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A-Pillar Misalignment - Serious Issue?

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All auto companies have limited resources ($$) for the design & manufacturing of their automobiles. BMW/MBZ/Lexus/Infinity/etc allocate more resources to manufacture cosmetically superior automobiles while Tesla allocates more resources to the technology within their automobiles.

So, buy another brand if antiquated technology wrapped in a cosmetically flawless skin is your priority, or buy Tesla if you want to take the next step in the evolution of automobiles.
 
Let's put aside for the moment the shoddy rubber strip around the glass and how poorly it is finished. The problem you astutely raise doesn't look, to me, like it's a A-Pillar issue. It appears to be a poorly hung front right fender in each case. Note the rubber strip as it runs along the fender edge toward the A-Pillar base. See how it has to curve in to get past the base of the A-Pillar? Imagine if the fender were inboard a bit, the rubber would start from a position which would allow it to be straight as it transitions to the A-Pillar edge, similar to how it is on the driver side photo. I also see in Image 897 that the trailing edge of the fender is proud to the leading edge of the passenger door. The entire fender is improperly mounted. A properly assembled vehicle will have a straight run of the rubber seal.

However, even on the driver side, you can see how the overall straight direction of the rubber doesn't hide that the rubber rotates as you look up toward the A-Pillar...see the bit of the flashing line from the mold? In all of the cases, the rubber is embarrasingly poorly finished and installed.

I don't consider any of these cars commercial, and would reject all of them if delivery was attempted. The photos above of the 3 Series represent proper fit, and also represents the 3 Series I leased in lieu of the Model 3, largely due to ongoing quality issues.

You're not too picky. The quality is insufficient.
 
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All auto companies have limited resources ($$) for the design & manufacturing of their automobiles. BMW/MBZ/Lexus/Infinity/etc allocate more resources to manufacture cosmetically superior automobiles while Tesla allocates more resources to the technology within their automobiles.

So, buy another brand if antiquated technology wrapped in a cosmetically flawless skin is your priority, or buy Tesla if you want to take the next step in the evolution of automobiles.

I understand your philosophical position on technology. But, as Dr. Deming would point out, it is less costly/consumes fewer resources to prevent defects than to have to correct them. The issue here is the same one Tesla has struggled with...lack of experience/skill in the bodyshop but believing they could launch with less pre-V1 verification testing. Post-assembly bodyshop labor to correct these conditions is very costly per unit, even assuming only a fraction are repaired. Tesla would have been wiser to take the technology they developed and outsourced assembly to an experienced supplier. Such companies do exist, although are mostly used by experienced OEMs to help balance capacity. (Nedcar builds Minis for Mini; Magna builds BMWs for BMW). The history of the Model 3 would have taken a very different early trajectory and much tarnishing of the Tesla brand would have been avoided.
 
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Agree that it's more of a front fender alignment issue than an a-pillar alignment issue. The fender doesn't seem to be flush with the passenger door panel. I think you can have a service center deal with it, and you should bring it up as an issue. You're not doing Tesla any favors by letting that kind of stuff go unnoticed.
 
So if we're not happy with the build quality and Tesla is not willing to fix it ("within spec"), can we reject the car and get our deposit back?
With the dealership model, we get to check and test drive the car before we make any commitment.

I'm still waiting for my VIN.
 
I just checked my car. Indeed, perfect on driver's side, a bit off on the passenger's side. Probably not as severe as the OP's (my weatherproofing strip looked better). I measured the misalignment with a tape: it's 1/16" off.

Not something I'd notice unless I was a foot away from the car looking for misalignments. So my vote is 'not serious.'
 
I understand your philosophical position on technology. But, as Dr. Deming would point out, it is less costly/consumes fewer resources to prevent defects than to have to correct them. The issue here is the same one Tesla has struggled with...lack of experience/skill in the bodyshop but believing they could launch with less pre-V1 verification testing. Post-assembly bodyshop labor to correct these conditions is very costly per unit, even assuming only a fraction are repaired. Tesla would have been wiser to take the technology they developed and outsourced assembly to an experienced supplier. Such companies do exist, although are mostly used by experienced OEMs to help balance capacity. (Nedcar builds Minis for Mini; Magna builds BMWs for BMW). The history of the Model 3 would have taken a very different early trajectory and much tarnishing of the Tesla brand would have been avoided.

Imagine if Elon teamed with BMW or Toyota to manufacture Teslas in their US factories. It would be the best of both worlds.
 
I just checked my car. Indeed, perfect on driver's side, a bit off on the passenger's side. Probably not as severe as the OP's (my weatherproofing strip looked better). I measured the misalignment with a tape: it's 1/16" off.

Not something I'd notice unless I was a foot away from the car looking for misalignments. So my vote is 'not serious.'

So is off by 1.6 millimeters... I would have never noticed that
 
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My wife's RAV4 .... Oh the humanity

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Someone is going to point the price point. I wish I still had my Lexus ISF which I just sold to get Model 3 I bet the panels have a 2mm tolerance.
 
So if we're not happy with the build quality and Tesla is not willing to fix it ("within spec"), can we reject the car and get our deposit back?
With the dealership model, we get to check and test drive the car before we make any commitment.

I'm still waiting for my VIN.

No maybe you could go fishing and try to get them to build you a new one but I think they'll just eat your deposit if it's within spec...
 
All auto companies have limited resources ($$) for the design & manufacturing of their automobiles. BMW/MBZ/Lexus/Infinity/etc allocate more resources to manufacture cosmetically superior automobiles while Tesla allocates more resources to the technology within their automobiles.

So, buy another brand if antiquated technology wrapped in a cosmetically flawless skin is your priority, or buy Tesla if you want to take the next step in the evolution of automobiles.

As long as there are buyers like this who thinks it's ok, Tesla will have no incentive/motivation to improve. Telling people to go buy an ICE car will not help with Elon's mission, either. What we'd like to see is MORE Tesla vehicles on the road with BETTER quality control.
 
So if we're not happy with the build quality and Tesla is not willing to fix it ("within spec"), can we reject the car and get our deposit back?
With the dealership model, we get to check and test drive the car before we make any commitment.

I'm still waiting for my VIN.
Possibly. It'll be easier to do so if your car has a noticable difference compared to other cars, but even if it's something that's common across all Model 3s it still might be diable.
 
All auto companies have limited resources ($$) for the design & manufacturing of their automobiles. BMW/MBZ/Lexus/Infinity/etc allocate more resources to manufacture cosmetically superior automobiles while Tesla allocates more resources to the technology within their automobiles.

So, buy another brand if antiquated technology wrapped in a cosmetically flawless skin is your priority, or buy Tesla if you want to take the next step in the evolution of automobiles.
Is that how apple got people to try the iphone? By making a more advanced phone that was built like crap? Or did they make a better product all around?