Is your windshield distortion this bad?

[TLLMRRJ]

One way or another, I have to get my windshield fixed because it's ruining my enjoyment of driving this new car. I have 4 areas in front of the driver's seat that act like a magnifying glass, and then the whole lower part of the windshield is so rippled and wavy that my wife refuses the drive the car because she sits much lower and the waviness is directly in her view.

I have already fixed the panel alignments for the fenders and fronk and the rear liftgate myself (DIY's posted) that Tesla refused to fix, but I can't fix the windshield myself because even 3rd parties glass installers have to get the glass from Tesla.

When I took my car to the SC, they stated in the Tesla app that they could not see any distortion whatsoever and declined the repair. So I have made another video to more clearly show the distortion. It's very hard to film the distortion while driving because of camera shake, and it's hard to find the right background to show the problem while stationary, but I think I have found the best way to capture the distortion in video.

For those of you with distorted windshields, did you have it this bad right in front of the driver's view? Were you able to get a better result than my windshield, or are most of them this bad?

 

[Tronguy]

Far be it from me to argue with you. But, just to make a point:

1. Tesla buys their windshields from an outside vendor, Just Like Everybody Else.
2. The way these things are made, you may win the lottery and get an optically perfect one; or you may lose the lottery, and get a windshield that resembles the optical parameters of Mr. Magoo's eyeglasses.
3. If you've got a bad #2, then call it in. It's not that unusual, for any car from any manufacturer. If they agree, it gets swapped, no questions.

For reference: Consumers Reports. They talk about this from year to year.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

Far be it from me to argue with you. But, just to make a point:

1. Tesla buys their windshields from an outside vendor, Just Like Everybody Else.
2. The way these things are made, you may win the lottery and get an optically perfect one; or you may lose the lottery, and get a windshield that resembles the optical parameters of Mr. Magoo's eyeglasses.
3. If you've got a bad #2, then call it in. It's not that unusual, for any car from any manufacturer. If they agree, it gets swapped, no questions.

For reference: Consumers Reports. They talk about this from year to year.

I have been winning the lottery for 40 years before this 2023 MS!

The distortion that is common and what they are talking about in Consumer Reports is when you look from the driver's side to the far passenger side (or vice versa) and see distortion/waviness. Yes, a lot of cars have that, including brands like Porsche, and yes this 2023 MS has that too. But I have never seen these magnifying glass spots right in front of the driver or the entire lower portion of the windshield right in front of the driver and passenger being wavy, ever! That includes the dozens of cars I have owned, and all the cars I have driven in many other countries, including 3rd world countries while I was living and working overseas.

Just to be clear, this is not the same problem you are describing.

 

[Tronguy]

I have been winning the lottery for 40 years before this 2023 MS!

The distortion that is common and what they are talking about in Consumer Reports is when you look from the driver's side to the far passenger side (or vice versa) and see distortion/waviness. Yes, a lot of cars have that, including brands like Porsche, and yes this 2023 MS has that too. But I have never seen these magnifying glass spots right in front of the driver or the entire lower portion of the windshield right in front of the driver and passenger being wavy, ever! That includes the dozens of cars I have owned, and all the cars I have driven in many other countries, including 3rd world countries while I was living and working overseas.

Just to be clear, this is not the same problem you are describing.

Nope, it is the problem I'm describing. Go to a lot with a thousand cars and start checking windshields. You'll probably find one or two with windshields that give you a headache and eyestrain.

CU's take: When you've got a deader, get the dealer (or Tesla, in this case) to make it right. So, you've got a terrible windshield. Go to the app, make the complaint, and take it in. If it's as bad as you say (and I've got zero argument with you about that) you'll break the service advisor's eyeballs. When the advisor stops screaming, the windshield will be replaced under warranty.

For Extra Credit, check out the "How It's Made" channel on how these things are made. While you watch, start counting on Fingers and Toes the number of things that can go wrong .

 

[jacie6056]

One way or another, I have to get my windshield fixed because it's ruining my enjoyment of driving this new car. I have 4 areas in front of the driver's seat that act like a magnifying glass, and then the whole lower part of the windshield is so rippled and wavy that my wife refuses the drive the car because she sits much lower and the waviness is directly in her view.

I have already fixed the panel alignments for the fenders and fronk and the rear liftgate myself (DIY's posted) that Tesla refused to fix, but I can't fix the windshield myself because even 3rd parties glass installers have to get the glass from Tesla.

