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My ongoing Model 3 troubles since day one!

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After one hell of a terrible experience with an Eniro 64kw new car failing me on a trip to france I dodged a bullet and rejected it. Long and agonising story short the car can go into a mode where it will not charge anywhere without alerting the user there is a problem and you can imagine several chargers down the road you run out with no way of charging up and a disaster of a recovery process.

Joy to the world the Model 3 is available in the UK now and so I decide to trust in the brand and order a model 3.

I hired a car to drive down end of Sept to Heathrow on pickup day. For some reason I ended up with a toe hitch SR+ rather than just my order of black SR+.

I get taken out the the car (have it all on video) 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. I say to one of the Tesla staff is there any way I could take one of the cars over there they look in much better condition. Nope sorry cant do that take it or leave it but we will fix the problems quickly. As I am talking to my partner about this being unbelievable I am reminded by the guy are you ready to go. In the end we trusted the guy and thought ok a ranger will come out and sort these issues as stated.

As soon as we hit the motorway at 45mph there was a loud whistling noise, wow how annoying it is every time I go on a slower than motorway road to hear this above my head. Took the car to a large carpark to go eat and the left rear sensors had this large bubble sticking out not representing the parking space at all. I get the car home and realise while parking in the drive that the rear sensors were doing the same thing. Out of shape compared to the distances of the other sides.

I booked a service appointment with screenshots of the above mentioned it was a month away. I also added that all my rear lights had misted up. A week later my appointment was canceled because my sensors were driver error. I rebooked my appointment and it was a month ahead again. Lovely waste of time... A couple of days before this appointment I am emailed to see if I could send some photos in of the problems. I already uploaded them via the app but sent them in via email. I drove for 2 hours to milton keynes service center parked up and went through all the things with the service engineer. He circled the paint defects with a pen on the body. I pointed out the noise, defects in the paint, boot missing paint areas inside, tail lights, boot seal, miss aligned door etc. I was never offered a courtesy car and so I was offered an uber voucher to go into town to make myself busy for 4+ hours. I laughed inside and decided to walk and came back after that time. The only things that could be done were the door and the boot seal. Apparently the car needed to go to an approved paint shop and the other things could be done by a ranger. So why the hell couldn't they have told me or organised that before I arrived to do it all at once? What a waste of time.... didn't even remove the pen marks after.

I go home troubled by the poor organisation so far and book the car back in via the app. A few weeks later I am told a ranger will come out. Please could I again send in the pictures of the problem even though I had done via the app. Pictures went in of all 4 lights misted up bad and a ranger is set to visit. Ranger arrives on the date and tells me the lights he is about to fit probably wont fix the issues and he only has 2 of them not 4. I just say do what you have to do and so he replaces both inner lights. So I take the ranger out down the dual carriageway set autopilot to 45mph and the loud whistle noise starts and he confirms it, go back tape the front to which we also spot a nasty flat spot at the top of my front windscreen and also the edge of the middle one. He tapes the front up with blue tape and we go out again. The noise doesn't stop so he says he will report it back and will book an appointment. I then asked him so you will book another appointment? The reply was yes. He went off and I plugged in and noticed then one of the lights was chipped at the top. There was also glue spilt on my new boot mat inside the car for some reason? I also find new paint defects on the side rail of the car that is stuff again under the paintwork.

So after buying a new car supposedly it now has to have the top ripped off to put in new glass?

Was an appointment booked days later no... I did it for an appointment in 2 months sometime if February myself, what great service!

I sent Tesla an email to complain about this and after 2 weeks no answer. I have called and waited on the phone to be told I will get a call back that afternoon 3 times and did not. Sometimes people even hang up on you when you try to ask for someone who can take action a replacement car or start the rejection process. I have now been told to write another email with bullet points because the one of file is too detailed! So they can most likely reject the car.

