I need to vent. I want to love this car, but I can't anymore.

[ilikemypizza]

Doors look a tad off. Certainly passenger > driver. No doubt. I wouldn’t call it a deal breaker, but everyone is different. The trunk is very marginal. Zooming in I see it, but as long as it seals and functions properly, I wouldn’t have even really noticed the trunk.

I do hear you on the fit and finish, and compared to a 48-50k ride from say, BMW, it is worse. Nobody debates this. My question would be, can you get over these issues, and more importantly, is the way the car performing making up for these marginal fit and finish issues?

That’s the question you really have to answer. I’m surprised the door alignment wasn’t addressed at your request, but fixing it may be very hard. I can’t comment on how much it bothers you.

I do feel my M3P had less gap issues than this, but I’m not crazy worried about these issues, so maybe if I had really scrutinized mine I’d find some things. I noticed the other day one of my headlights is about 1/4” less flush than the other (the other is dead flush). After noticing, I got in my ride, bumped the sick stereo, ripped off a 3.1 sec 0-60, and honestly completely ceased to care.

Tesla has some fit and finish issues, but how significant they are and how much one is bothered by them varies. If it’s not something a person looking over the car from arms length would notice on the first time around, I’m not one to care. You have to decide what makes a car ideal for you. Performance and features was the deciding point for me. I beyond love my car; the one or two minor issues don’t spoil it.

But if they do for you then you have to go another route.

But if the car rocks when you drive it... we’ll... maybe you have your answer

To be honest, I'm leaning towards living with it. The Trunk is bugging me more than the passenger door only because it catches my eye every time I see the car. The passenger door, sucks, but meh, I can live with it.

The main issue I have with the Trunk is that when it closes, I hear it hit the side of the car and bottom on the way down at the corner. I tried moving the actual latch but then the Trunk wouldnt close sometimes.

I came from owning Audis for the last 8 years, so it's been a hell of an adjustment for me. I do love the car, absolutely, but I am going through a phase where this stuff is annoying for a new car to have.

 

[Mahamilto]

To be honest, I'm leaning towards living with it. The Trunk is bugging me more than the passenger door only because it catches my eye every time I see the car. The passenger door, sucks, but meh, I can live with it.

The main issue I have with the Trunk is that when it closes, I hear it hit the side of the car and bottom on the way down at the corner. I tried moving the actual latch but then the Trunk wouldnt close sometimes.

I came from owning Audis for the last 8 years, so it's been a hell of an adjustment for me. I do love the car, absolutely, but I am going through a phase where this stuff is annoying for a new car to have.

Which Audi?

Im confident unless you are coming from an RS, this drives much better.

If the trunk is making that sound id be in the service center and showing them/letting them hear that and demanding a fix. That’s reasonable for sure.

 

[ilikemypizza]

Which Audi?

Im confident unless you are coming from an RS, this drives much better.

If the trunk is making that sound id be in the service center and showing them/letting them hear that and demanding a fix. That’s reasonable for sure.

Coming from a 2018 S3. I think the S3 had slightly better handling due to it being an S, but I bought acceleration boost so the Model 3 kicks its ass in that department lol

 

[Mahamilto]

Coming from a 2018 S3. I think the S3 had slightly better handling due to it being an S, but I bought acceleration boost so the Model 3 kicks its ass in that department lol

Put the same tires on the M3 and I bet you make up the difference. I had an S4 back in the day (2001). Nice car. Blew 4 turbos tho... so that was enough of a bummer to steer me off Audi pretty much forever. They do have a nicer steering feel, but I’d assume an S3 would come with summer rubber; your LR standard tires leave a lot to be desired in my opinion. Upgrade it to Michelin PS All season 4 at least; or summer rubber if your area allows. Then lemme know how that grip is. These M3s are pretty damn grippy.

 

[ilikemypizza]

Put the same tires on the M3 and I bet you make up the difference. I had an S4 back in the day (2001). Nice car. Blew 4 turbos tho... so that was enough of a bummer to steer me off Audi pretty much forever. They do have a nicer steering feel, but I’d assume an S3 would come with summer rubber; your LR standard tires leave a lot to be desired in my opinion. Upgrade it to Michelin PS All season 4 at least; or summer rubber if your area allows. Then lemme know how that grip is. These M3s are pretty damn grippy.

Yeah, definitely. I'll probably grab some summers in the future. My main reason for going LR over Performance is due to the winters here in Buffalo. I had summers on my S3 and the car wouldn't move an inch... ended up grabbing some all seasons and that made all of the difference. I really do appreciate your feedback and comments on how you would handle these minor issues I have. To be honest, just venting about here has helped me tremendously hah. I've been complaining to my wife and I think she's ready to divorce me at this point. I'll see what the SC says and at the end of the day everyone here is right.. the technology in the car is awesome and I will eventually get over these minor cosmetic issues that only I will ever notice

 

[Mahamilto]

Of course. That’s what the forums are supposed to be here for, right?

