My ongoing Model 3 troubles since day one!

[CertLive]

I have no intention of brand hate or making a big deal I have been lurking here 2 months to see the bigger picture of sales and after sales repair to my car. The video above I had to cut out a lot of good parts of the car abuse because I didn't want to show peoples faces. It was given to many people. But just like with the eniro and now unfortunately with the Tesla I am creating a video of what it is really like to pickup this car from supposed new. Why? Because being fair on the phone / emailing and explaining things to many people does not get you a call back or notice. Complaining on air and writing to you fine people got me the first call back this morning. I see most people would reject here but I will make one attempt to ask Tesla to provide me with the day one car I should have had even if I have to wait for it. Lets see if they can produce a car of new quality I challenge them. If they cant sadly rejection will put me off I move on and hopefully the video with help people decide before buying or know what to do like many people here suggest swallow a lot of peoples wasted time and reject when you arrive. Just like my former EV I was meant to blog all my experiences. I just do not enjoy or am motivated to post up all the bad times this is why no content on my wheels yet. I hope not to waste too much more time.

 

[jmaddr]

It's barely been mentioned, but the fact that you got a different car than you ordered (the tow hitch) makes me worrythis car was already rejected once by someone else and attempted to resell to you. You should should have rejected it at delivery but I know how strong the pull of a new Model 3 can be since delivery of a new one could be some time. I would reject this one if you still can and can get some sort of drive quickly enough.

 

[CertLive]

It's barely been mentioned, but the fact that you got a different car than you ordered (the tow hitch) makes me worrythis car was already rejected once by someone else and attempted to resell to you. You should should have rejected it at delivery but I know how strong the pull of a new Model 3 can be since delivery of a new one could be some time. I would reject this one if you still can and can get some sort of drive quickly enough.

It was one of my thoughts as to why it was the only car with white writing on the screen in hindsight. Was it a rejected car?

 

[jmaddr]

Was it a rejected car?

MY spidey sense says yes, but in the bigger picture it doesn't really matter. From here I would concentrate on they either need to fix it ASAP or you return it within your rather generous 6 month period. If you can't get over this fact (and I'll admit it would be hard for me) then I would see if you can return it.

 

[OCR1]

So many of these issues could have been avoided by simply rejecting a car that has issues. I’ve taken delivery of three Model 3’s in the past two months and all three have been flawless. I also rejected two Model 3’s at the delivery center on the day we intended to pick them up because I saw some issues with them that I did not want to deal with.

Stories like these are posted almost daily. Spending just a few minutes reading through this forum could have prepared buyers for the delivery process and informed them not to sign any paperwork until they inspect the car, and not to accept a car with defects.

Now you are all stuck spending many hours of your time trying to resolve issues with Tesla, and you are posting negative comments about the car and the brand, which will scare away potential future consumers. There is no doubt Tesla has some growing pains to deal with. But these issues were so easily avoidable. And the majority of Tesla owners are extremely happy with their cars.

Smart people learn from their mistakes. Really smart people learn from other people’s mistakes.

 

[tvad]

Stories like these are posted almost daily. Spending just a few minutes reading through this forum could have prepared buyers for the delivery process and informed them not to sign any paperwork until they inspect the car, and not to accept a car with defects.

What you write is true, but the majority of future, non fan-boy Tesla buyers don't read Tesla forums prior to purchasing their cars.

Reporting of delivery issues and strategies would reach many more people if an article was published by one of the mainstream automobile/EV websites.

 

[navt]

Not sure why people would suggest "rejected" cars. As I understand it, cars are registered prior to collection/inspection. Once that happens, they cannot be sold as new, hence pre-reg stock sold as such. There is new inventory and there is used inventory. New inventory can very well arrive damaged in transit. If the customer decides not to accept on collection, I cannot see how Tesla can unregister the car and offer it to the next person.

 

[OCR1]

What you write is true, but the majority of future, non fan-boy Tesla buyers don't read Tesla forums prior to purchasing their cars.

Reporting of delivery issues and strategies would reach many more people if an article was published by one of the mainstream automobile/EV websites.

I get it. But these people must have done some research that led them to choose to buy their first Tesla over some other brand. If you were going to switch car brands, and go with a company selling a brand new technology that has only been in business for a decade, wouldn’t you want to at least know some basic information on how reliable the car has been? Just searching “Tesla reliability” in google would have led them to enough information to be prepared. How do you go out and spend $50K+ on a car from an almost brand new company without asking such an obvious question like how reliable is it?

