Consumer Reports was about to test the new Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model S P85D, but its research team could not get into the car. The door handle was broken. Tesla cars may be the best built in the world, but that is only true if they can be driven.
In a blog post, Consumer Reports experts wrote:
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. The door handles in the Model S retract electrically so they rest flush with the sides of the car when they’re not in use. Walk up to the car with the key fob in your pocket, and the handles move out to allow you to grip them.
Except this time the one on the driver’s door of our P85D didn’t pop out, leaving us no way to open the door from the outside. And significantly, with the car sensing a problem, wouldn’t drive. We were able to move the car a short distance, thanks to the smartphone app that allows us to unlock the car and authorize two minutes of keyless driving, requiring a spry staffer to crawl behind the steering wheel from the passenger seat.
The car door problem likely is rare among vehicles that cost more than $100,000.
The Model S P85D is Tesla’s super car, which is a place holder until it launches it Model X sport utility vehicle and, much later, a product that will sell for closer to $30,000. The Model S P85D costs $105,000, but that price can be as low as $75,000 with incentives and gas savings. The average gas savings figure of $10,000 over five years is probably wrong, since there is no thing such as an average driver.
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Tesla did solve the Consumer Reports problem:
The good news: Getting our Tesla fixed could hardly have been more convenient. 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. Tesla maintains a fleet of repair vans with technicians to provide on-site service for minor problems. Such house calls are part of the Tesla ownership experience, available to all customers.
“The next morning” is likely longer than most buyers of $100,000 cars will want to wait.
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