When I took my car to the SC, they stated in the Tesla app that they could not see any distortion whatsoever and declined the repair. So I have made another video to more clearly show the distortion. It's very hard to film the distortion while driving because of camera shake, and it's hard to find the right background to show the problem while stationary, but I think I have found the best way to capture the distortion in video.

For those of you with distorted windshields, did you have it this bad right in front of the driver's view? Were you able to get a better result than my windshield, or are most of them this bad?

My windshield looks like that as well. I think it's the same for all Palladium Model S vehicles with updated glass. It's the trade-off for laminated glass, I guess. The service center technicians may not realize they don't have a reference point to compare it to, but, most importantly, they can't do anything about it because it's a manufacturing issue.

Luckily, I don't have a problem in real-world driving situations since most of the time, I am looking straight from the driving angle.

 

[WilliamG]

One way or another, I have to get my windshield fixed because it's ruining my enjoyment of driving this new car. I have 4 areas in front of the driver's seat that act like a magnifying glass, and then the whole lower part of the windshield is so rippled and wavy that my wife refuses the drive the car because she sits much lower and the waviness is directly in her view.

I have already fixed the panel alignments for the fenders and fronk and the rear liftgate myself (DIY's posted) that Tesla refused to fix, but I can't fix the windshield myself because even 3rd parties glass installers have to get the glass from Tesla.

When I took my car to the SC, they stated in the Tesla app that they could not see any distortion whatsoever and declined the repair. So I have made another video to more clearly show the distortion. It's very hard to film the distortion while driving because of camera shake, and it's hard to find the right background to show the problem while stationary, but I think I have found the best way to capture the distortion in video.

For those of you with distorted windshields, did you have it this bad right in front of the driver's view? Were you able to get a better result than my windshield, or are most of them this bad?

That distortion is clear as day. For me, I'm pretty tall, so I tend to look through the upper portion of my windshield, and I'm glad, because down low there's all sorts of craziness going on, just as there is in all these cars. Tesla makes a big deal out of its glass, but it's the worst I've ever experienced on any car I've owned, at any price. My 2021 and 2022 S Plaid were/are pretty terrible in this regard.

Oh, and don't get me started on the rear glass...

 

[TLLMRRJ]

My windshield looks like that as well. I think it's the same for all Palladium Model S vehicles with updated glass. It's the trade-off for laminated glass, I guess. The service center technicians may not realize they don't have a reference point to compare it to, but, most importantly, they can't do anything about it because it's a manufacturing issue.

Luckily, I don't have a problem in real-world driving situations since most of the time, I am looking straight from the driving angle.

The distortion does show up when we are looking “straight from the driving angle,” so you don’t have the same issue.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

My windshield looks like that as well. I think it's the same for all Palladium Model S vehicles with updated glass. It's the trade-off for laminated glass, I guess. The service center technicians may not realize they don't have a reference point to compare it to, but, most importantly, they can't do anything about it because it's a manufacturing issue.

Luckily, I don't have a problem in real-world driving situations since most of the time, I am looking straight from the driving angle.

Go make excuses for Tesla on someone else’s threads. I know cars.

 

[quickstrike12]

Oh good grief. That’s not cool at all. I can put up with a lot of imperfections from a car, but not one like that. We have issues just like this in the helicopter world from our windscreens on occasio and it can be more than annoying. It can cause all sorts of safety issues. Hopefully you can convince them to make it right. Or start driving behind as many concrete and large construction trucks on the highway like I apparently do and you will have a new windshield in no time at all.

 

[MakeUSGreat]

Did you noticed this, when you took delivery?

 

[TLLMRRJ]

Did you noticed this, when you took delivery?

I don't know if delivery is different in your area, but I was not able to get in the car, much less drive the car, before I accepted delivery.

 

[MakeUSGreat]

The last 4 Tesla my family bought , we were able to get in and inspect the car. Now the last time we bought a Tesla was in 2019. So maybe things have changes, but still weird they won’t let you inspect the car.

 

[dmurphy]

I don't know if delivery is different in your area, but I was not able to get in the car, much less drive the car, before I accepted delivery.

That’s terrible. When I picked mine up (last month), I had as much time as I wanted to inspect, get in, climb on & all around, even test drive the car if I wanted. The car had my name on the dash, with a clipboard inside. Take as much time as I needed to inspect, then sign the clipboard, come inside with my check, and trade that for the keys. Tesla needs to send all of their delivery managers to Mechanicsburg PA to train them how to do it RIGHT.

Now, all that said — I have the cross-angle waviness that I think almost all cars have now. But it’s nothing — I mean, NOTHING - like yours. Straight on - upper or lower - is perfectly clear.