What an experience so far Tesla and the 1000,s of people that watch me live on YouTube every day are now listening to this experience as it still unfolds and are in shock. I was very patient for 2 months but people should beware. Tesla You do 0 factory checks, allow customers to turn up without even notifying them their new car has obvious defects for the factory to pressure them out of the door with no care or attention. Its a car sale and after support disgrace. You are knowing inviting your buyers into repeated visits to fix their cars just to meet sales targets. My car is riddled with manufacturing defects what a day one experience!

For a laugh have a look how my Eniro was recovered from france by the RAC and KIA, is there a decent car manufacturer about these days?:
 
Sorry to hear you are having these issues. Unfortunately we get similar posts like this almost every day on this forum and they all have the same format:

1) I had a bad delivery experience
2) There were lots of things wrong with the car, including paint defects and misaligned body panels
3) I took delivery anyway and just figured they would fix everything.

The post then goes on to say:

1) They aren’t being very receptive to my concerns
2) I can’t get a response to my voicemail, email, service appointment request
3) They don’t want to fix some things I found wrong
4) I’m not happy

And the advice we give to every new buyer before they take delivery is the same:

1) Don’t be rushed through the delivery process
2) Don’t accept a car that has any paint defects, body panel defects, or other issues that require a follow up service appointment
3) If you do accept the car, get a written plan of action from Tesla prior to giving them any money on what they are willing to fix and how quickly. If they won’t give this to you...reject the car.

Unfortunately, too many people don’t take the time to read through these posts and learn from other people’s mistakes, and the cycle keeps repeating itself. So I’m not writing this to correct you for the things you missed, but to hopefully educate future buyers who can learn from your experience.

I hope you are able to find a satisfactory resolution to your issues.
 
Sorry to hear you are having these issues. Unfortunately we get similar posts like this almost every day on this forum and they all have the same format:

1) I had a bad delivery experience
2) There were lots of things wrong with the car, including paint defects and misaligned body panels
3) I took delivery anyway and just figured they would fix everything.

The post then goes on to say:

1) They aren’t being very receptive to my concerns
2) I can’t get a response to my voicemail, email, service appointment request
3) They don’t want to fix some things I found wrong
4) I’m not happy

And the advice we give to every new buyer before they take delivery is the same:

1) Don’t be rushed through the delivery process
2) Don’t accept a car that has any paint defects, body panel defects, or other issues that require a follow up service appointment
3) If you do accept the car, get a written plan of action from Tesla prior to giving them any money on what they are willing to fix and how quickly. If they won’t give this to you...reject the car.

Unfortunately, too many people don’t take the time to read through these posts and learn from other people’s mistakes, and the cycle keeps repeating itself. So I’m not writing this to correct you for the things you missed, but to hopefully educate future buyers who can learn from your experience.

I hope you are able to find a satisfactory resolution to your issues.

Appreciate it! I post so others can learn also.
 
Rejected card are not returned to the factory
They’re spiffed up and resold.

If it’s not right, don’t wait 7 days

Return it and reorder a different configuration or color

Or stay eternally mad
 
You stated at the beginning they had given you a different car than you ordered ( toe bar when you had not ordered one). Why did you accept it , given the defects and that fact ? Mad.

It's easy to be wise after the event compared to the excitement of wanting to play with a new car, the salesman's promises and perhaps not having another alternative vehicle at home. Yes it should have been rejected but far more important is the issue of Tesla failing to PID and resolve issues before giving out a car all due to their constant push to shift inventory each quarter and ignore customer service.
Perhaps time for one solid Watchdog type TV program to stir them up before their UK operation crumbles.

These cars are great to drive manually but build quality, service access, automation, promises and warranty all suck. With only 1% of the UK car market they have to try a lot harder 'cos many of us would think twice before getting another tesla (I had my heart set on the new roadster but experience is putting me off). I plan on dumping my S before the 4 yr warranty. If Tesla haven't sorted themselves out then unless there is a new network of fast chargers and alternative nice EV's I'll be back in a conventional car I can get fixed and fuelled anywhere.
 
