Makes me sad to hear many reviews of the New S complain about build quality!

[jebinc]

To be frank, I was expecting my Plaid to be worse than it was; based reading all of the posts about quality on TMC. Once thing for new members to understand is that people tend to post much more when there are issues, than when everything is largely just fine! Overall, my build quality is pretty darn good (paint is perfect) for a car that was built less than two months after launch. See siggy for details. YMMV.

 

[David29]

Look I have videos too:

More range and that is the older Model S

A crappy road course test.

Doug calling the Model S Plaid "Possibly the best all around car ever made" the second highest scored car according to his scoring system toping the Grand Turismo.

Yes they might have a better interior and finish but they are still not on the same class or offer the same value.

I watched Doug DeMuro's video review yesterday. I was surprised at the amount of build quality issues he mentioned, especially the paint defects he showed. I say "surprised" because the early deliveries seemed to have ben reported as much improved in that department. But that may have been because many or all of the early videos were from those first few cars, which may have had extra attention. Doug also seems to have been less impressed by the interior materials than other reviewers were. I have not seen the car so I cannot judge the accuracy of Doug's review (or anyone else's).
Certainly he was impressed by the Plaid performance. I could not help but wonder how he would react to the same build quality issues on the Long Range model. In other words, without the benefit of the unique record-shattering heart-stopping performance, would the build quality matter more? Or less because of the lower price?

 

[Trunk Gap]

Have you ever owned any of the other brand luxury cars in the same price range? Or are you simply comparing latest Model S to 3 and Y?

Yes. Just about every brand in every range.
The refresh is the first Tesla you can honestly say has at least e-AMG or 5-M level comfort/luxury/materials. Previous models to me were toyota/base Lexus/c-class quality.

Refresh may not S/7/etc level build quality, ride, materials, etc…nevermind Maybach/Bentley/RR/etc…but it’s not meant to be.
all in all this is the best EV if you want luxury appointments, light years-ahead tech and performance, a fully functioning charging network, a fun and unique driving experience…this is the best EV and IMO without a doubt the best Tesla ever made. build quality and materials are the best ever from Tesla, by far.

 

[juanmedina]

This is an old tweet from Jason Cammisa:

Here is Doug and Marques talking about the Plaid and how they feel about the Taycan after driving the Plaid :

Marques when he reviewed the Plaid said that fit and finish was underrated.

 

[Trunk Gap]

Cammisa is right.
mKB is right.
im right.

My suggestion for those who want real perspective vs internet conjecture - take it from 3 ppl who actually have the car/have extensive experience with the car over some hater on a message board. Best product yet.

 

[TessP100D]

This is an old tweet from Jason Cammisa:

View attachment 699195
View attachment 699196

Here is Doug and Marques talking about the Plaid and how they feel about the Taycan after driving the Plaid :

Marques when he reviewed the Plaid said that fit and finish was underrated.

Please don’t kill your self driving the plaid in the mountains with that stupid and unsafe yoke joke.

 

[WilliamG]

This is an old tweet from Jason Cammisa:

View attachment 699195
View attachment 699196

Here is Doug and Marques talking about the Plaid and how they feel about the Taycan after driving the Plaid :

Marques when he reviewed the Plaid said that fit and finish was underrated.

The car is amazing. But no-one's ever going to convince me that this is an optimum shape during a turn....

 

[Iain]

The car is amazing. But no-one's ever going to convince me that this is an optimum shape during a turn....

My guess is you are going very slowly to have that position.

 

[Wol747]

>>My guess is you are going very slowly to have that position.<<

But that’s the problem!
Indicating in roundabouts is I would think very iffy: in most countries it’s compulsory to indicate when about to leave - there are different rules entering and within roundabouts, yes.
I would be surprised if the setup will be legal in many jurisdictions, but if it is it will be interesting to see the results!

 

[WilliamG]

My guess is you are going very slowly to have that position.

Incorrect. Even pretty regular turns or sweeping corners. Think about it… that’s just a quarter of a turn of the yoke.

 

[FlatSix911]

Not at all. 800V vs, 400V means half the current, means smaller, lighter wiring, etc. But I'll tell you what, there obviously is a market for Teslas since people are buying them, but at the same time Taycans are also selling faster than they can produce them. Obviously you are passionate about the Tesla, therefore would get more enjoyment out of a Tesla. Me, after owning four Model S, I am willing to drop tens of thousands more for a Taycan, so obviously I anticipate more joy out of a Taycan, even though I've enjoyed drivng my Teslas tremendously over the past 8+ years. We could argue all year long, comparing Plaid acceleration vs Taycan acceleration, or Plaid Fart Mode vs. Taycan HUD, Tesla's single gear (which I prefer btw) vs. Taycan rear steering (which I also prefer), etc,etc. So let's just agree to disagree. I hope you have, or will some day buy a Tesla which you will love.

