Are UK Owners less fussy? Or are we getting a better built product in the first place?

[EV1980]

Primarily I just dip into the UK and Ireland section of this forum, but I was reading through some of the other TMC forums over the weekend and I was struck by the number of threads regarding build quality/paint issues/quality control problems started by USA forum members. Admittedly most of these were older topics (suggesting teething issues), but many of them were fairly recent. I've not seen anywhere near as many stories of issues within the UK section of the forum.

Is it that the USA built Teslas are not as good as the Shanghai built cars?
Is it that the law of averages dictates the country with the higher sales numbers will experience more issues with the product?
Or is it that UK owners have a higher tolerance and are willing to accept the odd issue here and there?

There were a few threads regarding mismatched paint (mainly on white cars) on American built cars (some of the photos showed some terrible matches!) though it was the first time I'd read of such issues - I don't think I've heard of this issue coming out of Shanghai - or maybe I've not read enough of the threads here!

 

[Big_D]

Probably a combination of all of the above. When I test drove an M3 in summer 2021, the SC mentioned build quality is better in China made cars compared to US.

A forum is no scientific representation of build quality. People only tend to post following a problem, not when the car is doing well…

 

[EV1980]

Probably a combination of all of the above. When I test drove an M3 in summer 2021, the SC mentioned build quality is better in China made cars compared to US.

A forum is no scientific representation of build quality. People only tend to post following a problem, not when the car is doing well…

This is very true, and is the case with most things in life - people are always quicker to leave a bad review for a restaurant or post about an issue with a service or product they've received than to note something positive. sadly.....

 

[Billbrown1982]

The Shanghai cars are MUCH better build quality overall than the US produced ones. This has been mentioned and shown enough times to, in my opinion at least, make it factual.

That said, the old stiff upper lip that you may think doesn't exist anymore, is still a thing and I think in general we tend to put up and shut up for a lot longer before actually doing anything about it, for better or for worse.

Whereas it does seem like our US cousins are far more likely to start a class action lawsuit against even the most frivolous things, not just Tesla related. Really feels like their first instinct is to sue and then after that, they might complain. Very strange to me.

 

[rowedav]

I'm glad my car came from Shanghai, I'll say that. It's not cast-iron proof or evidence of course, but I still see collection videos on youtube of US built cars with build quality issues.

Even on the latest RS EV video with the Model X Plaid - some pretty significant panel gaps issues here and there, and that's a £100k+ vehicle.

 

[Leejmoff]

I wouldn't have bought a M3 if it was made in US. After seeing all the threads about build quality etc. I have to say though "touch wood" that build quality on my M3 has been superb, probably better than most previous cars I've had.

 

[The_Cable_Guy]

as above coming from audi/bmw and hearing the horror stories of Tesla build quality i was pleasantly suprised when i viewed a MIC M3P at the dealership, also when my car got delivered other than the expected cheaper feel, the build standard is very good.

 

[Jason71]

as above coming from audi/bmw and hearing the horror stories of Tesla build quality i was pleasantly suprised when i viewed a MIC M3P at the dealership, also when my car got delivered other than the expected cheaper feel, the build standard is very good.

fit and finish in the MiC cars is significantly better than the older US cars we have in the UK. But as you say the quality of materials is more Honda than BMW and I think people equate the two. Build quality is absolutely fine I think now they just don't have that feel of quality that German ICE cars of a similar price tend to exude but then if you look at an electric VW they are not exactly opulent either since everyone is trying to cut costs to make up for the high cost of the batteries. But if you actually want a German car with that feel AND the range of an "equivalent" Tesla you will be paying a lot more for it than you will for the Tesla I think.
Personally, having come from Skoda's not Mercs/BMWs. To me its fine

 

[The_Cable_Guy]

as you've said, its not a bad place to be not the best, but at the price point compared to other EV's there isnt much in it, i test drove the Q4 e-tron and the interior felt far far inferior to my Audi A7, the BMW I4 was lovely inside, but once spec'd was another 10k ontop of the tesla. How well the tesla "wears" is yet to be seen by myself, but i wont have it more than 2-3 years with minimal mileage so hoping im not shocked.

