Closing the trunk: What were they thinking?

[reidthaler]

Are other people annoyed by the trunk? I have an Acura MDX which closes so easily since all you need to do is lower, and it will engage the latch mechanism electronically. No wailing away, no slamming. You think that a $50,000 car would have a more sophisticated trunk latch than a '63 Chevy.

Reid

 

[ngogas]

My bmw sedan is like these tesla, you have to give it some force but no biggie to me.

 

[forkee]

yes, the R&D on the trunk closing action must have been wrapped up in half a day. You should see the plastic under it, the clips and what nots. looks like it was manufactured by daewoo

 

[TeeEmCee]

Hehe, I used the trunk for the first time today and had exactly the same thought, it feels and sounds so third world.


I had to stop at the Audi dealership today ... man, properly nice facilities and lots and lots of real cars, with properly-closing trunks and equal-sized gaps around the doors, and real brakes and real gaskets around the glass roofs, and no effin’ rattles...
I feel I just paid 40k for a battery and another 15k for everything else.

I’m trying to love the Tesla but I can’t get past “I like it”. Aside from the electric propulsion and some of the electronic gizmos, it’s quite the letdown. It’s such a shame because it has the potential to be a much much better car. I wish they could focus on refinement for a change, once the current fires are put out.

 

[SoCalGuy]

Hehe, I used the trunk for the first time today and had exactly the same thought, it feels and sounds so third world.


I had to stop at the Audi dealership today ... man, properly nice facilities and lots and lots of real cars, with properly-closing trunks and equal-sized gaps around the doors, and real brakes and real gaskets around the glass roofs, and no effin’ rattles...
I feel I just paid 40k for a battery and another 15k for everything else.

I’m trying to love the Tesla but I can’t get past “I like it”. Aside from the electric propulsion and some of the electronic gizmos, it’s quite the letdown. It’s such a shame because it has the potential to be a much much better car. I wish they could focus on refinement for a change, once the current fires are put out.

Performance and touch screen are the two compelling features. Build quality below other luxury and many non luxury makers. Delivery experience/QC def sub par for the price

 

[Twiglett]

My trunk closes fine with no issues just takes some time for the seals to relax.
Of course if you want to express something as trivial as the trunk lid closing in hyperbole please go right ahead, I’ll be out there driving an awesome car and loving every minute.
Hang on, the sound the paint makes when it’s drying is excruciatingly painful.
Nope, I’m still out enjoying driving my car.

 

[ChrisH]

My trunk also is nowhere near the fuss people are reporting they are experiencing with theirs.

 

[TeeEmCee]

Performance and touch screen are the two compelling features. Build quality below other luxury and many non luxury makers. Delivery experience/QC def sub par for the price

I’d add to that the service experience, my first brush with Service was somewhat aggravating.

 

[TeeEmCee]

My trunk closes fine with no issues just takes some time for the seals to relax.
Of course if you want to express something as trivial as the trunk lid closing in hyperbole please go right ahead, I’ll be out there driving an awesome car and loving every minute.
Hang on, the sound the paint makes when it’s drying is excruciatingly painful.
Nope, I’m still out enjoying driving my car.

Well, some of us are a bit more anal about quality, along the lines of “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right”.

We’re not discussing the glass-is-half-full aspect here. That should be obvious to everyone and it surely is to those of us who paid money for Tesla’s product; we wanted and we bought what they’re selling after all.

We’re talking about the half-empty part, the part that involves pushing beyond good-enough, especially since we’re talking about relatively-trivial failures relative to Tesla’s huge accomplishments.

 

[Twiglett]

Well, some of us are a bit more anal about quality, along the lines of “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right”.

We’re not discussing the glass-is-half-full aspect here. That should be obvious to everyone and it surely is to those of us who paid money for Tesla’s product; we wanted and we bought what they’re selling after all.

We’re talking about the half-empty part, the part that involves pushing beyond good-enough, especially since we’re talking about relatively-trivial failures relative to Tesla’s huge accomplishments.

For some folks the glass is always half empty and will always be so, regardless of the efforts of those attempting to please.
For those folks there will always be something that prevents the car being “perfect” so they are permanently unhappy.
I see no point attempting to try to please them, it will never be good enough and I’ve got better things to do.

