WATCH ABOVE: A review of the Tesla Model S from the widely trusted publication Consumer Reports is getting a laugh. Nicole Bogart explains.
TORONTO – It’s not every day esteemed consumer review publication Consumer Reports calls a car “undriveable” – let alone when the vehicle is worth US$127,000.
But, after clocking just over 2,000 miles on the Tesla Model S P85 D, Consumer Reports discovered the vehicle’s fancy retractable door handles refused to work – locking them out of the car and rendering the car, well, undriveable.
The car’s door handles are designed to retract electronically so they sit flush with the side of the car when the car is not in use.
When the driver walks up to the car with their key in hand, the door handles are supposed to pop out, allowing the driver to get in the car. A cool feature when it works – a huge inconvenience if it doesn’t.
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“After we’d owned the P85 D for a mere 27 days, with just over 2,300 miles on the odometer, the driver-side door handle failed,” wrote Consumer Reports’ Eric Evarts.
“And significantly, the car wouldn’t stay in Drive, perhaps misinterpreting that the door was open due to the issue with the door handle.”
According to the review, the vehicle’s other door handles were operating normally, allowing one Consumer Reports staffer to crawl into the driver’s seat from the passenger’s side. But the car, sensing a problem, refused to stay in drive.
Unfortunately, this type of problem is quite common with Tesla vehicles.
Consumer Reports said its reliability survey showed problems with doors, locks and latches are the most commonly reported among Tesla owners. According to the survey, the Model S has “far higher than average rates of such problems.”
However, the review did give the thumbs up to Tesla’s customer service team, who repaired the problem quickly and conveniently.
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“We called our local Tesla service center to have the car picked up and hauled 60 miles away to the service center for repair. But instead, the company sent a local technician to our Auto Test Center the next morning,” read the report, which noted this house-call service is available to all customers.
“Our car needed a new door-handle control module—the part inside the door itself that includes the electronic sensors and motors to operate the door handle and open the door. The whole repair took about two hours and was covered under the warranty.”
In response to Consumer Reports’ article a Tesla spokesperson said, “Model S’ connectivity paired with over-the-air software updates allow Tesla to diagnose and fix most problems in Model S without the owner ever coming in for service. In instances when hardware, like the door handle, need to be replaced, we strive to make it painless for a customer to get their Model S serviced. ”
In 2013, the Model S became Consumer Reports top-scoring car, outscoring every other car in its test ratings.
The team noted it would now continue its test of the Model S and update its review with information on the cars performance.
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