sparky said:
Although the CU reliability issues are with relatively minor stuff (body fitment and climate control), I think it's fair to give Tesla low marks in this area. Something to work on.
It's not a matter of fair or not. It's the result of surveys to CR readers and what happened in the past 12 months (less for latest model years) vs. the average.
As for "minor stuff", https://www.consumerreports.org/car-reliability/10-least-reliable-cars/ states for Model X: "Trouble spots: Body hardware, paint and trim, climate system"
https://www.consumerreports.org/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/car-reliability-histories/
The reliability charts are based on responses on more than 640,000 vehicles from our latest Annual Auto Survey conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center. Consumer Reports subscribers reported on any serious problems they had with their vehicles during the past 12 months that they considered serious because of cost, failure, safety, or downtime, in any of the trouble spots included in the table below.
The scores in the charts are based on the percentage of respondents who reported problems in each of the 17 trouble spots. Because high-mileage cars tend to encounter more problems than low-mileage cars, problem rates are standardized to minimize differences due to mileage. The 2017 models were generally less than six months old at the time of the survey, with an average of about 3,000 miles.
It defines those problem spots as:
BODY HARDWARE: Power or manual windows, locks and latches, tailgate, hatch or trunk, doors or sliding doors, mirrors, seat controls, safety belts, sunroof, convertible top, and glass defect.
...
PAINT/TRIM: Paint (fading, chalking, cracking, or peeling), loose interior and exterior trim or moldings, rust.
...
CLIMATE SYSTEM: Blower (fan) motor, A/C compressor, condenser, evaporator, heater system, automatic climate control, refrigerant leakage, electrical failure.
The body hardware and paint/trim issues are no surprise. The doors, front and rear are a disaster. The above page also lists average problem rates for each system. For a '17, for all 3 of those system, the average problem rate is under 1% for a usually under 6 month window. For a '16, it's 1% for each of those systems and should have a full 12 month window.
CR used to state they had a minimum 100 sample size for a given model year to not have insufficient data. If let's say they got responses for 100 '17 Model X and 2 out of a 100 each had problems in each of those 3 systems, that already makes the X worse than average on those 3 spots.
If anyone cares, here are some example of Model X problems that would fall under body hardware and/or paint/trim. Read thru these threads and posts. I sent these to someone I know and added a few more.
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/driver-side-falcon-wing-door-hinge-snapping-when-opening.77686/
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/driver-side-falcon-wing-door-hinge-snapping-when-opening.77686/#post-1748642
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/crunch-falcon-wing-doors-fail-to-sense-obstacle.68268/
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/post-initial-problems-with-the-model-x.59839/page-16
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/crunch-falcon-wing-doors-fail-to-sense-obstacle.68268/page-2#post-1484546
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/so-sad-the-x-is-going-back-to-service-center.66455/ (FWD = Falcon Wing Doors)
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/post-initial-problems-with-the-model-x.59839/page-14#post-1471614
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/preventing-doors-from-losing-calibration.68036/#post-1480798
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/major-model-x-fail-videos-and-pictures.85021/
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/so-sad-the-x-is-going-back-to-service-center.66455/
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/horrible-horrible-and-terrible-day.66202/page-3#post-1430412
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/horrible-horrible-and-terrible-day.66202/page-4#post-1433287
IIRC, eventually ModelXBoy had so much trouble I think he got a buyback and a replacement car: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/lets-meet-modelxboy-v2-i-call-it-iron-man-edition.71825/
This guy had a ton of door problems:
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/falcon-wing-scratching-and-scuffing-other-parts.71339/
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/falcon-wing-scratching-and-scuffing-other-parts.71339/page-2#post-1602045
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/falcon-wing-scratching-and-scuffing-other-parts.71339/page-2#post-1602160
- bungee cords holding door down
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/falcon-wing-scratching-and-scuffing-other-parts.71339/page-4#post-1629894
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/falcon-wing-scratching-and-scuffing-other-parts.71339/page-6#post-1733581
Also, Google for
site:teslamotorsclub.com "model x" latches replace.
How many people do you know w/sub-$50K Japanese cars which have door problems like these even after the car's 5+ years old? How common are door problems on Nissan Leafs, going all the way back to model year 2011?