Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues

[jomo25]

So, based on the list of issues, the ones that would concern me the most are the ones with anything related to how the car drives. I.e., the issues related to TC being disabled or reduced power only being available. Not to be too dramatic, but it would seem these could lead to a serious problem (like an accident) if they happened in the normal course of usage. This is my read based on the descirptions of the issues. Or are they not that concerning?

I'd hate to be driving along, in bad weather, when TC became unusable. Or pulling onto a road from a parking lot and trying to speed up to the flow of oncoming traffic and not be able to do so and get hit from behind.

All the other issues are annoyances. But anything related to the drive would be deterrents for people to feel safe in the car.

 

[contaygious]

The reduced power bug happened when I started the car. It didn't happen while driving. It's very reduced so you can't really get far without noticing it. Seems totally fixed now with v 4.0. Of course now I have the low windshield wiper fluid one in it's place every once and a while...

 

[NigelM]

...now I have the low windshield wiper fluid one...

Ditto.

 

[Rich105]

Another bug I have seen with 4.0 is after using nav, once you exit nav back to music, the left side of the dash which normally displays the current audio source is blank. I have now gotten in a habit of rebooting the dash after every use of navigation to get the current audio display back. Have others seen this issue?

 

[NigelM]

Another bug I have seen with 4.0 is after using nav, once you exit nav back to music, the left side of the dash which normally displays the current audio source is blank. I have now gotten in a habit of rebooting the dash after every use of navigation to get the current audio display back. Have others seen this issue?

I've had that but you don't need to reboot, you can just press the left scroll wheel and re-select whatever you want to see there (I like to have the trip meters there).

 

[Rich105]

ah - thanks! and since others talking about windshield fluid warning, +1 from me (including trying to fill it and having the fluid disappear).

 

[Sparrow]

I don't have the 4.0 software yet and I have had that same experience with the left side of the dash no longer remembering what it was displaying before using the nav function so I think it is a pre 4.0 problem.

 

[mknox]

Is it just me, or is Tesla releasing a lot of buggy software? False alerts (washer fluid), having to re-boot screens, weird performance issues and so forth seem like obvious things that Tesla's software engineers should have tested and de-bugged before release.

 

[dflye]

Is it just me, or is Tesla releasing a lot of buggy software? False alerts (washer fluid), having to re-boot screens, weird performance issues and so forth seem like obvious things that Tesla's software engineers should have tested and de-bugged before release.

I'm thinking for non-critical components (i.e., not directly related to making the vehicle move), it is more of a typical software release cycle: add some new features, fix some known bugs, take a few laps through QA testing, unintentionally add some new bugs (hopefully less added than fixed). Rinse, repeat.

If Tesla didn't release until they found and fixed every single bug in non-critical components, we'd never see a software update!

As long as I'm not left with a smoldering heap on the side of the road, I'll take new bugs along with new features. :wink:

 

[efusco]

Is it just me, or is Tesla releasing a lot of buggy software? False alerts (washer fluid), having to re-boot screens, weird performance issues and so forth seem like obvious things that Tesla's software engineers should have tested and de-bugged before release.

Push it with bugs and fix it in the updates I say. Little quirks like that are minor inconveniences, the benefits of the added functionality are WELL worth it.

 

[PhatCat]

As we say in the business, "Clean compile, ship it."

 

[ChadS]

Is it just me, or is Tesla releasing a lot of buggy software?

It can get depressing when you read through this thread and see all the problems. But then I remember that this is where everybody with a problem is talking about it, so you should expect to hear about a lot of problems here. Then I go out in to the garage and see the car we've been driving since September, and I feel a lot better - we are not having any issues with it.

Every car has issues. Are Teslas having more than most? Could be, but I'm not sure, and don't think we can tell by reading this thread. It will be interesting to see once JD Power or somebody surveys owners.

Something even more important than the issues a car has is how the manufacturer addresses them. So far Tesla has done a great job on that. (Yes, communication could still be better).

 

[ckessel]

Push it with bugs and fix it in the updates I say. Little quirks like that are minor inconveniences, the benefits of the added functionality are WELL worth it.

I'm not sure the general population is going to feel that way. I remember in some other threads statements that Tesla needed to absolutely nail the quality aspect of the car given the market they're in. Tesla themselves said they delayed delivery to focus on quality though that seems to have been more physical than software.

At this point, Tesla's quality on the software front seems debatable.

 

[mnx]

I'm not sure the general population is going to feel that way. I remember in some other threads statements that Tesla needed to absolutely nail the quality aspect of the car given the market they're in. Tesla themselves said they delayed delivery to focus on quality though that seems to have been more physical than software.

At this point, Tesla's quality on the software front seems debatable.

I think the general population will be tolerant of bugs if they know an update is coming in ~6 weeks that will fix the problem. I know I would.

 

[MikeK]

I think the general population will be tolerant of bugs if they know an update is coming in ~6 weeks that will fix the problem. I know I would.

Depends on the bug, obviously. False "windshield washer" warnings, sure. Failures of the 3G that require pulling fuses, or the car entering limp modes that keep it to 10mph unless you reboot it three times, not so much.

I think it would also be good for there to be a way to tell users about issues. For example, the windshield washer thing cost me some time and caused me to email the service folks. Would have been nice to know that it was an "expected" bug.

 

[lolachampcar]

Someone mentioned in another thread (or perhaps this one) that a winning JD Power quality number was 72 or 73 defects per 100 cars and that most manufacturers like BMW and Mercedes were over 100/100! I think Tesla is doing just fine given the software element on this car controls everything. Most mfgs simply plug in modules by other vendors with nowhere near the feature list.

 

[ElSupreme]

Remember that this is common for ALL NEW CARS JD Power's average rating for initial quality (problems in first 90 days) is 102 per 100 cars. Yes that is right there are on average more problems than cars in the first 90 days.


Lexus had the least amount of problems industry wide with a paltry 73 problems per 100 vehicles

2012 U.S. Initial Quality Study Results | J.D. Power

Someone mentioned in another thread (or perhaps this one) that a winning JD Power quality number was 72 or 73 defects per 100 cars and that most manufacturers like BMW and Mercedes were over 100/100! I think Tesla is doing just fine given the software element on this car controls everything. Most mfgs simply plug in modules by other vendors with nowhere near the feature list.

Yeah that was me. It is probably worth repeating. But remember that a single software bug is probably 100 defects (or close to) per 100 cars. As it would be present in all cars. The reported defects would probably be less than 100 but it still would be a really big number. Also new models will have higher defects than an industry average.

 

[strider]

I know Tesla say the required door slam is by design, but when enough customers are having problems that tells me it's a bad design. Most other vendors seem to have normal doors.

All 4 of my doors require the same amount of effort to close - regardless of which one is last.

 

[NigelM]

All 4 of my doors require the same amount of effort to close - regardless of which one is last.

Same here. In any case the slightly lowered windows should obviate any air pressure effect.

 

[strider]

I'm not sure the general population is going to feel that way. I remember in some other threads statements that Tesla needed to absolutely nail the quality aspect of the car given the market they're in. Tesla themselves said they delayed delivery to focus on quality though that seems to have been more physical than software.

I agree w/ MikeK. The "general population" buys smartphones and computers and those things (be it Microsoft, Apple, Google, etc) have tons of bugs all the time. I've had to reboot such devices an innumerable number of times yet I keep buying and using them because so far the benefits outweigh the pain. Cars are becoming the same way.

That being said, 3 days in our car has been flawless.