My ongoing Model 3 troubles since day one!

[CertLive]

*shrug*

It doesn't look that bad to me? Not to the point where it stands out. Obviously it does to you, so I would say - as before - that if you are looking for Mercedes level fit and finish you aren't going to find it on any Tesla and would be better off getting rid?

I think as a part of the cars structure and strength I am concerned that it has an issue getting worse and there is no information on if the replacement parts are any better just like the lights which were changed for lights with the same fault running in circles with glue. Bolted on with the fact I am now experiencing what its like to buy a new car from Tesla and not being able to talk to an owner yet who has not had their car in a service centre right after purchase. Its not the first set of cars off the line and I don't think Tesla even have the confidence they can replace the car with one without issues. To start to even think this is being seen as normal should ring alarm bells in the car industry and should be communicated to customers before they purchase somehow. Badly needs a 7 year warranty and at what point does Tesla stop producing prototype grade cars?

 

[Durzel]

And the warped glass on 2 panels? Alignment is the least of the production issues there... This is a ridiculous amount of issues to see through the factory floor. Its like saying its alright this is the new standard for a £40K car to be given to a customer. Even £70+ if you include the other models. Its not right by any standards of car production. Tesla are meant to set a new bar here. Now quickly the reputation is not bright at all when you remove the fact it runs on a battery. I have no affiliation too apart from buying one and quickly realise the customers satisfaction is not valued at all.

This is all in your opinion though.

I don't know where you're getting that they're trying to set a new standard for fit and finish on a £40k car. That seems to be wishful thinking to me?

I don't dispute that there are issues on your car, or that it's not a particularly great standard compared to other cars in the same (and much less) bracket.

But, critically, if you walk around any Model 3 or indeed any Tesla you will probaby see similar issues. You either have to make peace with the fact that you're paying for the tech and the brand, and the car comes free, or you can't - and you need to get rid of the car otherwise it's always going to frustrate you.

For what it's worth I don't think your issues, as far as what you've shown in the photos, are particularly remarkable or likely to cause any specific problems in the future. If they do, you have the 4 year warranty to fall back on.

I'm not trying to belittle your issues, I'm just saying that you're not going to find the level of precision you're looking for in ANY Tesla, regardless of price. They aren't at that standard yet, and they seem to be selling the cars as fast as they can make them, so I'm afraid they aren't likely to turn into Porsche overnight.

 

[CertLive]

This is all in your opinion though.

I don't know where you're getting that they're trying to set a new standard for fit and finish on a £40k car. That seems to be wishful thinking to me?

I don't dispute that there are issues on your car, or that it's not a particularly great standard compared to other cars in the same (and much less) bracket.

But, critically, if you walk around any Model 3 or indeed any Tesla you will probaby see similar issues. You either have to make peace with the fact that you're paying for the tech and the brand, and the car comes free, or you can't - and you need to get rid of the car otherwise it's always going to frustrate you.

For what it's worth I don't think your issues, as far as what you've shown in the photos, are particularly remarkable or likely to cause any specific problems in the future. If they do, you have the 4 year warranty to fall back on.

I'm not trying to belittle your issues, I'm just saying that you're not going to find the level of precision you're looking for in ANY Tesla, regardless of price. They aren't at that standard yet, and it doesn't seem to be affecting their sales so they don't have much inclination to.

Nail on the head there. "doesn't seem to be affecting their sales so they don't have much inclination to." This is where it is not about making things better but lowering the standard of a cars fit and finish in this price bracket. Lets add in the £80k bracket as well with the model X. If a company is at the point after 8 years of going into mass production and still letting this kind of quality through then I wouldn't buy a Tesla out of warranty because you are in for a rough ride. Did anyone add up the CO2 impact of wasted time repairing things that should of by now been sorted out plus if this trend continues into the future models?

