Model 3 Performance/Ludicrous Waiting Room

[blinkme323]

Anyone else concerned about the rampant paint issues / defects with Ultra Red? I’ve seen about 15-20 reports between here and Reddit already. Also saw two at my local SC and both had the “white specks of death” that everyone is talking about. One of them was REALLY bad.

Strongly considering just switching to blue or black to avoid this.

I know at least one UR at the Devon PA location was rejected because of paint defects. Curious if they are on this forum.

 

[BMWY]

Anyone else concerned about the rampant paint issues / defects with Ultra Red? I’ve seen about 15-20 reports between here and Reddit already. Also saw two at my local SC and both had the “white specks of death” that everyone is talking about. One of them was REALLY bad.

Strongly considering just switching to blue or black to avoid this.

Yeah it's bad, yet to see one that didn't have defects. My guess is this will turn into a class action and/or warranty type claim.

 

[nonvinp3d]

I live right next to where these pics were taken. I'll give you a wave if I ever see you around! (and also if I had my M3P )

Nice write up.

Nice. Yea, I moved out here in 21 (from the Bay).

 

[fatsmahone]

I was in the batch of people who got the scheduling text without a VIN today. Stopped by the delivery location and they said Tesla sent an automated text and they did not have my car. The appointment I scheduled was then cancelled. They mentioned that nothing is set in stone until the VIN has been assigned.

Posting a follow up here - I received a text message Tuesday (the day after my original delivery date text was received and then cancelled by the SA in person) that stated to book my appointment now or lose my slot. I decided to say **** it and rebook my appointment for Saturday (original appointment was Thursday). Just received my VIN now - fingers crossed the Saturday delivery date sticks. SG/Black with 5/14 order date located in Central CA.

 

[phdoofus]

Posting a follow up here - I received a text message Tuesday (the day after my original delivery date text was received and then cancelled by the SA in person) that stated to book my appointment now or lose my slot. I decided to say **** it and rebook my appointment for Saturday (original appointment was Thursday). Just received my VIN now - fingers crossed the Saturday delivery date sticks. SG/Black with 5/14 order date located in Central CA.

I also have an appointment on Saturday but no VIN, even though I'm further up the coast from you... not sure how this is supposed to work!

 

[Noodlemon]

I also have an appointment on Saturday but no VIN, even though I'm further up the coast from you... not sure how this is supposed to work!

I texted my SA just now. My appointment is also set for this Saturday 6/29 (SoCal), no VIN yet. SA said "it appears you should be receiving a VIN on 6/27 or 6/28."

 

[ArrghMatey]

Tesla glass already blocks 99% of UV and IR. Already. #2, the shade of the TINT has nothing to do with heat protection. You can add another layer of 99% UV/IR that is CLEAR.

I could be wrong if they changed something with the highland model, but I thought all the glass blocks like 98 or 99% UV, but only the roof blocks IR with factory stock

Edited to be more clear

 

[Jangy]

I could be wrong if they changed something with the highland model, but I thought all the glass blocks like 98 or 99% UV, but only the roof blocks IR with factory stock

Edited to be more clear

Do a search on people that have used a meter to test it on the SIDE windows. I'm not just talking about Tesla's claims. I am talking about facts. I'm certain that the highland is UV and IR on side windows.

 

[CHB12312]

Just removed the large aero caps with plastic pry tool. Super easy but has some scuffs from the plastic tool. What are people using to buff these out? Any easy household cleaners? Don’t have much atm

 

[xianking]

Well I hate to say it, but I may be the first totaled M3P. 1 week and 1 day after delivery. No one was hurt thank God, but the car is toast. Guy hit me head on with no breaking or even an attempt to swerve. Due to insurance I may not be able to get an M3P as replacement. My rental coverage only covers until they pay out the claim, which is about 2 weeks they said. Then I have to turn the rental in. Yet the M3P is back ordered another 1-2 months and I can't go without a car that long. I literally just sold my old car on Sunday. They also are only going to pay out "actual cash value" so I'll probably lose 10-15k in depreciation from driving off the lot, sales tax, and PPF, tint, and ceramic coating. Really frustrating. I am currently thinking about just leasing an RWD. Basically, if I can't get what I want, pay as little as I possibly can, and unfortunately have to wait 3 years for my M3P. So looks like my time in the waiting room is going to be really long. Take care of your babies...

