Liftgate Glass Rubbing

[Rocinante777]

The leading edge of the liftgate glass on our 2023 model S seems to intermittently rub against metal when the liftgate is opened to full height. Has anyone else experienced this? We didn't notice this until after we had the windows tinted--is it likely the tinting process affected the liftgate adjustment?

I can work around this by setting the liftgate height down an inch, but that doesn't seem like a full solution. I have to wonder if maybe Tesla did that prior to delivery, and the tint installers reset it to full height.

 

[tldickerson]

Take it back to Tesla and show them what's going on. There should be a way to adjust it.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

I didn't have rubbing, but my liftgate was wildly out of alignment yet Tesla refused fix it, so I did it myself.

Since you have interference, they are more likely to fix it for you. It shouldn't rub no matter how high you have the liftgate setting.

Here are my notes on what it takes to adjust the liftgate, which explains why they didn't want to do it because it's a PIA.

Liftgate adjustment DIY info on 2023 refresh

My liftgate was badly misaligned from the factory in every possible direction, and my Service Center refused to fix the issue, along with most other build quality issues with my car. I am going to have to accept that this $100K car just does not come with a bumper to bumper factory warranty. So...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[dramsey]

I had something similar-- a horrible grinding noise the lift gate would make at the top of its travel. Fixed under warranty, took a couple of days as they had to order a new glass panel for the hatch (apparently Tesla's adjustment procedure for the rear hatch requires removal of the glass).

 

[TLLMRRJ]

I had something similar-- a horrible grinding noise the lift gate would make at the top of its travel. Fixed under warranty, took a couple of days as they had to order a new glass panel for the hatch (apparently Tesla's adjustment procedure for the rear hatch requires removal of the glass).

Their procedure does, but funnily enough, I was able to do all the adjustments without removing the glass as shown in the link in my post above.

Odd that Tesla loves to deny every possible warranty claim they can to save money, but then has their own unnecessarily wasteful and expensive procedure for adjusting liftgates.

 

[Rocinante777]

I had something similar-- a horrible grinding noise the lift gate would make at the top of its travel. Fixed under warranty, took a couple of days as they had to order a new glass panel for the hatch (apparently Tesla's adjustment procedure for the rear hatch requires removal of the glass).

I was afraid of that. I just had it tinted

 

[TLLMRRJ]

I was afraid of that. I just had it tinted

Post pictures from different angles of your decklid next to the roof panel.

Depending on your alignment issue, there may be no need to remove the back glass. Since I have done the full re-alignment myself, I know how to tell what you need.

 

[Rocinante777]

Post pictures from different angles of your decklid next to the roof panel.

Depending on your alignment issue, there may be no need to remove the back glass. Since I have done the full re-alignment myself, I know how to tell what you need.

Here are the pictures I already have. The alignment doesn't look uneven per se. It rubs in the center, so it's as if the whole liftgate is positioned too far forward. You can sort of see the scratched paint in the open picture (point of the arrow) and you can see the white residue in all the pics. Ignore all the other white stripes, those are just reflections.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

Those aren't very good pics for me to check the alignment. Need more pics from the edges, like the ones in my thread:

Liftgate adjustment DIY info on 2023 refresh

My liftgate was badly misaligned from the factory in every possible direction, and my Service Center refused to fix the issue, along with most other build quality issues with my car. I am going to have to accept that this $100K car just does not come with a bumper to bumper factory warranty. So...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[Rocinante777]

Those aren't very good pics for me to check the alignment. Need more pics from the edges, like the ones in my thread:

Liftgate adjustment DIY info on 2023 refresh

My liftgate was badly misaligned from the factory in every possible direction, and my Service Center refused to fix the issue, along with most other build quality issues with my car. I am going to have to accept that this $100K car just does not come with a bumper to bumper factory warranty. So...

teslamotorsclub.com

Now that you made me look again, I think maybe the same guy installed my liftgate as yours. And on closer inspection, I see the rubbing part is slightly to the right of center.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

It does look like the handy work of the same disgruntle employee that obviously wanted to get back at the world by misaligning our liftgates! Yours is about as bad as mine, and I couldn't stand it.

You need the full treatment to fix the fitment. Your liftgate is too high on the left and too low on the right, which means accessing the hinge bolts that are under the glass. Like I said in my thread, I did it without removing the glass, so it doesn't have to be that way.

As as you mentioned, your liftgate is shifted to the right, so that needs fixing too. And probably needs some adjustment forward and backward, and a latch striker adjustment to get it looking as good as it can.

If you are a handy and super careful, you can do it yourself. It's not fun, but I am a much happier person having my liftgate looking right since it's something I notice almost every time I get in and out of the car.

 

[Rocinante777]

I just noticed in my own pics that the glass is also misaligned. This time to the left, probably in an attempt to make the glass line up even though the liftgate is misaligned. So I think I'm best off taking it to the SC in hopes they will actually remove and reinstall the glass in the process of aligning the liftgate.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

I just noticed in my own pics that the glass is also misaligned. This time to the left, probably in an attempt to make the glass line up even though the liftgate is misaligned. So I think I'm best off taking it to the SC in hopes they will actually remove and reinstall the glass in the process of aligning the liftgate.

Yes, good catch. I wasn’t even looking at the glass alignment. Amazingly bad assembly!

 

[Rocinante777]

So we took it to the Dallas SC. They agreed there was a problem, but getting it fixed has been a bit of a saga. The initial attempt to adjust was "unsuccessful". They said they had to replace the back glass, and made another appointment. We took it back on April 25th, and just got it back today. They ended up also replacing the right side quarter panel glass. Oh, and in the process, the curbed the rear wheel and rocker panel. They replaced the wheel and replaced some paint protective film and did "paintless dent repair" on the rocker panel.

