Tesla S rated UK's most unreliable car

Chris Wilson · 6 Sep 2018 at 13:55

Tesla S rated most unreliable car in the UK was what greeted me in this morning's paper. Can't buy parts from Tesla, they won't release service information, and they won't warranty new cars used for commercial purposes. Apparently they will also not release update info on cars they sell as selected used examples, so you have no paperwork to show if the myriad of "fixes" have been carried out whilst under warranty. And the company's owner seems to be going crackers... These things will be worth zilch when out of warranty. This You Tube video makes interesting viewing what a POS these things are!

https://youtu.be/nq5c4jGR2gM

Steedie · 6 Sep 2018 at 13:57

I did wonder what would happen when these cars run out of warranty and people don't renew it. I wouldn't want to take a chance on one.

Jez · 6 Sep 2018 at 14:08

I love them, and what they have done to the market. But agreed, i would not wish to run one. It'll be exciting times when the more established OEMs catch up. Electric S-Class anyone?

Rilot · 6 Sep 2018 at 15:01

I thought there was an EU regulation that forced car makers to make available their parts so that 3rd party workshops could fix them.

sovietspybob · 6 Sep 2018 at 15:13

Rilot said:
I thought there was an EU regulation that forced car makers to make available their parts so that 3rd party workshops could fix them.

I don't really know how they get away with it over here, there's some weird loophole they exploit over in the US as they don't have dealers or something and the legislation for warranty work etc refers to the use of dealers.

acemastr · 6 Sep 2018 at 16:14

Watch Rich Rebuilds, the struggle is very much worldwide

Diddums x · 6 Sep 2018 at 17:54

How much of these knackered components is down to the tech being in its infancy still? Let's not forget that up until 30 odd years ago all cars were absolute rubbish in terms of reliability. Obviously we have many years of manufacturing and development experience behind us now which no doubt counts for quite a bit but keep in mind that the S is the first car of its kind in history. Are issues on the decline, or are they the same now as they were 8 years ago?

Tesla's weird business model is confusing, not sure what their end goal is on that front.

Cristian · 6 Sep 2018 at 19:33

If you look at some of the issues in the video, the broken door handles cost $1000 each to replace, we can't really argue it's the first car with door handles.
Same as the 4 brake calipers sticking and 4 discs needing replacement - not really the first car with fixed brembo calipers.

Even part of the "drive unit" is essentially a transmission with fluid in it, I'm sure a decent gearbox specialist would be more than able to perform basic preventive maintenance / a fluid change if required.

The batteries are indeed a Tesla specific problem (would be interesting to asses the environmental impact of battery replacements every 60k miles or so), and maybe even the display & ECU (it is probably the first car with a massive tablet stuck inside and an ECU handling different voltages).

The most ironic thing is that they keep selling the "less moving parts, thus more reliable" story to everyone, which is partially true for the drivetrain, but seems that in the long run it's turning out to be a bit of a pain.

Also worth considering the prices of sorting out even the tiniest of parking dings that you'd normally pay for yourself on a "regular" car to not sacrifice your NCB.

Amp34 · 6 Sep 2018 at 21:23

I don’t think this is an EV issue, rather a Tesla issue. They’re an infant car manufacturer with little on the way of history to work with when it comes to manufacturing or longevity of parts. That and the fact they seem to want to do things the complex way rather than the simple way, “to be different” (or perhaps to test out ideas that other manufacturers have tested in the past).

Jonnycoupe · 6 Sep 2018 at 21:31

The all robotic assembly was testament to that, now they are hand building in tents outside the main production facility.

Simon · 6 Sep 2018 at 22:01

Fisher price cars with iPhone technology. Great for geeks. Crap for cars

ci_newman · 7 Sep 2018 at 08:17

Reading more into this, the survey was based on the responses from 28 replies from Telsa owners... just 28... out of 18000 car sales.

I think a very large dose of salt needs to be had with those findings.

bimbleuk · 7 Sep 2018 at 08:19

Amp34 said:
I don’t think this is an EV issue, rather a Tesla issue. They’re an infant car manufacturer with little on the way of history to work with when it comes to manufacturing or longevity of parts. That and the fact they seem to want to do things the complex way rather than the simple way, “to be different” (or perhaps to test out ideas that other manufacturers have tested in the past).

I think it was What Car that did one of their surveys and Tesla were 50% rated in that and the next worst was I think Renault with the early Zoe charging issues but even they were rated over 80%.

As mentioned Rich Rebuids has a good series on rebuilding mostly water damaged Tesla cars and there was one vid that went through the revisions that Tesla had to do to the door handles to make them reliable. Maybe more endurance testing would probably have highlighted the issues but there's an after market that can upgrade all versions of them. They do appear to fix stuff quickly under warranty which is essential to keep it appears.

Nasher · 7 Sep 2018 at 08:45

Ouch.

Probably going to be cars people won't touch with a barge pole in a few years. GL selling one used and out of warranty.

Mr Jack · 7 Sep 2018 at 09:09

Nasher said:
Probably going to be cars people won't touch with a barge pole in a few years. GL selling one used and out of warranty.

I think you under-estimate the desirability of a Tesla. Many people would absolutely love to have one, and there will be no competition on the used market.

Nasher · 7 Sep 2018 at 09:16

Mr Jack said:
I think you under-estimate the desirability of a Tesla. Many people would absolutely love to have one, and there will be no competition on the used market.

I can't see them being bought by average joe though. The people looking at cars like this will be somewhat clued up on cars and won't be easily fooled. Not like people who buy used Land Rovers.

sovietspybob · 7 Sep 2018 at 09:34

Nasher said:
I can't see them being bought by average joe though. The people looking at cars like this will be somewhat clued up on cars and won't be easily fooled. Not like people who buy used Land Rovers.

I don't know, i think they'll go to exactly the same type of person who wants a 2nd hand range rover for example. Teslas are cool and green, look how many influential people in the public eye have them i'm sure they'll continue to fly off the shelf regardless.

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 7 Sep 2018 at 09:56

Tesla are more like say TVR when you consider their scale and ability, good bits in general, unable to make them reliable (look how TVR ended up)

Tesla are a tech company trying to demo their product at the same time they sell it.

Plenty of the main stream manufacturers have issues as well, its hardly uncommon, just look at the recalls BMW have made recently. The self combusting vauxhalls etc. And these guys have around a hundred years experience (generally)

I can to some extent see why Tesla don't want any old grease monkey working on their cars, in just the same way as apple etc dont want any old "I can solder so i can fix an iphone" "engineers" working on their phones.

For sure taking a second hand S is going to be a big risk, a lot was cutting edge

They are rare enough I see enough people will want them, even with issues. I mean there are plenty of people who want old ICE cars that have plenty of issues. Car collectors for example will stick on with the rest of their collection, who cares if the batteries die if you never actually drive it.

Nasher · 7 Sep 2018 at 10:00

The difference with old petrol cars is you can find the parts cheap and fix them on your driveway with just a few spanners

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 7 Sep 2018 at 10:07

Nasher said:
The difference with old petrol cars is you can find the parts cheap and fix them on your driveway with just a few spanners

Or doing an engine rebuild in the lounge, yes been there

But realistically those cars are getting further and further between. The days when the most likely repair would be a head gasket etc are long gone. Older cars now (like last 20 years or so) are more likely to have an issue with a crank sensor or something like that. Even simple things to change can end up taking a day having to half disassemble the engine compartment to access something hiding under the manifold, you know the sort of thing. Jeez even changing the bulbs in some cars isn't a 30 second job that it always used to be.