 

[WannabeOwner]

Like @Durzel I feel your frustration, and understand your expectation.

doesn't seem to be affecting their sales so they don't have much inclination to

but this is wrong. Tesla have improved hugely since the originals, fixing stuff effects their bottom-line, and Tesla are always cutting costs soo I am very sceptical that they are turning a blind eye.. Not wanting to make excuses, but I don't think sweeping-statement is right either.

not being able to talk to an owner yet who has not had their car in a service centre right after purchase

here's a recent thread, plenty of "no faults" reports (but of course might just be that their expectation has been met; speaking for myself I'm not particularly fussy on such things, car, for me, is very much A-to-B. Only time it gets washed is at Supermarket if there is some significant collection-from-station type event coming up. I've picked up 4 cars since last June and one of them had a panel gap fault which was fixed at collection in 10 minutes, the rest passed my PDI )

Anyone NOT had any issues with their Model 3?

My only thought is that you try a different service centre (assumption geographically possible). I read high-praise for some, from time to time, might be somewhere else will do a better job of fixing it. Notwithstanding tat the whole "book an appointment" process is atrocious.

 

[Durzel]

You're only going to hear about problems on forums, disproportionately so. People don't tend to say how amazing their car was, unless they were already participating here.

There are certainly real issues that some experience, and the ones I've read about are pretty basic QC things that shouldn't have got past PDI. Then there are issues that relate to expectations, or even unfamilarity with the car - e.g. how the glass roof panel is manufactured to be smaller than the windscreen, so it will always look relatively misaligned.

I think generally speaking if you go in expecting Porsche/Mercedes level of quality, fit and finish you're setting yourself up to be disappointed. If you can't get past that emotionally, then you're going to struggle to get on with the car I think.

 

[Rooster6655]

but this is wrong. Tesla have improved hugely since the originals, fixing stuff effects their bottom-line, and Tesla are always cutting costs soo I am very sceptical that they are turning a blind eye.. Not wanting to make excuses, but I don't think sweeping-statement is right either.

I understand that they have improved since the S/X days but the problem is not their wanting to cut costs they are seriously overwhelmed with all the cars being delivered and their SC now got to the point of making silly mistakes which end up costing them and the customer time and money like fixing the wrong things on the car that don't need fixing, then having to come back again.

You're only going to hear about problems on forums, disproportionately so. People don't tend to say how amazing their car was, unless they were already participating here.

Well I really don't think that is a fair comment there are plenty of people praising Tesla on here and who disagree with posts of negativity, its like saying a only a certain demographic drives a Tesla

Nail on the head there. "doesn't seem to be affecting their sales so they don't have much inclination to." This is where it is not about making things better but lowering the standard of a cars fit and finish in this price bracket. Lets add in the £80k bracket as well with the model X. If a company is at the point after 8 years of going into mass production and still letting this kind of quality through then I wouldn't buy a Tesla out of warranty because you are in for a rough ride. Did anyone add up the CO2 impact of wasted time repairing things that should of by now been sorted out plus if this trend continues into the future models?

If its been nearly 6 months do you not have a contact at the service centre who has been dealing with your issues, the service managers have the ability to fast track appointments which sounds like your best bet, otherwise you will be stuck with all these people getting deliveries this month especially if they just tell you to come back again.

 

[CertLive]

You're only going to hear about problems on forums, disproportionately so. People don't tend to say how amazing their car was, unless they were already participating here.

There are certainly real issues that some experience, and the ones I've read about are pretty basic QC things that shouldn't have got past PDI. Then there are issues that relate to expectations, or even unfamilarity with the car - e.g. how the glass roof panel is manufactured to be smaller than the windscreen, so it will always look relatively misaligned.

I think generally speaking if you go in expecting Porsche/Mercedes level of quality, fit and finish you're setting yourself up to be disappointed. If you can't get past that emotionally, then you're going to struggle to get on with the car I think.

You are only going to hear lots of problems if there are lots of problems. Why I found here as well. Tesla's non existent quality control and fix after strategy in effect. There is no evidence my car ever had a PDI at the factory or when it arrived as Tesla will not provide this. The glass is warped badly which is ringed in red. Lets try and say match Ford or Kia,s level of quality at that price bracket first before you mistakenly match the other names they are nowhere near. You know over the past week I have had the great luck of telling more than 30,000 people my experience so far. No need to exaggerate or make it up and if people get offended because their dear brand plain sucks at making cars to a standard. Then if you total that over the handful of weeks that,s 100,000's and I show them the pictures and tell them the responses and you realise that despite all the great strides forward. None is looking back to see if its being done right. Its negligence. Why it landed on my lap well... seems like the chances were high.

