How much is too much to complain about?

[Lhshockey24]

I took delivery of a new inventory 100D last Thursday. I noticed right away that the alignment is WAY off and pulling hard right. But...I’ve also noticed other minor things and I’m debating bringing them up because I don’t want to be “that guy”. Other issues:
Rattle under the sunroof on driver’s side.
Front passenger door panel is not flush with the B panel.
Home link fails to open garage door on first try, I always have to press it 2-3 times.

Anyway, curious if this is too much to ask about at my first appointment.

 

[Tiger]

• Delivery NIGHTMARE
• Quality is not incentivized at Tesla, but speed is. You get what you measure.

 

[Tam]

...I noticed right away...

I imagine there should be some minimum standards that Quality Assurance can pass your car inspection as reported by Reuters.

Tesla says :
"...we care about even a fraction of a millimeter body gap difference or a slight paint gloss texture..."

so you should point out any deficiencies contrary to Tesla's statement.

Tesla has been very good at correcting whatever Quality Assurance problems that you can spot.

 

[navinsiri]

I’ve went to the service center and given them 3 page list of issues. So no that’s not a lot.
However, I’d wait at least a month for other issues to pop up so you can get them repaired all at once.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Tesla has been very good at correcting whatever Quality Assurance problems that you can spot.

Spot on, you have to spot it... I wish Tesla would pre-emptively correct whatever they could spot, though!

Stuff like this getting delivered is just horrible:

 

[whitex]

I took delivery of a new inventory 100D last Thursday. I noticed right away that the alignment is WAY off and pulling hard right. But...I’ve also noticed other minor things and I’m debating bringing them up because I don’t want to be “that guy”. Other issues:
Rattle under the sunroof on driver’s side.
Front passenger door panel is not flush with the B panel.
Home link fails to open garage door on first try, I always have to press it 2-3 times.

Anyway, curious if this is too much to ask about at my first appointment.

Tesla is very good at correct any issues you may find. That said not all issues are correctable, for example your homelink issue is probably not specific to your car but general Tesla homelink + your garage door opener. I had a similar issue and found that by letting the antenna wire hang down from the opener unit it improved the operation significantly. Things like rattles they will fix if they are repeatable at the shop, but there is a chance they will come back - to love your Tesla is to love the noises it makes. In the end, you just have to decide what is worth going back to the SC to get fixed. Tesla changed out my driver's seat because it developed a clicking noise, then when the second seat developed the same problem I decided it's not worth the hassle, even though Tesla was willing to swap it again. By the way, after a few months the clicking noise disappeared all on its own and knock on wood it's been gone since. I found that for some other noises/rattles, I can do just as good of a job if not better with some sound dampening trim and such. Tesla service has always been amazing and willing to fix anything, I just prioritize what I think is worth dropping the car off for. My wife for example found a small cut in the trim on one of the pillars. She found it as soon as I brought the car home from delivery, but she didn't want to me to even try to make an appointment to fix it, not worth the hassle for her to have to drive 45+ mins each way to drop the car off and then to pick it up - she took care of it herself with a touch of fabric glue in 10 minutes or less.

In the end you have to decide what is important enough to you to keep going back to fix. Maybe do what @navinsiri suggested, wait a bit and then do it all in one visit. In the end remember that nothing ever is perfect but chasing perfection it time consuming.

PS> If I found something like the pic below, I would refuse delivery of the car. Then again, I would hope this would have not passed inspection? None of the 3 cars I bought from Tesla had anything as serious as this.

 

[Aieukl378]

I took delivery of a new inventory 100D last Thursday. I noticed right away that the alignment is WAY off and pulling hard right. But...I’ve also noticed other minor things and I’m debating bringing them up because I don’t want to be “that guy”. Other issues:
Rattle under the sunroof on driver’s side.
Front passenger door panel is not flush with the B panel.
Home link fails to open garage door on first try, I always have to press it 2-3 times.

Anyway, curious if this is too much to ask about at my first appointment.

I guarantee you'll achieve better results actually contacting Tesla than starting yet another complaint thread prompting our regular complainers to post old photoshopped garbage on a message board.

Tesla has world class service, an 800 number for any concern you may have(having a problem with Homelink...call them it ain't that difficult).

BTW I just hit 30000 miles, have never had a problem with the car and Tesla has been nothing but awesome!

 

[patrick40363]

I took delivery of a new inventory 100D last Thursday. I noticed right away that the alignment is WAY off and pulling hard right. But...I’ve also noticed other minor things and I’m debating bringing them up because I don’t want to be “that guy”. Other issues:
Rattle under the sunroof on driver’s side.
Front passenger door panel is not flush with the B panel.
Home link fails to open garage door on first try, I always have to press it 2-3 times.

Anyway, curious if this is too much to ask about at my first appointment.

Get the alignment taken care of right away.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

I guarantee you'll achieve better results actually contacting Tesla than starting yet another complaint thread

Actually, publicity has been a great motivator at times

 

[daniel]

I would make a list of everything that seems wrong about the car and take it in. I would not think of it as "complaining about too many things." I'd see it as simply listing the problems that need fixing. I think Tesla wants you to be happy with your car and will want to fix everything that you find unsatisfactory. If the issues were all minor, I'd ask for an appointment in a month, in case more things turn up. But because of the alignment issue, I'd go in right away. Not only is it a safety issue, but it will cause excessive and uneven tire wear.

No car company has a 100% perfect quality record. Sadly, Tesla has not achieved it either.

