Issue with water getting trapped in door

[halfricanguy]

Hello everyone! I just picked up my Model 3 from a used car dealership last week and I am absolutely in love! I believe it's a February 2018 build and really haven't had any notable issue other than water getting trapped somewhere in the driver side rear door.

Any time it rains (or I get a car wash) and I open the door, a pool of water drops out from the bottom somewhere. It's as if it's collecting between the door and the seal, but I can't really tell and the interior stays completely dry. Just curious if anyone else has this problem. The other doors are fine.

 

[nvx1977]

I have a Feb build. But the issue you describe is not something I would notice. I'll try to pay attention to this next time it rains or I do a car wash. But thus far, I've been thru rain and car washes and it's not something I've noticed.

 

[Trevor B]

Hello everyone! I just picked up my Model 3 from a used car dealership last week and I am absolutely in love! I believe it's a February 2018 build and really haven't had any notable issue other than water getting trapped somewhere in the driver side rear door.

Any time it rains (or I get a car wash) and I open the door, a pool of water drops out from the bottom somewhere. It's as if it's collecting between the door and the seal, but I can't really tell and the interior stays completely dry. Just curious if anyone else has this problem. The other doors are fine.

Huh?

 

[halfricanguy]

I have a Feb build. But the issue you describe is not something I would notice. I'll try to pay attention to this next time it rains or I do a car wash. But thus far, I've been thru rain and car washes and it's not something I've noticed.

Alright cool, yeah I'm thinking it might just be an isolated issue!

Huh?

I bought mine from a non-Tesla used car dealer. It only had 500 miles on it and drives great so I don't know why someone gave it up so soon.

 

[ebmcs03]

I bought mine from a non-Tesla used car dealer. It only had 500 miles on it and drives great so I don't know why someone gave it up so soon.

Wow that’s fast. How much did you pay for it ?

 

[alseTrick]

I would think this could still be taken into Tesla to be fixed, no?

Take a video of it next time.

 

[halfricanguy]

Wow that’s fast. How much did you pay for it ?

Sorry for the delay of my response! I paid $59k. From what I can tell that’s like, $10k above MSRP? I kind of attribute it to the rarity of the car I guess? It has Premium upgrades and long range of course but no Autopilot.

I would think this could still be taken into Tesla to be fixed, no?

Take a video of it next time.

Interestingly enough, after a wet weekend the problem seems to have solved itself. Very odd! I’ll keep my phone ready just in case next time.

If it keeps happening then yeah I should be able to take it to Tesla under its original warranty. My biggest gripe right now is I can’t use them or their Supercharger network until I confirm ownership of the car, which they say is only done by showing registration, which I’m waiting for in the mail... Otherwise amazing experience!

 

[halfricanguy]

If anyone is interested, here's a video of it happening. Haven't gotten it checked out yet, but from this posting years back with a similar problem on the Model S, I have a feeling Tesla will say it's normal. Water doesn't get inside so I'm not too concerned but it's still an annoyance.

 

[N5329K]

Problems rarely solve themselves, though we might wish they did. I would do the car wash video and bring it to a service center so they can examine the waist seals (what the window glass rides up and down against), inner and outer.
Water and electrics do not mix.
Robin

 

[plankeye]

If anyone is interested, here's a video of it happening. Haven't gotten it checked out yet, but from this posting years back with a similar problem on the Model S, I have a feeling Tesla will say it's normal. Water doesn't get inside so I'm not too concerned but it's still an annoyance.

Did you ever get this checked out? I had it happen for the first time yesterday, one day after a hard rain. The water sat in the door for a full day+ before I opened it and it came pouring out. This is concerning for rust reasons. I don't think the entire door is aluminum.

What I don't understand is where it's being held and where it comes pouring out from. There are two drain holes in the outer part of the door, just behind the door skin. But those would drain without opening the door. So this water is being held somewhere behind the door gasket. There are two rubber plugs in the door inside of the door gasket. I guess the water is slowly leaking out of those, but gets held in by the gasket until the door is opened. If that's what's happening, I guess that's not that bad, as all of that area is painted, so shouldn't be a rust concern. But my question is...why is this happening at all? I can't remember this happening to any other car I've owned. Obviously the water is able to get to that inner part of the door but is unable to get to the outer door drains and therefore has no choice but to leak out from the rubber drain plugs.

I might just need to make sure I open all doors within a day of a hard rain, or even a car wash.

 

[mswlogo]

Yikes, you paid $59K with no Tax Credit and no EAP.
You should do your homework.

It must be RWD which are fairly easy to get (not rare).
That car is $49k + $1500 (paint) - $10K (varies by state) Tax Incentives.

MSRP on that (out of pocket with tax incentives) $41,500 brand new !! plus tax. Which you may have paid as well.

Your door issue might just be a clogged drain. Take a close look underneath. I have not looked.

Good luck with the car though.

 

[halfricanguy]

Did you ever get this checked out? I had it happen for the first time yesterday, one day after a hard rain.

So I got it back about a week ago after taking it in, and they showed me that the rubber seal at the bottom on the door did not have two little holes on it like the other doors had, preventing it from draining correctly. After a hard rain and car wash over the past day or so, I opened the door and found that their fix of replacing the seal with one that had the proper holes did not fix the problem. So, I can’t rule anything out unfortunately.

Yikes, you paid $59K with no Tax Credit and no EAP.
You should do your homework.

Back around May the car had at least a month turn around time. I was wanting a Tesla to be my next car, but my then current car had been totaled in an accident (not at fault) and I needed a new car sooner than expected.

The $59 included taxes, my company gave me a $4k rebate for buying an EV, I did my homework and unfortunately it was the quickest way for me to get a new car with it still being a Tesla under those circumstances. Plus the tax credit may not have benefited me 100% anyways and I didn’t have to pay an origination fee. I wanted a Model S but couldn’t get financing secured...but that’s another story

 

[ChrisH]

My model 3 also does this. On one side more than the other. Seems like a design flaw of some sort. I’m not too worried about it at this point I don’t think.

 

[bradhs]

I added a weather strip at the very bottom of the door and door frame. I'll take pics if you want to see it. Basically that whole area stays perfect clean. Also, I think it doubles by reducing road noise from that area.

 

[ebmcs03]

I added a weather strip at the very bottom of the door and door frame. I'll take pics if you want to see it. Basically that whole area stays perfect clean. Also, I think it doubles by reducing road noise from that area.

I like to see. More interested in the reducing road noise part.

 

[mswlogo]

I like to see. More interested in the reducing road noise part.

Me too

 

[ngogas]

I washed my car yesterday and didn’t notice the doors doing this. Do you have a pic of the rubber strip that has the holes for drainage?

 

[mswlogo]

It has rained almost every day since I bought the car 2.5 weeks ago. Some days it has rained buckets too. I keep checking lower trunk etc. And everything seems tight so far.

 

[ebmcs03]

It has rained almost every day since I bought the car 2.5 weeks ago. Some days it has rained buckets too. I keep checking lower trunk etc. And everything seems tight so far.

No chance to check yet. No rain in so cal

 

[griffd]

If anyone is interested, here's a video of it happening. Haven't gotten it checked out yet, but from this posting years back with a similar problem on the Model S, I have a feeling Tesla will say it's normal. Water doesn't get inside so I'm not too concerned but it's still an annoyance.

My father is having the same issue with his Model 3 which he picked up in mid April. Sometimes even more water than that comes pouring out when he opens the door, especially after a car wash. Tesla was at his house today and said it's normal. Did you ever determine if it's normal, or the result of missing drain holes, etc? Thank you,
Dave