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An honest take on Tesla / the Model Y

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Four-ish years ago I took delivery of a new C43 AMG. I noted that the trim panel at the driver's door (the silver one that says AMG on it) had a dent on it. I noted that during delivery, the dealership said "we'll make a notice but we doubt if anything could be done". It was a lease so I was like well what the heck.

Then 3 years through out owning the C43, it stalled on my many many times. The changed out some ECU chip and that didnt solve the problem. Then changed out the start/stop computer and that didnt solve the problem. Then there is the squeaks and rattles in the cabin - the default excuse was "yes its normal your car has sports suspension" or other lame excuses which put me in Karen-mode, saying stuff like "do you think that i am stupid" and emailing everyone who works for Mercedes Canada and Daimler AG. They did more work about the squeaks, rattles and stalls - all the problems were still there the day I handed the car back to them.

I got a M3P after the C43. The M3P came with a lot of issues too. Panel gaps, misaligned lights, missing brackets. Mine even had a bad hood (its formed in such a way that it looks like the bumper had an underbite). I noted all of these issues (some of which, including the hood) a few days after delivery to my delivery guy. They fixed everything - including giving me a brand new hood and new tail lights (those had minor scratches on delivery).

There's been some squeaks and rattles, but Tesla has been able to solve these problems for me. The car also does not have any mechanical issues.

I guess a lot of times whether the car you get will be perfect - Tesla or otherwise. I guess for me it comes down to customer service. My experience with Mercedes tells me that their default response when there is an issue is a lame excuse (sport suspension is stiffer so squeaks and rattles are normal). Because those are ICE, the chance of mechanical issues are also higher.

With my M3P - yes the quality is questionable - but so far I have been able to get Tesla to fix everything that I was not happy with - and they have been really effective in troubleshooting issues (mostly squeaks and rattles). I do miss not having to check for panel gaps or paint defects on a car - but I think that Tesla's "knowing they will fix it for me if I find a problem" may still be better then Mercedes' "they may not be able to fix it/they will not even entertain minor problems".
 
I keep hearing about pricing themselves into luxury territory or cost the same as a luxury vehicle. Although the price is there, the batteries/power and technology is what makes this car cost money. One could go with an Audi or other German make however the price will be much more, performance not on par and technology lagging but my oh my the interior appointments will be everything you ever wanted. Tesla has defined luxury differently and honestly I like it this way. Simple car, easy to clean and maintain, goes like a bat out of hell and just feels great in every respect.

As for this issues you had, should not be happening and no excuse for that. In time things will change, the teething pains are still there but getting less as time goes on.
This took me awhile to figure out, you are exactly right, you are not buying a luxury car! Despite being invested, following all the articles, tweets, forums since 2015 or so I could never pull the trigger on one. Especially once the M3 came out. It's hard to justify the quality and experience vs a luxury car. I mean yeah everyone has or knows someone who had a bad experience with a car but realistically Tesla owners are getting a poorer quality and service level then you'd expect from almost any other car company. We apologize for it by saying you're a troll or my car was perfect but we all really know they have a lot of room for improvement.

I recently got a MY and yeah was a bit underwhelmed with the quality, there are a few issues in it that I'm sure some people here would of rejected. I don't care so much as I tend to beat cars up pretty bad. Of any dealership I've bought from foreign or domestic the delivery prep team would've never let a car go to a customer as dirty as the one I got (interior - exterior seemed washed). Overall I like the car but it took less then 48 hours before the screen was totally frozen and I had to google the reboot. Have had that a few times, it's just crashed and rebooted itself around 4-5 times in the past few weeks too. I knew what I was getting into and I'm okay with it, but the average person doesn't want to deal with that bs, they need to do better.
 
The blessing and the curse of Tesla is that they make such unique cars, they bank on people not wanting to go back and creating that brand loyalty. Very similar to Apple a couple of decades ago. I drove a couple of ICE cars recently belonging to family members (admittedly, not luxury cars), and it was like I hopped in a time machine... Having to use the left pedal alone was a huge pain I never realized until I got my Tesla. The UI isn’t perfect, but it’s hard to compete with that screen. I am not a Teslabro and couldn’t care less what Elon had for breakfast, but I will probably have to think long and hard about leaving Tesla once it’s time to get a new car. Competition usually means good things for customers, and I really hope that the CX improves exponentially over the years.

The delivery experience however might be something that is here to stay, considering none of these cars sit in a dealership for weeks, test driven by potential buyers who have time to notice the build issues...
 
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While I can see why someone would reject a car for a dent (though in many cases they can be very effectively PDRed out). I wouldn’t reject a car for a damage to a wheel. That’s a pretty easy fix, the whole thing can just be replaced.

Our front driver side Gemini wheel had a pretty bad gouge along the edge of the rim (it was not from hitting a curb but looked like something that may have happened during transport or tire installation). I reported it along with the other minor issues found. When the appointment came up I politely asked the SA to just replace the wheel with a new one, which they happily did.
 
