r/TeslaModelS

A few months ago I picked up a 2015 Model S 85 with around 120k miles on it to use as a commuter even after reading about all the "inevitable" issues that this era of car is known to suffer from. I've grown to love driving this thing and want to try and shore it up against some of the more common failures, specifically the LDU coolant leak issues.

Has anyone here had the LDU coolant delete done by a mechanic in or around Los Angeles that they would recommend?

I have a 2023 Model S Plaid (bought used, ~35k miles now) and the rear climate control is driving me nuts. Every time passengers (usually my young kids in car seats) are in the back, the rear HVAC automatically switches to Auto mode, blasts the fan/AC, and seems to reset/ignore my front settings. The "Sync" option doesn't stick reliably — I have to manually drop the fan speed and adjust temps every drive.

This is extra annoying with little ones because it gets loud/cold for them quickly, and I end up fiddling while driving. I've done a full vehicle reset to factory settings, but it didn't help long-term.

Has anyone else with a refreshed Model S (especially Plaid) found a workaround or software fix for this? Things I've tried:

• Toggling Sync repeatedly
• Manually setting rear to specific fan/temps before driving
• Reboots (scroll wheels + power off)
• Checking for updates (hoping FSD 14.x or recent climate patches help)

Tesla service hasn't been super responsive on smaller stuff lately. Is this just how the occupant detection + Auto logic works, or is there a hidden setting/profile I'm missing? Love the car otherwise (Plaid performance is insane), but this feels like a UX miss for families.

Went to go charge after work today and I found that the vehicle said it was unable to charge. The app said that there was no power, but then transition to “starting to charge.” I reset the vehicle and drove to another charging station, but it still had the issue.

I looked in the charging port and there was some weird black debris on the points, so I cleaned that out, but no change. I called Tesla customer support and after 3 attempts to actually connect, I was able to chat with someone who essentially was going to tell me to kick rocks, but asked me to try it again.

As I was on the phone, the charging went from “starting to charge” to “charging stopped.” Then after a few minutes, the vehicle began to say that systems were powering down. I got out to unplug the charger so if the vehicle did power down, the plug wouldn’t be stuck. I got back and the guy asked me to try it again.

I tried it again and it just worked…

I drive a pretty significant amount for work, so I want to ensure that there isn’t a long term issue. Is this a sign of faulty or failing chargers, or was this just a weird software glitch that needed the cycle to fail before it reset?

Just bought a 2017 Model S a couple weeks ago and literally the day after I bought it I get an error saying the suspension can’t raise and says it may correct itself on next drive. Driven almost daily and the error doesn’t go away. Went into the service menu and seems to be multiple problems, most errors though seem to be an air leak. What can I expect to pay out of pocket for a fix? I got a warranty for the battery but nothing else (in hindsight they said I wouldn’t need the other warranty which now seems like they knew about the problem).

Just a few things I'm curious if they might warrant a visit to the service center before my warranty expires. I've got a 2023 HW4 Plaid with 45K miles, so not too much longer on my basic warranty.

First, I've got a weird, almost cyclical, vibration at slow speeds under light acceleration. I can really only feel this in the accelerator pedal. Comes and goes, very rhythmically, couple seconds on, couple seconds off. I don't notice it much later in the day. Been that way the past 8 months or so probably, never gave it much thought, but if it's an early halfshaft indication or something I'd obviously like to get it taken care of while I can.

Second - every time the parking brake releases, it squeaks. Super annoying, certainly this isn't normal?

I've got the typical host of rattles and such inside, just seems par for the course. Other manufacturers I've dealt with in the past, squeaks and rattles were only covered for 12/12, is this the same with Tesla? Is it worth mentioning to the service center?

Certainly nothing major or anything I couldn't live with. Absolutely love the car, just don't wanna ignore something that could be taken care of for free now and regret it later.

After lots of research, I made the switch from a 2020 Model S Raven to a 2023 Model S Plaid with HW4.  Overall, great decision.  For those making a similar choice, a few items of note:

- HW4 is WAY better.  Don’t believe the reviews that say that the two are close.  HW3 requires close supervision at all times.  HW4 feels like you are in a Waymo.  FSD on the Raven was not safe.  Erratic lane changes, sudden stops, driving in lanes that aren’t lanes, inching into traffic at a stop sign etc etc.  HW3 also required me to bump the steering wheel every minute or so, where with HW4 I receive almost no prompts.  The only mild benefit of HW3 is that it didn’t have a camera watching your eyes.  So slightly easier to use your phone.  Otherwise no comparison and worth the cost of the upgrade by itself.

- The Plaid is a much better car. Almost perfect really.  Better suspension, less interior noise, better controls and love that I don’t need a key fob.  Build quality is also better - less squeaks, rattles etc. And then there is the power.  Off the line who cares - either car can make you hurl if you floor it.  Where the Plaid shines is at speed.  Car pulls at almost any speed where the Raven lost a lot of zip once you got north of 70 mph.

- In terms of cost, I paid $67K on Carvana for the 2023 Plaid with 48K miles. Car is pristine. They gave me $27K for my 2020 MS Raven, which had some significant exterior scrapes and interior blemishes. So $40K to make the switch. IMO a late year 2023 with HW4 is the sweet spot for value.

Only question mark for me so far are the seats.  Same exact shape as in the Raven but so far not as comfortable.  Not sure if that is just a matter of getting used to them or an actual difference.  Only thing I can tell is that the seats are a bit firmer (but not the sport seats in the later model Plaids). 

I was thinking of getting a Model S but at least once a week I need to drive down 7 miles of rough dirt road. I don't mind going slow in those situations. But I don't want to destroy a beautiful car nor gets stranded in the middle of nowhere.

I know the model X might be better but I've always liked the look at the S much better. I appreciate the opinions of people that actually drive these dip vehicles.

I want to buy a plaid hw4 in a couple months but ive never driven one. Wanted to test drive before buying used of tesla site. Anyone got any ideas on how i could do this. Guy at my local dealership said all they had was 3's and y's.