Fit & Finish Issues Plaguing Model Y

[jazz290]

We picked up our MY yesterday and there were a couple minor issues but I was relieved after preparing for the worst. There were a couple minor issues-one of the tail lights was loose and the back seat doesn't disengage but they think it's due to the leather being stiff. Charge port door was also misaligned but they said was "within spec". They fixed the tail light before we left. Our VIN is in the 15xxx range.

do you have pics of the charging door? also, did they note the seat problem, if the leather doesn't break in?

 

[rxlawdude]

We picked up our MY yesterday and there were a couple minor issues but I was relieved after preparing for the worst. There were a couple minor issues-one of the tail lights was loose and the back seat doesn't disengage but they think it's due to the leather being stiff. Charge port door was also misaligned but they said was "within spec". They fixed the tail light before we left. Our VIN is in the 15xxx range.

There's no leather in the seats, and I'm not aware that synthetic leather can ever be "stiff" and requiring break-in like real leather.

 

[azjohn]

Went to the Corvette forum and see the same type of complaints with their new C8 Corvette.
Paint chips, poor interior stitching, wrong bolts being installed, panel misfits.

Imagine it will be the same with most any production car that is in Uber High Demand. They don't have enough time to fuss all the little details when the line is around the block. Like the super popular soup Nazi on Seinfeld...NO SOUP FOR YOU! if you complain.

 

[ThomasD]

Maybe different shifts are building the cars You have a string of cars with glaring defects and some with none or very few. Slow the line down and try to fix the issue.

 

[fandrade18]

Hey everyone,

I am new to the forums (although I have been reading up). I picked up my Model Y Long Range AWD MSM this past Saturday. Overall, the car was in a good state. Here is a list of some of the issues I had:

• The worst problem was the rear side bumper area. It was missing bolts and not put on correctly. I did not notice this until after I got home. I had a mobile service person come out and fix it.
• Charging Lid sticking out - mobile service said nothing can be done about this
• Front windshield area - liner sticking out, parts on order
• Rear Triangle Window - Foam sticking out slightly; mobile service said this was normal
• Rear Seat Tear - Again, mobile service guy said this is normal. I would be interested in seeing some pictures of this from others as the mobile service person sent 3-4 pictures to me (including one from an online review) showing the hole.

Overall, the car is great so far (minus the issues). The paint was in decent shape (for a Tesla), according to the Xpel PPF guys I took the car to.

 

[Dave EV]

I don't want to minimize people's delivery issues. I know I'll be just a critical if/when my car arrives. But, the fact of the matter is I've never brought a "Delivery Checklist" any other time I've picked up a car. Who knows what I would have found. To hold Tesla to a standard I've never held another manufacturer to might be less than fair.

I think it's easy to blow of all these forum reports as being "anecdotal", but there's so damn many of them and when people do report the QC issues with their cars there's some very common themes - all of which which issues w/the Model 3. Just the reports from this thread highlighted the major QC issues:

Poor paint (underspray, chips, nibs, scratches, etc).
Misaligned body parts (fenders, doors, wheel-well garnish, charge port, taillights)
Just plain dirty (anywhere from not even prepped to dirty headliners, to scratched interior plastic)

Sandy Munroe tore down one Model Y and found numerous QA/QC issues present on both the teardown and another Model Y - the frunk garnish on both cars that doesn't snap down right and the rear-wheel-well garnish that doesn't sit flush in front of the wheel. Tesla is purposely shipping thousands of cars with these issues and just hoping that people don't notice or care.

I have two Model 3s from 2018 (late Spring, Fall deliveries) and between them they've had the following issues from mechanical to cosmetic.
1. Rear motor/inverter failure on third day of ownership (left my wife stuck on the side of the road, that was fun)
2. Headlight accent light died
3. Both have poor fender/door alignment at the A-pillar (my car has such a large gap you can see the poor paint coverage under, on my wife's the fender/door are inset from the A-pillar significantly - has that issue where the fender touches the body underneath and eventually starts rusting)
4. Had to adjust the doors on my wife's car to get them to close with normal effort.
5. A-pillar passenger noise on one car.

