Tesla owner Tyler Martin was ecstatic in December 2016 when he went to pick up his brand new Model S. But the excitement quickly faded when he noticed several problems, including paint damage and trim alignment issues, during his new customer walk through.
Unfortunately, the issues didn't stop there as a whole host of other problems popped up just during Martin's first six months of ownership including a series of creaks and rattles, a defective windshield and malfucntioning mirrors.
The perpetual service nightmare that ensued with Martin's $80,000 electric vehicle prompted him to upload a 25-minute YouTube video chronicling every issue he’s had in his short 11 months of ownership. Per Jalopnik:
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.
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.
But Martin's problems only got worse after his first service visit. By the time of his second visit, with less than 10,000 miles on the car mind you, Martin reported a "number of new rattles," a steering wheel that was off-center while driving straight and passenger door paneling that had separated from the door.
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.
But Martin says that his biggest disappointment of all came when he noticed a “weird yellow line” around the 17-inch touchscreen that is the hallmark of Tesla's technological superiority to other vehicles.
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?
With that, here is Martin's full list of Tesla complaints:
