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Model 3 Trunk Issues

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Nov 17, 2013
1,169
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SoCal
I love EVERYTHING about my model 3, except the trunk... seriously, it’s awful. I don’t know if it’s just my M3, or if everyone is experiencing this, but I have to SLAM the trunk SO HARD for it to actually close. I had to try 3 times last night to get the car to register that it was fully closed. It seems more like a hardware issue than a software issue though, as it does remain slightly ajar unless it’s (very) firmly slammed. I have to hold the license plate frame down when I close it because the damn thing rattles against the paint so loud that I’m worried it scratches it. Anyone else have similar issues?
 
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Sorry ur having problems with ur trunk.

I find closing it similar to the hatch on my vw gti. It takes a little effort. I have no problems after three years of constant usage. I put my cello in the back of the car on a daily basis.

I like the weight on the trunk. I remember some Japanese makers trunks were to light in weight and would fly open on a windy day.
 
Sorry ur having problems with ur trunk.

I find closing it similar to the hatch on my vw gti. It takes a little effort. I have no problems after three years of constant usage. I put my cello in the back of the car on a daily basis.

I like the weight on the trunk. I remember some Japanese makers trunks were to light in weight and would fly open on a windy day.
Yeah, it definitely takes a very hard slam to close it currently on mine.
 
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Yeah, it definitely takes a very hard slam to close it currently on mine.
Regarding the issues you, the OP and the videographer reported, I wonder if the force required to close the doors and trunk are actually within intended spec at the factory. Or, if it's a case of some actual production issue.

I watched a copy of this video AGES ago and as I posted elsewhere, I initially thought it was dumb to bother with this:
.
But then it occurred to me that if they didn't measure this and apply the same principles to other parts of manufacturing and quality control, an automaker could have many annoyed customers and potentially incur huge warranty costs, blowing the profit for a vehicle and/or the company. (And just as a reminder, Tesla has yet to have a single profitable year. For 2017, they lost over $2 billion and for Q4 2017 alone, it was over $670 million. This doesn't include cash burn for items such as capital expenditures.)

And those annoyances can add up and could spread by worth of mouth, social media, traditional media, etc. and lead to low customer satisfaction.

Also, note how much force the worker is using to close the door.

If you want to watch less of the video, watch about 1:20 to ~3:11 and 4:40 to 6:15. Optional: 3:11 to 4:03. And, for those watching on computers, you can always click the gear icon to adjust the playback speed.
 
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Regarding the issues you, the OP and the videographer reported, I wonder if the force required to close the doors and trunk are actually within intended spec at the factory. Or, if it's a case of some actual production issue.

I watched a copy of this video AGES ago and as I posted elsewhere, I initially thought it was dumb to bother with this:
.
But then it occurred to me that if they didn't measure this and apply the same principles to other parts of manufacturing and quality control, an automaker could have many annoyed customers and potentially incur huge warranty costs, blowing the profit for a vehicle and/or the company. (And just as a reminder, Tesla has yet to have a single profitable year. For 2017, they lost over $2 billion and for Q4 2017 alone, it was over $670 million. This doesn't include cash burn for items such as capital expenditures.)

And those annoyances can add up and could spread by worth of mouth, social media, traditional media, etc. and lead to low customer satisfaction.

Also, note how much force the worker is using to close the door.

If you want to watch less of the video, watch about 1:20 to ~3:11 and 4:40 to 6:15. Optional: 3:11 to 4:03. And, for those watching on computers, you can always click the gear icon to adjust the playback speed.
To the point of losing money, I will agree with you there... My car came with several issues: a number of scratches on the paint, chucks out of the faux leather on one of the door panels, scratches on several plastic parts inside, etc. They will have to fix all of that, including the trunk and some rattling noises I picked up on.
 
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I find it difficult to close because of the hydraulic springs that hold it open. Once I get the trunk lowered to the point where I can get the leverage on the top of the trunk, the closing part is pretty easy for me.