EV websites have certainly published many articles on how overwhelmed the service centers have been. And Consumer Reports has published many articles on their constantly changing recommendations for Teslas based on reliability data from their surveys. So even reading a Consumer Reports article would have given them enough information to know they need to dig further before taking delivery to see what types of problems are common with these cars.

The most commonly reported problems in Consumer Reports are paint and body hardware defects. So that would seem to clue people in to look further into those issues when taking delivery and be sensitive to not taking delivery of a car that has these issues.

I don’t think you need to be a fanboy to be concerned about brand reliability before making a purchase, or to be prepared for the delivery process to make sure it goes smoothly. I think it’s just standard procedure for any major purchase you are planning to make to do some homework before making a purchasing decision.

 

[tvad]

You accepted the car at delivery rather than decline it.

You didn't return it within the 7 day return window.

Five disagrees on my post.

You folks disagree the OP accepted the car at delivery and didn't return it within the 7 day return window? These facts are contained in his first post.

 

[tvad]

I get it. But these people must have done some research that led them to choose to buy their first Tesla over some other brand. If you were going to switch car brands, and go with a company selling a brand new technology that has only been in business for a decade, wouldn’t you want to at least know some basic information on how reliable the car has been? Just searching “Tesla reliability” in google would have led them to enough information to be prepared. How do you go out and spend $50K+ on a car from an almost brand new company without asking such an obvious question like how reliable is it?

EV websites have certainly published many articles on how overwhelmed the service centers have been. And Consumer Reports has published many articles on their constantly changing recommendations for Teslas based on reliability data from their surveys. So even reading a Consumer Reports article would have given them enough information to know they need to dig further before taking delivery to see what types of problems are common with these cars.

The most commonly reported problems in Consumer Reports are paint and body hardware defects. So that would seem to clue people in to look further into those issues when taking delivery and be sensitive to not taking delivery of a car that has these issues.

I don’t think you need to be a fanboy to be concerned about brand reliability before making a purchase, or to be prepared for the delivery process to make sure it goes smoothly. I think it’s just standard procedure for any major purchase you are planning to make to do some homework before making a purchasing decision.

Your point of view is understandable. Perhaps more people should do as you state.

But clearly some, or many, don't.

Also, I never stated one must be a fan-boy to be concerned about brand reliability before making a purchase. What I wrote was that many people don't research Tesla forums to learn about brand reliability.

If Consumer Reports, Motor Trend, or Electrek, or Teslerati or any of the other sites that report on Tesla have published articles describing delivery strategies/dos-and-and-donts, then I've missed them. These are the websites that I believe would reach more readers. That's all I'm saying.

Overall, I agree with you. Cheers.

 

[jmaddr]

As I understand it, cars are registered prior to collection/inspection. Once that happens, they cannot be sold as new, hence pre-reg stock sold as such

That's certainly not the case in the US but quite possibly that is the case in the UK so apologize if I'm being ignorant here. At least in the US, rejected cars are sold as new all the time as they are never "titled. It's entirely appropriate and legal to do so.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Five disagrees on my post.

You folks disagree the OP accepted the car at delivery and didn't return it within the 7 day return window? These facts are contained in his first post.

I think there's a difference here between UK consumer law and that elsewhere, perhaps. Tesla can state that there is a 7 day window to return the car, but that isn't valid here in the UK at all. it's just hot air. The law here allows goods that are not of "merchantable quality" or "not fit for purpose" to be returned for a full refund much later than 7 days after purchase.

Tesla cannot just choose to ignore that - if they are selling cars here then they have to abide by the consumer laws that apply here.

 

[tvad]

I think there's a difference here between UK consumer law and that elsewhere, perhaps. Tesla can state that there is a 7 day window to return the car, but that isn't valid here in the UK at all. it's just hot air. The law here allows goods that are not of "merchantable quality" or "not fit for purpose" to be returned for a full refund much later than 7 days after purchase.

Yes, you are correct, and the OP educated me in his following post. Apparently, according to the OP, the return window is 6 months in the UK, yes?

 

[OCR1]

I think there's a difference here between UK consumer law and that elsewhere, perhaps. Tesla can state that there is a 7 day window to return the car, but that isn't valid here in the UK at all. it's just hot air. The law here allows goods that are not of "merchantable quality" or "not fit for purpose" to be returned for a full refund much later than 7 days after purchase.

Tesla cannot just choose to ignore that - if they are selling cars here then they have to abide by the consumer laws that apply here.

OK but in the US you can return the car within seven days because you simply decided you don’t like the car. There doesn’t need to be anything wrong with it.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

OK but in the US you can return the car within seven days because you simply decided you don’t like the car. There doesn’t need to be anything wrong with it.

