A Tesla owner named Tyler Martin recently uploaded a video to YouTube chronicling every issue he’s had with his 2016 Tesla Model S. The video is 25 minutes long because Tyler has a lot to talk about.
Among the issues he mentions are paint imperfections, a dusty touch screen, and poor trim alignment on the door—these were what he found on the day the car was delivered. Other issues quickly crept up, but Martin waited about six months and 3,000 miles before taking his new car to a service center. When he did, he mentioned to the technicians that his electric driver-side mirror would only unfold partially; he had to physically push it the rest of the way.
All eyes are on Tesla right now as the company goes through “production hell” trying to fulfill hundreds of thousands of pre-orders for its make-or-break new car, the Model 3.
Many are wondering how the company will achieve its lofty production goals while keeping quality in check—especially since quality hasn’t been Tesla’s strong point in recent years. Owners of Model Xs complained about quality problems early on, and the Model S has received Consumer Reports reliability ratings of anywhere between “below average” and “above average.” (That publication recently predicted that the 3's reliability will be “average”).
Martin’s 60D seems like it may have fallen into the former category:
Martin also asked the shop to get the door trim lined up properly, but allegedly the mechanics couldn’t quite get it perfect. In addition, Martin mentioned that his rear passenger-side door had a strange delay between the handle being pulled and the door actually opening.
On top of that, he told the shop about a rattle from the rear passenger-side door, a crooked steering wheel when driving straight, a front door that creaked when it opened, and a defective windshield with little horizontal lines in it.
By the time a technician came to Martin’s house for the car’s second service, a new rattle had popped up in the front passenger-side door. The technician fixed this, and replaced the windshield (with one that was also defective). Shortly after this service, Martin says he was sitting in his passenger seat, and noticed the door trim coming off (see above).
Over the next few thousand miles, the car developed a number of new rattles, including one in the center console and one in the B-pillar. The steering wheel remained crooked, the HVAC fan squeaked and the car’s charging port struggled to open with the remote.
Martin’s biggest disappointment of all, though, seems to have come when he noticed a “weird yellow line” around the 17-inch touchscreen. Martin explains why that failure bothered him more than all the rest, saying:
In my mind, Tesla’s core competency is their technology. And that 17-inch touchscreen is the embodiment of Tesla’s technological prowess.
This failure was the tipping point for Martin, making him wonder about the Tesla’s longevity, saying:
If the car is built poorly enough that simple things are routinely failing, than is it such a stretch to worry about what the long term viability is for the major mechanical components?
It’s worth noting that Martin lauded Tesla’s customer support throughout the clip, and continues to love his car despite its copious flaws, telling viewers:
Despite all these little tiny problems that I’ve had, this is a fantastic car, and I’ve enjoyed driving it almost every single day.
We’ve reached out to Tesla for comment. We’ll update this post when we hear back.