I agree. I feel like the lift struts apply force for too long. On most vehicles they seem to hold strong when the trunk is fully open, barely hold when it is halfway closed, then let it drop past that. The 3 feels like they're still pushing when it is almost closed.

Perhaps a different, maybe shorter or less powerful, strut would work better?

Edit: The struts are:

Stabilus
Lift-O-Mat
300455 0580N 010/18 C 3M
1091560-00-B

I6vWgsGt3C13o_Z4iB14cYIvPzPbVBwBUzwdNprDA-Khp_RbbLfi6ZaAKP64YZ-VGqCmBsksSRKjHYY6KC9F1WGvqbD82W5hMHQYantQIykZoBaYK8JgJnYB37ujfqsjAMHNZC9VZ-sCdoFeyn2_qFPrmvhE3hXklgXEkGZRn2CfacU0iSIwKAwV7pMLhUvhdo9nu-FNZ_-hagPDhVoK5RzUdpLMg2111_hIhsrYFiAg7joD86so329u3s7ixMt-JmMNkEFlugUS_HkXF5ITpjIQ8Qw5i9Wckz9sR1AXF5UYfMynElzd3ULUHd7r7p6xSPgi2KgljI1bzZPRsBecE4AQB2dufx5nd8H6swl-ILsSSvwR0hG2qCv5TLUAe7KG7s2im5S_W5dA_UimFgwZ_PSpInqyQPzkheN_lBlq8lWchC5JURd9rVlTEIzhgmZ05IvZn3CurJmsuO_vvx6j3cod3gRKb3z8-Ht9jODtZ6aVaTih4A7cOfjXs15grXlGAfTteOQtJRcyqiEptZrt1Q2KMjyGbDjcMluBsgYajCWzzFG0KAo4GCueOLk5MMhdiYlgmXVxAju1mcE5_J4OU--QIi1ZwiaXKQQWmwxW=w682-h909-no
 
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I agree. I feel like the lift struts apply force for too long. On most vehicles they seem to hold strong when the trunk is fully open, barely hold when it is halfway closed, then let it drop past that. The 3 feels like they're still pushing when it is almost closed.

Perhaps a different, maybe shorter or less powerful, strut would work better?

Edit: The struts are:

Stabilus
Lift-O-Mat
300455 0580N 010/18 C 3M
1091560-00-B

I6vWgsGt3C13o_Z4iB14cYIvPzPbVBwBUzwdNprDA-Khp_RbbLfi6ZaAKP64YZ-VGqCmBsksSRKjHYY6KC9F1WGvqbD82W5hMHQYantQIykZoBaYK8JgJnYB37ujfqsjAMHNZC9VZ-sCdoFeyn2_qFPrmvhE3hXklgXEkGZRn2CfacU0iSIwKAwV7pMLhUvhdo9nu-FNZ_-hagPDhVoK5RzUdpLMg2111_hIhsrYFiAg7joD86so329u3s7ixMt-JmMNkEFlugUS_HkXF5ITpjIQ8Qw5i9Wckz9sR1AXF5UYfMynElzd3ULUHd7r7p6xSPgi2KgljI1bzZPRsBecE4AQB2dufx5nd8H6swl-ILsSSvwR0hG2qCv5TLUAe7KG7s2im5S_W5dA_UimFgwZ_PSpInqyQPzkheN_lBlq8lWchC5JURd9rVlTEIzhgmZ05IvZn3CurJmsuO_vvx6j3cod3gRKb3z8-Ht9jODtZ6aVaTih4A7cOfjXs15grXlGAfTteOQtJRcyqiEptZrt1Q2KMjyGbDjcMluBsgYajCWzzFG0KAo4GCueOLk5MMhdiYlgmXVxAju1mcE5_J4OU--QIi1ZwiaXKQQWmwxW=w682-h909-no
Maybe disconnecting one of the two struts could work too.