 

[Brian-MS90D]

I took delivery of a new inventory 100D last Thursday. I noticed right away that the alignment is WAY off and pulling hard right. But...I’ve also noticed other minor things and I’m debating bringing them up because I don’t want to be “that guy”. Other issues:
Rattle under the sunroof on driver’s side.
Front passenger door panel is not flush with the B panel.
Home link fails to open garage door on first try, I always have to press it 2-3 times.

Anyway, curious if this is too much to ask about at my first appointment.

I had a similar feeling to you BECAUSE most traditional dealerships do treat us consumers as garbage. Long story short, my $60k VW Touareg had an annoying plastic squeaking on the interior that the dealership told me it could not be fixed; go away. It is presently solved with a thick folded over paper shim between the gap (eliminating sound is preferred over the bad appearance). My experience with Tesla service has been the exact opposite and is one of many reasons I love Tesla. Tesla service will likely take very good care of you.

Also, you should have turned that car around immediately when you first drove it to have the alignment fixed.

Nice color, btw

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Volkswagen isn't a comparable premium brand, though. The panel matching of Audi would be more.

 

[TexLaw]

Give them the whole list.

However, I do agree that the Homelink problem may very well be more a matter of your garage opener than the car.

 

[Brian-MS90D]

Volkswagen isn't a comparable premium brand, though. The panel matching of Audi would be more.

I really disagree with you here. The difference between Porsche, Audi, and VW is largely mere marketing. This is true of many car companies. The Porsche and Audi versions of my Touareg have the exact same engine. VW has always (in recent time) had a flagship car that aims for luxury buyers (Phaeton, Touareg, etc). My VW dealership regularly gives me a loaner car; the Audi dealership rarely did (claimed I needed to book at least 4 weeks in advance).

I have owned Audi, VW, Land Rover, Lexus, Honda, and Toyota. Audi and VW dealerships were the worse experiences by far. Toyota was the best for me, followed by Lexus. Tesla is far, far better than them all (customer service and results), in my experience.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

I really disagree with you here. The difference between Porsche, Audi, and VW is largely mere marketing. This is true of many car companies. The Porsche and Audi versions of my Touareg have the exact same engine. VW has always (in recent time) had a flagship car that aims for luxury buyers (Phaeton, Touareg, etc). My VW dealership regularly gives me a loaner car; the Audi dealership rarely did (claimed I needed to book at least 4 weeks in advance).

I have owned Audi, VW, Land Rover, Lexus, Honda, and Toyota. Audi and VW dealerships were the worse experiences by far. Toyota was the best for me, followed by Lexus. Tesla is far, far better than them all (customer service and results), in my experience.

I really don't need a lecture on the VAG group, I have been a customer for so long that of course I know all that, to intimate detail in what is shared by models. Tourage, like Phaeton, is of course up there. But IMO the material differences in e.g. interior still are significant and resonate on the dealership level, which I think your experience probably was more indicative of, than of the car maker itself.

All this said, even Audi has its issues of course. But I've never had issues with them getting sorted out.

 

[Yaro]

Spot on, you have to spot it... I wish Tesla would pre-emptively correct whatever they could spot, though!

Stuff like this getting delivered is just horrible:

I mean that molding is clearly not evening sitting. It just has to be pressed in. You can easily do it with your hand.

 

[bmah]

Getting back to the OP's car (not other Teslas and not cars from other brands)...if the alignment is as bad as it sounds, that ought to be addressed right away as a safety concern. I think it's certainly reasonable to give them a list of the other issues you've found at the same time.

A number of people experienced issues with HomeLink similar to what you described; those were fixed with a software update. But if you just took delivery, you should already have that fix, so it could be due to something else.

Congratulations on delivery, and I hope they get things fixed up soon!

Bruce.

 

[roblab]

Actually, publicity has been a great motivator at times

But... actually telling the company so it gets FIXED....

Whom are you trying to motivate, or de-motivate? Potential buyers? You think writing here will motivate Tesla? Personally, I find writing several letters AND making several phone calls TO TESLA gets a lot more done.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Whom are you trying to motivate, or de-motivate? Potential buyers? You think writing here will motivate Tesla? Personally, I find writing several letters AND making several phone calls TO TESLA gets a lot more done.

History has proven differently. Publicity on TMC has caused Tesla to fix many an issue.

Look, of course I advocate contacting the company first to fix issues. Most of the time that is perfectly fine and all the value that posting here is educational for the community. So I was mostly commenting in jest. But in the more difficult cases "escalation to TMC" has caused Tesla to act very quickly. It is the PR pressure, too, but also perhaps simply because the issue gets the attention of new people at Tesla.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

I really don't need a lecture on the VAG group, I have been a customer for so long that of course I know all that, to intimate detail in what is shared by models. Tourage, like Phaeton, is of course up there. But IMO the material differences in e.g. interior still are significant and resonate on the dealership level, which I think your experience probably was more indicative of, than of the car maker itself.

All this said, even Audi has its issues of course. But I've never had issues with them getting sorted out.

I do have to speak up here on Audi's behalf.

I bought an A3 (currently the "baby"/"barely" an Audi) 3 1/2 years ago, and their sales, delivery and service have been outstanding.

I was treated as if I was buying an RS7. The car was delivered to me flawless, and I even got an upgraded loaner when I brought it in for service. (obviously a future upsell situation, not like I cared....)

I know Tesla is out here trying to "disrupt" the industry, but they'd be wise to not toss out everything and make it new.