The liftgate alignment is still not great, but it doesn't rub now. It no longer crosses my "this will annoy me everytime I look at it threshold". But one thing they failed to do was touch up the paint where the glass had scratched the frame. I'm trying to figure out if the scratches are down to bare metal or just primer--it's hard to get a good look at it. If the latter, I may just leave well enough alone. I suspect they would have to remove the liftgate again and possibly replace the glass again to get at it.

The only good things I can say about this entire process is that they owned up to the curb damage and took care of it, and they gave us a loaner both visits. (Unlike Plano that would only give Uber credits).

 

[TLLMRRJ]

So we took it to the Dallas SC. They agreed there was a problem, but getting it fixed has been a bit of a saga. The initial attempt to adjust was "unsuccessful". They said they had to replace the back glass, and made another appointment. We took it back on April 25th, and just got it back today. They ended up also replacing the right side quarter panel glass. Oh, and in the process, the curbed the rear wheel and rocker panel. They replaced the wheel and replaced some paint protective film and did "paintless dent repair" on the rocker panel.

The liftgate alignment is still not great, but it doesn't rub now. It no longer crosses my "this will annoy me everytime I look at it threshold". But one thing they failed to do was touch up the paint where the glass had scratched the frame. I'm trying to figure out if the scratches are down to bare metal or just primer--it's hard to get a good look at it. If the latter, I may just leave well enough alone. I suspect they would have to remove the liftgate again and possibly replace the glass again to get at it.

The only good things I can say about this entire process is that they owned up to the curb damage and took care of it, and they gave us a loaner both visits. (Unlike Plano that would only give Uber credits).

I still can't believe they needlessly remove the back glass to loosen the bolts for adjusting the hatchback hinges. It's so unnecessary, as I showed in my DIY.

For the scratched paint, just dab on some tough up paint from Tesla or Dr Colorchip. Since it's hard to see, it doesn't need to be perfect, but will prevent any potential corrosion.

Please post up pics of your alignment now from different angles. I am curious how good of a job they did. I am glad mine myself because I am sure I did a better job than they would have done, and I didn't do any collateral damage to the car, but still annoyed it needed adjustment at all.

 

[Rocinante777]

My wife has the car out right now, but I can tell you the left-right alignment is still about the same. Maybe a tiny bit better. The height is generally better, although it is high towards the back on the right side. (It was formerly low on the right). I'm wondering if that is a bump-stop adjustment. But with the glass off they had an opportunity to make this perfect, unless the hinges or the liftgate itself is out of spec. At least it no longer rubs.

I think they replaced the glass because (they thought) it was misaligned on the liftgate. They also replaced the right quarter glass and claimed that it was interfering with the alignment. It also seems they have to replace the high-center brake light when they replace the rear windshield. The first one they ordered was defective. Between the new quarter-glass, 2nd attempt at a replacement brake light, and the replacement wheel, they had the car almost two weeks waiting for parts.

At least this SC has loaner cars, and the people seem to generally want to make things right. But working with them has still been a comedy of errors and series of delays.

I'm thinking the same about the touch up paint. I'm just trying to figure out how to deliver the paint on target. It's easy to forget how big the model S is until you try to reach halfway across the roof. I need a mission-impossible style hanging rig Or at least a very long-handled detail brush. I'm going to need to take it back to my detailer to replace the window-tint film on the new glass, and I may see if they will take a shot at the touch up paint. (That's another annoyance. Tesla unilaterally decided to replace the glass, but refused to pay for replacing the tint film.)

 

[fburns3]

Thank you both for posting about the liftgate. I took delivery a couple weeks ago of a LR Model S, and I have the exact same rubbing issue and telltale white lines as Rocinante777. I have a question for both Rocinante777 and TLLMRRJ: To specifically fix the rubbing (and not the left/right alignment issue), do you believe that only a height adjustment via the hinge torx bolts on the liftgate side might fix the issue? Ideally, I would prefer not to take the extra step of pulling down the headliner for the left/right/front/back adjustment portion of TLLMRRJ excellent write-up.
Thanks again!

 

[TLLMRRJ]

Thank you both for posting about the liftgate. I took delivery a couple weeks ago of a LR Model S, and I have the exact same rubbing issue and telltale white lines as Rocinante777. I have a question for both Rocinante777 and TLLMRRJ: To specifically fix the rubbing (and not the left/right alignment issue), do you believe that only a height adjustment via the hinge torx bolts on the liftgate side might fix the issue? Ideally, I would prefer not to take the extra step of pulling down the headliner for the left/right/front/back adjustment portion of TLLMRRJ excellent write-up.
Thanks again!

The headliner side of the hinge controls forward and backward alignment, so you that's probably what you need to adjust if you are hitting the frame with the front edge of your decklid.

Post up pics from all the angles to see what it looks like.

 

[Rocinante777]

Thank you both for posting about the liftgate. I took delivery a couple weeks ago of a LR Model S, and I have the exact same rubbing issue and telltale white lines as Rocinante777. I have a question for both Rocinante777 and TLLMRRJ: To specifically fix the rubbing (and not the left/right alignment issue), do you believe that only a height adjustment via the hinge torx bolts on the liftgate side might fix the issue? Ideally, I would prefer not to take the extra step of pulling down the headliner for the left/right/front/back adjustment portion of TLLMRRJ excellent write-up.
Thanks again!

In my case, Tesla Service tried and failed to fix things with a non-intrusive adjustment, and eventually replaced the glass. They claimed the glass itself was installed to high on the liftgate. But each alignment situation is probably unique.

 

[fburns3]

Thank you both for replying so quickly. I am out of town but will post photos next week. I truly appreciate you taking the time to contribute such valuable insight to this community!