Charge port door not flush? Am I crazy here?

[TT97]

Well I mean they could have just used the same, simpler charge port door design on the S/X instead of designing a more complicated and less easy to fit charge port door on the 3. So it's not like this was some intractable problem that not even the great minds at Tesla could solve. It was solved. The S/X already had perfectly acceptable charge port doors.

I had the same question at the SC (when I was getting my door changed out) but they couldn't give me a good answer. After thinking about it further, I think Tesla changed the design so there could be more room for additional charge ports for other markets.

 

[SMAlset]

My friend and I both took delivery on the same day about 10 days ago. His is perfectly flush, mine is not. I plan on making a SC appointment, but it's frustrating. We are both 27xxx VINs (pretty sure).

Wonder if it's due to more than one supplier and their tolerances are off from one another. Now you guys have me wondering if mine is flush. Have to say I didn't notice anything at delivery. Sounds like maybe I don't want to check

Not sure since car is at SvC right now but here's a photo at delivery. I'm guessing it's same for me due to little bump I can see near bottom.

 

[who177e]

I have the same issue with the misalignment of the charge port door.

I brought the car in for other alignment issues and clear coat overspray and I got the car back with a misaligned charge port but it's "within spec"........

I think in the service centers "morning huddles" before the open, they tell all of their service advisor to push the "it's within spec" line...

This is after them having my car for 14 days!

I'm thinking that I'm going to try to fix this myself.

Has anyone here "DIYed" this fix yet? I'm hoping there will be a YouTube clip about how to fix this and some of the other "within spec" misalignment issues.

 

[borka105]

Wonder if it's due to more than one supplier and their tolerances are off from one another. Now you guys have me wondering if mine is flush. Have to say I didn't notice anything at delivery. Sounds like maybe I don't want to check

Not sure since car is at SvC right now but here's a photo at delivery. I'm guessing it's same for me due to little bump I can see near bottom.

View attachment 347622

Random comment/ question since I also have a white model 3... are you not bothered/annoyed by the gap in your bumper? If you look at the angle you posted you can see the plastic ridges where the bumper connects. This bothers me more than the charge port door . I feel like the model 3 bumpers are not flush and with white you can actually see inside the connection pieces.

 

[Nocturnal]

Not crazy. Mine isn't fully flush either which I was told is normal. IDK, it doesn't bother me.

 

[cbmilehigh]

I took my car in to have the charge port adjusted but the service guy said that the cover is within spec. I got the car in August. To me, it just looks bad. Also, in the first two weeks that I had the car, the cover would not close properly, that is, it would pop back open after charging but it would close after I put the car in drive. It does not do that now, weird. I always thought it was related to the cover being misaligned and not flush with the fender.

 

[GarZ.MYP]

mine looks off.

 

[Kirbster]

I had a similar issue with mine they told me it was within spec in December of 18 when I got it but after seen dozens of 3s and checking out charge port covers on a few of them I knew mine stuck out to far.
The last time it was in for service I mentioned it again got the same story at drop off but when I picked it up they had fixed it.

Compare yours to some other 3s around town. If yours is different bring it up next time it’s in for something else.

 

[jmatero]

Mine is not flush either. At delivery, they said “Tesla doesn’t make perfect cars”.

 

[jkoya]

Mine is not flush either. At delivery, they said “Tesla doesn’t make perfect cars”.

Was that your delivery advisor who said that ?

 

[jmatero]

Was that your delivery advisor who said that ?

Yes. It sounded scripted. She was very nice and even drove the car around back to have somebody look at it but said it was within spec but I was welcome to make a service appt.

 

[jkoya]

Yes. It sounded scripted. She was very nice and even drove the car around back to have somebody look at it but said it was within spec but I was welcome to make a service appt.

Same here - I got the "within spec" answer a lot when I took delivery also .....

 

[Adam3]

I think in the service centers "morning huddles" before the open, they tell all of their service advisor to push the "it's within spec" line...

I'm going to start using this line at work when servers and network infrastructure goes offline. "It's within spec".

 

[chilman408]

What happens when someone ask what is the spec?

 

[jkoya]

What happens when someone ask what is the spec?

So I actually asked this question during my delivery. The response I got was "I don't know what the spec is at the moment, but I can tell you it is within spec".....

 

[chilman408]

So I actually asked this question during my delivery. The response I got was "I don't know what the spec is at the moment, but I can tell you it is within spec".....

Wow...lol, that is asinine

 

[Jclboston]

Mine was terribly misaligned as well when I picked up in late December 2019 and I made a big stink about it, though the delivery folks couldn't even pretend to care less if they tried. I pretty much got the "do you want the car now or get back in the ordering queue?" shrug.
I made a mobile service appointment on the same day as delivery, and when mobile service arrived about a week later, the tech replaced the whole charge port unit in about 10-15 minutes, which solved the issue. The experience with the tech was infinitely better than the delivery experience.

 

[jmatero]

Yes, I'm at the service center now and they also said it's within spec. Meanwhile, I just looked at 4 other M3s behind mine in line and they all have perfectly flush charge doors. They're also saying the hood sitting below the fender on one side is within spec. In fact, the only thing that's not "in spec" are the stains on the headliner at delivery. No worries. When I get home, I'll call mobile service for the door and have it replaced. My concern with it not flush is that the gasket is not making contact with the surface... and if there's a gasket, it's there for a reason.

 

[jmatero]

Yeah, so I made another appointment at a different center to address this. I looked at every M3 that came in for service Monday (a LOT) and ALL of their port doors were flush against the light.

 

[Jclboston]

Yeah, so I made another appointment at a different center to address this. I looked at every M3 that came in for service Monday (a LOT) and ALL of their port doors were flush against the light.

The only option I was given was to get it taken are of via the mobile service, even though the delivery center was also a service center. Not sure if an appointment at a different service center would help vs. waiting for mobile service?