I went Michelin PS All-Season 4s on my M3P. NYC here... first winter with summer PS4 on my CTSV and yeah... couldn’t even get it out of the driveway with 2.5” of snow and it being 24* out. That ended that. Got PS A/S3+ and cut thru anything less than 4” with zero issue... in a RWD torque monster. I’m betting this AWD Tesla will be much much better lol. The PS AS4 is supposed to be “12% better than the A/S3+” according to Michelin. I can tell you it’s better in wet and dry than the A/S3+ predecessors.

I would be seeking a fix to the trunk issue tho. But I bet tire to tire the M3 is close to the S3 I’m grip... maybe not feel tho. The steering on the M3 is a tad more numb, but you get used to it. Coming from the CTSV that had VERY direct input, I notice a small difference, not on my ability to corner it, but how I have to input to drive it as fast. All in all, the M3P is a much more fun car to drive and I can exit the corner with so much more exit speed than the CTSV, which would start to lose the back end if I wasn’t careful on the throttle. This M3P I can hit the apex and mash it. So awesome.

I hope you fix the trunk. But I bet the car will keep exceeding expectations on the road

 

[Mahamilto]

I’m in the opposite camp with the wife lol. She hated my CTSV. I had no cats on it so it was absurdly loud and I could easily lose the back end getting on it. I had a pully kit so it was making 550 something torque at the rear wheels.

She HATED that car. From day one. She said it was terrifying to drive fast and was obnoxiously loud. She wasn’t exactly wrong... that said... I did love that car.

All in all though... this one is so much more fun. Faster in a straight line. As good in the twistes. Much much much easier to drive fast. Quiet. Comfortable (more so by a large margin. Those recaros were awesome but hard on the butt on long trips). So much cheaper to own too. No maintenance. No gas.

 

[TBrownTX]

There's pictures of this issue in one of the master threads. Basically, I can fit my finger in my passenger door. First is driver side, second is the passenger side. I'll be honest and pictures don't always do a good job showing this. To your point, I would say it is "marginally off" but when other cars don't have this problem, it's disappointing to say the least.

Here’s mine. I stopped looking for it, and it stopped bothering me.

Tim

 

[ilikemypizza]

Here’s mine. I stopped looking for it, and it stopped bothering me.

Tim

View attachment 667419

Agreed with you on that. Just gotta focus on the many other perfect aspects of the car

 

[ilikemypizza]

I’m in the opposite camp with the wife lol. She hated my CTSV. I had no cats on it so it was absurdly loud and I could easily lose the back end getting on it. I had a pully kit so it was making 550 something torque at the rear wheels.

She HATED that car. From day one. She said it was terrifying to drive fast and was obnoxiously loud. She wasn’t exactly wrong... that said... I did love that car.

All in all though... this one is so much more fun. Faster in a straight line. As good in the twistes. Much much much easier to drive fast. Quiet. Comfortable (more so by a large margin. Those recaros were awesome but hard on the butt on long trips). So much cheaper to own too. No maintenance. No gas.

Yeah, exactly. Just gotta look past the minor hiccups. In a few years, I'm sure the qc will be light-years better as Tesla gets more competition and ultimately has to stay competitive. For now, just need to realize we're a little bit ahead of the times here. To your point, just gotta enjoy the car to its entirety

 

[TBrownTX]

Agreed with you on that. Just gotta focus on the many other perfect aspects of the car

Love my Tesla, best car I have ever owned by a mile. Sure there’s a few oddities, but the pros well outweigh the cons.

Tim

 

[Pyre]

Rumor has it they are opening an SC in Buffalo, just not sure when. If the border wasn't closed, there are a few SCs in Canada I'd try first. I may try Pittsburgh or possibly Ohio. Ill have to see. Thank you

I heard buffalo and Syracuse should be getting SCs soon

 

[Adam3]

If you didn't read threads about "alignment issues" you would have never noticed

 

[ilikemypizza]

If you didn't read threads about "alignment issues" you would have never noticed

Agreed. It definitely sucked me in and took me down a rabbit hole

 

[TBrownTX]

Agreed. It definitely sucked me in and took me down a rabbit hole

I tell people that if you never looked at this stuff on any other car you have ever purchased, don’t start now.

The check lists are ridiculous, and nitpick more than judging sheets at national car shows. The whole thing is overblown.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some legit issues, but most a normal person would never notice and exist on other brands.

That being said, I do get it. I loose sleep over this stuff once in a while, it’s easy to tell someone else it’s no big deal.

“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good” - I try and keep that in mind, but sometimes easier said then done. Good luck man.

Tim

 

[dmurphy]

The short story is.. I'm just not happy with the car and the money I spent for me to be told things are "within spec" and for me to have to try and fix things myself. I'm not happy that I can't talk to a human. I'm just ready to sell this car at a loss unless I can find someone or somewhere who will fix my car, and fix it right.

The long(er) story:

I've been contemplating purchasing a Tesla for a few years now. A friend had a Model S and now a Model 3, and another just bought an MY. To be completely honest, I wasn't aware of any of the build or quality issues until after I placed my order and found reddit and these forums. I shrugged it off because I thought that was all in the past.

