It puzzles me why Tesla cannot get quality control right?

[canbonbon]

Someone sent me this video of newly acquired Model Y.

Model Y with Quality Control issues

Now who would want to get a *new* car like that. Clearly almost everyone is suggesting the person to return it under the 7 day policy. But my issue is why Tesla even tried to deliver this? Who was the Quality control manager who let this go and assumed its fine for delivery because Tesla fans don't give S***t about looks. All they want is computer on wheels for $60K. The problem is that this is not an isolated case. There are so many folks who got their Model Y with similar issues but not this bad. With so much advancement Elon talks about, robots, lasers, fancy smanshy Giga Factories and yet this car making 101 process eludes them. Not sure why not enough effort is spent on Quality control. The reason I mention this is because these small/minor issues leave a bad taste and disreputes an otherwise amazing car and company. How come Elon never tweets about this? Its been their Achilles heel for a while now. So instead of a battery day, they should have a quality control day. Like a company wide pledge to improve overall quality and possibly fire the current QC manager. Ok my rant is over.

 

[Georgia_Y]

Because Wall Street cares more about cars built and delivered than what happens after that.

 

[tashtibet]

it also puzzles me why Tesla vehicles are so nit picked

 

[canbonbon]

it also puzzles me why Tesla vehicles are so nit picked

Well, its a Tesla forum so obviously Tesla vehicles and their issues will be discussed here. Were you expecting something else? Also, just out of curiosity, if this is considered nit picking, would you have taken the delivery of this vehicle?

 

[Michigan Man]

Every manufacturer does the exact same thing, and people have impossibly high expectations of Tesla. 1st model year cars and especially the first 5-10,000 off the line are littered with issues and everything is "fixed" post-production, regardless of make. These cars are often extensively tore back down and reassembled by hand with all kinds of janky workarounds that inform future manufacturing improvements, often not even implemented until the following year.

There is a general rule of thumb in Detroit that I've always known growing up here with tons of friends and family in the business: you never buy a first model year car, ever, unless you're prepared to deal with a lifetime of issues. With the Y, you're clearly taking that risk right now. I did, and frankly I am very pleased at the build quality of mine despite some obvious issues. In fact I would go as far as to say my Y has way fewer issues than I expected.

 

[ragedogg69]

I am extremely disappointed with the condition Tesla is sending some of these vehicles in. What I cannot understand is I have also seen near perfect Model Y's delivered. It is almost like a Bob Lutz "We didn't know we were suppose to do that" when it comes to cleaning and prepping a vehicle for delivery from some delivery centers. I respect Kenriko in the Tesla community, so I appreciate this video. It is the other post flooding here and reddit about every little thing I am getting tired of.

 

[empiredown]

I'm kinda curious why you are posting here... You have the right to, of course. But why? Are you a Y owner or buyer?

As for the video. It's a minute and a half long, with about a minute of it showing smudges on the headliner. I had a couple of them and it took about 30 seconds to clean, along with a bunch of adhesive marks from glass install and tags, etc that were removed. Easy and just part of cleaning a car...

The gouges and wheel scrape are regrettable but things that could easily be taken care of, like some of my issues that I reported, upon taking delivery. I have only heard of one other person here that is having problems with supposed valid issues from being addressed by Tesla. You can either make issues like these out to be a big deal, or you can accept and address them and move on. Easy and just part of owning a car...

People can make as big a deal about the price of the car, lack of quality, inattentiveness to detail, etc, as they want but ultimately it comes down to whether you feel it is worth the cost, want the car or not, whether you understand the environment that we are in right now, and whether you can adapt and overcome or are a person who can't/won't. It's a choice and very much a First World Problem.

SS

 

[AlsetOh]

it also puzzles me why Tesla vehicles are so nit picked

Because these are luxury tier vehicles that are $50k and above. If these were some sort of Kia then expectations wouldn't be where they are. At this tier, the cars should have robust quality control and a great service experience.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Bob Lutz also was quoted as saying "too much quality can kill you"

Tesla is a high volume producer. They have a waiting list for their cars. Every manufacturer ocassionally produces what some would call a lemon. Not something they are proud of, but they slip through. Something that happens, usually because the cars are built by people and people are not perfect.

Tesla has a policy of continous improvement. Sandy Monro has recently posted a video on all the quality improvements that are being made to improve the production quality of the new Model Y. Notes how it is not unusual for the first runs of production to be kind of training exercises. How the cars tend to get better as the employees get more experienced.