Yes, you're right, Tesla offer the same "if you don't like it, return it for a full refund within 7 days" here too. That's an offer that's over and above their legal obligations here under our consumer law. I think the two issues, Tesla's offer of a refund if you just don't like the car, and consumer law regarding defects that simply shouldn't exist on a new car, are being accidentally conflated in this thread.

Most of the defects that are being noted by customers (excessive wind noise from badly fitted seals, water getting inside panels, under tray parts getting torn of when driving through standing water, panel and door misalignment, roof glass misalignment and poor sealing, failure to comply with the IEC 61851 charging protocol, paint defects, etc, etc) are all issues that fall under normal consumer protection law, rather than the specific 7 day return policy that Tesla offer.

 

[MrBadger]

Stories like these are posted almost daily. Spending just a few minutes reading through this forum could have prepared buyers for the delivery process and informed them not to sign any paperwork until they inspect the car, and not to accept a car with defects.

Many of us were not allowed to inspect the car at point of collection and duped into signing acceptance. Our inspection process was to report any defects within 24 hours/100 miles - not easy when its dark, wet and many return journeys were > 100 miles. Only so much you can inspect the car parked outside on the side of the road in the dark and wet. Basically sit in, check app, adjust seat, off you go.

 

[Rooster6655]

Stories like these are posted almost daily. Spending just a few minutes reading through this forum could have prepared buyers for the delivery process and informed them not to sign any paperwork until they inspect the car, and not to accept a car with defects.


Smart people learn from their mistakes. Really smart people learn from other people’s mistakes.

Yes but as it’s already been reported the delivery people tricked people into signing for their cars on multiple occasions and the only option then is to schedule a service.


I checked the issues and the paint work had been covered up with a temporary that you wouldn’t see at first glance after bring a second person with me also.


I would not assume everyone is stupid just because they put some trust into a company they are buying a luxury car from and when asking the person this isn’t signing for the bodywork then its true

Five disagrees on my post.


You folks disagree the OP accepted the car at delivery and didn't return it within the 7 day return window? These facts are contained in his first post.

Clearly you are ignoring everything posted. Tesla employees said they would fix the problems quickly this hasn’t happened in most cases.

 

[Rooster6655]

I have no intention of brand hate or making a big deal I have been lurking here 2 months to see the bigger picture of sales and after sales repair to my car. The video above I had to cut out a lot of good parts of the car abuse because I didn't want to show peoples faces. It was given to many people. But just like with the eniro and now unfortunately with the Tesla I am creating a video of what it is really like to pickup this car from supposed new. Why? Because being fair on the phone / emailing and explaining things to many people does not get you a call back or notice. Complaining on air and writing to you fine people got me the first call back this morning. I see most people would reject here but I will make one attempt to ask Tesla to provide me with the day one car I should have had even if I have to wait for it. Lets see if they can produce a car of new quality I challenge them. If they cant sadly rejection will put me off I move on and hopefully the video with help people decide before buying or know what to do like many people here suggest swallow a lot of peoples wasted time and reject when you arrive. Just like my former EV I was meant to blog all my experiences. I just do not enjoy or am motivated to post up all the bad times this is why no content on my wheels yet. I hope not to waste too much more time.

what do you mean by complaint on air?

Any tips to get a call back as far as I see only the legal system seems the best option

 

[Rooster6655]

Many of us were not allowed to inspect the car at point of collection and duped into signing acceptance. Our inspection process was to report any defects within 24 hours/100 miles - not easy when its dark, wet and many return journeys were > 100 miles. Only so much you can inspect the car parked outside on the side of the road in the dark and wet. Basically sit in, check app, adjust seat, off you go.

Yes exactly I’ve never been so angry with a company in my life, completely useless and I can see why you sold your shares as this company is going to pay the price eventually (regardless of current stock price) if they don’t sort their act out!

Seems like they can get away with it in America but I’m sure we will have more hope once there are enough complaints

 

[tvad]

Clearly you are ignoring everything posted. Tesla employees said they would fix the problems quickly this hasn’t happened in most cases.

I didn't ignore anything posted.

At delivery, the OP stated he noticed, "...a toe hitch SR+ rather than just my order of black SR+...there is white writing on the front screen like a second hand car lot. Rear door misaligned. Scratches front and back in the paint, paint defects, misaligned boot seal, side pillars covered in sticky glue misting them all up."

These are all pretty clear signs that the car should have been declined at delivery.