 

[EV1980]

Some encouraging comments coming out here - good to read

I'm coming from a BMW 4 series and my previous cars were Merc, Audi and Nissan. I feel I'm going into Tesla ownership with my eyes wide open and I know that there may be some bumps along the way as I switch from ICE to Battery run vehicles. I just hope I'm not initially disappointed on delivery day - reading these posts gives some confidence that shouldn't happen though.

 

[The_Cable_Guy]

my biggest dissapointment i guess it how thin/soft the paint is. i.e with the first 1000 miles i had 3 stone chips off the front.

you wont be wow'd by the car's build quality, looks, or prescense. But as i say its an OK car, nothing special but does its job pretty well, regardless of what you read on here about first world dramas with wipers and auto headlights, again i think are ok.

Is it worth the money, 100% NO, is it the best all round EV as i've driven, yes, is it the best car at that price point NO, depends on the criteria you wanted from the car, mine was purely Tax break reasons, and in that catergory it a WIN WIN. Would i have an ICE car still 100% yes given the choice.

 

[WannabeOwner]

I just hope I'm not initially disappointed on delivery day

My prediction is that you'll get over that, and its a roll of the dice whether you drive the car away without finding any faults (i.e. to your eye) ... or not. The ones that fail that test make the airwaves, the ones the pass probably don't.

I've had 6 cars from Tesla, only one of them failed my checks (for a panel gap) - and they fixed that there-and-then (those were the days!) and whilst they were at it fixed something that I hadn't spotted.

I don't know whether people buying other cars download a massive checklist for that brand / model - as is available and touted for Tesla? It might be that some of the faults The Average Punter may not have complained about in yesteryear, whereas because Tesla has such problems, most especially with MIA, folk now expect and look out for faults at a more detailed level.

I think Tesla's business model is not to fix at PDI but to await customer rejection. What's the point fixing / incurring-cost for a panel gap if that particular customer wouldn't care anyway? But, yeah. its not like Dealerships where they show you lovingly (maybe?!!) over the car ... the Tesla approach is very different "Here's the keys, your car is in row 1,000, bay 500, off you go"

Looking back on car ownership, and dealership model over 4 decades, I now resent the money I must have spent for the one-to-one with dealer staff given that well less than 50% of whose were really good. When Tesla moved to a PowerPoint Presentation (for a group of people collecting their cars in a 1-hour slot) I thought that was better - properly factual, carefully designed trainer/presentation, and the chance that someone else in the group asked a question that would not have occurred to me but I had the benefit of hearing the answer. But that's gone too now! although acres of such stuf on YouTube etc. instead.

 

[pgkevet]

You don't have to put up with poor dealerships. I've walked out of a few over the .decades.
"And your Christian name so I know what to call you?'
' I'm the customer ..you call me sir"
' and how much did sir want to spend?'
'sir doesn't want to spend anything but needs a new car so let's start with what you've got that I fit in comfortably and go from there.'

 

[Billbrown1982]

You don't have to put up with poor dealerships. I've walked out of a few over the .decades.
"And your Christian name so I know what to call you?'
' I'm the customer ..you call me sir"
' and how much did sir want to spend?'
'sir doesn't want to spend anything but needs a new car so let's start with what you've got that I fit in comfortably and go from there.'

I'll never forget when I walked into a VW dealer years ago with every intention of buying a car and walked out purely because the salesman was god awful.

All he kept pushing was for me to put down a deposit so that they could get a vehicle in for me to test drive as they didn't have one on site, even to look at.

 

[DaveNN]

nothing better than being told - by a smart arsed salesguy- that you MUST NOT , in fact CAN NOT settle the finance for at least 3 months after signing up ( JLR are never happy to give you a deal but offer incentives to take out their finance)...and settling as soon as the paperwork comes through.

 

[Drew57]

My 2020 US Fremont build Model 3LR had one tiny defect (dust spec in a mirror housing clear coat which was replaced by a Ranger). Panel gaps were good, paint was fine for the 30 months I owned it & it had no wind noise or rattles. The only software issue happened when I fried the eSIM by starting a software update while supercharging - this was replaced a few days later.