Given my last name, were I to have your windshield, I suspect an unfortunate tree branch or cinder block would befall my window, necessitating a replacement. Unfortunately when they name such a law after your family, accidents like that happen from time to time.

 

[chobra]

This person says, hold my beer

Distorted windshield

Straight from the factory, why no one from Tesla decided to correct this before giving out to a customer is beyond me. Of all the cars that I have ordered used and new, I've never seen anything like this before. looks like the glass was not cooled correctly and now there's a difference in...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[TLLMRRJ]

This person says, hold my beer

Distorted windshield

Straight from the factory, why no one from Tesla decided to correct this before giving out to a customer is beyond me. Of all the cars that I have ordered used and new, I've never seen anything like this before. looks like the glass was not cooled correctly and now there's a difference in...

teslamotorsclub.com

That's definitely horrible too. But I wonder what it looks like from the driver's side. I will agree that many/most windshields of all brands have distortion when looking across to the other side, but I have not seen distortion like my MS where it's so distorted looking straight out.

 

[stefanre]

One way or another, I have to get my windshield fixed because it's ruining my enjoyment of driving this new car. I have 4 areas in front of the driver's seat that act like a magnifying glass, and then the whole lower part of the windshield is so rippled and wavy that my wife refuses the drive the car because she sits much lower and the waviness is directly in her view.

I have already fixed the panel alignments for the fenders and fronk and the rear liftgate myself (DIY's posted) that Tesla refused to fix, but I can't fix the windshield myself because even 3rd parties glass installers have to get the glass from Tesla.

When I took my car to the SC, they stated in the Tesla app that they could not see any distortion whatsoever and declined the repair. So I have made another video to more clearly show the distortion. It's very hard to film the distortion while driving because of camera shake, and it's hard to find the right background to show the problem while stationary, but I think I have found the best way to capture the distortion in video.

For those of you with distorted windshields, did you have it this bad right in front of the driver's view? Were you able to get a better result than my windshield, or are most of them this bad?

Were you ever able to get this fixed? I accepted delivery of a new MSP this week and have similar distortion in 2-3 areas within the driver view in the glass and I’m wondering if I should try to get it replaced or keep it the way it is? Hard to tell if it will annoy me without driving more than 100 miles…

 

[Tronguy]

Were you ever able to get this fixed? I accepted delivery of a new MSP this week and have similar distortion in 2-3 areas within the driver view in the glass and I’m wondering if I should try to get it replaced or keep it the way it is? Hard to tell if it will annoy me without driving more than 100 miles…

As it happens, Tesla gets their windshields from third parties, just like everybody else. No matter what make and model, there'll always be some car or other that has horrible optical distortion. Naturally, this happens with new cars. I've heard of problems like this dating back to the 1970's, for crying out loud.

Hence, if it seriously bugs you, go to the app, hit the Service section, select Request Service, and go for Collision and Glass. Explain the issue and, if it helps, add pictures of the distortion. If it's as bad as you imply and makes the service people wince, they'll replace the glass. This is what warranties are for.

But just being clear.. A little waviness in the glass, emphasis on, "little", isn't a reason to freak out. If yours is giving you eyestrain, then it's not that, and stick to your guns.

 

[bkcyk]

The new Model S is known to have an extreme among of curvature compared to other makes. This is fact. I went to a couple of Clearplex windshield film installers and one of them simply will not install on my 2023 MSP due to this innate design “feature”.

Some are more sensitive to the distortion than others. It is what it is.

 

[Unclepaul]

I would take your car back to service and show them these photo's. There will most always have some distortion on an angle like that. They mostly only look straight ahead.
If they still will not replace it, you can always replace it on your own dime. Your Wife can also raise her seat up to get a more clear view of the road ahead.
Looking out a curved laminated safety glass window at an angle will most always result in some distortion.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

Were you ever able to get this fixed? I accepted delivery of a new MSP this week and have similar distortion in 2-3 areas within the driver view in the glass and I’m wondering if I should try to get it replaced or keep it the way it is? Hard to tell if it will annoy me without driving more than 100 miles…

I had them replace the windshield and the new one has even more distortion right in front of my view, but it does not have the extremely distracting fisheye of the original windshield. In the end, it's only slightly less annoying, but still totally unacceptable.

While my eyes have adapted over time with the new windshield to tune out the very obvious distortion, if there's a certain scenery, like a lot of trees, my eyes are distracted, as well as in slow traffic as the car in front of me looks like it's in a carnival fun house mirror.

I still can't believe what I have to do to be ok with my 100K car that I can't get myself to sell since it's already lost nearly half its value in 8 months.