We have bought or leased 4 Teslas. The first one was the best, an early Model X in blue. Gorgeous leather seats and smelled like leather! But visibility was poor so we traded up for a newer Model X. To my chagrin, somehow the leather seats did not return. But car smells ok, not great. Next, a Model 3 for my husband. Smells ok. Next, a basic Model 3 for my son, just arrived in August 2019. This car smells like an organic chem lab experiment gone bad. My poor son thought it was his teenage body. But I can attest that it is not. There is something in the car's interior that is producing this weird chemical. Now we are turning to the club to see who else is experiencing this. As early adopters of electric cars, we were beta testers for the first BMW electric car, a precursor to the toy that is currently selling. It had an issue with the charger. When my husband posted to the BMW board, instead of treating his post as useful information, the admin immediately banned him from the site. This car was ultimately deemed a lemon and they returned most of our money. So I have my doubts as to how much progress we can make on this within the Tesla Motors Club, but I thought I would give it a try. Thanks. We are in California, near Fremont and a service center.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
My Model 3 interior making me sick (literally)
- Thread starter JoshNYC
- Start date
SusanX- I'm currently 2 months in to Model 3 ownership, and was searching desperately for answers to this issue for the first couple of weeks. I even had Tesla service out for a visit. The tech said there's a smell that's common with moisture condensation in the vents... it was still hot in September and I was running the A/C a lot. He cleaned it out, but I think they were just humoring me with the visit. I'm convinced it's the vegan leather (ahem, plastic) seats off-gassing chemicals. It could be some other material or adhesive, but it certainly smells like off-gassing and it was giving us headaches and nausea.
For what it's worth, ours is improving after 2+ months. I followed some of the other advice found here and online: ran the heat on HI for an hour with the windows closed then ventilated the car, left it in the sun with windows open and drove with windows cracked, and I rarely recirculate the air unless I'm behind a diesel truck. I even took it to a detail shop when it was still pristine clean and asked them to vacuum the entire interior- no doubt they thought I was crazy.
Despite improvement, when we left it in an airport parking lot for 4 days we were greeted with the renewed smell once again and it even lingered for a couple of days! It had been in the sun with windows closed. I had to ventilate again. Still not convinced we're in the clear for off-gassing or health effects. I'm now in the habit of cracking the windows when it's parked in our garage.
Completely understand where you're coming from with your BMW tale. I absolutely love my Tesla, but have found that the community/cult of owners will staunchly defend the brand if you dare question anything! Since you're lucky enough to be in a temperate climate there, I'd recommend some of the mitigation techniques above. You are not likely to get very far pursuing this issue with Tesla or the community, but I wish you the best of luck!
For what it's worth, ours is improving after 2+ months. I followed some of the other advice found here and online: ran the heat on HI for an hour with the windows closed then ventilated the car, left it in the sun with windows open and drove with windows cracked, and I rarely recirculate the air unless I'm behind a diesel truck. I even took it to a detail shop when it was still pristine clean and asked them to vacuum the entire interior- no doubt they thought I was crazy.
Despite improvement, when we left it in an airport parking lot for 4 days we were greeted with the renewed smell once again and it even lingered for a couple of days! It had been in the sun with windows closed. I had to ventilate again. Still not convinced we're in the clear for off-gassing or health effects. I'm now in the habit of cracking the windows when it's parked in our garage.
Completely understand where you're coming from with your BMW tale. I absolutely love my Tesla, but have found that the community/cult of owners will staunchly defend the brand if you dare question anything! Since you're lucky enough to be in a temperate climate there, I'd recommend some of the mitigation techniques above. You are not likely to get very far pursuing this issue with Tesla or the community, but I wish you the best of luck!
Hi Susan. I am definitely STILL experiencing this and experiencing it with a vehicle that is more than a year old (and has been nearly constantly ventilated at this point). Given my experience, my guess is that there are a lot of suppliers contributing materials and that they aren't well tracked. This is my experience because Tesla told me that they have no way to backtrack which materials were used to build my vehicle. It has crossed my mind that maybe the chemical smell is from something related to the battery (coolant) but my guess would be materials that are not well proven (or tested?) and Tesla is needing to build these vehicles quickly so they are not as focused on these "details" as other more established manufacturers would be.
Last edited:
Hi Susan. Quick question: How would you describe the chemical smell? Is it slightly rubbery/waxy?
asus389
Member
I wonder if OP would have the same problem with a different model 3? Have you test drove a different one at a Tesla gallery to see if its any different? I wonder if the white interior would be any better?
Hi. I actually did spend some time in a friends car and the car I drove before buying mine. Neither gave me any problems. I asked Tesla to allow me to check out some other vehicles so that I could get better comparisons but they, not surprisingly (since they've been the opposite of helpful), declined. And they continue to say that everything is normal, without actually inspecting the vehicle in any real way. Had some friends recently mention the rubber smell in the car and so I'm thinking that maybe it could be one material that is defective. Curious to hear from other owners: Do the rubber door seals on your vehicle have an odor?
If he thinks the car is making him sick, then get some fresh air in the car and see if that helps.