While I can see why someone would reject a car for a dent (though in many cases they can be very effectively PDRed out). I wouldn’t reject a car for a damage to a wheel. That’s a pretty easy fix, the whole thing can just be replaced.

Our front driver side Gemini wheel had a pretty bad gouge along the edge of the rim (it was not from hitting a curb but looked like something that may have happened during transport or tire installation). I reported it along with the other minor issues found. When the appointment came up I politely asked the SA to just replace the wheel with a new one, which they happily did.

It was more than just the wheel for me, but I think you're missing the point. Most high-end car manufacturers, or hell any manufacturer for that matter would never try to pass off a new car to customer with banged up wheels and dents. It's disrespectful and borderline negligent. I get it though, I'm probably a bit more picky than the typical consumer :)
 
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I went back and forth about posting this, but I think I need to put it out there for others that might in a similar position to where I was. Coming from a string of luxury
I did the same thing. I was walking up to my MY, ready to take delivery, and immediately noticed the passenger door was misaligned. So much so that my wife and I noticed it from farther away. I like Tesla and what they stand for but I'm waiting until the issues were fixed. I wouldn't mind so much if the cost was comparable to a Honda Civic but $54k if a lot of money for a vehicle that has issues and is in the luxury brand category.
 
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It was more than just the wheel for me, but I think you're missing the point. Most high-end car manufacturers, or hell any manufacturer for that matter would never try to pass off a new car to customer with banged up wheels and dents. It's disrespectful and borderline negligent. I get it though, I'm probably a bit more picky than the typical consumer :)
I get your point, but I'm personally willing to cut Tesla some slack considering how quickly they've scaled their manufacturing and logistics operations in a relatively short time. We'll have to see whether they are able to catch up and iron out these issues in the next few years as the rate of growth starts to level out and additional resources come online.

BMW has dedicated facilities (for example Port Hueneme) that are dedicated to finding addressing issues with the cars before they make it to dealers. They are able to do extensive bodywork on the cars if necessary, including repaints (a different kind of controversy in that you as the customer may never know the car you are buying had to have paintwork done), to address any issues or damage that occurred during transport or was otherwise missed. So its not so much that these things don't happen with other cars, but that there are safeguards built into their QC/logistics processes to try to catch these things before they get to the customer.

For Tesla, at the moment, this role goes to the SC/delivery team, who obviously are going to have their hands full given the huge quantity of cars that they are trying to push out in relatively short windows of time each quarter. Even if Tesla changes nothing else, if future manufacturing capacity allows for these sudden bursts of shipments each quarter to instead be spread out evenly, that should free up resources to catch these issues before they get to owners.
 
I am sure this has been said before, but ... It is misleading to try to compare a Tesla to a luxury ICE car, like comparing apples to bananas. Just because they are in a similar price range does not make them comparable. With a luxury ICE car you get a refined version of old auto tech and some very nice furniture. With a Tesla you are buying a vehicle with advanced, often cutting edge technology and an entirely different motive means. Just a different vehicle completely. If someone wants nice furniture and an ICE experience, the money is best spent elsewhere, and criticizing Tesla because it is not like an old tech ICE car is like criticizing an early auto because you can get a nicer horse-drawn carriage for the money. Either you want to go with a future vehicle and that is what you are paying that price for, or you don’t. Trying to argue about a Tesla as an equivalent to an ICE luxury car is pointless.
 
People generally cross shop cars within their budget. Teslas are priced similarly to luxury ICE cars, so they will be cross shopped with those cars whether or not you think that is right. Teslas have some appealing traits, but people spending luxury car money are often demanding consumers who expect their new cars to arrive clean, undamaged, and with body panels properly aligned. They also expect good service. Tesla needs to work on all of those things if they want to keep growing. I will probably buy a Tesla in the next few months, but if it doesn’t arrive in pristine condition, I’m going to send it back and take my business elsewhere. I’m not going to put up with poor quality just because the vehicle has an electric motor and FSD software that is always a year away from actually working. This is particularly true now that the legacy auto companies are finally proving that they can compete in the electric space.
 
I had a somewhat similar experience with Tesla... Coming from a few BMW M3s, I was somewhat shocked by the fit and finish and some of the flimsy materials used. The rudiments are certainly in place though for something great.

I have to think that all of this will improve once the Austin plant opens and they start using the revised/improved frame stamping, etc from Berlin.
Your BMW M3 must have been better than the 3,5,6, and 7 series BMWs we have owned. Each had their issues. The latest was an X3 series with all the options ($55,000). Leaks at door seals, electronics issues, and a rattle under the dash. The dealer replaced the door seals, electronics still had issues, and the response to rattle was "hmm. those all do that and they're hard to fix". We ended up with my wife driving down the road and me with my head under the passenger side dash with a socket set. After 10 minutes or so I found the offending bolts (the ones holding on the glove box door) and tighten them.
 
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Your BMW M3 must have been better than the 3,5,6, and 7 series BMWs we have owned. Each had their issues. The latest was an X3 series with all the options ($55,000). Leaks at door seals, electronics issues, and a rattle under the dash. The dealer replaced the door seals, electronics still had issues, and the response to rattle was "hmm. those all do that and they're hard to fix". We ended up with my wife driving down the road and me with my head under the passenger side dash with a socket set. After 10 minutes or so I found the offending bolts (the ones holding on the glove box door) and tighten them.