Lots of the complaints seem to come from final fittment of the panels on the car. These are usually fixable. What is encouraging is how few complaints come in about the drivability of the cars and the enjoyment new owner are experiencing. Seems like the basics are pretty well sorted out, but the finishing quality touches are still being worked out.

Elon has mentioned that building cars are hard. It is simply not easy to build quickly to capture the demand, while getting every single detail right.

 

[strider]

Tesla is a high volume producer. They have a waiting list for their cars. Every manufacturer ocassionally produces what some would call a lemon. Not something they are proud of, but they slip through. Something that happens, usually because the cars are built by people and people are not perfect.

First of all, Tesla is NOT a high volume producer. They are higher than the boutique makers like Porsche but are way behind other luxury makers like BMW.

Elon has mentioned that building cars are hard. It is simply not easy to build quickly to capture the demand, while getting every single detail right.

No, building cars is hard for Tesla. There are literally thousands of people on the Earth that have experience building cars. We (humans) have been building cars on assembly lines for over 100 years. Every time Elon manages to hire one of these experienced people they quit in disgust because Elon micromanages them into oblivion.

The problem is that Tesla (really Elon) has the largest case of Not Invented Here in the history of the universe. Elon always thinks that he is the smartest person in the room and that all of his ideas are genius. Take for example, breaking rain sensing wipers because "the cameras can do it." Elon removed a tried and true industry standard component that was very good at it's job, just to save a few pennies per car. The rain sensing wipers on my 2012 Model S worked great, the ones on my 2018 Model S don't work at all. These kinds of decision are made every single day and they add up over time.

Only the dedication of Tesla's employees, working for the worst manager the world has ever seen, keep the whole thing going.

The bottom line is that experts in their fields won't work for Elon because he is a micromanager. Because of that, Tesla will continue to make own goals on stupid stuff that the rest of the industry figured out decades ago.

But as long as there is no competition none of this matters. Once there is viable competition (I expect it in the pickup segment in the next 3 years) this kind of stuff will matter a lot.

 

[johnmodely]

My car came exactly like that and worse. I still kept it and like it. Reason? They have zero competition, and a backlog of 10s of thousands of orders.

They know well take the car as long as its not horrid. Ive said this before, but once they catch up to demand this will bite them in the ass if they dont get on QC and CS.

I wouldn't think twice between a 70k Tesla and a 70k Mercedes EV that has the same tech in a few years if they dont do a 180 on all this stuff.

 

[canbonbon]

I'm kinda curious why you are posting here... You have the right to, of course. But why? Are you a Y owner or buyer?

As for the video. It's a minute and a half long, with about a minute of it showing smudges on the headliner. I had a couple of them and it took about 30 seconds to clean, along with a bunch of adhesive marks from glass install and tags, etc that were removed. Easy and just part of cleaning a car...

The gouges and wheel scrape are regrettable but things that could easily be taken care of, like some of my issues that I reported, upon taking delivery. I have only heard of one other person here that is having problems with supposed valid issues from being addressed by Tesla. You can either make issues like these out to be a big deal, or you can accept and address them and move on. Easy and just part of owning a car...

People can make as big a deal about the price of the car, lack of quality, inattentiveness to detail, etc, as they want but ultimately it comes down to whether you feel it is worth the cost, want the car or not, whether you understand the environment that we are in right now, and whether you can adapt and overcome or are a person who can't/won't. It's a choice and very much a First World Problem.

SS

Yes a prospective buyer with $100 non refundable deposit. If I don't buy then that would be my donation to Tesla for a noble cause. So clearly I am very much interested in buying the car. And that is the main reason I am highlighting this. Not to beat up Tesla but to see what can be done to improve these issues. Also this could help others who might take delivery before me to look for them and request Tesla service to fix them. That feedback would surely go back to the factory, etc. and help improve things in the long run. I don't know about you guys, but in my line of work, a half assed job gets us fired from the client no matter how well intended it was. Some clients have zero tolerance for sloppy work. Its like getting operated by a doctor who might leave a few stitches here and there thinking he took care of the internal organs so the outside doesn't matter much. Sorry a little extreme but you get the point.

 

[ragedogg69]

The rain sensing wipers on my 2012 Model S worked great,

I think this is the first time I have seen praise for any version of rain sensing wipers from Tesla. Not joking.

