Its been a rather frustrating time owning a model 3. It was meant to be part of an enjoyable YouTube series which ended in me personally not wanting to poster something of bad quality. Yes I held back. I have documented here the cluster of a pickup experience with pictures and video in another post. It was meant to be a fun day. Enough to put me off buying a new car ever if I am honest though. But I will get straight to the point for people as a guide of what you are allowed to do if things are wrong and you feel you have had enough of the ride Tesla put you on with their cars.
I bought my model 3 Sept 2019 on finance for one sole reason only. "Financial protection" and used this within my rights to not only get a refund for everything I paid on the car. My £14,000 deposit etc but also 8% interest on it over the 11 month term + money for my inconvenience as yes it did waste a ton of time. So I lost nothing, gained which is my right when a company produces a faulty product. This was from Blackhorse as they upheld my complaint that my model 3 was not of satisfactory quality and indeed the faults were in the car from the factory. This was backed up by a Dekra inspection which I will add below. The only thing you have to prove is that the issues / defects were in the car from manufacture and this gives you the right many months after buying the car to a complete refund and compensation depending on how much time was wasted on your part.
From pickup issues with the usual blah blah of the Tesla rep this will get fixed straight away with a service appointment, then to wait over a month etc for them not to be ready for the very issues you sent them photo of:
On pickup, watched people prepare my car got video, quickly wiping it over with purple solution, one person rubbing the side paint hard to get a sticker off like you wouldn't believe. Another person quickly trying to fast polish with tool to take out scratched paint areas. Got to car, sticky stuff all over the sides of the pillars and it was also covering the cameras. White writing still on the front window screen. Large front and back scratches. What a great first presentation of a new car.... Great when you get it home because what you don't see with their polish and under the lights is how much swirl damage you get once you try to put on your own stuff. I was assured though I could book an appointment and all the apparent small things will be fixed. Reality check it takes months and they are never prepared for your visit. Uber credits anyone?
Most of the Issues:
Range never showed 240 from new as advertised. Summer 220 Winter range is 160 miles.
Most supercharging I did managed to reach between 60kwh and 120kwh warm weather or cold.
2 months of wind whistle noise whistle at 40mph waiting for a service centre appointment.
Boot seal misaligned on the wrong way.
Water misting up all rear lights to the point they are not legal.
Left rear parking sensor was not showing correct data for weeks.
Paint defects in multiple areas and corrosion under the front under paint.
Rear doors misaligned.
Boot misaligned.
Rear lights also all out of alignment.
Objects under the paint in multiple locations from front and sides.
Terrible smell from the air conditioning all the time when first starting up.
Service centre visit not ready to deal with most issues when I get there despite sending the photos on the app with good explanation and then being asked again a few days before for the photos.
Paint missing on area's checked other model 3's for missing paint, missing on them so ( To Tesla Spec ) But they sprayed it.
They did fix the rear door misalignment issues at this point.
Ranger visit verified needed another service centre appointment and confirmed there was problems with the glass.
All of the glass on the car now needed ordering and replacing. Ridiculous for a new car.
Rear lights with water ingress replaced. These then still continued to mist up. Ranger did advise me that he was replacing the lights with exactly the same lights so was not sure if that would make any difference..... also showed me the hold at the back of them which I guess is is where the water gets in but its not a fixed issue yet.
Front glass large defect / warped.
Top Glass started to also warp around the edges.
Investigated noise myself as it I needed to wait another month for an appointment, pushed down hard on the inside front trunk and it seems the whistle noise is gone. Must have been a lose fit?
By the time the Dekra guy got to review the car down the edges of the rear glass defects. So all 3 parts bad.
Car of only 5000 miles. 4% battery degradation. Real range not 240 on but 160 miles winter.
Driver side handle popping out and now longer flush with body.
General alignment of the cars panels not equal not when you compare it to a Renault Zoe or my fathers 33 year old series 6 BMW 60K miles which still has its original paint with less defects.
Squeaky rear windows on full down.
Air now leaking through drivers side window seal at 30mph+ increasing already loud road noise.
Phantom breaking on autopilot and turning off suddenly on the motorway following road arrows not lane markings all video documented. Almost caused a rear end event.
Front panel of the cars edges starting to protrude at the sides.
Read driver side door dropped out of alignment again.
Indicator stalk sensors starting to fail sometimes I could not indicate and sometimes I could not cancel. Happened for both sides at random.
Front drivers seat on the last 2 days of ownership would refuse to operate backwards and forwards. Stuck in easy entry setting and manual adjust would not work. After many tries it seemed to free up and got stuck next day.
This all leads to the main words " Manufacturing defects would have been present at point of sale" and " Due to the reported defects the vehicle is not of satisfactory quality" Everything here is what my new car experience was like. I treated the car well.
This under law gives me the right to a refund even after 11 months of ownership. So while I commend Tesla for helping the EV revolution move along I am afraid the way they operate, produce cars with no factory checks before handover and mess people about at service centres sets a new low in quality and responsibility for car manufacture.
Cost of ownership of a Tesla EV is higher on wasted time and effort. I wish everyone the best of luck and a better ownership experience than me. I would love to buy another but its probably a few years before Tesla get it right here I mean 8 years on and multiple car models and its still happening even with the Y. On talking to any owner from down the road from me to at superchargers getting your car regularly fixed is now the new norm. The car is not worth £42,000 on the road with its current baggage Tesla are quite happily fine to give you with their cars as there are no factory or pre sale checks. Yes this is a highly negative post but it is a truthful one and I wish I had not had 11 months of this experience I would rather have enjoyed my time as I felt I was part of a movement to help the environment. But your rights are there to protect you and they are strong on finance so this case shows you have the right to a full refund if you have manufacturing defects and non satisfactory repairs / promised after service.
