Consumer Reports Ranks Tesla Model X Near Bottom For Reliability (cnn.com)

Last year, Consumer Reports withdrew its recommendation for the Tesla Model S after investigating its reliability. Today, the nonprofit organization released its 2016 Car Reliability Survey and found that, while the Tesla Model S has become more reliable, the Tesla Model X has proved to be unreliable overall. CNNMoney reports: CEO Elon Musk admitted that he wished he hadn't put so much new, complex technology on [the Model X] all at once when he unveiled the model last year. Apparently, he was right to worry. The Model X's complicated "falcon wing" doors have been a big trouble spot, said Jake Fisher, head of Consumer Reports' car testing unit. Even the front doors, which have electric motors that let them open on their own, have been a headache for customers, he added. As a result, Tesla ranks among the "Less Reliable" brands on Consumer Reports' list. The SUV's dependability is rated as "Much worse than average." Still, overall owner satisfaction with the vehicle is rated as "Excellent." For a long time, "dependability problems" have tended to be relatively trivial, said Fisher, as the industry has perfected the major mechanical aspects of the cars. In recent years, the problems have stemmed from the more high-tech additions to the newest cars, like the computer screens that work with phone, navigation and entertainment features, said Fisher. But now, with tougher fuel economy rules pushing more complex transmission technologies, dependability issues are once again starting to involve fundamental mechanical components. New eight- and nine-speed transmissions as well as dual-clutch and continuously variable transmissions have been suffering problems at a higher-than-average rate, Fisher said. It's been years since new car buyers would have to worry about things that could actually render their vehicle undrivable. But those concerns are coming back, Fisher said. As for the Model S, Consumer Reports says "Tesla's Model S has improved to average reliability, which now makes the electric car one of our recommended models."

Comments

It's not the FWD that are the real problem

[haruchai]

Most people expected those to take time to get right.
But the issues with poor build quality was simply horrendous and would have been unacceptable for cars costing well below the Model X base price.
They delayed the car by 2 years and still couldn't get it right, FFS

Re:It's not the FWD that are the real problem

[AK Marc]

That's one of the issues with CR's reporting. 100 people with problems with a cupholder would rate as "poor" while 2 with a blown engine would rate as "good", when the sum of cost of 100 cupholders is less than two engines, so the upkeep cost of the "reliable" car is higher than the "unreliable" car.

Re:It's not the FWD that are the real problem

[Anonymous Coward]

Some of the "functionality" is just absurd though. For example, you can fancy them up a bit and call them "falcon wing" if you drink Musk's Kool-Aid; but gull-wing doors have always been a gimmick at best, and a maintenance, safety, and utility compromising nightmare at worst. This thing is supposed to be an SUV, FFS. Too bad the rear doors make roof racks impossible to fit, so no ski or snowboarding trips for the Model X owner. And auto-opening doors in general... just how fucking lazy do you have to be that opening your own car door is more effort than you're willing to exert?

Re:It's not the FWD that are the real problem

[sexconker]

And auto-opening doors in general... just how fucking lazy do you have to be that opening your own car door is more effort than you're willing to exert?

It's not about laziness, it's about impotence.
Cars that auto open, or have door handles that pop out in your presence, are a sexual thing. The car is presenting to you.

Re:It's not the FWD that are the real problem

[Shatrat]

In my brief time in Silicon Valley I noticed that there's an attitude that you can fix any problem by applying more technology. Doing a good job is for people too old or dumb to go for technological solutions. It's some dangerous magical thinking.

Re:It's not the FWD that are the real problem

[T.E.D.]

That's one of the issues with CR's reporting. 100 people with problems with a cupholder would rate as "poor" while 2 with a blown engine would rate as "good"

Ummm...that's just not true. Its right there in their FAQ:

Are all problems considered equally serious?

Problems with the engine-major, cooling system, transmission-major, and driveline are more likely to take a car out of service and to be more expensive to repair than the other problem areas. Consequently, we weigh these areas more heavily in our calculations of Used Car Verdicts and Predicted Reliability. Problems in any area can be an expense and a bother, though, so we report them all in the Reliability History charts.

I think the main issue here is that the reliability ratings are based on survey results, which means they don't know how reliable a car is until its been out a few years. So they are mainly useful for used cars. They will still "predict" the reliability of new models, but only if they know the model hasn't changed much from last year's design. On brand new designs/redesigns they don't provide a prediction, and usually won't recommend the car either. (Which jibes with the common layman's advice to "never buy the first year of a new car").

The main issue here is it looks like they got so excited about the Tesla S, they deviated from standard policy. Whoops.

