Previous Tesla Model X owner / Satisfied Honda Clarity PHEV owner

I've never had parking sensors and frankly don't have many parallel parking situations. However I'm finding when I do have to parallel park the backup camera is very handy. I just select the down angle view in which I can see the rear bumper.

How does that compare with parking sensors?

 

I have both in my Volt and I find it distracting having the sensors beeping at the same time that I'm working with mirrors and the camera view. In that car the sensors came with the package I needed to get the camera. I'll take the camera every time.

 

I had parking sensors on my previous car. I couldn't quite tell exactly how close I was with the beeping so I always stopped short as soon as the beeping quickened. The camera works better because of the downward view. You can get it down to a cm. I don't miss parking sensors at all. Would be nice to have cross traffic warning though. I'm not quite used to the wide angle view even though it will warn you of people/vehicles nearby.

 

You might have dodged a bullet. Looks like the Model X's problems extend to Model 3:

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-tesla-model3-quality-20180218-story.html

 

I take some of these early quality reports and the way they’re reported with a grain of salt. The media loves to play this stuff up and make it appear as if it’s the norm. I’m not sure that’s true.

I read the Model 3 forums and owners, in general, seem very happy. This is without the selective filtering of the media. Of course there are fit and finish quality issues that shouldn’t be there, but many report excellent fit and finish. Early Model 3s were hand built and I think that resulted in some early issues with panel alignments. I didn’t see that mentioned in the article either.

The author mentions noise, but I’ve read some owners saying their 3 was actually quieter than their Model S. Of course that too is nowhere to be found in the story.

So yeah, quality issues exist, but are they as earth-shattering as the article would lead us to believe? I’ll reserve judgment.

 

That is exactly why I dropped my 3 reservation. While some owners seem to enjoy the visits to the SC, my closest SC is over an hour away through city traffic. Not a trip I want to have to make for fun. I’m also not sure I want the “sporty” ride the 3 owners are describing.

I’m going to give it a bit. Once things settle down, I may reconsider. If they do a 3 with air, I may take a chance. If not I may go back to considering an S. However, if we can convince Honda to keep putting resources into this segment, we may have some really great full-EV options in a couple of years from AHC.

 

The Model X is very different than the Model S, it’s far more complicated. The gull wing doors are a big part of the problem. There’s no question the X has far more issues than the S.

My Model S has been just great, the best car I’ve ever driven. There’s a reason why owners have the highest satisfaction rate of any car on the road. If problems were as rampant as is claimed, that wouldn’t be the case...at least for the S.

The 3 needs more time before judgement is passed. So yes, we’ll agree to disagree.

 

Can't complain about our Model S, either. The only issue we've had was a door handle that wouldn't present itself last summer. Tesla mobile service replaced it within a day. It is a fairly common problem, apparently. Original tires lasted just a little more than 35K, we suspect the car's weight and our driving habits may have affected this, lol.

But I know 3 X owners and all of them have had one problem or another with doors or seats. They still like their cars, though.

 

I thought perhaps this was an issue with a very early production unit, but checking the Wikipedia article I see deliveries of the Model X started in September 2015, so clearly that was not the problem here. Well, this anecdote is one example of why States have, and need, "lemon laws". Every auto manufacturer occasionally produces a lemon, and Tesla isn't any exception.

I'm glad that Tesla bought back the vehicle at only a slight discount, without you having -- to misquote Lewis Carroll and "The Hunting of the Snark" -- to threaten their lives with a lawyer.

I hope you enjoy your Clarity PHEV. There are a lot of people posting to this forum who report really enjoy driving it... aside from the (in some cases) truly bizarre behavior of its "guess-o-meter" range estimator!

 

I think most Tesla fans would agree that the MX is a rather flagrant violation of the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) rule. Even Elon Musk has admitted that they went too far in making the car overly complicated. Still, most MX owners seem to be quite satisfied -- the car is on Consumer Reports' list for top customer satisfaction, not far behind Model S owners -- so I can only conclude that Ddrj's experience is highly atypical.

But if I had the chance to own a Tesla car, it would definitely be a Model S rather than a MX. Those pigeon-wing falcon-wing doors may look cool, but my impression is they are more trouble than they are worth. I also would rather have a roof over my head keeping the sun off, rather than the MX's "panoramic" windshield.
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If the total rebates from the Japanese governments (federal, prefecture, and local) are still adding up to nearly $20,000 per car for fool cell cars, then Honda isn't losing nearly as much money on the Clarity Fuel Cell car as you think!

See the InsideEVs news article "Japanese Government To Offer $20,000 Subsidy On Fuel Cell Vehicle Purchases"

 

Sadly this is a chronic problem with the Model S, and perhaps the MX too. Tesla designed the rear wheels with a negative camber on the rear wheels, because under heavy acceleration the wheels tend to splay out and the negative camber counters that.

I wonder, is it possible during tire rotation to have the orientation (inside/outside) of the tires reversed? If so, it seems like that would extend the life of the rear tires. More frequent rotation than the manual calls for might help, too.

See "Examining Tesla Model S Excessive Rear Tire Wear Via Thermal Camera"
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Have to admit I wore out the stock tires on my 2015 Leaf pretty quickly also. It’s hard to not put your foot down and enjoy that EV acceleration every chance you get .

 

I kind of thought I’d hear back from you too.

Remember, repeated service issues are not the sole domain of Teslas. Check out the frequency of repair records for some of the highly esteemed (and very expensive) German cars. Yikes! Crap can happen with any car, any brand, and yes it can happen on day one of ownership. I certainly am not refuting the issues that Model X owners have had, it’s gotten enough publicity in Tesla circles. A neighbor has one and he too has had issues with the gull wing doors. Elon admitted the car is probably too complicated.

Not long ago we had a Mazda 6. The car spent more time in the shop than in our hands. We were particularly frustrated with the car’s Nav. The map display would constantly rotate, even when stopped at a light. They replaced every component of the Nav, with no resolution of the issue. We eventually took them the Lemon Law route and won. I should add that Mazda, unfortunately, did not handle our case as Tesla did with you, we had to fight. Then there was our PHEV Sonata, with its never ending ‘check engine’ light. 6 times the car was brought in for service, 6 times the light was reset, and they never found the issue. That car is now gone too.

Even our Acura TLX had ongoing transmission issues. So I am very familiar with chronic service issues, just not with my Tesla.

My point is issues can pop up with any car, and I’d virtually guarantee you that those owners won’t enjoy their car to the degree Tesla owners do, the stats prove it.

One thing most of us here can agree on, is the Clarity is an excellent car. Let’s hope its reliability is better than your Model X or some of my past cars.

One departing thought about car forums, actually any forum on any product. The most vocal folks on so many of those forums tend to be people with legitimate issues who are venting, to say nothing of paid plants from other manufacturers trying to instill FUD among prospective owners of these products that go there for information. It’s an unfortunate fact of internet life. The majority of happy owners simply don’t post, they just enjoy the product. Between the legitimate complainers and the paid FUD spreaders, one might not buy any product of any type.

 

At least owners seem to overwhelmingly love the Clarity:

https://www.kbb.com/honda/clarity-plug-in-hybrid/2018/base-style-consumer_reviews/?vehicleid=432200&intent=buy-new

Granted, these are folks motivated to write positive reviews (many of them active in this forum!) but others who have problems or regrets would be similarly motivated. I still fail to understand why the Clarity is not selling better.