I agree and would add that only a handful of 800V charging stations are available.

Why did Porsche go to the trouble of designing an 800 V Taycan EV? - Charged EVs

How higher-voltage battery packs enable faster charging ecosystems Porsche took on a considerable engineering challenge when it decided to design an 800 V EV system for the Taycan, because nearly every other hybrid and EV in the world operates at 400 V or less. There simply was not a wide range...

chargedevs.com

 

[FlatSix911]

The car is amazing. But no-one's ever going to convince me that this is an optimum shape during a turn....

It is actually the best steering position for your hands on the track... just keep your hands at the 3 and 9 positions.

Drive Fast: Hold The Steering Wheel Properly | Speed Secrets

How you hold and turn the steering wheel has a huge impact on how fast you'll be able to drive. Drive and turn with your hands at the 9 & 3 o'clock position.

speedsecrets.com

 

[WilliamG]

It is actually the best steering position for your hands on the track... just keep your hands at the 3 and 9 positions.

Drive Fast: Hold The Steering Wheel Properly | Speed Secrets

How you hold and turn the steering wheel has a huge impact on how fast you'll be able to drive. Drive and turn with your hands at the 9 & 3 o'clock position.

speedsecrets.com

Lol. Yeah. Super comfortable trying to steer a giant vertically-oriented rectangle.

 

[P100D_Me]

Indicating in roundabouts is I would think very iffy: in most countries it’s compulsory to indicate when about to leave - there are different rules entering and within roundabouts, yes.

I don't think roundabouts have caught on in the USA for this to be a problem (for Tesla) . It will indeed be interesting to see what happens when they go to other markets where this half a steering wheel, lack of stalks (or a safe horn button) will not be accepted.

 

[WilliamG]

I don't think roundabouts have caught on in the USA for this to be a problem (for Tesla) . It will indeed be interesting to see what happens when they go to other markets where this half a steering wheel, lack of stalks (or a safe horn button) will not be accepted.

We have lots of roundabouts in Seattle…

 

[jabloomf1230]

We have lots of roundabouts in Seattle…

There are traffic "circuses" everywhere in the US. The difference between here and in Europe is that US drivers have no idea how a roundabout works. Often, the incoming traffic doesn't yield and I've seen people going around the roundabout the wrong way.

 

[Wol747]

I don't think roundabouts have caught on in the USA for this to be a problem (for Tesla) . It will indeed be interesting to see what happens when they go to other markets where this half a steering wheel, lack of stalks (or a safe horn button) will not be accepted.

Yes, interesting indeed.
I tried looking at the hundreds, if not thousands, of the Australian ADRs (The rules that vehicles’ manufacturers must comply with) for anything on steering wheels and indicators. I got bogged down with the huge number of such rules - page after page for example detailing the precise colour of rear lights, the distence between the rear lights and the road (at differing loads… ) etc but one thing caught my eye: headlights can be manual or auto - but if the latter the control must be immediately available to the driver, NOT in a sub-menu! One would assume that the Tesla is operating under an exemption in this case although I suspect that, given the tens of thousands of rules no-one ever checked!

 

[Gulfcoaster]

Do you mean VW will have to buy them to save them from collapse? That was the hole Lamborghini dug for themselves…

VW should absolutely buy Tesla, fit and finish on the cheapest VW's blows Teslas crapy build quality out of the water

 

[SO16]

For as “terrible” as some make Tesla out to be, Doug and Marques are impressed. Doug even ranked it higher than the Taycan. (Even with including the quality.)

 

[slainla]

I went outside to see if I can find any chips in my Model Y's "black painted chrome pieces" and there are plenty, but I don't see any chrome underneath. There is one deep enough where the cream-coloured primer is barely visible, but there's no sign of chrome. I touched it up with a sharpy and it looks good enough.

Does anyone have pictures of this problem? Is this fake news?

MY never came with chrome trim so I believe you have nothing to worry about. I suspect Tesla is reusing existing MS trim pieces due to manufacturing issues. M3 originally came in chrome trim but they're produced in such high volume that they probably got new trim pieces manufactured fair quickly.