouldn't seat properly on a $90k car). Despite these problems, I expected there to be hiccups on a new car using new technology from a new car company, and Tesla did a great job taking care of the issues. Despite these things, the S was such an engineering marvel and a joy to drive that after an accident "totaled" my car there was no other choice than to get another S. This time, I upgraded to a P85.
(The D was announced about a week or two before my P85 arrived...so my Model S was discontinued and obsolete before I even received it...oh well, that's the price of innovation, and am glad for it!)
VIN55228
-----------
My P85 arrived in Oct 2014. I now have enough time with it to share what's changed, what hasn't, what's improved, and what hasn't. (And in one case what's gotten worse!)
First, build quality. While Tesla's not yet near the build quality of something like a Lexus with really tight gaps and really flush panels, it has improved dramatically...both interior and exterior. Although my first car had about 5-10 significant and noticeable gap and flush issues (if you were looking), there's only one issue with my current one. The chrome trim on the front passenger door is slightly misaligned with the chrome trim on the rear passenger door. I think that's something the service center can adjust. The touchscreen bezel is now straight and true.
My first car had a few slight rattles when going over rough surfaces--one example being a grooved metallic drawbridge surface. (Don't get me wrong, it was still better than any other car I'd ever driven). My current car is very solid--no rattles, no squeaks. It literally feels more solid.
My first car had some looseness in the driver's interior door handle. Gone in my new car.
My new car never gives off the balloon squeal--even under full power in various weather conditions.
My new car has coil suspension and 20" wheels, vs. air suspension and 19" wheels on my first car. The air/19s are definitely a smoother ride...I somewhat regret having gone with coils, but it's OK if it means less maintenance cost in the future. (I actually like not having to worry about suspension height). If I had to do it a third time, I'd have gone with air and 20" wheels...now my opinion of the perfect practical combo on this car. My first car had significant camber issues, and I needed new tires every 10-15k miles. Even though I now have a P, I can already tell the tire wear is less. This is partly due to getting the coils and likely much better alignment.
Interior sound is now a little louder, but this is primarily due to the coil suspension and the loud tires I currently have--something I can't blame on the car itself. The drivetrain noise itself is a little quieter. I'm sure that if I had a similar setup (air and OEM 19s) the new car would be quieter.
The electromechanical braking system is tighter...the brake mapping is not as soft. I see this more as a change as opposed to a clear improvement. Some people like it, some don't. In one sense it requires a little more concentration to get smooth braking, but in a panic situation it probably stops a little faster. It's nice not hearing the vacuum pump/master cylinder sounds when I brake.
The automatic hatch opening/closing is dramatically quieter on the newer cars. The auto-presenting handles come out a little sooner on the newer car--it could even come out sooner, if you ask me. The handles are far, far, far more reliable.
The pano roof is much quieter, too. The loud whistle when closing the pano roof at speed is now gone. Normal opening/closing operation is much quieter. (I often can't hear it at all when driving!)
Again, my car has the low frequency noise caused by the hatch vibrating and acting like a big bass drum. This is a bit irritating for me at speeds. I went to adjust this myself (it's easy to remedy), but found that the adjustable pads I had on my old car are no longer adjustable! Maybe the service center can fix it...either way the landing pads just need to be tightened so the hatch closes more tightly and doesn't vibrate while driving.
The only step backward that this car has taken in 54,000 VINs is related to the electromechanical braking system. The car now makes a clicking noise every 4 seconds above 25 mph. It's not audible when music is playing, but if you're in a soft part of the music or the radio is off, it can be super annoying. Hopefully this will be fixed in a software update (I think it can be).
I have had zero reliability issues. The car has functioned perfectly from a mechanical standpoint.
Elon said a while ago that the Model S will be the worst car they ever make. (I believe he was speaking in terms of build quality/reliability). Indeed, I think their "worst" cars are behind them. And if cars as awesome as the first Model S's rolling off the line are their worst, the future of Tesla is very bright.
.
