Delivery / Service Issues (panel gaps, delivery delays / issues / Service problems etc)

[cubeman]

I’m asking because I’m quickly approaching Lemon Law thresholds. I picked up my new M3 LR on Dec 14th. The car has been in to the Tesla service center 4 times now and I’ve only had the vehicle at home with me one night since I bought it.

First problem was the day I bought. There was an air leak into the cabin when the car went out to highway speeds. They thought it was caused by a misaligned door. So the car went to the body shop for two weeks. I got the car back and the body shop has put substantial scratches into the trim while working on the door. So the trim was replaced. When I finally got the car back as soon as I drove it the air leak was still there. A tech road with me and determined the leak was from a faulty seal on the driver’s window or windshield. Tesla then replaced some of the glass and told me to pick up the car. I went to pick up the car yesterday and the driver’s window wouldn’t go up or down. They apparently broke the motor by installing a new window. The service center didn’t have the part in stock and I was quoted a week for it to be shipped which will bring me to over 1 month of my new vehicle being in the shop before this is all sorted. And I’m still not even sure if they ever fixed the original air leak.

In NY you'd have hit 4 repairs or 30 days out of service which is lemon. Reach out to a lemon firm and if they've done Tesla before they'll know the process. Tesla hopes you try for arbitration yourself but if a lemon law firm is behind your case they'll wait for it to be filed then agree to buy it back. I'm having that same window leak issue right now. All the national lemon firms don't charge a penny.

Never buying a Tesla again in the foreseeable future, Everyone preaches how great "no dealers" are except for when your only source is corporate for repairs it's just straight garbage.

 

[Fiveseven108]

I’m asking because I’m quickly approaching Lemon Law thresholds. I picked up my new M3 LR on Dec 14th. The car has been in to the Tesla service center 4 times now and I’ve only had the vehicle at home with me one night since I bought it.

First problem was the day I bought. There was an air leak into the cabin when the car went out to highway speeds. They thought it was caused by a misaligned door. So the car went to the body shop for two weeks. I got the car back and the body shop has put substantial scratches into the trim while working on the door. So the trim was replaced. When I finally got the car back as soon as I drove it the air leak was still there. A tech road with me and determined the leak was from a faulty seal on the driver’s window or windshield. Tesla then replaced some of the glass and told me to pick up the car. I went to pick up the car yesterday and the driver’s window wouldn’t go up or down. They apparently broke the motor by installing a new window. The service center didn’t have the part in stock and I was quoted a week for it to be shipped which will bring me to over 1 month of my new vehicle being in the shop before this is all sorted. And I’m still not even sure if they ever fixed the original air leak.

Can you elaborate on the air leak? My car has pretty loud wind noise at highway speeds but was told it was within spec

 

[Tim Roland]

Can you elaborate on the air leak? My car has pretty loud wind noise at highway speeds but was told it was within spec

It wasn’t wind noise. It was an audible hissing sound similar to when a tire is being deflated or compressed air is being shot out of a hose. You would hear ordinary wind and roadway sounds until the car got to about 55-60mph. Once the car was at highway speeds you could hear the audible sound of air hissing into the cabin from the vicinity of the A pillar. As soon as you dropped below 50mph it would stop.

 

[cubeman]

It wasn’t wind noise. It was an audible hissing sound similar to when a tire is being deflated or compressed air is being shot out of a hose. You would hear ordinary wind and roadway sounds until the car got to about 55-60mph. Once the car was at highway speeds you could hear the audible sound of air hissing into the cabin from the vicinity of the A pillar. As soon as you dropped below 50mph it would stop.

I have this now, the original tech said this problem must have existed since near new and only gotten worse to the point of being noticable. The tech replaced the entire weather seal and only made the problem worse. Now at 50-80mph it basically sounds like the passenger window is cracked down a bit and if the road is wet at all it literally sounds like the window is open.

