Misaligned roof window at delivery. SC trying to tell me warranty will shorten if replaced.

[CTroy]

TL;DR- would replacing the roof glass cause the warranty of that window to change to 1 year from 4 even though I noted the issue during the delivery time period?

Picked up my M3P 10 days ago. I immediately noticed some yellow spots in the paint and the roof window was misaligned.
It took bending the arms of the check-in people to “notice the yellowing”, however the techs noticed it immediately. They sent it to a body shop to fix what they could. I also asked them about the roof and they said the “height” was win-in spec. I told them it had nothing to do with the height but alignment. When it came back from the body shop, I had them bring a technician down to look and he said it was misaligned and could be replaced but he thinks it is mostly cosmetic. The check-in guy said all this stuff about the glass would need to be cut off and it might cause future problems because it want the original seal. He also said the window warranty to reduce to 1 year rather than 4 because it was a replacement. I’m thinking since it was noticed during delivery, it should be covered under the original manufacturer warranty. What do you all think? From the first service appointment the check-in guy seemed like he was blowing smoke and just trying to get out of doing work.

 

[Star Platinum]

Why do you think it’s not within specs though if the guy told you? I had a 2019 m3 with similar misalignment on the roof, and didn’t bothered me.

 

[Perscitus]

I wouldnt worry about the glass... inspect other recent or vintage 3s and you will see that the glass panel are different widths (in particular windshield vs center panel or center panel vs rear panel).

So long as the gap between the pillars and the glass panel edges are more or less equal side to side (driver's vs passenger's side leading and trailing edges and along the sides) then you are good.

More serious issues with these include:
a. water leaks b. stress cracks c. micro-scratches d. panel discoloration

Chances are in the next year or two you will need to replace at least 1 or 2 of these glass panels anyway, make sure your insurance coverage includes full glass... well worth it with the Tesla greenhouses.

 

[dansev]

“Chances are in the next year or two you will need to replace at least 1 or 2 of these glass panels anyway…”

I’ve had my M3 since June of 2019. I’ve never replaced any glass. What do you mean by that comment?

 

[Perscitus]

Seems rather self-explanatory, no?
You've been lucky, especially given New England winters and year-round road debris.

Some go 3-5 years without replacing any glass... but many sadly end up having to replace center/rear glass panels once or twice in that time frame. Or multiple windshield replacements (some record holders here have gone through 3 windshields in as little as 18 months).

 

[NathanielHrnblwr]

the replacement may be just as misaligned or worse. Tesla glass is a crapshoot of product and installation quality.

 

[father_of_6]

@CTroy - what's the other side look like?

Just my opinions:

• Unfortunately, I think the best way to take care of an issue like this is to reject delivery. Since it's too late for that, you'll have to make a hard choice.
• I don't see how this can shorten your warranty, but I'm not an authority on the matter. AFAIK, if you have your battery replaced in year 1, you don't drop to a 1 year warranty... you're covered for 8yr / 100k miles. Anyone?
• Although I wouldn't love to "live with it", there is a definite possibility that it could come back the same or even worse.

Sorry you have to deal with this.

 

[CTroy]

I mean, I told them I would probably just leave it as long as it doesn’t cause any problems down the line. It’s more of something in the back of my head that will just nag at me, kind of like the rather large leg sleeve tattoo I got when I was 21. Can’t really do anything about it and the only time I remember is when I take a crap.
I think it was more of the principle of it.
Anyway, the person in the other side of the chat told me if they approved it and replaced it, it would “use up my warranty”. Not sure what that means. Maybe like the old AppleCare when they only replaced damaged a certain amount of times.
I then said, “I thought this would be covered like panel gaps not being within spec” to which the reply was, “we do not have any definitions of that the specs are for windows at the moment”.
Just some more information to debate about.

 

[father_of_6]

There are other posts showing similar misalignments. Not sure how this even happens since robots seem to do all of the work... should be consistent on every car.

I think if you just learn to let it go, you'll be better off in the long run. Your car might not be, but you will. If all else fails, just look down at that tattoo whenever you're walking by the car

Good luck whatever you decide!

 

[CTroy]

@CTroy - what's the other side look like?

 

[father_of_6]

I just went out to look at mine and they're pretty even. It's really hard to understand how they could make this happen.

Perhaps you can escalate this to someone there that can also note this as "not reductive" to your warranty.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I probably wouldn't bother with it unless it leaks or cracks, given it appears to mostly be cosmetic. There is no guarantee the replacement would be better and they could even make it worse (like leaking).