 

[NY_Rob]

The only reason for the kind of panel gaps, paint issues, dirty interiors, curb rash wheels, etc.. we're seeing was due to Tesla's mad dash to make the all important 1st quarter numbers and the mad dash to get as many cars out of the factory before they closed down due to the Covid situation. Does anyone remember the 1986 Michael Keaton movie "Gung Ho"? His down on it's luck car company had to somehow produce 15K cars in one month to be saved from permanently shutting down. As it came down to the final minutes of the month.. the last few cars rolling/being pushed out of the factory were literally held together with chewing gum and string, IIRC one or more didn't even have an engine. Anyway, that's how I picture the Fremont factory the weeks before the shutdown.. if it rolls.. it gets delivered!

Unfortunately, once the country starts up again, there will be another mad rush at Tesla to fill backorders as quickly as possible.. so I conjecture that QC will continue to be an issue on the MY for the short term future or till the backlog decreases.

 

[rincewind]

I think this is the first time I have seen praise for any version of rain sensing wipers from Tesla. Not joking.

I'm pretty sure the 1012 Model S wipers used the traditional sensor method, not the neural web one.

 

[Uncle Paul]

I got the automatic windshield wipers downloaded free on my 17X. Car did not come with them originally but were added via some months after purchase free via OTA.

They did not work well when first installed, but have gotten successive better with later updates. Still do not operate exactly as I would do manually, but are now good enought that I give them little thought.

Believe that if Tesla wanted to use the legacy systems they would need to pay royalities to other companies. Think that they are wanting to develop their own core competencies with as many systems as possible to become more vertically integrated.

They have the same issue with the Home-Link garage door openers. They used to include it free with their more expensive cars and absorbe the costs, but now make it available only as an option for customers that feel it it worth the cost. On their own they are now developing a Wi-Fi garage door opener that will be license cost free. Good advancement on their part here.

 

[Electric Steve]

First of all, Tesla is NOT a high volume producer. They are higher than the boutique makers like Porsche but are way behind other luxury makers like BMW.


No, building cars is hard for Tesla. There are literally thousands of people on the Earth that have experience building cars. We (humans) have been building cars on assembly lines for over 100 years. Every time Elon manages to hire one of these experienced people they quit in disgust because Elon micromanages them into oblivion.

The problem is that Tesla (really Elon) has the largest case of Not Invented Here in the history of the universe. Elon always thinks that he is the smartest person in the room and that all of his ideas are genius. Take for example, breaking rain sensing wipers because "the cameras can do it." Elon removed a tried and true industry standard component that was very good at it's job, just to save a few pennies per car. The rain sensing wipers on my 2012 Model S worked great, the ones on my 2018 Model S don't work at all. These kinds of decision are made every single day and they add up over time.

Only the dedication of Tesla's employees, working for the worst manager the world has ever seen, keep the whole thing going.

The bottom line is that experts in their fields won't work for Elon because he is a micromanager. Because of that, Tesla will continue to make own goals on stupid stuff that the rest of the industry figured out decades ago.

But as long as there is no competition none of this matters. Once there is viable competition (I expect it in the pickup segment in the next 3 years) this kind of stuff will matter a lot.

Not-invented-here Syndrome is both Elon's greatest weakness and greatest strength.

 

[myMY808]

This is coming from a (pending delivery) first time Tesla owner, so take this observation for what it’s worth (not much).

Some have commented that the quality lapses are more relevant because of the $50-60K price of a Tesla and that manufacturers in the lower price tiers aren’t held to the same standard. I think it’s actually the opposite. The manufacturers of lower priced, mass-produced vehicles have to hold themselves to high standards and minimize delivery defects if they expect to turn a profit on those vehicles.

Mass production entails a very scary balance between necessary cost containment and long-term pain. Saving pennies per car can add up when you’re producing a million cars a year. But if saving those pennies causes a dollar per car of warranty repair or, worse, a recall, the consequences are huge. So why save those pennies? Because the business case to produce the car probably wouldn’t have floated without severe cost control.

Customer satisfaction and reputation aside, think how much it costs Tesla to rectify each one of these vehicles with post-sale service delivery issues. At some point, margin will become just as important as raw production volume to Wall Street.

 

[LasVegas2019]

I can't help you with this one, My Y was delivered in showroom condition. (See my post where I made a little fun at the nit pickers. My door was 1mm off alignment!) The only issue I had was my spoiler was not installed correctly but a 15 minute visit from mobile service took care of it. How pleasant it was to have service come to me after years of having to take my car back to the dealer with problems and wait all day. I am wondering if I will ever buy any other car other than Tesla at this point!

 

[tashtibet]

I will never buy any vehicle from anyone else but Tesla-I'll undoubtedly accept tiny issues b/c I'm not Sky Is Falling kind.