I had a service appt to day and the night prior they said "this is considered a 2 hour fix so no uber credit will be provided" so I had to kick the can to another appointment now as I had somewhere to be and tired of paying out of pocket for transportation for this crappy car. I'd leave this alone and await the lemon law pickup date but it's annoying to drive around with that wind noise.

 

[miggz410]

TL;DR - I know this is a thread about delivery issues but I wanted to add a positive, issue-free post about my excellent end of Q4 delivery experience at Fremont.

I took delivery of my M3 RWD grey/black/18" on Wed, 12/28/22 at the Fremont factory delivery center. I ordered it on 12/19 & there was not one in inventory so it was a "custom" order & I chose Fremont for the best shot of getting it by 12/31. I was definitely nervous about quality issues due to the end of Q4/big discount rush but hopeful that Fremont's reputation for putting out pretty high quality cars these days would hold.

It ended up being the easiest process ever; I was expecting a shitshow due to the end of Q4 rush & huge incentives but it was totally seamless. I had everything done in the app the day before. I got the text in the morning that the car was in spot AG10 & my brother and I headed there in his 2018 M3P. He's had 3 Teslas & joined countless friends for their Tesla deliveries so it was nice to have someone experienced along, for sure. I did not accept delivery in the app at first, because we wanted to look over the exterior. It was excellent, all gaps were well within spec and tight, paint was good. I was pleased that it appears to have the Matrix headlights (pretty stoked on that, plus the LFP battery chemistry, sweet both are on a base model for under $40k!). The only exterior flaw we could find was a tiny scratch on a rearview mirror, which I took a photo of in case I ever decide I care. We spent decent time on the exterior & my brother knows what to look for. He said his '18 M3P had far worse gaps & issues, so Tesla Fremont seems to have come a long way in 5 years.

I accepted delivery so we could get inside. We paired my phone, etc and did our best to look at everything inside that we could. Everything looked & worked great, touchscreen system, software, all cubbies & doors working as they should. No way to listen for any rattles, etc but to drive so we decided we could leave, luckily no rattles or anything other issues upon exiting the lot. We could have spent as long as we wanted. We were just out in the lot with the car, only Tesla employees around cleaning up cars, moving them around, etc. We never needed a human but they are available should you feel you need one. Taking an experienced Tesla owner along is best, imo. My brother quickly walked me through the essentials but he would have spent hours w/me if I wanted him to - I was too hungry for that, lol.

I've since driven about 250 miles, supercharged once, & am just learning the car. It has been fantastic, to me it's what every sedan should be (& to be clear, I'm a total gearhead & have had many a fun/track/performance car & have done a lot of track driving/racing). The delivery process was so, so easy & I still can't believe more people in the general public don't understand that there is no better new car for under $40k (mine was $39,490 before all the normal, additional costs). Really, really pleased so far!

I was one of the many who took delivery last minute on 12/31... Ordered a SR3 same day at 2pm, and received a schedule for delivery at 7pm. DA told me not to drive there until I receive a text that my car is ready for pick-up. An hour passed my scheduled time still no text. Told my wife that my car will most likely not be delivered tonight and will miss out on $7500 discount. Finally at 8:40pm, I received a text that my car is ready to be delivered. So we rushed over to Fremont. When we got there, It was a mad house inside the Fremont factory lobby with people waiting for their cars to be delivered.

I was really worried my car will have major quality issues due to EOQ last minute push by Tesla. It was also dark and raining that night. I had to bring a flash light to inspect the car. I did like a quick 10mins. walk around and didn't see anything major. Tesla DA told me that I have 24 hours to submit a due bill, if I find anything wrong. So I decided to accept delivery and not miss out on the discount. I was able to do more of a thorough check the following morning. I was really surprised on how much better the quality build of my SR3 compare to my 21 MY that I found a ton of quality issues.... I only found one misaligned trim and a minor gap issue on the trunk. But nothing really major that it bothers me. But I went ahead and submitted a ticket with in the 24 hours just in case I find some more issues until my scheduled appointment. But I'm pretty sure they will just hit me the with in spec on the issues I brought up. Which is not a big deal.