It definitely helps and it's far better than it was but still too much to drive it without feeling it the next day or two.
Bill Foster
I'm going home!
While I have never been in your car or experienced what you're claiming, these components of the car are made in bulk (obviously). So besides adjustments to fit the materials used to make each Model 3 will theoreticaly be the same.
Also, you are asking them to check out something that isn't affecting the techs like it's affecting you, so how could they help/diagnose it?
No one else here seems to be claiming a sickness issue, so it might just be you....
Not trying to be an asshole, but when you look at it from their point of view, I can't blame them for their response.
Hi Bill. I hear you but Tesla themselves told me that they get materials from lots of different manufacturers and they don't have a way to track which materials are from which manufacturer. So there's clearly variance in what's in the interior. Yes, they aren't experiencing the issue but others have noticed the smell so it's not just me. All I'm asking them for is to work with me to figure out some options instead of stonewalling. And I've been in touch with others who've had similar reactions but yes it is rare.
Bill Foster
I'm going home!
asus389
Member
Did you ever get to the bottom of this. I’ve noticed a similar thing. I drove an early Model 3 and had no issues. But all of the new ones give me a headache and make me itch. The black interior seems worse. I recently sat in a model Y (white interior) and didn’t have this issue. I then sat in a model 3, black interior and had the symptoms. A model X white interior was more or less OK also. These are all cars less than 6 months old. I guess I’m allergic or sensitive to some of the material in the black “Vega leather” maybe? So weird...
Hi there. Sorry you're having a similar issue.
To answer your question: Not really. It's improved VERY slowly over time but it's still a problem for me. My vehicle is now almost two yeas old and has been frequently ventilated. Do you remember which early model you drove that didn't have an issue? For me it was the early 2018 RWD model. A few months ago I went and checked out about 10 used 3s at a dealership nearby. The early 2018 models had normal/no smell but the summer 2018 models had as much or even more smell than some of the 2019 models (so it's not just about the age of the vehicle).
I've been unable to get any info on exactly what they changed between the early 2018 and mid 2018 models but I do think they may have used some interior materials from the S at that point, seats included. It could also just be a matter of batch freshness and how long materials sat in the warehouse between production (where they would be in open air) and putting them into the car (where they wouldn't).
Since I haven't had much reason to drive in the last few months I haven't really addressed this. But I'm considering buying some used wreck seats and reupholstering them. Wish Tesla would actually reply with the details I've requested multiple times now (info on what they changed between models) so that I could narrow it down more than this shot in the dark.
asus389
Member
The initial one I drove was a very early LR RWD 2018 black interior. It was from the time period when they were only selling them to current owners. The second one I drove was also also a LR RWD 2018 with black interior, but I’m not sure when it was built. Both were OK. Most recently I was in a 2020 dual motor AWD with black interior and it triggered the issue. A 2020 Model Y and a 2020 model X with white interior did not.
Yes, that's exactly my experience as well. It was the early 2018 black/black LR RWD. I'd rented one on Turo for the day and drove it for the entire day. Zero issues. And this is also what I noticed at the used dealership: That the early 2018s were uniquely different/better than all the 3s built after mid 2018.
Was there any difference between the 2020 Y with white and the 2020 3 with black in terms of use etc? Was the Y on a showroom floor with doors open? I ask because when I sat in the 3s that were at the store I didn't notice any smell or issues. I'm assuming that's because they are open constantly.
This is really helpful in terms of hunting down the specific cause. Again, I wonder if it's just that the Y is less intensive production and so the components aren't as fresh going in. Would be interesting to hear if you react to a 3 with white interior or a Y with black interior.
asus389
Member
The early model 3s had different seats and had real leather steering wheels I think.
Anecdotally I’ve had similar reactions to dark synthetic fabrics in clothes, although it’s not very consistent. It seems to be worse with recycled polyester.
Both 2020 cars (3,Y) were at an event that Tesla Ran where people made appointments and did test drives. The model X belonged to a friend.
Anecdotally I’ve had similar reactions to dark synthetic fabrics in clothes, although it’s not very consistent. It seems to be worse with recycled polyester.
Both 2020 cars (3,Y) were at an event that Tesla Ran where people made appointments and did test drives. The model X belonged to a friend.
Last edited:
It could be the paint that they use in the "vegan leather" and maybe the white has less paint. Sounds like we have a similar issue. Yeah I know they changed the seat style. But they could have also changed glues etc as well. The difference between the early 2018 and mid 2018+ has me seriously thinking about selling mine and buying one of those early models. It's that dramatic. Do you own a 3 now or thinking of buying (sorry if I missed that)?
asus389
Member
My wife is in the market to replace her current car. We rented a 3 twice on Turo in late 2018 to see what it was like. We went to an event that Tesla was putting on to offer test drives so she could see the Y since our local Tesla gallery doesn’t have one yet. The S and X cars have been friends cars.
Last edited:
The "new car smell" are literally chemicals you are smelling so yeah those "people" don't know what they are talking about.
Similar threads
- Article
- Article