I originally had my delivery experience here, but I'm leaving it out. TLDR is I had to switch from pickup (was a 6 hour drive one way.. I am in Buffalo, and Mt Kisco was the closest delivery center) to carrier direct because the due date of my first child lined up with the delivery date of the car and my wife was going to kill me. Communication was horrible and it took forever to get that straightened out.. that was the gist of it.

Right from the start, I notice some minor door alignment/trim and trunk alignment issues. I set up a service appointment for the nearest SC which is an hour and a half away in Rochester, NY. They fixed the door but forgot to look at the trunk. When I asked about it, the guy pretended to look and responded with "It's with spec". At that point, I gave up hope with this Service Center if that was how they were going to be.

So, I tried contacting two local body shops I've used in the past with my other vehicles but neither of them wanted to touch the car since it was a Tesla. At that point, I figured I would just DIY because who doesn't DIY on your new 50k car, right?

Well, this is where I should have just stopped and left well enough alone. As I am adjusting my trunk, I ended up breaking the rear windshield glass because my socket stayed on the hinge bolt and came off my ratchet and I didn't realize. So, that is on me 100% which was a hard lesson learned.

To add icing to the cake, I've also recently noticed my passenger door was miss-stamped (I guess the robot was drunk as many others have this same problem on their car to varying degrees).

I did find a local certified body shop who will be replacing the windshield. I mentioned my trunk and also my passenger door, but the conversation I had with them didn't seem promising. Again, I got the feeling that they don't want to touch it.

I am willing to pay someone who is capable of doing good work and fixing these issues once and for all but I can't find anyone or anywhere who can do it. While I could schedule a service appointment with the SC again, I don't want them to waste my time as I have a good idea of how that will turn out.

I will pay for a new, correctly stamped door and a new trunk if I have too, I don't care. Please, if you know of any good/reliable service centers on the east coast, or a body shop who can fix these issues for me please let me know. Otherwise, I'm going to just sell this car and take a loss on it once I get the rear-windshield replaced. If its this hard to get someone to look at the car, I can only imagine how things will be when I have a major issue which is another reason to sell the car.

I'm losing all faith and hope. I've only put 1800 miles on this car and its not even two months old yet. I just needed to vent because I'm frustrated.

It's a bit of a ride for you, but Collision Restoration in Fairfield NJ is a bunch of perfectionist Tesla experts. They're superb.

Sorry for the issues - but this is all really minor stuff in the grand scheme of things, to be frank. Once these small adjustments are done, the car will be dang near perfect.

 

[dmurphy]

I tell people that if you never looked at this stuff on any other car you have ever purchased, don’t start now.

The check lists are ridiculous, and nitpick more than judging sheets at national car shows. The whole thing is overblown.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some legit issues, but most a normal person would never notice and exist on other brands.

That being said, I do get it. I loose sleep over this stuff once in a while, it’s easy to tell someone else it’s no big deal.

“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good” - I try and keep that in mind, but sometimes easier said then done. Good luck man.

Tim, I just had to quote this as it's as-if I wrote it myself. I've used the "Perfect is the enemy of good" line here at TMC before, too! It's absolutely, 100% the truth.

For me, the Model 3 was a step down in cost... my previous Cadillac was quite a bit more expensive. And the idea of showing up with a micrometer or set of calipers to pickup a Cadillac is laughable. If I wouldn't do it for the Caddy -- you can bet your bottom dollar I wouldn't do it for the Model 3. It's a car. I drive it. It's not perfect - but nothing is.

 

[Gasaraki]

I heard buffalo and Syracuse should be getting SCs soon

Yeah, hopefully. They need one in Syracuse to cover the Syracuse/Watertown/Binghamton/Ithaca areas. No one wants to drive 2 hours to Rochester or Albany to get to a service center.

 

[ilikemypizza]

Tim, I just had to quote this as it's as-if I wrote it myself. I've used the "Perfect is the enemy of good" line here at TMC before, too! It's absolutely, 100% the truth.

For me, the Model 3 was a step down in cost... my previous Cadillac was quite a bit more expensive. And the idea of showing up with a micrometer or set of calipers to pickup a Cadillac is laughable. If I wouldn't do it for the Caddy -- you can bet your bottom dollar I wouldn't do it for the Model 3. It's a car. I drive it. It's not perfect - but nothing is.

Definitely. I'm slowly learning to ignore these small flaws. I still have a service appointment scheduled for next Thursday, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I'm just trying to work with a local collision center to have my rear-windshield replaced. There seems to be a lot of confusion with my insurance company though. Selecting the Rear Glass isn't an option on whatever platform they use (haha). Three weeks later and I'm still waiting for the glass to be ordered. Wish I didn't try monkeying with the trunk in the first place. Could have avoided all of this

 

[Mark2018s]

There's pictures of this issue in one of the master threads. Basically, I can fit my finger in my passenger door. First is driver side, second is the passenger side. I'll be honest and pictures don't always do a good job showing this. To your point, I would say it is "marginally off" but when other cars don't have this problem, it's disappointing to say the least.

IDK man....looks like its within spec to me...



JK hope you get it fixed right....a few yrs from now this will be a distant memory...you will love this car.