 

[mswlogo]

Picked mine up yesterday.

Trunk seems perfectly fine to me.

My friends RWD he picked up a few weeks ago did have an issue that we think we fixed that might contribute to the problem.

The snaps that hold the plastic cover on were kind of messed up.

Because it was messed up the plastic was catching the gasket on the body of the car near the hinge.

If the panel is not snapped in, in the right place it might also cause it to not want to close.

The clip out near the edge was the problem. Once we got that hooked on correctly the clip near the hinge snapped in right and didn’t catch on the gasket.

I think the design of the car is sound and it’s just folks working to fast too “check their work”.

I would check that whole conver closely, compare its position on both sides or to a car that closes easily.

There might be other rushed assembly issues perhaps in the hinge tension or something. But it may just be the cover misaligned.

Full disclosure. The need to slam the trunk might have caused the cover to pop loose in the first place. We don’t know. But I think his cover was installed wrong and I don’t recall him needing to slam it all.

 

[mswlogo]

For some folks the glass is always half empty and will always be so, regardless of the efforts of those attempting to please.
For those folks there will always be something that prevents the car being “perfect” so they are permanently unhappy.
I see no point attempting to try to please them, it will never be good enough and I’ve got better things to do.

I think what tends to happen, especially with cars is. Most people start out positive. They would not of considered buying it if not. If an issue comes up. They just chalk it up to things break, nothing is perfect, easy fix. If that happens to much, there is a breaking point and you swing to the negative side. You might swing back if things smooth out for a long stretch. But crossing that center point has a lot of redistance in either direction.

 

[rdlink]

I find this whole "quality" issue discussion a bit amusing. I have owned three BMW 3 Series cars before buying the Model 3. From a 2001 325, to a 2006 330, and finally a 2017 330. When I hear people holding the Tesla to a level of "quality" that the 3 Series supposedly has I scratch my head. My 2001 and 2006 3 Series had stuff "falling off of them" constantly. Had a whole collection of trim clips that I kept in my garage, and became an expert at trim repair. In fact, after 40 years of driving a bunch of cars I finally broke down and bought a plastic trim tool kit, because of the BMW.

I didn't have the 2017 long enough for stuff to start falling off, but like the others the trunk was just a normal, "have to slam it" trunk. Nothing better or worse than the Model 3. Sure, I could have bought an aftermarket automatic trunk opener/closer for the 2017. For $800...

 

[Msjulie]

My trunk also is nowhere near the fuss people are reporting they are experiencing with theirs.

Even the frunk is no biggie - you do have to do it different than most cars with an engine under the front, but it's not tricky or hard to do... the rear trunk also no issue

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Hehe, I used the trunk for the first time today and had exactly the same thought, it feels and sounds so third world.


I had to stop at the Audi dealership today ... man, properly nice facilities and lots and lots of real cars, with properly-closing trunks and equal-sized gaps around the doors, and real brakes and real gaskets around the glass roofs, and no effin’ rattles...
I feel I just paid 40k for a battery and another 15k for everything else.

I’m trying to love the Tesla but I can’t get past “I like it”. Aside from the electric propulsion and some of the electronic gizmos, it’s quite the letdown. It’s such a shame because it has the potential to be a much much better car. I wish they could focus on refinement for a change, once the current fires are put out.

I love VW/Audi!!!! They look great in my rear view mirror. Too bad they can't comply with federal emission laws. Maybe the SEC should investigate them on how they manipulated the market with their TDI lie..

 

[compu85]

Did you see my thread here? Making the Model 3 trunk lid close more easily

 

[nvx1977]

not everyone has a hard to close trunk. definitely some inconsistency in build. mine from late Feb has a really easy to close trunk, and it even makes a satisfying sound when it closes. But my rear passenger doors rarely close on first attempt and I have to remember to slam them a bit.

 

[DR61]

Our trunk was a bit stiff to close initially. We have used it quite a bit in the first 900 miles, and now it is much easier. Not a problem.

 

[brobinson]

The trunk on my car closes the same way it has on every other car that I've owned. Would a powered trunk be more convenient? Sure. Is it that big of a deal? absolutely not.

 

[Trips]

My VIN 75xxx seems normal and fine with no slamming required. I wish the frunk was a little different but it's not bad.