The 2022/3 MIC build Model YLR had/has nothing I could find fault with so in my case both are basically to the same standard.

(disclaimer: this doesn't include bugs, wipers, lights, random voice control or other selective software deficiencies which all Teslas are blessed with)

 

[starise]

I'll comment when I get my car hopefully next month as to the panels and US build quaility of My MY LR.

I've read over the same posts. All it takes is one or two people who had panel alignment issues to cause others to be hyper sensitive to it. Seems to be human nature, at least here it is. What might not really be that big of a thing is all of a sudden magnified. People who would never have noticed are all of a sudden out there with calipers checking things out. OTOH, many are out there just happy to have a car in their hands after two or three months wait for one and in their excitement might be overlooking what are arguably small niggles.

I was always one to buy sent back gizmos at huge discounts and they always worked fine for me. Granted a Tesla is a little different and if I see something glaring, like a small dent or a severely misaligned panel, then yeah, I'm going to bring it up under warranty. The sheer numbers of cars made in the US probably greatly surpass the numbers in the UK right now, so that percentage of issues will be larger because that pie is larger. The squeaky wheels are the only ones we usually hear, not that Tesla does not have occasional fit and finish issues. This has been noted before. I believe they are getting better.

Digging any deeper into quality between factories would seem to point a finger, when I'm sure they all have issues from time to time. Tesla is not a run of the mill US car company. No real comparison there. Robots paint and help to fit the cars. Upper trimmed cars like the Cadillac Lyric probably exemplifiy what GM has gotten good at over the years. Making nice upper trims. Tesla includes plenty of amenities but leaves out the bling. The Equinox should be interesting when it comes out.

 

[CWT3LR]

Primarily I just dip into the UK and Ireland section of this forum, but I was reading through some of the other TMC forums over the weekend and I was struck by the number of threads regarding build quality/paint issues/quality control problems started by USA forum members. Admittedly most of these were older topics (suggesting teething issues), but many of them were fairly recent. I've not seen anywhere near as many stories of issues within the UK section of the forum.

Is it that the USA built Teslas are not as good as the Shanghai built cars?
Is it that the law of averages dictates the country with the higher sales numbers will experience more issues with the product?
Or is it that UK owners have a higher tolerance and are willing to accept the odd issue here and there?

There were a few threads regarding mismatched paint (mainly on white cars) on American built cars (some of the photos showed some terrible matches!) though it was the first time I'd read of such issues - I don't think I've heard of this issue coming out of Shanghai - or maybe I've not read enough of the threads here!

If you have spent some time on the UK forum, you might detect that I am disappointed with my MIC Model Y, and vocal over precisely the issues.

But it certainly has nothing to do with build quality, paint quality or QC issues. Absolutely faultless, nearly 1 year to the day after collection.

Unless we are talking QC over the software. In which case.....

 

[Zilla91]

All he kept pushing was for me to put down a deposit so that they could get a vehicle in for me to test drive as they didn't have one on site, even to look at.

Vote with your feet and try another dealer. I've got 3 BMW dealers up here who I've had varied experiences with and each time one of them has pissed me off I took my business elsewhere.

nothing better than being told - by a smart arsed salesguy- that you MUST NOT , in fact CAN NOT settle the finance for at least 3 months after signing up ( JLR are never happy to give you a deal but offer incentives to take out their finance)...and settling as soon as the paperwork comes through.

Luckily you can think for yourself and ignore them. If you can't and you believe them... Well that's on you.

Back to the topic on hand, I've not been in a US built car but my two Chinese ones have been fine. Had some rattles on the Model 3 that was sorted out and some loose trim on the Y. A bit of an inconvenience having to go get them sorted but the service centre is 15 minutes away.

As for the quality, I went in expecting it to be rubbish and came out pretty surprised that it was actually pretty nice (I came from a current gen pre facelift BMW X3).

I wish it had an instrument binnacle, a HUD and some buttons but it's not too bad.

Or look at it another way, I liked it enough that I went and got a second one.

 

[DaveNN]

Mine rattles and feels a bit light on tight bends ( probably the tyres) but, it's a Co lease...so don't care.
Would I get another?
Possibly..