OMG, that is awful. I'm so sorry. I hope something changes...

 

[xianking]

Well, she's home!

The delivery experience for me was as I expected. I showed up, found the car, gave them their money (cashier's check) and finished the rest in the app. It did take them a while to come back out when I handed them the check, and I was like hmm, the longer this takes, the more complex this might become lol. But the lady came back out 10 minutes later and we continued the process, butter smooth.

FInal stats of ordering/delivery:
OD 5/17
SG/BLK
EDD1 June
EDD2 July 5-Aug 9
EDD3 June 21-30
VIN on June 22
Delivery June 25

Now, the car itself. This is the first time me seeing the P in person, and walking up to it my first impressions were that the car much more aggressive/sharper looking than the previous gen. I guess you can say that about all the Highlands. My particular vehicle, at first glance, looked very clean and the panels were consistent. Did a quick walk around and everything seemed as expected. No, I didn't bring a checklist.

The interior is a definite improvement over the previous gen. Better materials, etc. The center console mechanisms are nice and tight, way better than the piano black on my 2020. The seats fit me perfectly, but they are ALREADY showing wear on the seat bottoms and lower back, hmm. But finally, cooled seats! Thank you very much, although you can hear the fan behind your ears at the high setting. The ambient lights are cool. Alcantara feels good to the touch.

Cabin noise - yes the the car is a little bit quieter. There were some passing cars that if I had my eyes closed, that I probably wouldn't have sensed a car was there. Now it's not mind-blowing quiet, you can still hear road noise when you are on the freeway, etc., but it's improved over the previous 3.

Streering wheel/no stalks - this is something I'm just gonna have to get used to. I kept having to look at the indicators to use them, and for some reason, my mind kept thinking that they should be reversed, the top should be left and the bottom is right. I even made a left turn and I indicated right, LOLOL. The steering is very tight and responsive, however devoid of road feel. I like the heavy setting.

Accelleration/power - it is all there. It came in standard mode fresh out the box, immediately changed it to Insane. Coming from my 2020 P, the delivery isn't all that different. Just zooming around traffic etc, felt almost exactly the same as my 20. The car was below 50% SOC driving it home however, so I may feel more of a difference after a charge. You'll see the differences here in the 1/4 mile and beyond. 0-80 is faster on paper, but IRL pretty much feels the same in everyday driving when compared to the previous P. I can feel the front tires at the edge of traction, kinda almost feels like a FWD car (I have a Civic EM1 and a CL Type S manual trans).

I didn't test autopilot since I forgot to enable it and didn't feeling like pulling over to put the car in Park. Next time.

Defects:
1. Paint did have some blemishes from them doing a piss job on polishing out certain areas. I have that same circular defect on the rear passenger 1/4 panel as that UR one earlier in this thread. I don't think I will address these with Tesla SC and will address it when the paint is corrected when I get the ceramic done. Also, the paint is thin on one spot at the edge of the hood.
2. Interior - ambient lights/panels do not line up between dash and passenger door.
3. The car does pull to the right. Will have this addressed with SC.

I'll see if I find more when I look over the car again today.

Overall, it's what I expected. Marginal improvements over my previous 3, feels about 90% the same. I'm happy with the car, especially once I get more accilimated with it.

Glad you got your car, but man, I'm coming from 6 years in a 2018 Model 3 Dual Motor and the difference between the cars is pretty stark. Glad you like it though.

 

[nonvinp3d]

Glad you got your car, but man, I'm coming from 6 years in a 2018 Model 3 Dual Motor and the difference between the cars is pretty stark. Glad you like it though.

Maybe it's just me, lol. I like the car either way. IT IS an improvement over the old one. But this whole no stalks deal is annoying, lol.

