A-Pillar Misalignment - Serious Issue?

[Stoneymonster]

Anyway none of this matters once you curb a wheel.

 

[SageBrush]

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?

Your memory is poor. The iPhone as a phone was inferior and it could not run apps.

 

[Gwgan]

Made me look. My car does not have the issue noted by the OP, that alignment is bad. I agree with

The entire fender is improperly mounted

 

[slipnslider]

Your memory is poor. The iPhone as a phone was inferior and it could not run apps.

But it wasn't physically poorly built and didn't require most buyers to return it to apple multiple times.

 

[Phillyasian]

So that rubber stripping has gaps in it on BOTH sides of the car? That's what looks terrible to me.

The passenger side alignment does seem to be off by a little. I think whomever said it is the fender being slightly out of alignment may be right. But I didn't even notice that at first. I noticed the rubber being curved AND missing a chunk of it.

I would be ok with the slightly off alignment of the pillar/fender. But I'm not cool with the rubber. That looks like a leak and/or wind noise issue just waiting to happen.

I was at the BRAND NEW (Opened the day before) Cherry Hill,NJ Showroom/SC on Saturday and examined the Red Model 3 they had in the showroom. With regard to the windshield Stripping at either corners at the bottom there are TWO SEPARATE and distinct pieces. One Piece is the gasket that goes all around the windshield. The Second is a gasket 'tray' that sits at the bottom where the wipers are. In other words it is NOT a continuous gasket that surrounds the windshield 360 degrees. That's why there is that gap; it has nothing to do with it being cut. So if you examine the OP's photos the 'GAP' seen in his photos is the space between two separate and distinct pieces and NOT something that was supposed to be one continuous piece but was cut andor poorly installed.The car I saw both gasket pieces were perfectly installed and aligned as were the A Pillars meeting the front fenders on either side.In fact in my 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid the way the windshield is mounted there is no gasket trim that is visible surrounding windshield.

 

[SageBrush]

But it wasn't physically poorly built and didn't require most buyers to return it to apple multiple times.

I didn't say it did. I pointed out that it too had problems from the consumer perspective. And some subsequent models had problems that lead to clamor to have what would be in car parlance a general recall. Remember antenna-gate ?

 

[slipnslider]

I didn't say it did. I pointed out that it too had problems from the consumer perspective. And some subsequent models had problems that lead to clamor to have what would be in car parlance a general recall. Remember antenna-gate ?

Yeah lucky for apple antenna-gate didn't happen on their first widely available phone. Shoddy quality early on could have really hurt them, like it could really hurt tesla.

 

[voip-ninja]

Anyway none of this matters once you curb a wheel.

You can get a wheel refinished for $150. Good luck getting misaligned body panels fixed and trim reworked for less than thousands.

 

[Glamisduner]

When you accept or do not accept, can you accept on condition that they will put in proper seals? That looks horrible IMO. What is seen cannot be unseen...

The seal is not only cut short but it looks twisted. I don't think I could accept with a problem that obvious and there's no way that can be to spec.

now I have to go look at the one in the parking lot here at work tomorrow...

 

[Phillyasian]

When you accept or do not accept, can you accept on condition that they will put in proper seals? That looks horrible IMO. What is seen cannot be unseen...

The seal is not only cut short but it looks twisted. I don't think I could accept with a problem that obvious and there's no way that can be to spec.

now I have to go look at the one in the parking lot here at work tomorrow...

If you read my post it's not cut short. It's two entirely separate pieces that have nothing to do with each other

 

[Stoneymonster]

You can get a wheel refinished for $150. Good luck getting misaligned body panels fixed and trim reworked for less than thousands.

It was a joke. Jeez. This place is a bore.

 

[voip-ninja]

It was a joke. Jeez. This place is a bore.

Yeah because people on this forum are known for “joking” when it comes to defending Tesla.

 

[voip-ninja]

If you read my post it's not cut short. It's two entirely separate pieces that have nothing to do with each other

I think his argument is that it could have been designed differently.

 

[Glamisduner]

I think his argument is that it could have been designed differently.

I dunno, I really need to check out the few in the parking lot at my work now though. I was drooling on some rando's midnight car today and didn't notice anything like that or any major panel mis-alignment. But sometimes in closeup pictures things are much more obvious.

 

[Stoneymonster]

Yeah because people on this forum are known for “joking” when it comes to defending Tesla.

Yes, I was suggesting everyone damage their cars as a serious solution to misaligned panels.

 

[Glamisduner]

I recently went to a buddy of mine's delivery here in Colorado and was in the process of doing our inspection of the car to find any paint defects, issues etc., and came across the base of the left A-pillar of the car (passenger side) jutting out. It was substantial enough to warrant a service tech coming over and telling us it was within the limits of their production model but I decided to look around. I went to multiple Model 3's in the delivery room, and outside. VIN's ranged from 5000 to 12,500 but all had the same issue. The right side A-pillar (driver's side) is lined up perfectly. The rubber piece that bridges the gab between the base of the A-pillar and the front quarter panel was lined up perfectly too. The passenger side was not. Wanted to post in here to see if other owners were seeing the same issue on their Model 3's. It's almost as if the frame of the car is a quarter of an inch too skinny...I could just be too picky though so if that's the consensus, just disregard this post, haha!

I looked at one in the parking lot at work just now. Has the exact same gap issue on one side, and the funky looking seal. The seal looks weird compared to what other manufacturers usually do, which seems to be hiding the transition lower or else the bendy part of the seal is actually a cover. But I would go with no it's not an issue to worry about, but I do think you have a good eye! I had looked at that car a few times now and never notice the seal, although it was pulled into a spot making front end stuff less noticeable.

 

[voip-ninja]

An interesting tie in to this topic is that Musk apparently has seen/heard about some of the customer dissatisfaction around fit and finish and in the leaked letter sent today he had this to say... it sounds like he's irked/rankled or views it as a challenge.

Precision

Most of the design tolerances of the Model 3 are already better than any other car in the world. Soon, they will all be better. This is not enough. We will keep going until the Model 3 build precision is a factor of ten better than any other car in the world. I am not kidding.

Our car needs to be designed and built with such accuracy and precision that, if an owner measures dimensions, panel gaps and flushness, and their measurements don’t match the Model 3 specs, it just means that their measuring tape is wrong.

 

[anticitizen13.7]

My Honda Civic actually has A-pillar misalignment similar to what is pictured in the original post. The rear quarter panels on my Civic are also stamped unevenly, which causes an uneven gap with the tail light units. There are also uneven gaps in the door sills. Honda had been building this particular generation of Civic for 5 model years before I bought mine.

While I believe that customers have every right to reject a car that they think is not up to their standards, I also think that this panel gap issue is overblown. My Civic has uneven panel gaps, and I honestly do not care. It has been extremely reliable and fun to drive over the past 7-8 years.

 

[grashelm]

While I believe that customers have every right to reject a car that they think is not up to their standards, I also think that this panel gap issue is overblown.

Your opinion is duly noted (sure you can reject your car, but i think you rejecting it for panel gaps is just nitpicking).