Late 2016 / Early 2017 S Owners: How Are Your Daytime Running Lights Holding Up?

[cruiserlarry]

I had my driver side replaced under warranty on my 1/2017 S90D, and my passenger side just started to fail at 49,800 miles. Took it to service center , and was told that it was not a warranty issue, that it was a normal wear and tear issue, and not covered any more. Currently escalating up the chain of command to get that covered. Since Tesla started it's belt-tightening campaign towards profitability, warranty service for current owners has become horrible - any excuse to exclude an issue from warranty coverage has become the norm. and now, to add salt to the wound, it appears my previously replaced driver side unit is now failing again, too...very frustrating that Tesla doesn't have a better relationship with the part supplier, and make them responsible for the cost of the replacements. While the service center techs have been told to play dumb on these issues, it is obviously very wide spread among Model S vehicles from late 2016 through 2018, and certainly seems to be caused by defective or sub-par parts.

 

[ucmndd]

was told that it was not a warranty issue, that it was a normal wear and tear issue, and not covered any more.

Given yellow screens are a non-warrantable “cosmetic issue” now, I figured it was only a matter of time before yellow accent lighting was subject to the same policy.

 

[Cheburashka]

It happens on all cars. I don't think they fixed it in 2019. I just got mine replaced and part number is the same as before - 1053570-00-D

The irony is that while they were changing my headlights they gave me a loaner with both DRLs also broken.

 

[buzescu]

Can this be taken to consumer protection or something for continuing to put parts that they know will fail?

 

[ucmndd]

Can this be taken to consumer protection or something for continuing to put parts that they know will fail?

Doubtful. Nobody knows what the actual failure rate is, and all products fail given enough time.

What is an acceptable failure rate and how do you define it?

Tesla owes you a fix while the car is under warranty. After that, not so much.

 

[SO16]

Can this be taken to consumer protection or something for continuing to put parts that they know will fail?

Tesla is not alone in this. But I do think they should be fixed under warranty.

Accord's LED Daytime Headlights Burn Out

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

Is there anyway to diy the repair? I'm going to have a serious issue with spending $1700 per light to fix this.

 

[buzescu]

Tesla is not alone in this. But I do think they should be fixed under warranty.

Accord's LED Daytime Headlights Burn Out

Same here. After warranty this is a big problem. 3400 every other year because Tesla supplier can't make headlights?

 

[FlatSix911]

Is there any way to DIY the repair? I'm going to have a serious issue with spending $1700 per light to fix this.

Same here. After warranty, this is a big problem. 3400 every other year because Tesla supplier can't make headlights?

Agreed, perhaps you can switch back to the original HID lights from 2012-2016... solid reliability, better illumination, and no failures.

 

[marine_cwo]

I had my driver side replaced under warranty on my 1/2017 S90D, and my passenger side just started to fail at 49,800 miles. Took it to service center , and was told that it was not a warranty issue, that it was a normal wear and tear issue, and not covered any more. Currently escalating up the chain of command to get that covered. Since Tesla started it's belt-tightening campaign towards profitability, warranty service for current owners has become horrible - any excuse to exclude an issue from warranty coverage has become the norm. and now, to add salt to the wound, it appears my previously replaced driver side unit is now failing again, too...very frustrating that Tesla doesn't have a better relationship with the part supplier, and make them responsible for the cost of the replacements. While the service center techs have been told to play dumb on these issues, it is obviously very wide spread among Model S vehicles from late 2016 through 2018, and certainly seems to be caused by defective or sub-par parts.

That’s crazy that you had to escalate this. I just had both of my headlights replaced by Tesla Mobile Service (under warranty) on Sunday morning August 4. 2017 MS 75D

 

[Devon]

February 2017 MS 75D with ~50k miles. I have not had any issues..so far...with my headlights. Knock on wood...

 

[Buster1]

Mobile service just swapped out a whole new headlight assembly for me! Under warranty. Took the guy about 30 min.

 

[SO16]

Mobile service just swapped out a whole new headlight assembly for me! Under warranty. Took the guy about 30 min.

Did they have to remove the front tire?

 

[croman]

Did they have to remove the front tire?

No. They do remove the bumper cover. Most of the time is programming the firmware for the headlight.

 

[selfbp]

Update. At 34k mi and I’ve gone through 6 replacements. Mid 2017 Model S

 

[SO16]

Update. At 34k mi and I’ve gone through 6 replacements. Mid 2017 Model S

Holy smokes!!!! Do you drive through a mine field or something?

I have over 37k miles on a Jan 2017 MS in Michigan with terrible roads and so far, no headlight issues.

 

[Cheburashka]

No. They do remove the bumper cover. Most of the time is programming the firmware for the headlight.

Holy crap, they actually need to program something? It isn't a drop-in replacement? Why?

 

[fasteddie7]

Holy crap, they actually need to program something? It isn't a drop-in replacement? Why?

Yup there’s firmware for the computer to control them.

 

[_jal_]

I really don’t want to have a $1,500 / year headlight budget.

Even a button to turn them off would help, at least in places where they’re not legally required

 

[croman]

I really don’t want to have a $1,500 / year headlight budget.

Even a button to turn them off would help, at least in places where they’re not legally required

FWIW, Range Mode does this.