mknox
Well-Known Member
Yeah, looks like I started something in this thread I shouldn't have :redface:
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
-
Tesla's Supercharger Team was recently laid off. We discuss what this means for the company on today's TMC Podcast streaming live at 1PM PDT. You can watch on X or on YouTube where you can participate in the live chat.
Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues
- Thread starter DrComputer
- Start date
Yeah, looks like I started something in this thread I shouldn't have :redface:
NigelM
Recovering Member
kinddog
Banned
lolachampcar
Well-Known Member
First 300 miles on 4288 and the only issue that applies is the passenger door closing (known fix so not an issue). Outstanding car and good quality control.
About the passenger door slamming thing, I seem to remember someone finding that the inner and outer door seal were trapping air. They proposed a solution. Does anyone know if it worked and where the solution can be found?
Thanks,
BIll
About the passenger door slamming thing, I seem to remember someone finding that the inner and outer door seal were trapping air. They proposed a solution. Does anyone know if it worked and where the solution can be found?
Thanks,
BIll
Last edited:
rlpm
S P85 | Sig X _P90D_
lolachampcar
Well-Known Member
Todd Burch
14-Year Member
I proposed the solution--and at least for my car, removing that drain plug does indeed work very well! Just throw it into the glove compartment for safe keeping!
PattyChuck
Model S P100D, Model X P90D
WARNING: Sorry for the wall of text.
First, I gotta say, this car is amazing. There has been 363 miles put on it since delivery on Tuesday, but the sad part is, I'm only responsible for about 80 of those miles. The rest has been due to test drives. I've lost count, but I've had close to 15 people drive the car. I doubt any of them will result in a sale, but we're sure having fun! The Tesla grin is infectious!!
When I started reading thru this tread before my car was delivered, I was getting more and more disheartened. I was expecting a car full of bugs and mechanical issues. I wanted to post my story in this thread on the chance that someone who was reading thru having second thoughts might be comforted by the fact that not all the cars are problems. Below is a list of the things that have gone right/wrong (but mostly right) with the car:
• My car was delivered with 4.2 (.42). Only one bug found. My "Backup Cam" window video feed was "offset" from the window by about 1". A rebooting of the center display fixed this, and it has not happened since.
• When I took delivery, before I even put the car in drive, I activated the "Remote App" thru the touchscreen. My phone then nearly instantly recognized the car and was able to control it. My DES was quite surprised by this, because he thought the car needed to be marked "Delivered" in their system before it would allow the remote app to function.
• My jump seats were already installed in the car. My daughter is still too short to use them (by a few inches), but the grins I get from people when I show them is priceless.
• By the time I got home (about four hours) the myTesla section of the website had already been updated to Status: Delivered with my VIN.
• Every test drive I have given includes a section of road "friendly" to flooring it from a dead stop. Those that have test driven in the snow/sleet/rain all say the same thing: "The traction control in this car is amazing." It really is the best TC I've seen in a vehicle (full disclosure: my bar was set pretty low to begin with).
• I wanted to see if my car has the "Ambient Buzz" issue. I keep my night display at about 10%. I turned on the Ambient Light, and got no buzz. I started fiddling with the controls, and by moving the Headlight control to "Off" and then back to "Auto", the buzz started up (audio system was not playing anything, but was set at 3). I frowned. I started fiddling with more controls, and the instant I adjusted my display brightness (slaved to the right thumbwheel) from 10% to 15%, the buzz when away. I have been mashing buttons in all sorts of combinations, but have not been able to get the buzz to return.
• The charge cord got momentarily "stuck" in the charge port. Charging the car scares the crap out of me after reading a few reports of people getting the plug stuck in the port. I've learned to press and hold the button on the plug and then pull the plug straight out of the socket "with purpose" (not quite firmly, but close) after hearing the "click". The one time I screwed it up, the light circle went yellow and a warning showed up on the dash that the plug was not locked in the socket (don't remember the actual wording). A "with purpose" pull, and the plug came right out. I'll be trying a J1772 station tomorrow, and it's already giving me nightmares!
• It has been hovering around 32° here this week, dipping both above and below freezing. This afternoon, we had freezing rain/sleet. By 4:00, the side of my car was glazed with a thin sheet of ice. I started the remote climate control at 4:50, and pumped it up to "HI". By 5:00, the ice around the door handles had melted (due to the 'leakage' of air thru the door handles). There was still ice around the door, but the handles popped right out and the door opened with no problems.
