Can we talk about rattles & noises, and them not being covered under warranty?

[1LE McQueen]

Hi everyone,

I just picked up my Model 3 AWD about a month ago. Currently sits at about 700 miles. It's an amazing, futuristic car (hands down best I've ever owned) and I wouldn't trade it in for anything (except maybe to get a red performance M3 instead of a white AWD LOL).

However, I want to discuss my biggest concern since having this car. That would be the rattles. I have two of them that are currently present:

One from the driver's side dash - which I temporarily fixed by putting a piece of foam between the dash & windshield. Otherwise, it sounds like flapping. My fix is an eyesore.
One from, as I've been told by Reddit, is the driver's side wheel well - I hear a rattling noise at highway speeds, the faster I go the worse it gets. I thought it was my driver's side pillar.

The warranty explicitly states that rattles and shakes are NOT covered, but I'm hearing from multiple members that it's hit or miss as to whether or not the service center charges you. I scheduled a service appointment about one or two weeks after picking up the car, 200 or 300 miles, and my appointment is finally coming around near the end of this week.

Honestly, for a $50k car (the most expensive car I ever bought), I think that verbiage is downright unacceptable. I previously had a new $39k Chevrolet (3yr / 36k) and a new $32k Hyundai (5yr / 60k), they both were rock solid but even if they rattled or made noise, it was covered under the bumper to bumper. I've already had to call Tesla service out once for a big piece of adhesive stuck near the door, and for the hood being visibly misaligned. They fixed it with ease and it was a pleasant experience. I also now have a piece of trim on the driver's side door coming off, which is my part of my next appointment, but I digress lol.

Tesla is my dream car and I'm finally living with one. But I really want to start a discussion as to why Tesla is on & off about covering rattles, and officially, they don't cover rattles at all. In fact, why does this rattle even exist in the first place? Hasn't the car been around since 2017 - 2018? You'd think if it was so common, they'd had done something about it by now.

I don't want this post to sound like I'm taking a shot at Tesla. I love my Model 3, and the brand as a whole. My car is just going through more service appointments than I'm used to.

 

[thewishmaster]

Caution… if you let them try to fix the dash rattle, they might introduce a new one deeper inside somewhere... Happened to my last 3 where I was trying to get them to diagnose a clicking noise from the steering column. They claimed to find and fix some other noise, but as a result I gained a rattle inside the dash to add to the steering column noise that wasn’t fixed

I too wonder about the inconsistency and the lack of published info about these things. One service center said rattles are only covered for 12 months (this must’ve been some time last year), another was happy to try to diagnose and fix without any pushback well over the 12 month mark. I did have < 12k miles on the car at the time though.

 

[glide]

Tesla fit and finish + customer service = cars with rattles.

These are not luxury vehicles. Rather expensive battery packs with cheap cars on top of them.

It is a shame but most buyers know that going in.

 

[toddkageals]

When I bought my M3P, one wise forum member said "you didn't buy a $60,000.00 car, you bought a $30,000.00 car with a $30,000.00 battery" . Truer words have never been spoken. I absolutely love my M3P, but it's not built anywhere near as solid as the M4 BMW it replaced. That's just how it is, I guess.

 

[Alan2000]

My 2021 M3P is now 25 days old. I was thrilled at the lack of ANY rattles with it when I picked it up. However, now it has 3 rattles. One is the front passenger seat. I found that I could eliminate it from rattling most of the time by reclining the seat a bit more than normal. Sound kind of like a bold may be loose or too much play with the backrest. Have a rattle in the left rear door I have not had time to inspect but probably something easy to fix. Also a small intermittent dash rattle that so far has not been enough to be annoying.

A week ago an annoying sound like an out of balance fan blade noise started coming from the frunk area when the AC is running at a moderate or high rate. It is loud enough to interfere with listening to the stereo when parked. I plan to take the car in for that when I get some time.

Overall it still has far fewer rattles than the MB AMG it replaced. But the M3P only has about 1,500 miles on it now so time will tell how well it holds up. For now I'd say my M3P is better than average when it comes to rattles.

 

[TheWhiteEGG]

Go take off the front/rear wheel and inspect the wheel panel insulation. Its bare min. With my Model3LRawd, there are multiple missing snap on buttons and I had to buy MY OWN to stop some of the road noise and rattling.

 

[TBrownTX]

That's the one thing I don't like about my M3P. 2,300 miles in and I have rattles in the passenger door, drivers door, and this annoying as $%#! squeak in my drivers seat. Oh and there's that popping passenger front speaker in the headliner.

After coming out of years of Cadillac ownership it's super annoying.

Not planning to take it in or have it fixed as chances are they'll just screw something else up. I may go after them myself when the weather cools down. In the meantime thank goodness for the decent audio system and it's ability to down out the noise.

TIm

 

[Alan2000]

@TBrowbTX. I don't even trust dealerships to wash my cars. LOL. On my AMG I spent a full day pulling off panels and fixing rattles to make sure it got fixed right. Unless it's something I can't fix, or expensive warranty work, I try to avoid dealers too.

 

[Trekker_]

If you really want to fix them and Tesla won't do it, get an OEM style Squeak and rattle kit. That is how we fixed them at ford. Comes with some oil, grease, different type of tapes, clear vinyl stickers and what not. You basically just take up extra spaces and grease or oil where plastics touch each other. Works wonders. If you want the ford kit its rotunda part # 164-R4900. One kit would fix everything in every car you will ever own if you use it right. I never even had a full kit to myself at ford, I think all I ever used was 2 sheets of clear vinyl I'd cut up and make last and a 1/4 bottle of the grease. That lasted me every squeak and rattle complaint I ever had roll across my tool box. I do feel as though the issue isn't as bad with tesla's as people think... It's more so because the car is quiet you hear things you wouldn't hear on an ICE car. Just my .02

 

[TBrownTX]

If you want the ford kit its rotunda part # 164-R4900. One kit would fix everything in every car you will ever own if you use it right.

