Leaking roof!? Serious concerns about Tesla waterproofing...

[cwerdna]

There are multiple reports of:

• leaks into the boot from several points of entry.
• leaks into the boot lid
• lights (front and rear) with condensation and sometimes filled with water

At my work (I'm in California), we literally have hundreds of Teslas in my work's EV/PHEV registry (for plug sharing and to contact the driver if we have trouble charging their car or need them to unlock their J1772 handle (on cars have which have a stupid J1772 lock) or they need to move, etc.), I've personally seen numerous Model 3's w/condensation in the taillights. In one case, I was talking to the driver and pointed it out to him.

I've also heard (internally in our EV related Slack channels) of someone's trunk that they found soaked, for some reason. There are numerous TMC threads on this...

 

[MOBB]

FWIW I've had leaks in my house in the recent storms that don't appear with 'normal' rain. If your car was parked somewhere exposed to strong winds, the rain could have been hitting the roof at a more horizontal angle than normal. I would get a squirty bottle and spray water horizontally at the glass roof gap rather than dripping it vertically. And leave a camera rolling inside to record any water coming in.

Well I'm definitely not buying a house then in that case, £x00k and houses leak? Not acceptable

 

[Rustybkts]

Looking at the Op's early posts I was wondering if the windscreen adhesive may have not adhered to the surround correctly at the top and may need pushing from the inside when water is poured outside to show the problem up. In strong winds the windscreen may have lifted enough to let water in.

I had a close look on my car where the various rear, top and front glass sheets are attached and there are distinct gaps between the body and each piece of glass.
I hope the water just pools there and isn't ducted down the vertical posts to puddle somewhere hidden........for now.

 

[Torokruger]

Could you have vented your windows through the app accidentally or was there an update that might of vented them ?

 

[Blueskye]

to whoever is suggesting Windows being open accidentally...

in my opinion is very unlikely. If you watch the video you can see the water trajectory is centered in the middle and that wouldn’t be the case if the Windows were open, even with strong winds.

Mir clear the entrance point is just above the dash cam between the glass probably....

 

[MrBadger]

Could you have vented your windows through the app accidentally or was there an update that might of vented them ?

This is easily accessible via the Api using apps like TeslaFi. You can setup email notifications when windows not fully closed x minutes after parking. This revealed an intermittent fault in rear windows of our car - but it seems to be sensor sensitivity related rather than window being physically open more than usual.

Also worth pointing out that when finishing a drive (closing the doors?) when it is likely to freeze, ie temp below approx 4C, windows will slightly retract to allow them to clear the roofline trim if trying to open a door with a frozen window. This is not classed as an open window in the app or api/TeslaFi etc.

 

[SimonT]

Wow, that's some clever sarcasm right there.

Thankfully, others realise I'm not basing my decision on a single YouTube video, but a series of issues that affect multiple cars. Thanks for your comments though, I'm sure you felt incredibly clever typing it.

Very.

But on a serious note every manufacturer has problems. We had a £60,000 Landrover and the engine blew up less than a year old. I am sure you could find thousands of YouTube videos documenting problems with every manufacturer.

People with problems are likely to be more upset and therefore more likely to complain so you end up hearing more about the problems rather than the good stuff. Just because you hear of a few problems it doesn’t mean you will encounter them as well.

I think where Tesla probably needs to improve is the after care but I can only guess from a few forum threads rather than any first hand knowledge.

 

[DaddyCool]

My money is on it being squirted up there for the attention (but im an cynical twunt)

 

[TestPilot]

I have multiple leaks with my Model 3, they wouldn't stop me buying another one, all cars have issues.

What has me thinking twice though is that my service center experiences trying to get them fixed have been really not very good.

 

[John_L]

Picked up my M3 Long Range a couple of weeks ago now. Sorry to disapoint you, but it is 100% leak free. In fact it's 100% issue free!

 

[Rooster6655]

I have multiple leaks with my Model 3, they wouldn't stop me buying another one, all cars have issues.

What has me thinking twice though is that my service center experiences trying to get them fixed have been really not very good.

before lockdown it would be 2-3 months, now I’m looking at month 4 from my request, realistically I expect 4-6 months for delivery issues

 

[Yev000]

sure pouring a jug of water over the car would soon determine if there is a leak?

 

[TestPilot]

before lockdown it would be 2-3 months, now I’m looking at month 4 from my request, realistically I expect 4-6 months for delivery issues

What's annoying is that mine has now been in twice for one issue already

 

[Durzel]

I jet washed mine the other day, no leaks into the cabin. I could see where a drip or two found its way behind the seal on the side windows though, but I've seen that on other frameless doors too, including on my previous Audi.

 

[Rooster6655]

What's annoying is that mine has now been in twice for one issue already

oh that’s a classic I almost had to go three times

 

[MaDProFF]

Odd it is always seems to me that people who run Video channels seems to have all the problems?

 

[Rooster6655]

Odd it is always seems to me that people who run Video channels seems to have all the problems?

Well there are also plenty of OTT fans on youtube as well for example if their door fell off the car they would claim that its the most revolutionary step Elon Musk has taken to reduce getting in and out of the car by remotely disconnecting the doors.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

Odd it is always seems to me that people who run Video channels seems to have all the problems?

You are kidding.. [checks date for April 1st]

Youtube is full of people banging on about "Here's me doing my first trip to the supermarket" and "hey look ap vx.y.z makes this corner better than it did yesterday on x.y.w" or "look it can spot a cone (not all of them, but some"... and of course the "has anyone seen this before".

Cars have issues, Tesla seem to have more than their fair share at first and slowly get better. For me Tesla simply start delivering earlier than they should and make too many promises they then catch up to deliver on, as a result testing and QA can be a little, erm, economical. Whether this is rear glass cracking, water ingress, lights not draining aned fogging up or software thats still in Beta (and the Tesla AP is still in Beta 3 years after launch - when will it ever be finished?!!!) and where every release can be a sense of adventure. Owners seem to either happlly accept that these troubles are outweighed by the plus points or they get under their skin. I know the software updates become a little tiresome and for many owners of older cars have become a sense of repidation with battery gate etc. There's nothing more annoying than a feature thats worked perfectly well for years suddenly stopping like Voice Control did and its laughable to be told to talk in an American accent to get it to work. Imagine BMW or Merc suggesting we needed to sound like a German to make the voice control work in their cars!

 

[Rooster6655]

There's nothing more annoying than a feature thats worked perfectly well for years suddenly stopping like Voice Control did and its laughable to be told to talk in an American accent to get it to work. Imagine BMW or Merc suggesting we needed to sound like a German to make the voice control work in their cars!

Yes most annoying, its turns something that should have been positive into a complete stay away from using it feature and still no real acknowledgement from Tesla about it!

 

[Adopado]

Imagine BMW or Merc suggesting we needed to sound like a German to make the voice control work in their cars!

... but that's what we do anyway 'cause we're hilarious Brits!