Overall I'm happy with my delivery. It was fast easy and simple. This is my 3rd Tesla delivery experience. My 21 MY delivery was probably the worst, but they were able to fix all the issues I had on that car.

 

[Tim Roland]

I have this now, the original tech said this problem must have existed since near new and only gotten worse to the point of being noticable. The tech replaced the entire weather seal and only made the problem worse. Now at 50-80mph it basically sounds like the passenger window is cracked down a bit and if the road is wet at all it literally sounds like the window is open.

I had a service appt to day and the night prior they said "this is considered a 2 hour fix so no uber credit will be provided" so I had to kick the can to another appointment now as I had somewhere to be and tired of paying out of pocket for transportation for this crappy car. I'd leave this alone and await the lemon law pickup date but it's annoying to drive around with that wind noise.

This is pretty much exactly my problem as well. I’m now on my 5th service center visit to correct the wind noise problem. 1st on the date of pick up at the delivery location and now 4 additional trips to my local service center all to fix the same problem. I’ve done two drives with Tesla technicians and both times they admit there is a problem. As soon as the car goes over 55 or 60 mph it sounds like a window is open inside the cabin. There is an audible sound of air hissing into the car. The moment the car slows down under 50mph it stops.

They have adjusted the driver’s door at the body shop. Replaced the driver’s window and weather stripping. During both of those repairs they damaged other things. The body shop put deep scratches into the interior trim which Tesla replaced. Tesla somehow blew the window motor replacing the front driver’s window. And after all of this still I have a car with a faulty seal somewhere that lets air hiss into the cabin when I drive fast.

The tech I rode with this morning was the most straightforward person I’ve dealt with so far. He flat out told me this this is a common issue in the M3. There’s a lot of glass and sometimes things don’t come sealed correctly from the factory. Sometimes no matter how hard they look they can’t ever track down the cause of the air leak.

I have a feeling I’m eventually going to be told they can’t fix the problem and it’s a normal turbulence. My biggest concern, beyond how annoying it sound when I drive fast, is that this air leak might also let water leak into the cabin. I’ve never actually had the car with me to see. It’s been at the shop all but one day since I picked it up over three weeks ago.

I really hope Tesla doesn’t force me into the situation of having to sue them or force them into arbitration. But I have a feeling that’s where this is headed.

 

[cubeman]

This is pretty much exactly my problem as well. I’m now on my 5th service center visit to correct the wind noise problem. 1st on the date of pick up at the delivery location and now 4 additional trips to my local service center all to fix the same problem. I’ve done two drives with Tesla technicians and both times they admit there is a problem. As soon as the car goes over 55 or 60 mph it sounds like a window is open inside the cabin. There is an audible sound of air hissing into the car. The moment the car slows down under 50mph it stops.

They have adjusted the driver’s door at the body shop. Replaced the driver’s window and weather stripping. During both of those repairs they damaged other things. The body shop put deep scratches into the interior trim which Tesla replaced. Tesla somehow blew the window motor replacing the front driver’s window. And after all of this still I have a car with a faulty seal somewhere that lets air hiss into the cabin when I drive fast.

The tech I rode with this morning was the most straightforward person I’ve dealt with so far. He flat out told me this this is a common issue in the M3. There’s a lot of glass and sometimes things don’t come sealed correctly from the factory. Sometimes no matter how hard they look they can’t ever track down the cause of the air leak.

I have a feeling I’m eventually going to be told they can’t fix the problem and it’s a normal turbulence. My biggest concern, beyond how annoying it sound when I drive fast, is that this air leak might also let water leak into the cabin. I’ve never actually had the car with me to see. It’s been at the shop all but one day since I picked it up over three weeks ago.

I really hope Tesla doesn’t force me into the situation of having to sue them or force them into arbitration. But I have a feeling that’s where this is headed.

