DAMN.
I ordered my MYLR in late October, and my pickup appointment was yesterday. I was a little disappointed I couldn't get a 4680-based Texas model -- I delayed my order by 8 months to give Texas time to start up -- but I was pumped. I was going to drive it straight to the detailer, get it wrapped with PPF, then load it up for a cross-country maiden voyage to visit family.
Yesterday morning I got a call from a delightful lady at the local Tesla shop. "Um, I have NO idea how this got so far without anybody noticing it, but ..." The car had rock damage from transit. At least 12-15 or so dings and chips in the paint, more little "dents" that didn't actually chip the paint, and a quarter-size crack/chip/star in the windshield. (Why don't these idiots COVER expensive cars in transit!?)
That was a gut punch. I was going to drop $6k on PPF to prevent EXACTLY that kind of damage, and they damaged it before I even got the car!
Don't worry, they said. We've got a paint guy who comes in to do touch-ups. You'll never know it was dinged. I've had paint repair work on my Saab, and it was absolutely invisible. You couldn't see or feel it, even the clearcoat was perfect. That's what I expected here. Reality: today he did the touch-up, and it looks like he took a tube of touch-up paint and dabbed paint on the dings. There are bumps that you can see literally from 10' away. The PPF guy isn't willing to guarantee the film will adhere properly -- probably mostly because he can't see it without investing an hour or two of his time to drive there, but still.
I also noticed the hatchback glass didn't align properly with the roof glass. The hatch glass is "humped" in the middle. (My brother said I should name the car Quasimodo, the Hatchback of Notre Dame...) On the sides it roughly aligns with the roof glass, but the middle is about 1/4" - 1/2" higher than the roof glass. It sticks above the roofline and would probably scoop some air. I don't know how much that would affect wind noise or aerodynamics, but ...
Tesla shop said "That's normal, we're not fixing it." BS, it is NOT normal. I looked at a dozen other MY's on the lot, and mine was the ONLY one with a hump like that.
Yesterday I'd asked the nice lady what kind of compensation Tesla offers for delivering damaged goods. I said if somebody crunched the fender before delivery, you could fix the damage, but you couldn't sell it as an undamaged new car. Same concept here, even if it isn't major body damage. She said "I already submitted it to my management. You absolutely deserve a discount, especially considering we have to replace the windshield." Today, "It's taking them a couple days to process it. I'm sure they'll offer you some credit." Not a discount, not a rebate, and she didn't sound optimistic about the credit. Hell for all I know they'll say "Here's a Starbucks coupon, kid, now go 'way." But not until after I've taken possession.
I finally decided it was going to bother the crap out of me, and I couldn't accept it. Maybe I'm being excessively picky, but I told them to take the car back and get me an undamaged one. The other lady at the dealership got a bit huffy and said I was "allowed" to refuse one VIN, but I had to accept the next car or else. No recognition that I was refusing the first because of damage.
Supposedly I will be near the head of the list, but they really have no idea how long it will take to get another car. Maybe long enough that the replacement will come from Austin.
Was I unreasonable, or would you have responded the same way?
Here's a view of the "hunchback," looking from the rear. Notice the normal-spacing gaps on both sides, but you can't see the gap in the center. The hump is about 1/2" higher there and blocks the view of the gap. No other Y on the lot had this mismatch.
If you want an idea of how many chips there were, here are some photos that the Tesla rep marked up. Each purple mark is at least one chip. There are more, including a number of "paint dents" that didn't actually remove any paint.
Terrible shot of the big windshield chip, and (I think) a couple more small chips:
I ordered my MYLR in late October, and my pickup appointment was yesterday. I was a little disappointed I couldn't get a 4680-based Texas model -- I delayed my order by 8 months to give Texas time to start up -- but I was pumped. I was going to drive it straight to the detailer, get it wrapped with PPF, then load it up for a cross-country maiden voyage to visit family.
Yesterday morning I got a call from a delightful lady at the local Tesla shop. "Um, I have NO idea how this got so far without anybody noticing it, but ..." The car had rock damage from transit. At least 12-15 or so dings and chips in the paint, more little "dents" that didn't actually chip the paint, and a quarter-size crack/chip/star in the windshield. (Why don't these idiots COVER expensive cars in transit!?)
That was a gut punch. I was going to drop $6k on PPF to prevent EXACTLY that kind of damage, and they damaged it before I even got the car!
Don't worry, they said. We've got a paint guy who comes in to do touch-ups. You'll never know it was dinged. I've had paint repair work on my Saab, and it was absolutely invisible. You couldn't see or feel it, even the clearcoat was perfect. That's what I expected here. Reality: today he did the touch-up, and it looks like he took a tube of touch-up paint and dabbed paint on the dings. There are bumps that you can see literally from 10' away. The PPF guy isn't willing to guarantee the film will adhere properly -- probably mostly because he can't see it without investing an hour or two of his time to drive there, but still.
I also noticed the hatchback glass didn't align properly with the roof glass. The hatch glass is "humped" in the middle. (My brother said I should name the car Quasimodo, the Hatchback of Notre Dame...) On the sides it roughly aligns with the roof glass, but the middle is about 1/4" - 1/2" higher than the roof glass. It sticks above the roofline and would probably scoop some air. I don't know how much that would affect wind noise or aerodynamics, but ...
Tesla shop said "That's normal, we're not fixing it." BS, it is NOT normal. I looked at a dozen other MY's on the lot, and mine was the ONLY one with a hump like that.
Yesterday I'd asked the nice lady what kind of compensation Tesla offers for delivering damaged goods. I said if somebody crunched the fender before delivery, you could fix the damage, but you couldn't sell it as an undamaged new car. Same concept here, even if it isn't major body damage. She said "I already submitted it to my management. You absolutely deserve a discount, especially considering we have to replace the windshield." Today, "It's taking them a couple days to process it. I'm sure they'll offer you some credit." Not a discount, not a rebate, and she didn't sound optimistic about the credit. Hell for all I know they'll say "Here's a Starbucks coupon, kid, now go 'way." But not until after I've taken possession.
I finally decided it was going to bother the crap out of me, and I couldn't accept it. Maybe I'm being excessively picky, but I told them to take the car back and get me an undamaged one. The other lady at the dealership got a bit huffy and said I was "allowed" to refuse one VIN, but I had to accept the next car or else. No recognition that I was refusing the first because of damage.
Supposedly I will be near the head of the list, but they really have no idea how long it will take to get another car. Maybe long enough that the replacement will come from Austin.
Was I unreasonable, or would you have responded the same way?
Here's a view of the "hunchback," looking from the rear. Notice the normal-spacing gaps on both sides, but you can't see the gap in the center. The hump is about 1/2" higher there and blocks the view of the gap. No other Y on the lot had this mismatch.
If you want an idea of how many chips there were, here are some photos that the Tesla rep marked up. Each purple mark is at least one chip. There are more, including a number of "paint dents" that didn't actually remove any paint.
Terrible shot of the big windshield chip, and (I think) a couple more small chips:
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