EDIT:
• I was able to reproduce the ambient light buzzing by manually turning off the car (Controls -> E-Brake & Power Off -> Power Off), and then turning it back on, then setting the lights from "Auto" to "Off" and back to "Auto". As I previously reported, changing the brightness of the screens with the thumbwheel allegedly fixed the problem, but this is not the case. When the buzz comes on, it only lasts for a few seconds and then goes away all on its own. Changing settings has no effect on whether or not the buzzing goes away. I guess I got lucky with my timing.
tl;dr: The car has been, for all intents and purposes, bug free, and a complete and utter joy to own and drive.
First, I gotta say, this car is amazing. There has been 363 miles put on it since delivery on Tuesday, but the sad part is, I'm only responsible for about 80 of those miles. The rest has been due to test drives. I've lost count, but I've had close to 15 people drive the car. I doubt any of them will result in a sale, but we're sure having fun! The Tesla grin is infectious!!
When I started reading thru this tread before my car was delivered, I was getting more and more disheartened. I was expecting a car full of bugs and mechanical issues. I wanted to post my story in this thread on the chance that someone who was reading thru having second thoughts might be comforted by the fact that not all the cars are problems. Below is a list of the things that have gone right/wrong (but mostly right) with the car:
• My car was delivered with 4.2 (.42). Only one bug found. My "Backup Cam" window video feed was "offset" from the window by about 1". A rebooting of the center display fixed this, and it has not happened since.
• When I took delivery, before I even put the car in drive, I activated the "Remote App" thru the touchscreen. My phone then nearly instantly recognized the car and was able to control it. My DES was quite surprised by this, because he thought the car needed to be marked "Delivered" in their system before it would allow the remote app to function.
• My jump seats were already installed in the car. My daughter is still too short to use them (by a few inches), but the grins I get from people when I show them is priceless.
• By the time I got home (about four hours) the myTesla section of the website had already been updated to Status: Delivered with my VIN.
• Every test drive I have given includes a section of road "friendly" to flooring it from a dead stop. Those that have test driven in the snow/sleet/rain all say the same thing: "The traction control in this car is amazing." It really is the best TC I've seen in a vehicle (full disclosure: my bar was set pretty low to begin with).
• I wanted to see if my car has the "Ambient Buzz" issue. I keep my night display at about 10%. I turned on the Ambient Light, and got no buzz. I started fiddling with the controls, and by moving the Headlight control to "Off" and then back to "Auto", the buzz started up (audio system was not playing anything, but was set at 3). I frowned. I started fiddling with more controls, and the instant I adjusted my display brightness (slaved to the right thumbwheel) from 10% to 15%, the buzz when away. I have been mashing buttons in all sorts of combinations, but have not been able to get the buzz to return.
• The charge cord got momentarily "stuck" in the charge port. Charging the car scares the crap out of me after reading a few reports of people getting the plug stuck in the port. I've learned to press and hold the button on the plug and then pull the plug straight out of the socket "with purpose" (not quite firmly, but close) after hearing the "click". The one time I screwed it up, the light circle went yellow and a warning showed up on the dash that the plug was not locked in the socket (don't remember the actual wording). A "with purpose" pull, and the plug came right out. I'll be trying a J1772 station tomorrow, and it's already giving me nightmares!
• It has been hovering around 32° here this week, dipping both above and below freezing. This afternoon, we had freezing rain/sleet. By 4:00, the side of my car was glazed with a thin sheet of ice. I started the remote climate control at 4:50, and pumped it up to "HI". By 5:00, the ice around the door handles had melted (due to the 'leakage' of air thru the door handles). There was still ice around the door, but the handles popped right out and the door opened with no problems.
EDIT:
• I was able to reproduce the ambient light buzzing by manually turning off the car (Controls -> E-Brake & Power Off -> Power Off), and then turning it back on, then setting the lights from "Auto" to "Off" and back to "Auto". As I previously reported, changing the brightness of the screens with the thumbwheel allegedly fixed the problem, but this is not the case. When the buzz comes on, it only lasts for a few seconds and then goes away all on its own. Changing settings has no effect on whether or not the buzzing goes away. I guess I got lucky with my timing.
tl;dr: The car has been, for all intents and purposes, bug free, and a complete and utter joy to own and drive.
