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2021 Model 3 Problems

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The fender camera issue may return. This is a common fault on 2021 models. I had both sides fail, so had both fender cameras replaced. Mine started at one that was intermittent, like you experienced, but it got worse. The other side just suddenly stopped working. Always a spinning icon during the fault. When you see it spinning on the display and the fault is intermittent, take a photo as proof.

I haven't had any resets or reboot issues.

Interesting to hear the computer part has changed. I wonder why.
I did take a picture of the spinning camera and submitted with the service request. They still wrote it up with camera obstructed, could not duplicate problem. I personally think it has less to do with the camera and more to do with the other computer issues. We’ll see if it comes back.

Edit: One thing the mobile tech pointed out different on the new computer was the USB port for the glove box. That port doesn’t exist on the pre-refresh computer.
 
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I did take a picture of the spinning camera and submitted with the service request. They still wrote it up with camera obstructed, could not duplicate problem. I personally think it has less to do with the camera and more to do with the other computer issues. We’ll see if it comes back.

Edit: One thing the mobile tech pointed out different on the new computer was the USB port for the glove box. That port doesn’t exist on the pre-refresh computer.
If nothing else my friend - you seem to have more patience than me. So I'll give you a positive nod on that account.

But for god sakes - remember that you spent 50K give or take on your Tesla - and what has gone on isn't OK.

I'm not one of those people who treats his cars like they came from a Tiffany box - but Tesla shouldn't be putting it on your shoulders to seek out the right 3rd party vendors to fix their mistakes. Cray Cray - as my kid likes to say.
 
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First off, I want to love my M3P.

This is my first Tesla, and I took delivery of it on 23 Dec. Upon delivery, there were a couple issues. Minor scratch/gouge on front bumper, spoiler wasn't stuck on well, and after getting home, realized there was some type of overspray on all of the glass surfaces. Additionally, there was a software update that downloaded but failed to install twice. After this, the option to update the software went away.

Scheduled service appointment, and they took care of all of it. Front bumper replaced, cleaned windshield, and rear spoiler was replaced or re-adhered to the trunk lid. Computer needed to be replaced, but they had to order the parts so had to schedule another appointment. Also received my homelink kit, so mobile service was available for both.

Mobile service arrived, but realized they had a 2020 M3 computer vs the 2021. Installed homelink but advised I'd have to bring it in for service to have the computer replaced.

The first warmer day, I washed the car for the first time. I also razor bladed the top glass surfaces because they did not do a good job removing the overspray from them. After drying the car, I realized the overspray was not only on the glass, but covering the entire car (including side glass). Included this in the next service request.

Next service visit, computer was successfully replaced and software updated as it should. Got another software update shortly after and everything installed/worked fine. They said the resolution for the paint was to have a full detail at a tesla approved detailing shop, which I had to schedule separately.

Detailing shop had to clay bar the car, which did extensive damage to the paint, requiring more paint work than originally thought. In the end, they got the paint as good as they could, but there was etching in the clearcoat that could not be repaired, leaving dull dots all over the car where the overspray previously was.

In addition, I've had numerous random reboots of the touchscreen while driving or just after getting in the car. I also had one instance where the passenger side camera was not recognized, which disabled autosteer for a while. The camera was not blocked, there was just a spinning circle on the camera display for a couple drives. Later that day, it started working again. Also, the tesla arcade games said waiting for update and would not update after connecting to wifi, thumbwheel reboot, etc. Another service appointment...

Discussed the paint and other problems. They pushed new firmware to clear up the arcade problems, and could not reproduce the other problems. Tech is escalating the paint problems and "once he comes to a resolution with my internal body repair on what the next steps would be if there is any, he will let me know."

I picked up the car on Tuesday 9 Feb. That afternoon, had another screen reboot. Today, the car was in the garage charging, and I opened the door. Screen would not come on and the heat was running. Haven't drove the car since Tuesday. I hit the brake and tried a scroll wheel reboot (nothing happened). Putting the car in gear worked, but the screen did not come on or respond in any way.

Sorry for the long post, but wanted to put everything out there before asking if this is "normal". Most everyone I've talked to has had zero problems with their model 3. I have every option on this car minus red paint and white interior, and feel that these problems are not normal.

Has anyone else had anything like this happen to them?

