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Issues: P41819

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3/26/2016

Issue 2: No 12v power (the cigarette lighter plug).

Makes you ask the question, though, what caused the fuse to blow? When it comes to 12v cigarette lighter plugs, it is real easy to accidentally bridge the contacts inside the plug and short the circuit, so this is one fuse I don't worry about too much.

I have two devices that are good at blowing 12V accessory outlet fuses: my mini air inflator/compressor will sometimes draw over 15A, and I have a 250W peak inverter that will also blow the fuse if you load it up while plugged in.

It could also be a short, if a dime flew from the floor into the socket on an acceleration run. :)
 
New issue (sort of) today. First, here's where we stand on the prior issues:

1) Fixed at home with trim treatment product.
2) Fixed at home / easy fuse replacement.
3) Fixed by service center. Same day fix with loaner provided. Exceptional service on this one.
4) Haven't done anything yet. Intermittent and not really a big deal. Might see if service center can adjust some day when we have some other reason to take it in.
5) N/A -- our fault for not recognizing alerts.

And today's latest issue (sort of)

6) Cup holders. I love this S, but I now have 1 complaint. It's petty. But it's also annoying. The cup holders. They are 1) too close together, and 2) don't contain spills well, and 3) are in the line of fire by the sliding arm rest. This can't really be fixed. It's a design issue. Hopefully, the new center console cup holders work well, as that would be the cure for new cars. I might have to look into some sort of cup holder solution if I want to continue transporting drinks in it.
 
6) Cup holders. I love this S, but I now have 1 complaint. It's petty. But it's also annoying. The cup holders. They are 1) too close together, and 2) don't contain spills well, and 3) are in the line of fire by the sliding arm rest. This can't really be fixed. It's a design issue. Hopefully, the new center console cup holders work well, as that would be the cure for new cars. I might have to look into some sort of cup holder solution if I want to continue transporting drinks in it.

Yeah, they suck. I went with the Center Console Insert from EVAnnex. Others have gone with the Tesla console. The armrest cupholders work for some things but not many others.
 
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A quick followup. Trim treatment for sticking pano roof is working well; no further sticking in the past couple of weeks. 12v power fuse is still good; no problems there. Frunk still periodically catches on 2nd latch. Still haven't cared enough to do anything about it. No new problems, overall the car is working beautifully.

I did note that one side of one of the flip up covers that cover the roof rack mounting threads is broken (one of the two arms is broken, not the outer cover). Seems like these in general would break easily. Curious if others have had issues with their flip up covers breaking. Not a big deal, as long as I leave it alone, but people checking out the car love to pick at them. Could be a problem if one breaks off completely.

I also worry about the power lift gate occasionaly, as people keep trying to manually open and close it, but so far it has held up well to the unintended abuse. You are supposed to manually move it to adjust the lift height, but several folks have manually manhandled it all the way from fully open to fully closed (or vice versa).
 
I did note that one side of one of the flip up covers that cover the roof rack mounting threads is broken (one of the two arms is broken, not the outer cover). Seems like these in general would break easily. Curious if others have had issues with their flip up covers breaking. Not a big deal, as long as I leave it alone, but people checking out the car love to pick at them. Could be a problem if one breaks off completely.

It's a known problem. In the older design, you can't replace those little doors without R&R the entire pano roof assembly - or so I hear. Those are my car wash indicators -- if they're up, it means the car went through the car wash.

I also worry about the power lift gate occasionaly, as people keep trying to manually open and close it, but so far it has held up well to the unintended abuse. You are supposed to manually move it to adjust the lift height, but several folks have manually manhandled it all the way from fully open to fully closed (or vice versa).

Not a big deal. A bit of heavy exercise on the electric strut, but they're built for a little bit of that.
 
It's been awhile so thought I would throw in another quick update. Everything has been working perfectly since my last reported issue. I particularly wanted to comment about the pano roof. Ever since I treated the seals, I haven't had it stick at all. It's been working perfectly. I suspect because it was used as a loaner the roof wasn't used much, and when you don't use something on a car much, sometimes that can make things stick. I use it semi-frequently and really love it.

As for the cup holder thing, it would be really nice to just have a temporary cup holder that fits nicely into the open space between the seats. Doesn't have to be particularly nice, just needs to fit snugly (ideally something designed specifically for the S). At minimum, it would need two holder slots that can hold large cups. Most of the time I don't need it, but periodically it would be nice to pick up dinner on a carry out night when we have ordered drinks and have someplace to put them in the S. Then once I get home, I could throw the cup holder back in the frunk or something until the next time. Right now we usually drive our other car for carry out because we usually order drinks and have nowhere to put them in the S.

As a reminder, here is why I consider the S cupholders mostly non-functional -- one, they can't hold large cups (the base may fit, but put two side by side and there is not enough space); two, it is too easy to damage a styrofoam cup with the sliding arm rests; three, I've discovered when you do damage a cup and it leaks, it can leak into the center console and dribble out around the USB and 12v power sockets -- not cool (note: this happened after the fuse replacement, not before; however, it's quite possible this may have happened to someone while they were using it as a loaner before I bought it, and that is what perhaps blew the 12V power fuse).
 
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It's been awhile so thought I would throw in another quick update. Everything has been working perfectly since my last reported issue. I particularly wanted to comment about the pano roof. Ever since I treated the seals, I haven't had it stick at all. It's been working perfectly. I suspect because it was used as a loaner the roof wasn't used much, and when you don't use something on a car much, sometimes that can make things stick. I use it semi-frequently and really love it.

