All generations and engines together · 6,213 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 74k
One of the worst SUVs to buy at this age, and worse than most per mile driven. Watch suspension and corrosion. A risky used buy. Check the MOT history for repeating suspension advisories before you go.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
Cars built before March 2018 use an 8GB eMMC chip in the media control unit that wears out from constant logging, leaving the centre screen blank and taking climate control, sat nav and even gear selection feedback with it. Tesla was made to recall it in the UK (R/2021/031, roughly 9,500 vehicles) and now fits a 64GB replacement board free under recall. If you buy one outside the recall paperwork trail, a private repair has run to roughly £900-£2,500 depending on whether it is a remanufactured board or a full MCU2 upgrade.
Owners report creaking or clunking over bumps and, on air-suspension cars, one corner slowly sagging or a warning that the system will not raise, sometimes turning up as early as 20-25k miles. It is usually the front upper and lower control arms or an air strut and compressor, and left long enough it drags tyres out of shape through camber change. This lines up with the measured data, where suspension is the standout MOT fault for this class of car, though the folklore points at arm bushes and struts specifically rather than the whole system.
The signature rear doors rely on hinge sensors, motors and hydraulics that Tesla has revised several times across the car's life; owners report doors that open slowly, misjudge nearby obstacles and stop half open, or develop wind noise and water leaks from worn seals. Tesla has never issued a UK recall for this specifically, and reports suggest later cars are better than the earliest ones, but it remains a recurring theme in owner forums. Repairs range from a sensor recalibration to a hinge or actuator replacement costing up to roughly £2,000-£2,500.
A rising whine or hum from the front or rear motor, worse under acceleration or when turning, is a recurring complaint that usually traces back to drive unit bearing wear. It can appear on cars with fairly low mileage as well as higher-mileage examples, and while it is covered under the 8-year drive unit warranty, a private repair once that runs out is one of the most expensive jobs on the car. No Tesla TSB or recall covers it as a defect; it is treated case by case at service centres.
The flush handles that motor out to greet you are a common bugbear: some owners get occasional handles that fail to present or retract, especially in cold weather or after a shunt to the door edge, while others report no trouble at all over years of ownership. It is a five-minute recalibration in easy cases but a motor or bezel replacement in others, so the split in owner experience makes it a genuine judgement call rather than a settled fault.
On cars fitted with the older 17-inch centre screen, the adhesive around the display edge can break down and show as a yellowing border, worse in cars that sit in strong sun or heat. It is cosmetic rather than functional and does not affect the touchscreen underneath, but it is a giveaway of an older, unrepaired display. Tesla has fitted UV-cured adhesive or replaced screens under goodwill in some cases; otherwise a full screen swap is needed to fix it properly.
Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.
Saveable checklistThe physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 4,109 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Same segment (Family & large SUVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.