Despite those issues, it's still the best car I've ever owned and would buy another, but your basic $20-25k Toyota/Honda typically far exceeds the quality of a $50k Tesla.

So yeah - anecdotally the quality/reliability are poor. It's got to be costing Tesla a lot of money to rectify. And combined with poor service in a lot of cases really leaves a poor taste in people's mouths and makes it hard to recommend Tesla to others.

 

[P100DHG.]

There source appears to be Tesla fan forums which to me is anecdotal at best, however.....


“The forums are flooded with new buyers reporting issues with their new Model Y, refusing deliveries, and in some cases, Tesla proactively canceling deliveries due to issues.”

Wait! The news is from the forums and the forums are broadcasting the news that the news is broadcasting from the the forums...! WHAAAAT!

 

[P100DHG.]

Hey everyone,

I am new to the forums (although I have been reading up). I picked up my Model Y Long Range AWD MSM this past Saturday. Overall, the car was in a good state. Here is a list of some of the issues I had:

• The worst problem was the rear side bumper area. It was missing bolts and not put on correctly. I did not notice this until after I got home. I had a mobile service person come out and fix it.
• Charging Lid sticking out - mobile service said nothing can be done about this
• Front windshield area - liner sticking out, parts on order
• Rear Triangle Window - Foam sticking out slightly; mobile service said this was normal
• Rear Seat Tear - Again, mobile service guy said this is normal. I would be interested in seeing some pictures of this from others as the mobile service person sent 3-4 pictures to me (including one from an online review) showing the hole.

Overall, the car is great so far (minus the issues). The paint was in decent shape (for a Tesla), according to the Xpel PPF guys I took the car to.

Let me ask you, did the delivery guys point this out or did you have to point this out to them?

 

[DadRS99]

That is definitely true, but one should not assume that everyone with the issues will post. I think majority of people that own Tesla are not on these forums. I think majority with the issues will also not post. I suspect there are lot of people that even do not think to look for panel gaps, misalignment or paint issue. They just take car as is and drive it.

So...I’ve had a ton of issues with my pickup from last week Friday. Sticky-posted > 10 cosmetic/fit and finish issues and so my car has been in Service (and then sent to a body shop) this week!

the hope is that they’re only cosmetic flaws. I drove > 300 miles and it was a dream. That said, hard to bet it’s only cosmetic, but I guess that the bet I’m taking since I didn’t refuse delivery and drove off the lot.
It is such a fabulous automobile.... early adopter blues I guess.

 

[fandrade18]

Let me ask you, did the delivery guys point this out or did you have to point this out to them?

The delivery guys did not point anything out. If you can find things during the initial inspection, they try to address them onsite that day, otherwise, they gave me 12 hours to inspect it at home due to the COVID situation. Once I was at home, they directed me to fill out service requests via the app.

 

[P100DHG.]

The delivery guys did not point anything out. If you can find things during the initial inspection, they try to address them onsite that day, otherwise, they gave me 12 hours to inspect it at home due to the COVID situation. Once I was at home, they directed me to fill out service requests via the app.

You guys are saints. That is the biggest load of *sugar* ever. I don't understand why the **** they expect customers to QC their products. I expect a perfect car or I reject my delivery. I love Tesla and this will be my 4th car but this is going to be tough love from me.

 

[DRHoover]

I'm scheduled to take delivery of my MY on Saturday. I stopped by the dealership today and it had just arrived off the truck. I did a quick walk around and took photos. All of the miss-alignments that i have heard before are present, along with spots in the paint and greasy hand prints on white interior. But the worst is the entire glass roof is shifted to one side! Has anyone heard of that issue? Now i need to decide if that's bad enough to not take delivery of the car or wait and see if they can remove and reinstall.