 

[cardsdoc]

Just removed the large aero caps with plastic pry tool. Super easy but has some scuffs from the plastic tool. What are people using to buff these out? Any easy household cleaners? Don’t have much atm

Dude you’ve been posting every day since 4/23. How do you like it!?!?

 

[nonvinp3d]

So went over the car and scheduled an appointment with the SC. Unfortunately the first available date is not until 7/11. Hopefully an SA can contact me for an earlier appointment. Anyway, here is what I submitted:

Other - Suspension:
Car pulls to the right, needs an alignment.

Other - Exterior:
Misaligned front hood, it is higher on the passenger side and lower on the driver side.
On the front hood, there is a scratch/no paint on a part of the edge of the hood on the driver side, needs touch up paint.
There is a circular paint defect on the passenger side rear 1/4 panel.

Interior Trim:
The interior trim on the passenger side of the trunk is loose. The interior panels between the dash and passenger door is misaligned.

I purposefully didn't include the other paint defects I found since I rather have those corrected when I take it in for paint correction, tint, and maybe a little PPF. I'm not even sure I want them to fix that circular paint defect on the 1/4 panel if it requires a repaint. No thanks.

Let's see what happens. Overall the car is nice, happy with the purchase.

 

[M3PDenver]

Anyone else concerned about the rampant paint issues / defects with Ultra Red? I’ve seen about 15-20 reports between here and Reddit already. Also saw two at my local SC and both had the “white specks of death” that everyone is talking about. One of them was REALLY bad.

Strongly considering just switching to blue or black to avoid this.

I have red, it's beautiful. No issues. Don't read the internet too much.

 

[analoq]

Just received my VIN! Maybe my delivery date this Saturday is looking more and more realistic. Tracker updated.

Side question: Noticing a lot of alignment issues. Could one just take the car to any alignment shop to have the car aligned? With the wait times at service centers I wouldn't mind shelling a little out of pocket to have a proper alignment.

 

[CHB12312]

Dude you’ve been posting every day since 4/23. How do you like it!?!?

It’s amazing ha. My first Tesla and EV and I can already tell why people are such a fan. This thing is stupid fast. Delivery was good, minimal issues. There was some marks on the carbon fiber part of the dash they couldn’t get out so they set up a mobile appt to replace it.

I already removed the aero caps, put in abstract ocean puddle lights, mats, etc. have an appt in July to ceramic tint the windows, ceramic coat car, and replace the chrome Tesla logo and TESLA rear lettering with black. Then I’ll be complete.

Hard to believe I got a car with this much for under 50k with the tax credit.

Quick question… is there any down side to leaving the charger in if you’re charged to your desired amount? For example, if I have the charge set to 80% and I’m home for the night and the car is 70%, is there a downside to plugging it in and leaving it in all night? Like obviously it will hit 80% within a couple hours, but is there a negative for it remaining plugged in for hours longer until the morning?

 

[P-Lo801]

Just received my VIN! Maybe my delivery date this Saturday is looking more and more realistic. Tracker updated.

Side question: Noticing a lot of alignment issues. Could one just take the car to any alignment shop to have the car aligned? With the wait times at service centers I wouldn't mind shelling a little out of pocket to have a proper alignment.

You might run into an issue of the car being too new that alignment shops won't have the specs to refer to for proper alignment. That said, there are some shops that have alignment gurus and don't necessarily need these specs to properly align it based on your preferences.

 

[webbie313]

Just removed the large aero caps with plastic pry tool. Super easy but has some scuffs from the plastic tool. What are people using to buff these out? Any easy household cleaners? Don’t have much atm

How do you like the car?

 

[jjrandorin]

Quick question… is there any down side to leaving the charger in if you’re charged to your desired amount? For example, if I have the charge set to 80% and I’m home for the night and the car is 70%, is there a downside to plugging it in and leaving it in all night? Like obviously it will hit 80% within a couple hours, but is there a negative for it remaining plugged in for hours longer until the morning?

No, there isnt. Its actually what Tesla tells you to do, in fact. Is it mandatory to leave it plugged in? No, but there is no reason not to, if you have home charging.