 

[CertLive]

If a Tesla is so sustainable then why does it only have a 4 year warranty?

 

[Durzel]

It sounds like you would be better off getting shot of the car really.

 

[Rooster6655]

If a Tesla is so sustainable then why does it only have a 4 year warranty?

what is your plan to get things fixed? Thought you were going to send it back?

 

[WannabeOwner]

the problem is not their wanting to cut costs they are seriously overwhelmed with all the cars being delivered and their SC now got to the point of making silly mistakes which end up costing them and the customer time and money like fixing the wrong things on the car that don't need fixing, then having to come back again

I agree, and don't understand it. I can understand that ramping up Car Service takes time ... have to acquire/expand premises, train mechanics, get/train more staff in call centre proportional of number of vehicles on the road etc. But clearly it needs to happen, and thanks to the "Model-3 pre-register" bonanza the number of pre-orders in UK (and each other country) was well known years before cars started arriving. Loads of time to ramp up the service side.

I also don't understand why the cost of the current service & support model doesn't figure on a senior manager KPI spreadsheet and thus something gets done. Current service model is overwhelm call centre with trivial requests like "which boat is my car on", instead of a best-of-breed website "customer love" approach, and also hand over of cars that fail basic PDI rather than fix them first. This isn't new to Model-3 deliveries, Tesla Back Office has been atrocious for as long as I can remember (my first was ordered in 2015)

But this hasn't happened on sufficient scale, except the Heathrow Handover Warehouse, in the building next door to the original Tesla showroom ... maybe they had it all along and it was used for something else. Zero faults on deliveries would help - clearly much better to fix the cars at the factory than at each service centre; that only leaves damaged-in-transit which is either going to be majorly-bent, or minor scratches. I presume you can't get a panel-gap in transit, any more than in normal motoring.

In Norway they have a central "factory". Cars at service centres that can't be "solved" promptly/at all are taken to "factory" for sorting out. Its an interesting idea - centralise skills / "scale" instead of having them at each "dealer location". I'm sort of imagining that cars that are not DOA will be able to drive themselves to the "service factory", so punter proximity will no longer be an issue. But of course opinions vary on when FSD will happen

 

[CertLive]

I just watched a random video on the Model Y and found that this new production car also has the imperfections and warping in the glass. So is this when its produced or under stress when its put in place and driven I wonder? Look at the video from 2:29 and its very similar to what my car has and obviously is common place even in the new cars.

 

[Rooster6655]

It sounds like you would be better off getting shot of the car really.

I agree, despite liking the drive of the car, I think Tesla's lack of refinement isn't for everyone

 

[MrBadger]

I got the same. I've asked Tesla to note possible stress marks just in case the roof shatters in the future, but I'm not expecting anything else. I am however expecting to have the drivers glass panel removed and resealed due to an air leak so may get a new panel out of them as glass removal apparently often does not end well.

I would be more unhappy with how flush the glass was to the roofline and how airflow may be blocked along the length of the roof at the edges. You seem to have a bit of a shadow along the edge as if the glass waved along the roofline indicating a vertical lip in places. This may cause increased wind noise.

 

[Rooster6655]

I also don't understand why the cost of the current service & support model doesn't figure on a senior manager KPI spreadsheet and thus something gets done. Current service model is overwhelm call centre with trivial requests like "which boat is my car on", instead of a best-of-breed website "customer love" approach, and also hand over of cars that fail basic PDI rather than fix them first. This isn't new to Model-3 deliveries, Tesla Back Office has been atrocious for as long as I can remember (my first was ordered in 2015)

I would not be surprised if they are organised behind the scenes at all, right now it looks like get everything out as quickly as possible and resolve issues later.

They want to focus on the growth of sales rather than the whole customer experience, which they can get away now as a their sales are not high compared to legacy automakers but long term in order to succeed they need to make sure that the customer is happy.