If your within lemon law still, file. If not, since your NY find out your small claims max amount and sue for that if it'll make you happy to live with the issue. Tesla doesn't show up so they can't say anything about the arbitration, you'll get a default judgement and they'll pay. Otherwise you have arbitration for breach of contract (failing to fulfill warranty)

 

[techno-Zen]

So at delivery on 01/21 I was told to set up a service appointment.. it is this Wednesday 02/01, what exactly do you think they'll do? At what point can I ask to exchange the car? Pretty ridiculous so far.

-2 Paint chips on the hood
-Rear bumper LARGE scratches
-Rear lower fascia scrapes
-Dashboard indentation/marking/chemical burn??
-Front wheel area paint flaking/chipping.. so much for multicoat?

See pics

Any advice?

 

[techno-Zen]

Oh, I forgot - my right headlight is not aligned and popping up above the hood

 

[ATPMSD]

Probably should have not accepted the car in the first place. Read up on your State's Lemon Law, you may need it.

 

[techno-Zen]

Probably should have not accepted the car in the first place. Read up on your State's Lemon Law, you may need it.

In hindsight.. true. I sold my car and needed wheels (Plus added excitement) and they assured me all would be taken care of.

I did look into the lemon laws here in AZ as well. I'm just glad pretty much all of it was identified at delivery at least so fingers crossed all is resolved after service. I'll definitely post updates here on that front.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Bummer. You reminded me of why I never bought a new car at end of quarter or end of year.

Unfortunately, I don't think they are going to let you exchange the car. It looks like a couple of those things are easy to correct and a couple are not easy. I hope you have brought this to their attention as quickly as possible?

 

[techno-Zen]

Bummer. You reminded me of why I never bought a new car at end of quarter or end of year.

Unfortunately, I don't think they are going to let you exchange the car. It looks like a couple of those things are easy to correct and a couple are not easy. I hope you have brought this to their attention as quickly as possible?

Yeah, my advisor actually helped me setup service to be at the Tesla location and not some 3rd party body shop. Pretty much all was notated at delivery except the paint flaking.

 

[ATPMSD]

@techno-Zen

The comment by @Silicon Desert got me thinking. Generally if the damage is only cosmetic, then fine. But if the damage were more substantial, especially if it would result in diminished value, then the car would not be considered new.

Although the photos seem only cosmetic, given the number defects there is an argument to be made that the car should never have left the factory or was badly mistreated during ransportation, and selling a damaged car as new is not acceptable. Might work, never know. Good luck!

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

It's Tesla. Quality is inconsistent to say the least and they let stuff go to service centers. Then it's up to the service center whether things get fixed.
If you want quality you either refuse cars until they meet your standards or go elsewhere.

Wait until after the service appointment to see what's fixed.
Then lump whatever else is left.

State laws have a limit on the cost of any repairs to a new vehicle before the buyer needs to be notified.

 

[Silicon Desert]

@techno-Zen

The comment by @Silicon Desert got me thinking. Generally if the damage is only cosmetic, then fine. But if the damage were more substantial, especially if it would result in diminished value, then the car would not be considered new.

Although the photos seem only cosmetic, given the number defects there is an argument to be made that the car should never have left the factory or was badly mistreated during ransportation, and selling a damaged car as new is not acceptable. Might work, never know. Good luck!

When I think of the word NEW, I think having no previous owner, but yea, your comment can apply to the logic.

 

[techno-Zen]

f they fix the issues I'm happy and move on. I didn't know I could just deny delivery to be honest, I probably would've just denied and waited in hindsight but so far they're treating me well.

 

[techno-Zen]

Day 3 of repair today. They gave me a pretty beat up 2018 Model 3.. which im grateful for.

Picking up my car tonight after work.. hopefully. I'll post an update.

 

[father_of_6]

Anecdotal, but I picked up my Model 3 on December 29th, 2020 and it was flawless in my eyes.

 

[techno-Zen]

They fixed the car with a new rear bumper, new front dashboard for the weird stain, repaired the hood chips and the wheel well chip with repair paint.

I'm happy overall. But still, deny delivery if you have the same problems y'all.. why not?