Over the last decade or so, I've owned five M3s, a 335is as well as an X3M and in complete honesty, I've never had anything close to a major issue with any of them. Service has always been top-notch and the cars were damn near bulletproof. I just made sure to get rid of them after the warranty was up :)
 
I went back and forth about posting this, but I think I need to put it out there for others that might in a similar position to where I was. Coming from a string of luxury performance vehicles, I was pining for something different and ultimately landed on the MYP. The looks, utility, and power really had me excited for ownership (and still do to a degree). I ordered my MYP last quarter and before I knew it, I was there to pick up my car. Unfortunately, that car came with a litany of issues: misaligned panels, missing interior trim, a dent in the fender, etc.

Figuring it was just a bad egg, I rejected the car and went back in the queue for another, despite knowing that even if perfect, the quality of materials and craftsmanship was still a notch below where it should be for a car of this magnitude. Fast forward a bit, and I've been assigned a new VIN, the day before delivery, I received a call from the service center stating that there was a dent on the car that needed to be fixed and delivery would be delayed by a few days. A bit off-putting, but hey at least they identified the issue. So, the delivery day finally arrives and to my horror, the dent was still there (either not fixed at all or a poor attempt). One of the wheels was also badly curbed and looked like they attempted to fix it with touchup paint. At this point, I rejected the car and decided to move on from Tesla for now.

Now I know many will say that I should have just accepted it and had Tesla "fix" the issues (which is totally wrong) or perhaps that they received perfect cars, which I'm sure is the case for some. But again, as a sharp growth company that is pricing their vehicles well into luxury territory, the QC and fit and finish is just unacceptable. I've never once seen anything approximating this on the BMW or Mercedes that I've owned, so there has to be a critical step they are missing here. Maybe it's just the fact that the cheaper materials they use are less resilient? I don't know, as that's above my pay grade, but I'd sure love to find out.

I know many here will try and crucify me for "bashing" Tesla, but that's truly not my intent here. I'm more so writing this out of disappointment and to implore others not to accept "good enough" on their ~60-70k cars. I really hope to revisit Tesla a few years down the road again, but until the masses put their foot down and start rejecting these sub-par delivery subjects (where applicable), then I fear this will be status quo for some time.

Again, I hope to see you all again in the future and to be a part of this brand with a revived sense of QC and better materials, but until then it is back to the luxury marquees that actually care about their customers.
I agree with you 100%, I just got delivery of my MY performance with a tear on the passenger's seat, spoiler is coming off, and piece of trim sticking out. Having owned BMW and currently a Jaguar F Pace I am not impressed.
I want to love the Y so much but this little things are not acceptable for a car this expensive.
 
People generally cross shop cars within their budget. Teslas are priced similarly to luxury ICE cars, so they will be cross shopped with those cars whether or not you think that is right. Teslas have some appealing traits, but people spending luxury car money are often demanding consumers who expect their new cars to arrive clean, undamaged, and with body panels properly aligned. They also expect good service. Tesla needs to work on all of those things if they want to keep growing. I will probably buy a Tesla in the next few months, but if it doesn’t arrive in pristine condition, I’m going to send it back and take my business elsewhere. I’m not going to put up with poor quality just because the vehicle has an electric motor and FSD software that is always a year away from actually working. This is particularly true now that the legacy auto companies are finally proving that they can compete in the electric space.

I agree with you 100%, I just got delivery of my MY performance with a tear on the passenger's seat, spoiler is coming off, and piece of trim sticking out. Having owned BMW and currently a Jaguar F Pace I am not impressed.
I want to love the Y so much but this little things are not acceptable for a car this expensive.

...and I want to dislike my Y so much, after reading all these candid negative reports, but...I just can't find anything to complain about. I'm not invested in Tesla, I'm not currently brand loyal (although I was partial to VAG for 4 decades). I loathe rattles, fitment issues, leaks, poor paint, but I've had none of these complaints.
 
What's with the German brands and electrical issues? People complain about panel gap issues from Tesla who have been around for a relatively short period of time while German car companies have been plagued with electrical issues for decades.
My dad had a 300D which he loved but that thing left him stranded on the side of the road multiple times. The radio and speedometer had to be replaced multiple times. He finally gave up on the speedometer after the fifth time.
For a while, I was carpooling with a couple of women from work. One owned a Mercedes SUV that was only a couple of years old. On one commute home it stalled in the middle lane in rush hour traffic in one of the worst traffic spots in town and I had to get out and push it to the shoulder. It took Mercedes over a month to figure out what the problem was.
I have owned multiple cars from three Japanese brands and a Model 3 and have never been stranded by any of them.
So yeah, German car fans can enjoy their tight panel gaps and posh interiors on the side of the road. I'll stick with one of the most advanced cars ever made and will enjoy the performance and reliability that it comes with.