Last edited:
FYI if your charge port light is yellow just push it in harder. There should be no problems with charging. just make sure your car is unlocked before you try to mess with the cord, it won't work.
cool about the handles. I wondered how good it would work :>
cool about the handles. I wondered how good it would work :>
Don't be afraid of charging AT ALL! The key is to make sure the car is unlocked whenever you plug or unplug. Simple as that. Most people having issues with the plug are just being silly and trying to plug in or unplug a locked car, which it won't do.
Has anyone had any problem with the tilt wheel getting stuck in the uppermost position? Mine gets stuck and then makes a snapping sound (as if the gear wheels are caught) when it eventually comes down. It is worst when I move the wheel to its uppermost position. I wonder why Tesla did not put in the feature of auto retracting tilt wheel to make it easier to get in and out of the car. Almost all other cars that have power tilt wheel have this feature.
Although I like the way the car looks and drives, it has had more problems than any new car I have ever owned. However, I have been to Fremont service department several times and they have been able to fix most of the issues. I guess the quality control suffered when they went into the ramp up mode. Maybe Elon needs to come back and start checking the cars again as they roll out. The worst thing that can happen to an automaker is to have the word spread out about quality control and problems with the cars. Many years ago Fiat had to pull out of US because of that and Jaguar suffered from poor reliability reputation for a long time until Tata took over the company. Saab is another example. I don't want Tesla to suffer a similar fate. After all I have well over a hundred grand invested in this car.
Oh oh I may bring the wrath of TSLA owners and EV fanatics down on me for bringing up anything negative about Tesla but I am stating facts.
Although I like the way the car looks and drives, it has had more problems than any new car I have ever owned. However, I have been to Fremont service department several times and they have been able to fix most of the issues. I guess the quality control suffered when they went into the ramp up mode. Maybe Elon needs to come back and start checking the cars again as they roll out. The worst thing that can happen to an automaker is to have the word spread out about quality control and problems with the cars. Many years ago Fiat had to pull out of US because of that and Jaguar suffered from poor reliability reputation for a long time until Tata took over the company. Saab is another example. I don't want Tesla to suffer a similar fate. After all I have well over a hundred grand invested in this car.
Oh oh I may bring the wrath of TSLA owners and EV fanatics down on me for bringing up anything negative about Tesla but I am stating facts.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Yeah it's not as if there is a 136 page thread discussing Model S problems, we wouldn't tolerate that
You must be new to this forum. So, welcome. And feel free to complain about anything, but be polite.
You must be new to this forum. So, welcome. And feel free to complain about anything, but be polite.
Thanks Brianman, I am not new But I usually just read and not post that often. I am complaining about the quality control because of my personal experience with my car. On the other hand when I am approached by a neighbor, relative or even strangers in parking lots I sing praises about the car and the company. Because of me my nephew has invested a large sum in TSLA stock and has a Model X on order for his wife. I am genuinely concerned about the quality control.
steve841
Active Member
First year, first generation, first in house produced car is the trifecta for begging for problems ... And I think they've done well and managed the problems acceptably by and large.
It seems to me that many of the problems seen in both delivery and build quality came at the end of the year when Tesla wanted to get as many cars out the door as possible.
Maybe it is my false perception, but there seem to be less problems mentioned on the forums with more recently delivered cars.
Maybe it is my false perception, but there seem to be less problems mentioned on the forums with more recently delivered cars.
znino
Member
Maybe but I would be willing to bet that there is a higher percentage of posting members on this forum that are signature holders and early early eager adopters and maybe it's not reasonable to expect that mr or mrs everyone will be posting their experiences as much as those early adopters. Not to mention that the more recently delivered cars have simply not been in the field as long as those delivered between July and December. For sure tesla will correct little things as they move forward but I doubt a few months will yield huge differences in quality which, btw, is still outstanding !
Good point. I picked up my car mid Nov when they were trying to push as many units out as possible. My right door and rear hatch were out of alignment, the doors popped open on their own, the car needed front end alignment, the tilt wheel had problem to name a few.
I'm not being silly, they had to replace my whole charge unit because I was having problems with the charge port not opening. There are actual problems, but at least Tesla is correcting them.
Last edited:
Anybody had issues with the scroll wheels on the steering wheel not being able to select different content for display in the instrument panel? I'm stuck with the cover art on the left, and energy meter on the right. If I press and roll the wheels, I can see the other options, but the do not move or come into focus. I've tried rebooting the screen.