No. The car I got was perfect. No gap issues, no paint issues, no computer issues. The only "issue" was wind noise from the drivers side window and I adjusted that myself.

Sorry you got a lemon.
 
FWIW, no. My late 2018 Model 3 was and is perfect. The day after I'd ordered it evening of 12/27/2018 they did all the loan and paperwork, then, in the evening of the 28th, a posse of Tesla kids delivered it to my house, then continued enthusiastically up the hill to drop off another two. The one defect, that I was willing to overlook, a sort of scratch in the glass by the trunk gasket, was removed by a dude at the Service Center with a razor blade when I brought it in for a $35 tire rotation: it was a bit of sealant.

Your electronics stuff is being handled well, and will be OK. Sorry to hear of your difficult paint issues.
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Hi all - having read all the problems with the Model 3 i'm nervous about ordering one. We were planing on ordering a M3 LR this week... I have also read on some forums that the M3's produced in China have fewer quality related issues than those in Fremont. Are any of you able to shed any light on this ? I think the location of where a M3 is manufactured can be determined via the VIN... Many thanks for your help
 
Hi all - having read all the problems with the Model 3 i'm nervous about ordering one. We were planing on ordering a M3 LR this week... I have also read on some forums that the M3's produced in China have fewer quality related issues than those in Fremont. Are any of you able to shed any light on this ? I think the location of where a M3 is manufactured can be determined via the VIN... Many thanks for your help

I have seen a VIN breakdown before, but don’t have it handy. I’m sure a quick search will find it.

I do believe most of the paint issues are due to the CA emissions restrictions. That, plus Tesla trying to squeeze as much production towards the end of the year. Between Tesla and SpaceX, I like to believe that failure is a learning game for Elon and company, and as long as they truly learn from the failures and make them right, I’m ok with them. I guess that is what has brought him and his companies to where they are today.

I don’t think any (or most) of the other automotive manufacturers have the risk tolerance that Tesla does. It comes with the territory.

Update on my situation: Tesla has authorized the car to be repainted. I should have my car back in a couple of weeks. While I’m not thrilled about an aftermarket paint job, I am friends with the owner of the dealership they are using to paint it, and it will likely have better paint on the car than most other US-beaded model 3’s.
 
I have seen a VIN breakdown before, but don’t have it handy. I’m sure a quick search will find it.

I do believe most of the paint issues are due to the CA emissions restrictions. That, plus Tesla trying to squeeze as much production towards the end of the year. Between Tesla and SpaceX, I like to believe that failure is a learning game for Elon and company, and as long as they truly learn from the failures and make them right, I’m ok with them. I guess that is what has brought him and his companies to where they are today.

I don’t think any (or most) of the other automotive manufacturers have the risk tolerance that Tesla does. It comes with the territory.

Update on my situation: Tesla has authorized the car to be repainted. I should have my car back in a couple of weeks. While I’m not thrilled about an aftermarket paint job, I am friends with the owner of the dealership they are using to paint it, and it will likely have better paint on the car than most other US-beaded model 3’s.

Will do some googling re VIN... thanks for your insights re CA emissions restrictions.
 
What color are you planning to order? My neighbor just ordered a white, and he found no paint issues. I’m also in a white ‘19 loaner, and both the loaner and his have what looks like PPF on the rocker panels. I’ve heard this is not actually PPF, but the rocker panels on this ‘19 are in WAY better shape than my black P. Some of that is likely because of the tires - the factory P tires are very sticky and throw rocks like crazy. On top of the thin paint, my rockers look like I hit a can of white paint, but I didn’t (and I have 1,700 miles on the car).

I’m definitely doing PPF on the rockers as soon as I get it back from paint.
 
I do believe most of the paint issues are due to the CA emissions restrictions.

That's a myth created by the anti-Earthers and perpetuated by wax salesmen.

It's true that generations ago California led the promotion of (superior) HVLP spray guns and (superior) low VOC paints, forcing some ghetto body shop owners to spend a hundred bucks on a new gun (and proceed to bitch about it for the next 30 years). But automakers are mostly held to federal pollution standards, which are mostly the same in all developed nations, including China and Texas.

Tesla's paint problems come and go depending on which Friday the car was built on and how fast they were rushing it thru the paint booth. In interviews Musk has even discussed the issues they've created by doing final assembly while the paint is still wet. Their rapid growth has them hitting one bottleneck after the next, and every so often that bottleneck is the paint booth.
 