Rigid

[PopeRatzo]

Consumer Reports is rigged against Tesla. When I'm president, I will sue everyone who has complained about their unreliable Teslas.

it's a terrible SUV

[YesIAmAScript]

Even when it works its awful. The 2nd row is short on room. The 3rd row is tiny. And you cannot fold the 2nd row seats so even if you fold the 3rd row down you can't fit a bike in it.

Here is a video showing how much more hauling space there is in a small LEAF than in a Model X.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

And you can't even put stuff on the roof of the Model X due to the stupid doors.

Get an AWD Model S. Skip the stupid Model X.

Re:it's a terrible SUV

[tuann]

Actually you can fit a bike in a Model X. Youtube video

Re:it's a terrible SUV

[DrXym]

Those gull wing doors were always a gimmick, a "hook" to ensure coverage for the vehicle. I'm sure it's neat to watch them ponderously open and close via sensors, hydraulics and motors but there is a simpler, cheaper and practical solution - a regular car door, and if necessary a little catch on the mid row seats that slides them forward or tilts them. The regular door keeps out the rain, opens and closes more quickly, doesn't need a bunch of electronics to function and does the same job.

It's notable that the gull wing doors are always demoed in tight spaces because that's about the only place they tenuously offer any advantage, but since the front row has regular doors I'm not sure how that's supposed to make sense either.

Re:Broken link in TFS

[ClickOnThis]

Well duh. Sorry for wasting everyone's time. Even so, none of the other links pointed to this page.

Re:Calling all rockets

[LynnwoodRooster]

If you RTFS, you would have seen this link where CR revoked their recommendation of the model S because of poor reliability.

Re:Rigid -- SMOKING GUN

[Xenographic]

But you were saying they were rigid against Tesla before they were rigged against Tesla and we have proof that everyone used to say that!

Even if looks like they're going to crash and burn, Tesla will make America fabulous again.

Re:Calling all rockets

[Anonymous Coward]

Because like Apple, their customers are part of a cult. Shitty overpriced products tend to attract this kind of people.

Different measuring stick

[sjbe]

If people are emotionally invested in a poor decision, then they will retroactively justify it in a lot of ways.

One person's poor decision is another person's awesome decision. Let's use a different car company - Ferrari. Nobody buys a Ferrari because of the reliability ratings in Consumer Reports. They buy it because of the looks, the performance, the badge, or other reasons. The decision tree and evaluation of satisfaction about the purchase simply won't be based on whether it is as reliable as a Toyota Camry. Tesla is somewhat in the same boat. Reliability is pretty far down the list of reasons why someone buys a Tesla in most cases.

Remember that Consumer Reports has a particular view point on their evaluation of cars. They apply the same ratings to all vehicles regardless of whether those ratings actually are relevant to the buyers of those cars. This isn't a case of post-hoc justification of satisfaction. It's that the measuring stick for satisfaction is a lot more complicated than how reliable Consumer Reports thinks the car is. Consumer Reports provides useful data but you have to understand that it is data from a very specific view point which may or may not be relevant.

Re:Different measuring stick

[fulldecent]

Stopped reading at your

Model X Unreliability

[Geeky Don]

Yet CR reports customer satisfaction at 92%. The Model S (I'm a Model S owner) scores the highest customer satisfaction of any car. My Model S is so unreliable that I completely forgot to take it in for the recommended annual inspection. I've got an inspection booked for next week because I discovered I was out of windshield wiper fluid, the only user serviceable item, since I hadn't taken the car into the service center in eighteen months. Yep...a lemon--no doubt about it.

Re:Model X Unreliability

[fred6666]

This is because Tesla is a religion. People are always satisfied with their religion. The same applies to Apple. Of course you are satisfied with your Mac when you can't switch to another manufacturer.

Re:Model X Unreliability

[Geeky Don]

There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation.

Silicon Valley culture of cowboy design

[sinij]

This is direct result of systematic problem with Silicon Valley culture of release and patch it later. While consumers got used to buggy, poorly optimized, and unreliable software they are not willing to tolerate this with cars.

Re:Silicon Valley culture of cowboy design

[AmiMoJo]

They are willing to tolerate it with Tesla it seems. Tesla have been very clever, launching "beta" features like Autopilot and pitching the car as cutting edge technology. Customers are more willing to put up with faults (as long as Tesla fixes them) and it has allowed them to get into production far earlier than if they had been trying to be perfect from day one.

Just a couple of points

[hyades1]

First of all, I've seen first-hand and heard about examples of brand new cars that were pretty much undriveable due to some kind of quality control issue.

Second, when you buy cutting edge technology of any kind, you're probably going to pay a price in reliability. If you know a good, honest auto mechanic, he'll probably tell you to avoid first model years. It's hardly ever because of basic design problems, because new models are tested pretty extensively. There's a learning curve associated with building them, though.