About the one year thing, they probably are talking about the general replacement parts warranty, which is 1 year for most parts.
Vehicle Warranty | Tesla Support

However, if they cover this as part of the original vehicle warranty, that parts warranty should not be applicable. Your original warranty would still be the one that takes precedent. If instead they do this as a separate thing, then it is possible that only the parts warranty may apply.

 

[Clover]

I picked mine up a few weeks ago and have some misalignment like shown, though not as bad. Maybe 2/3rds to half as much. For me, I figured there was about 0 chance of a person doing a better job on attempt two without the same manufacturing equipment then attempt one with everything they have to do it right in the factory. I've never done a Tesla window, but getting all the gunk perfectly out and laying it down again just never goes as well as from the factory. My guess is they don't want to go to a ton of trouble and have you nitpick it again because there is no chance attempt 2 is coming out perfect and it may even be worse. I would give it a good soaking with water and make sure you're not going to run into issues with leaks though. If you do have any leaks, no choice but to have it redone.

 

[dansev]

Seems rather self-explanatory, no?
You've been lucky, especially given New England winters and year-round road debris.

Some go 3-5 years without replacing any glass... but many sadly end up having to replace center/rear glass panels once or twice in that time frame. Or multiple windshield replacements (some record holders here have gone through 3 windshields in as little as 18 months).

Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be a jerk! I honestly didn’t know that was a thing. That said, my windshield is filled with pockmarks. Is the glass soft? Or are people having glass replaced due to full on breakage? What’s the deal with this? Why does the glass need to be replaced so often?

 

[stopcrazypp]

Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be a jerk! I honestly didn’t know that was a thing. That said, my windshield is filled with pockmarks. Is the glass soft? Or are people having glass replaced due to full on breakage? What’s the deal with this? Why does the glass need to be replaced so often?

There is no empirical data that suggests Teslas need glass replacement more often than other cars. To determine that would need a lot of fleet data that few people would have. It's mostly anecdotal speculation. There's various theories thrown around, that the aerodynamics may make it more susceptible, that Tesla uses thinner glass (perhaps for weight savings, although to be clear no evidence presented that Tesla glass is thinner), or more logically the fact the entire roof is made of glass (so in other cars, things that hit the metal roof would hit the glass in Tesla's).

 

[skygraff]

A) I wouldn’t bother because of all the same reasons mentioned above regarding potential problems

2) They’re full of it telling you that a warranty (delivery defect) replacement would reduce the manufacturer’s warranty. If the part is properly (using OEM part and procedures) replaced as part of and within warranty, it becomes as if it was OEM and retains that same warranty unless the 1 year part warranty would be longer than remaining b2b.

I don’t have legal references on hand but I’m sure somebody smarter does. Anecdotally, I replaced my top glass (for a crack - I thought it was due to temperature changes in Death Valley but they insisted it was impact) in the first year and paid out of pocket but nothing was ever said about that particular part having a reduced warranty.

If it’s any consolation, most glass replacements aren’t done as warranty work anyway since they’ll almost always prove the “crack” was impact related. A touchless car wash and/or driving rain should find any leaks within a year so that’s probably all that would prompt a warranty event.

 

[DocHolliday]

Upon delivery I had an issue with the roof glass slightly off-center and the weatherstripping on one side sticking up out of the channel next to the door. Made a SC appt and they said if they removed and replaced the glass it was unlikely to be sealed as clean as the original installation. I opted to live with it and used a sharp blade to carefully trim the excess rubber more flush with the channel. As others have said unless it leaks I would leave it alone.

 

[Ital]

This is good info. I guess I got lucky with mine as it is aligned, but knowing what I know now, I would reject delivery if mine was that bad, if there is a next time. Did you find any other issues with the car? What about inside? do all the Panel trims line up well?

I am not sure if it matters but when they called me to confirm delivery, I had asked them to make sure all panels were aligned, or I would not be taking the car... probably made no difference but I told them anyway
That said, if they told me they would take care of it later I would have most likely taken delivery and been in the same situations.

Moral of the story, as hard as it is to do, don't take delivery and wait for the next one.

 

[Gumball]

That is horribly misaligned, and they should simply replace it.
That will in no way cut your warranty short, thats bs.
a small difference is ok, and seen on more cars, but this is ridiculou.

 

[heavyD]

I have to admit that's one of the most off-center glass alignments I've seen with these cars. They should probably fix that as the rubber seal isn't even close to contacting the pillar.