I bought my model 3 Sept 2019 on finance for one sole reason only. "Financial protection" and used this within my rights to not only get a refund for everything I paid on the car. My £14,000 deposit etc but also 8% interest on it over the 11 month term + money for my inconvenience as yes it did waste a ton of time. So I lost nothing, gained which is my right when a company produces a faulty product. This was from Blackhorse as they upheld my complaint that my model 3 was not of satisfactory quality and indeed the faults were in the car from the factory. This was backed up by a Dekra inspection which I will add below. The only thing you have to prove is that the issues / defects were in the car from manufacture and this gives you the right many months after buying the car to a complete refund and compensation depending on how much time was wasted on your part.
From pickup issues with the usual blah blah of the Tesla rep this will get fixed straight away with a service appointment, then to wait over a month etc for them not to be ready for the very issues you sent them photo of:
On pickup, watched people prepare my car got video, quickly wiping it over with purple solution, one person rubbing the side paint hard to get a sticker off like you wouldn't believe. Another person quickly trying to fast polish with tool to take out scratched paint areas. Got to car, sticky stuff all over the sides of the pillars and it was also covering the cameras. White writing still on the front window screen. Large front and back scratches. What a great first presentation of a new car.... Great when you get it home because what you don't see with their polish and under the lights is how much swirl damage you get once you try to put on your own stuff. I was assured though I could book an appointment and all the apparent small things will be fixed. Reality check it takes months and they are never prepared for your visit. Uber credits anyone?
Most of the Issues:
Range never showed 240 from new as advertised. Summer 220 Winter range is 160 miles.
Most supercharging I did managed to reach between 60kwh and 120kwh warm weather or cold.
2 months of wind whistle noise whistle at 40mph waiting for a service centre appointment.
Boot seal misaligned on the wrong way.
Water misting up all rear lights to the point they are not legal.
Left rear parking sensor was not showing correct data for weeks.
Paint defects in multiple areas and corrosion under the front under paint.
Rear doors misaligned.
Boot misaligned.
Rear lights also all out of alignment.
Objects under the paint in multiple locations from front and sides.
Terrible smell from the air conditioning all the time when first starting up.
Service centre visit not ready to deal with most issues when I get there despite sending the photos on the app with good explanation and then being asked again a few days before for the photos.
Paint missing on area's checked other model 3's for missing paint, missing on them so ( To Tesla Spec ) But they sprayed it.
They did fix the rear door misalignment issues at this point.
Ranger visit verified needed another service centre appointment and confirmed there was problems with the glass.
All of the glass on the car now needed ordering and replacing. Ridiculous for a new car.
Rear lights with water ingress replaced. These then still continued to mist up. Ranger did advise me that he was replacing the lights with exactly the same lights so was not sure if that would make any difference..... also showed me the hold at the back of them which I guess is is where the water gets in but its not a fixed issue yet.
Front glass large defect / warped.
Top Glass started to also warp around the edges.
Investigated noise myself as it I needed to wait another month for an appointment, pushed down hard on the inside front trunk and it seems the whistle noise is gone. Must have been a lose fit?
By the time the Dekra guy got to review the car down the edges of the rear glass defects. So all 3 parts bad.
Car of only 5000 miles. 4% battery degradation. Real range not 240 on but 160 miles winter.
Driver side handle popping out and now longer flush with body.
General alignment of the cars panels not equal not when you compare it to a Renault Zoe or my fathers 33 year old series 6 BMW 60K miles which still has its original paint with less defects.
Squeaky rear windows on full down.
Air now leaking through drivers side window seal at 30mph+ increasing already loud road noise.
Phantom breaking on autopilot and turning off suddenly on the motorway following road arrows not lane markings all video documented. Almost caused a rear end event.
Front panel of the cars edges starting to protrude at the sides.
Read driver side door dropped out of alignment again.
Indicator stalk sensors starting to fail sometimes I could not indicate and sometimes I could not cancel. Happened for both sides at random.
Front drivers seat on the last 2 days of ownership would refuse to operate backwards and forwards. Stuck in easy entry setting and manual adjust would not work. After many tries it seemed to free up and got stuck next day.
This all leads to the main words " Manufacturing defects would have been present at point of sale" and " Due to the reported defects the vehicle is not of satisfactory quality" Everything here is what my new car experience was like. I treated the car well.
This under law gives me the right to a refund even after 11 months of ownership. So while I commend Tesla for helping the EV revolution move along I am afraid the way they operate, produce cars with no factory checks before handover and mess people about at service centres sets a new low in quality and responsibility for car manufacture.
Cost of ownership of a Tesla EV is higher on wasted time and effort. I wish everyone the best of luck and a better ownership experience than me. I would love to buy another but its probably a few years before Tesla get it right here I mean 8 years on and multiple car models and its still happening even with the Y. On talking to any owner from down the road from me to at superchargers getting your car regularly fixed is now the new norm. The car is not worth £42,000 on the road with its current baggage Tesla are quite happily fine to give you with their cars as there are no factory or pre sale checks. Yes this is a highly negative post but it is a truthful one and I wish I had not had 11 months of this experience I would rather have enjoyed my time as I felt I was part of a movement to help the environment. But your rights are there to protect you and they are strong on finance so this case shows you have the right to a full refund if you have manufacturing defects and non satisfactory repairs / promised after service.