Thank you for this!

Tim

 

[jawnly211]

like the scratches on your rolex - you learn to live and adore the rattles hahahaha

 

[Layer4]

Honestly, for a $50k car (the most expensive car I ever bought), I think that verbiage is downright unacceptable

This won’t make you feel any better but yep, I felt that way on our $97k Tesla. Rattles, road noise, full on bendy interior surfaces. The service attitude toward quality is number one reason we got rid of our Tesla with half its warranty still intact.

 

[1LE McQueen]

Thanks everyone. Just a quick update - I had been informed that rattles and noises are covered for the first year, 12k miles. I dropped it off today. There were no rentals available, but I do get $100 worth of Uber a day (sucks but it's something). They'll give me more credit if I need it. The app said it'll take a week to repair, due to high volume, but we'll see.

 

[Alfred_Lanning]

Thanks everyone. Just a quick update - I had been informed that rattles and noises are covered for the first year, 12k miles. I dropped it off today. There were no rentals available, but I do get $100 worth of Uber a day (sucks but it's something). They'll give me more credit if I need it. The app said it'll take a week to repair, due to high volume, but we'll see.

Looks like you got lucky with your SC, the one in Los Angeles is trying to say they are not covered under warranty.

 

[JackLuminous]

Go take off the front/rear wheel and inspect the wheel panel insulation. Its bare min. With my Model3LRawd, there are multiple missing snap on buttons and I had to buy MY OWN to stop some of the road noise and rattling.

From Amazon?

 

[Gasaraki]

Hi everyone,

I just picked up my Model 3 AWD about a month ago. Currently sits at about 700 miles. It's an amazing, futuristic car (hands down best I've ever owned) and I wouldn't trade it in for anything (except maybe to get a red performance M3 instead of a white AWD LOL).

However, I want to discuss my biggest concern since having this car. That would be the rattles. I have two of them that are currently present:

One from the driver's side dash - which I temporarily fixed by putting a piece of foam between the dash & windshield. Otherwise, it sounds like flapping. My fix is an eyesore.
One from, as I've been told by Reddit, is the driver's side wheel well - I hear a rattling noise at highway speeds, the faster I go the worse it gets. I thought it was my driver's side pillar.

The warranty explicitly states that rattles and shakes are NOT covered, but I'm hearing from multiple members that it's hit or miss as to whether or not the service center charges you. I scheduled a service appointment about one or two weeks after picking up the car, 200 or 300 miles, and my appointment is finally coming around near the end of this week.

Honestly, for a $50k car (the most expensive car I ever bought), I think that verbiage is downright unacceptable. I previously had a new $39k Chevrolet (3yr / 36k) and a new $32k Hyundai (5yr / 60k), they both were rock solid but even if they rattled or made noise, it was covered under the bumper to bumper. I've already had to call Tesla service out once for a big piece of adhesive stuck near the door, and for the hood being visibly misaligned. They fixed it with ease and it was a pleasant experience. I also now have a piece of trim on the driver's side door coming off, which is my part of my next appointment, but I digress lol.

Tesla is my dream car and I'm finally living with one. But I really want to start a discussion as to why Tesla is on & off about covering rattles, and officially, they don't cover rattles at all. In fact, why does this rattle even exist in the first place? Hasn't the car been around since 2017 - 2018? You'd think if it was so common, they'd had done something about it by now.

I don't want this post to sound like I'm taking a shot at Tesla. I love my Model 3, and the brand as a whole. My car is just going through more service appointments than I'm used to.

Noise and rattles are covered in the first 1000 miles to my knowledge.

 

[RefreshedP]

Just be thankfull you don't have to drive these thing in sub zero temps. Rather annoying how many creeks, rattles and rubs there are.

 

[TBrownTX]

That's the one thing I don't like about my M3P. 2,300 miles in and I have rattles in the passenger door, drivers door, and this annoying as $%#! squeak in my drivers seat. Oh and there's that popping passenger front speaker in the headliner.

Squeak has been fixed! My Tesla is back to being the tight, smooth, silent, battery powered rocket ship that it’s supposed to be. That squeak gave it a 1972 pickup vibe. If you are suffering fro this same thing, here's some super helpful information for you: Fixed my squeaky seat (issue I haven't seen on the forums)

Tim

 

[Twiglett]

My 2018 has been pretty good. Had one annoying rattle under the steering column that I fixed with extra padding. Since then every squeak/rattle has been self inflicted.
Like the water bottles in the door pockets - the plastic bottle was squeaking against the door pocket. Even worst when there are two in there.
Stupid stuff like that.
The rest of the cabin is silent which makes those extra noises sound even worse.
We have a Honda which makes so much noise inside that we don't hear anything - even deliberately squeaking two water bottles together can't be heard.
[edited because auto-mistake "corrected" things for me]

 

[1LE McQueen]

Update for those of you still following. Tesla had my car for 6 days before saying it was ready. I picked it up with black prints on the hood and a very dirty center armrest console, not to mention the bird droppings on the windshield.. but these things I can ignore cause I finally got my car back and it should be fixed so I'm happy.

They did handle the wheel well rattle, but the dash vibrations came right back after a day of driving. Now I can also hear the passenger side wheel well in what sounds like an exact copy of my original problem except its on the other side now. I'm also noticing what sounds like something shaking from the backseat area.

I'm not going to wait another month for an appt then another 6 days of them having the car. I guess I'll have to handle these myself.

For a 50k car this isn't cool. But it is what it is.