But this hasn't happened on sufficient scale, except the Heathrow Handover Warehouse, in the building next door to the original Tesla showroom ... maybe they had it all along and it was used for something else. Zero faults on deliveries would help - clearly much better to fix the cars at the factory than at each service centre; that only leaves damaged-in-transit which is either going to be majorly-bent, or minor scratches. I presume you can't get a panel-gap in transit, any more than in normal motoring.

Well I think it also comes down to they don't have 'delivery staff' so they don't have time to fix the issues and for the other 2 months of the next quarter staff can be fixing customer issues or something along these lines.

 

[WannabeOwner]

They want to focus on the growth of sales rather than the whole customer experience,

Yup, I agree, but the cost of that model is pretty hefty ... surprised they haven't shown any sign of improving that over at least the last 24 months

Why is VIN hidden, and no online delivery status info available? I know its easy to say "that's easy to put on the website" ... I build websites for a living, so I can guess at some bottlenecks and snags, but even so the cost of punters calling the call centre instead is much bigger ... and takes call-centre bods away from closing-sales and money-making stuff like that.

I keep thinking "there has to be a reason" why the back office systems are sh..ocking but I haven't heard of a good one yet ...

for the other 2 months of the next quarter staff can be fixing customer issues

That sounds highly plausible. I reckon that state exists in all countries (assuming USA is also seasonal, within a quarter, allowing for production-focus on EU/AU/JP etc. at appropriate periods of the quarter to get cars-onto-ships). If so then every country has ebb-and-flow to do fixes between shipments.

Maybe Elon figures that XX% of punters don't care enough / won't spot minor flaws, so that saves the cost of fixing those at all at PDI, and that some tiny 0.Y% will care enough to reject the car - in which case bring someone forwards on the waiting list and make them happy.

 

[Rooster6655]

Why is VIN hidden, and no online delivery status info available? I know its easy to say "that's easy to put on the website" ... I build websites for a living, so I can guess at some bottlenecks and snags, but even so the cost of punters calling the call centre instead is much bigger ... and takes call-centre bods away from closing-sales and money-making stuff like that.

Clearly they could make a small effort and just do a blanket update for all cars on route rather than anything complex, it must come down to not really seeing it as important.

I keep thinking "there has to be a reason" why the back office systems are sh..ocking but I haven't heard of a good one yet ...

It must come down to the developers have multiple jobs and probably not a dedicated team for the website, it took them 2 days to update the tax info for the grant, so they had a day where orders will have to be cancelled/amended as it was after the PIG deadline, they could at least have turned it off.

 

[CertLive]

I got the same. I've asked Tesla to note possible stress marks just in case the roof shatters in the future, but I'm not expecting anything else. I am however expecting to have the drivers glass panel removed and resealed due to an air leak so may get a new panel out of them as glass removal apparently often does not end well.

I would be more unhappy with how flush the glass was to the roofline and how airflow may be blocked along the length of the roof at the edges. You seem to have a bit of a shadow along the edge as if the glass waved along the roofline indicating a vertical lip in places. This may cause increased wind noise.

Yes I think you are right, I have considered this noise factor. Adding in that rubber loop defiantly helped lower this above our heads. Enough for us to notice the different before and after easy. I will need to make sure the glass parts replacing it are worth doing as I now know even the newest model Y presents the same issues. That is why I am wondering if you hold up the glass did it have the flat spots or is it stress on the glass in situ and the use of the car causing it.

 

[CertLive]

So today just before the UK goes into mandatory home lock down I used 3 new products to clean. Snow foam, a wash and a water repellant before drying. I have not had much luck with the paint on this car, more spots from under on the front etc so far but what I found once I had given the car a wash surprised me. The first 2 photos below are pictures of the same place. Rear quarter above the wheel arch. You will see the passenger side is turning grey and scratched up like its super thin. Compared to the drivers side photo of the arch the paint is as expected. I treat this cars paint as best I can but it looks to me like I have another thing wrong with the paintwork. Its quite a large area that looks like the paint is thin and older than the rest of the car. I guess I will request Tesla fix this after the lockdown. But none the less the paint job and glass defects are very disappointing, the rest is great. I must have got one of the bad batch in this regard.

The other pictures show how good the rest of the paint looks with this 3 step treatment.

 

[linux-works]

wow.

and on top of all that, they put the steering wheel on the wrong side!