 

[DRHoover]

Received a call from our delivery center today, we were scheduled for delivery tomorrow morning. They said that the car was not up Tesla standards and they would be reordering a replacement vehicle. Estimating between 2 to 4 weeks for delivery.

 

[azjohn]

Received a call from our delivery center today, we were scheduled for delivery tomorrow morning. They said that the car was not up Tesla standards and they would be reordering a replacement vehicle. Estimating between 2 to 4 weeks for delivery.

Could also be Tesla gave your car to somebody else. That happened to a friend of mine back in the mid 90s when he custom ordered a Dodge Ram, they kept telling him its on the way and when he went to pick it up they couldn't find it...

 

[mac9899]

Received a call from our delivery center today, we were scheduled for delivery tomorrow morning. They said that the car was not up Tesla standards and they would be reordering a replacement vehicle. Estimating between 2 to 4 weeks for delivery.

Hopefully the delivery sites got tired of getting flack from clients and might just beings proactive. #hopefull

 

[mac9899]

My 2 cents don't mess with glass, let another deal with that. Ask for replacement Vin or decline. I am biased FYI, on 3rd appt to "fix these little things and easy issues" 3 months of this crap. Ppl forget the SC are everwhelmed and parts are not fully distributed. Hell, had to wait 2 weeks to get a wiper blade that's bad on my Y.

 

[Aikidoka]

I bought a first year BMW i3. Fit and finish was perfect. Driving it was fun. Range sucked. Some of the controllers for the battery needed to be replaced and it spent a few weeks at the dealer. Then something else happened with the battery and it spent more time with the dealer. When the lease was up I went to a Chrysler plug-in hybrid Pacifica. There were numerous fit and finish problems and a battery problem that had it at the dealer for 3 weeks. Even with that it was a fabulous vehicle. Maybe their real purpose was to prepare me for the Tesla.

I'm scheduled to pickup my MY next Saturday and looking forward to it. I'm hoping for just the usual fit and finish problems. From my test drive and all the posts I think the joy of driving the MY will overcome the hassles. I'm looking forward to the process with anticipation but will do a very thorough inspection to make sure things aren't worse. If it deserves to be rejected so be it - I'll try again with another VIN.

 

[LevelHeaded]

I picked up a new MY that was manufactured on 06/15/20 and here is my experience:

Build: Black/Black/LRAWD/Inductions/Tow Hitch

Summary of issues at delivery, with my thoughts for not rejecting:

1. All 4 bottom window trims are not aligned front-back with the door they're attached to. They're all pushed toward the rear of the car probably a 1/2 to 3/4 of a centimeter or so
   • Window trims are an easy replacement and are replaced all the time; delivery specialist noted as needing fix
2. Very small amount of paint scratched off rear quarter panel right where the window trim attaches
   • I didn't want to accept missing paint, but ultimately this was a very small example that should be quick for them to touch up before I have it PPFd
3. The 2 rear rims had damage that had been painted over already
   • I am told service will replace anew
4. Very minor scuffs/scratches to plastic a few places inside
   • Annoying on new car but in the scheme of things, I'm sure I'll be adding more scuffs/scratches soon
5. Left rear inner door panel not fully snapped into actual door on the bottom; you can see a gap and the clips not being clicked in
   • Seems like this should be easy for service to fix
6. Steering wheel tracks maybe 1-3 degrees to the right when going straight
   • Should be easy fix
7. All 4 doors could use some adjustment/alignment
   • Very common on Teslas and it's a relatively minor issue that many won't notice. It's just something i want to have handled prior to having it fully PPFd. Specifically I want the back edge of the front doors to align with the front edge of the rear doors (currently the front door sits a little further out than the rear door on one side, and on the other the front sits further out on the top while the rear sits further out on the bottom), and the rear edge of the rear doors to not protrude further than the trim/panel they close into. Again, these are minor amounts, but I was even admiring a new Honda accord on the way home because it has more intricate character lines and all 4 doors were aligned perfectly top, bottom, along rocker panel, etc. I wouldn't reject delivery for this because I've owned 2 prior Teslas and door alignment like this is ALWAYS an issue, and I've seen worse examples than my MY. So, the replacement VIN would likely be the same/worse. If Tesla SC can't/won't fix, I'll pay labor at a good Tesla body shop and I'm certain someone can get the doors aligned nicely.
8. Taillight alignment
   • At some point they'll probably have a fix for this, but until they do I'll assume ~all MYs have this issue