Most may have been a bit too harsh. I think in order to comply with VOC standards, they are using a water based paint. While water based paints have come a long way from what I understand, they have much different properties when compared to the urethane enamels used on other cars. That, paired with Tesla trying to cut as many corners as possible to meet demand (external and internal), it went wrong.

I think you are absolutely correct when you say it varies from one batch to another, not by accident, but due to Tesla continuing to [try to] perfect their production line.
 
It does seem like some bad luck here.
I would push forward on a buy back too.

Was it paint or clear coat overspray on the glass? Or something foreign?

I’ve cleaned up the glass myself on 3 Tesla’s they all had a layer of “scum” on the glass. I had to Polish it off. Pretty easy once I used that to solve it. Nothing else would touch it. It was not always obvious there was a “scum”depending on the conditions, lighting etc it was clear something wasn’t right.

I’ve clay barred before. I’m no expert but it seems really odd it did more harm than good. It’s a pretty gentle procedure.

It feels to me the “overspray” issue took a minor problem and made it worse.

What color is it? Let me guess, white.
 
It does seem like some bad luck here.
I would push forward on a buy back too.

Was it paint or clear coat overspray on the glass? Or something foreign?

I’ve cleaned up the glass myself on 3 Tesla’s they all had a layer of “scum” on the glass. I had to Polish it off. Pretty easy once I used that to solve it. Nothing else would touch it. It was not always obvious there was a “scum”depending on the conditions, lighting etc it was clear something wasn’t right.

I’ve clay barred before. I’m no expert but it seems really odd it did more harm than good. It’s a pretty gentle procedure.

It feels to me the “overspray” issue took a minor problem and made it worse.

What color is it? Let me guess, white.

Nope, color is black. That’s what made it so difficult to catch. On delivery, it was obviously “cleaned”, but it wasn’t clean. The last thing I wanted to do was run my hands over the paint full of dust, etc and scratch the paint. My overspray on the glass was like yours - I first noticed it because a sticker had obviously been razor blades off at some point - it was the only clean part of the windshield. Water and wipers made it worse. Tesla “cleaned” it the first time it was in, but the cleaner they used didn’t get it all off. I razor bladed the windshield with some speed detailed as lubricant which was much better. Then I realized it was on more than just the windshield.

it seemed like black or dark paint overspray, and almost looked like metallic specs in the paint, but with a clean surface, you could tell it was sitting on top of the clear.

Im no detailer even though I pretend to be sometimes. I’ve clay bar’d cars before, but as I understand there are different clays with more or less aggressiveness. They had to use a more aggressive clay, which caused some scratching in the clear that required paint correction after clay barring.

The paint is already thin on Tesla’s, so there isn’t much to work with. I think they ran out of leeway to work through the etching.
 
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Nope, color is black. That’s what made it so difficult to catch. On delivery, it was obviously “cleaned”, but it wasn’t clean. The last thing I wanted to do was run my hands over the paint full of dust, etc and scratch the paint. My overspray on the glass was like yours - I first noticed it because a sticker had obviously been razor blades off at some point - it was the only clean part of the windshield. Water and wipers made it worse. Tesla “cleaned” it the first time it was in, but the cleaner they used didn’t get it all off. I razor bladed the windshield with some speed detailed as lubricant which was much better. Then I realized it was on more than just the windshield.

it seemed like black or dark paint overspray, and almost looked like metallic specs in the paint, but with a clean surface, you could tell it was sitting on top of the clear.

Im no detailer even though I pretend to be sometimes. I’ve clay bar’d cars before, but as I understand there are different clays with more or less aggressiveness. They had to use a more aggressive clay, which caused some scratching in the clear that required paint correction after clay barring.

The paint is already thin on Tesla’s, so there isn’t much to work with. I think they ran out of leeway to work through the etching.
I would consider the buy-back route at this point.

Indeed... look at it this way. I believe the Tesla shop charge is about $190 an hour. Would be the same whether they were replacing your steering rack or day-dreaming during a diagnostic.

How many hours has Tesla asked you to burn at this point - to make up for their foibles ?

If you're up to 25 hours - I'd say Tesla owes you $4,750.