As for the cup holder thing, it would be really nice to just have a temporary cup holder that fits nicely into the open space between the seats. Doesn't have to be particularly nice, just needs to fit snugly (ideally something designed specifically for the S). At minimum, it would need two holder slots that can hold large cups. Most of the time I don't need it, but periodically it would be nice to pick up dinner on a carry out night when we have ordered drinks and have someplace to put them in the S. Then once I get home, I could throw the cup holder back in the frunk or something until the next time. Right now we usually drive our other car for carry out because we usually order drinks and have nowhere to put them in the S.

As a reminder, here is why I consider the S cupholders mostly non-functional -- one, they can't hold large cups (the base may fit, but put two side by side and there is not enough space); two, it is too easy to damage a styrofoam cup with the sliding arm rests; three, I've discovered when you do damage a cup and it leaks, it can leak into the center console and dribble out around the USB and 12v power sockets -- not cool (note: this happened after the fuse replacement, not before; however, it's quite possible this may have happened to someone while they were using it as a loaner before I bought it, and that is what perhaps blew the 12V power fuse).

This is the cup holder solution that I purchased from amazon.com:
https://smile.amazon.com/Topfit-Por...&qid=1465786308&sr=8-2&keywords=tesla+console
It fits pretty nicely in the console spot, but it's a bit overpriced I think. I like it enough that I haven't removed it since purchase.
 
Closing in on 25K miles. No new issues since last report. Been averaging about 310 Wh/mi over the summer, mostly driving 70-75 on the Interstate with A/C set at high 60's. Pretty good. I could easily get under 300 if I cared to, which I don't. Will be interesting to see worst case scenario come mid winter this year, though my unusual preference for temperatures in the 60's (most people like 70's) means I won't be pushing the heat as much as others would.

One thing I learned in the last couple of months worth mentioning -- you can activate the emergency brake to slow down when moving by pressing and holding the park button. Haven't tried it, but found the information when someone asked about using the emergency brake as an actual emergency brake (not that I've ever had to do such a thing, but still good to know, just in case).

I still worry about not having a spare tire. I did finally buy the tire inflation thing from Tesla and put it in the car, which eases my mind a little.
 
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About a week ago I got a Steering assist reduced message, or something to that effect. Basically, the power steering shut off completely. You could still turn the car, it just wasn't power assisted. Service center was able to quickly fix the problem; reported as being a loose connection that needed to be adjusted.

Also just got a flat tire yesterday. Not fixable. The lack of a spare finally bit me, but not too hard. With no way to remove the wheel and tire, I had to have roadside assistance tow the car to the service center. Again the KC Service Center did a great job and got it done quickly and professionally. Tire was a little expensive, but not excessively so. They charged $300 for the 19" Michelin Primacy tire. TireRack has them for about $240 I think. Another $50 for mount, balance, and such.

The reason I couldn't remove the wheel and tire myself is due to the car only having 4 small jack points. This is a problem, because if you jack a corner of the car, there is no where to put a jack stand. And you can't just leave it sitting on a jack only for an extended period of time. Possible solutions to this in the future is either a) having a spare, in which case I could switch out to spare quickly without using a jack stand (still technically not safe, but I'd be willing to do it) or b) having a jackpoint jack stand, which is a cool jack stand that lets you jack and stand on the same jack point.

Some links of interest:

JackPoint Jackstands: JackPoint Jackstands, LLC.

Compact spare tire option: BMW X3 F25 Spare Tire Kit (Emergency Space Saver) : Bimmerzone.com

For the spare tire thing, it's for Model S, and should probably verify Tesla hasn't changed the bolt pattern at any point before buying. I haven't heard of them ever changing it though.
 
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Drive unit replaced for milling noise, 8/6/2018. New unit listed as:

ASY,P-TRAIN,RMN,MDLSX,SPORT,CMC,HS
(1025598-00-P)

No idea what the old unit was, or if it had been replaced before (bought as CPO in early 2016; car built mid 2014).

Kansas City service center folks were excellent as usual. They always seem quite chipper. Almost too chipper *raises eyebrow*. But really great folks, and great service. They also took care of the power steering bolt recall while it was there. Had them put on a couple of new tires too. Was in service center for about 24 hours. Had a loaner S 60 overnight and they brought my car back to my house in the morning.

I could be wrong, but I get the impression that they are not as busy as some of the other big city service centers, and it's probably easier for them to provide good service than it is for folks at some of the more busy service centers. Maybe? Or maybe they are just really good. I don't know. Anyways, better service than I've ever gotten from any dealership.
 
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Long overdue update -- got screen bubbles fixed by replacement screen, but that screen suffered screen yellowing. Got that fixed with the light treatment, and fix seems to be holding a year or so later. How many door handles were mentioned previously in this thread? I think we have replaced 3 so far. The last one we did aftermarket parts repair at home and it went rather well. Also had a power steering failure, not sure if mentioned previously; quickly repaired by service center. Someone just seriously dented our rear fender by backing out of a parking space and not watching their nose (our car was parked). Care to find out how much the repair will cost? We should find out in another week or so. Car currently at 84K miles.
 
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New issue in the last year is water in the lift gate tail light. Nothing beyond that, other than pano roofs never ending issue of wanting to get stuck in the closed position and needing a slight push to get it to open. Still occasionally have issue with center screen being off on entering car and needing a reboot + couple of minutes wait time to come back on again.

Biggest worries right now are suspension links (just based on prior threads I've seen on TMC), and a little worried the drive motor might get noisy again some day.