Note: the seat issue appears to be fixed from factory as it is not an issue at all on mine. Also, I find the heat pump to be very quiet so maybe they all have the added insulation from factory now.

 

[ATU1000]

I love Tesla and I own 2. I’m wondering if Elon’s threat to move away from California had a negative impact on the assembly line workers, causing some of the current issues? I would at least be a little scared and concerned if my job and livelihood, that I do with pride and dedication, provides for my family, and which I rely on to pay my bills and mortgage, were casually threatened to be taken away. How did the line workers feel when reading that in the news? ‘We work long and hard hours, the boss casts us aside when convenient, leaving us jobless in a bad economy.’ Not the type of leadership that produces loyalty and dedication. Just a thought...

 

[Dennisis]

I picked up a new MY that was manufactured on 06/15/20 and here is my experience:

Build: Black/Black/LRAWD/Inductions/Tow Hitch

Summary of issues at delivery, with my thoughts for not rejecting:

1. All 4 bottom window trims are not aligned front-back with the door they're attached to. They're all pushed toward the rear of the car probably a 1/2 to 3/4 of a centimeter or so
   • Window trims are an easy replacement and are replaced all the time; delivery specialist noted as needing fix
2. Very small amount of paint scratched off rear quarter panel right where the window trim attaches
   • I didn't want to accept missing paint, but ultimately this was a very small example that should be quick for them to touch up before I have it PPFd
3. The 2 rear rims had damage that had been painted over already
   • I am told service will replace anew
4. Very minor scuffs/scratches to plastic a few places inside
   • Annoying on new car but in the scheme of things, I'm sure I'll be adding more scuffs/scratches soon
5. Left rear inner door panel not fully snapped into actual door on the bottom; you can see a gap and the clips not being clicked in
   • Seems like this should be easy for service to fix
6. Steering wheel tracks maybe 1-3 degrees to the right when going straight
   • Should be easy fix
7. All 4 doors could use some adjustment/alignment
   • Very common on Teslas and it's a relatively minor issue that many won't notice. It's just something i want to have handled prior to having it fully PPFd. Specifically I want the back edge of the front doors to align with the front edge of the rear doors (currently the front door sits a little further out than the rear door on one side, and on the other the front sits further out on the top while the rear sits further out on the bottom), and the rear edge of the rear doors to not protrude further than the trim/panel they close into. Again, these are minor amounts, but I was even admiring a new Honda accord on the way home because it has more intricate character lines and all 4 doors were aligned perfectly top, bottom, along rocker panel, etc. I wouldn't reject delivery for this because I've owned 2 prior Teslas and door alignment like this is ALWAYS an issue, and I've seen worse examples than my MY. So, the replacement VIN would likely be the same/worse. If Tesla SC can't/won't fix, I'll pay labor at a good Tesla body shop and I'm certain someone can get the doors aligned nicely.
8. Taillight alignment
   • At some point they'll probably have a fix for this, but until they do I'll assume ~all MYs have this issue

Note: the seat issue appears to be fixed from factory as it is not an issue at all on mine. Also, I find the heat pump to be very quiet so maybe they all have the added insulation from factory now.

Would you post a pic of your rear seats so I can see the alignment? Wondering what it looks like compared to mine.