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My problems are minor compared to the OPs but it is certainly true that Tesla need to improve their transport, PDI and some components of the M3. My experience so far would suggest their service centres are overwhelmed by the volume of rectification work they are dealing with. 2 of my paint problems were almost certainly damage in transit. I started off with an appointment to get 3 minor paint problems rectified but by the time of the appointment - only 7 days from collection, I was also reporting intermittent camera faults and a fog light full of condensation.. Service told me that condensation issues were common with our wet climate - not a problem in sunny California. 2 days after delivering to the SC appointment they haven’t started work on the car. The bright spot is that I have a model S loan car with free supercharging!

I think it must be a very difficult decision to reject a car on collection day. The car has been paid for and in many (most?) cases, the previous car will have gone. Just getting home may be an issue. If the faults appear to be fixable and the car driveable taking it and getting it sorted would seem to be an easier option.
 
You accepted the car at delivery rather than decline it.

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

This is in addition to any rights that the consumer has, its just Tesla's policy which they don't compliment by saying problems will be fixed then months away they are not.

How are we supposed to know that they aren't going to fix the car as they promised.
 
After one hell of a terrible experience with an Eniro 64kw new car failing me on a trip to france I dodged a bullet and rejected it. Long and agonising story short the car can go into a mode where it will not charge anywhere without alerting the user there is a problem and you can imagine several chargers down the road you run out with no way of charging up and a disaster of a recovery process.

Joy to the world the Model 3 is available in the UK now and so I decide to trust in the brand and order a model 3.

I hired a car to drive down end of Sept to Heathrow on pickup day. For some reason I ended up with a toe hitch SR+ rather than just my order of black SR+.

I get taken out the the car (have it all on video) 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. I say to one of the Tesla staff is there any way I could take one of the cars over there they look in much better condition. Nope sorry cant do that take it or leave it but we will fix the problems quickly. As I am talking to my partner about this being unbelievable I am reminded by the guy are you ready to go. In the end we trusted the guy and thought ok a ranger will come out and sort these issues as stated.

As soon as we hit the motorway at 45mph there was a loud whistling noise, wow how annoying it is every time I go on a slower than motorway road to hear this above my head. Took the car to a large carpark to go eat and the left rear sensors had this large bubble sticking out not representing the parking space at all. I get the car home and realise while parking in the drive that the rear sensors were doing the same thing. Out of shape compared to the distances of the other sides.

I booked a service appointment with screenshots of the above mentioned it was a month away. I also added that all my rear lights had misted up. A week later my appointment was canceled because my sensors were driver error. I rebooked my appointment and it was a month ahead again. Lovely waste of time... A couple of days before this appointment I am emailed to see if I could send some photos in of the problems. I already uploaded them via the app but sent them in via email. I drove for 2 hours to milton keynes service center parked up and went through all the things with the service engineer. He circled the paint defects with a pen on the body. I pointed out the noise, defects in the paint, boot missing paint areas inside, tail lights, boot seal, miss aligned door etc. I was never offered a courtesy car and so I was offered an uber voucher to go into town to make myself busy for 4+ hours. I laughed inside and decided to walk and came back after that time. The only things that could be done were the door and the boot seal. Apparently the car needed to go to an approved paint shop and the other things could be done by a ranger. So why the hell couldn't they have told me or organised that before I arrived to do it all at once? What a waste of time.... didn't even remove the pen marks after.

I go home troubled by the poor organisation so far and book the car back in via the app. A few weeks later I am told a ranger will come out. Please could I again send in the pictures of the problem even though I had done via the app. Pictures went in of all 4 lights misted up bad and a ranger is set to visit. Ranger arrives on the date and tells me the lights he is about to fit probably wont fix the issues and he only has 2 of them not 4. I just say do what you have to do and so he replaces both inner lights. So I take the ranger out down the dual carriageway set autopilot to 45mph and the loud whistle noise starts and he confirms it, go back tape the front to which we also spot a nasty flat spot at the top of my front windscreen and also the edge of the middle one. He tapes the front up with blue tape and we go out again. The noise doesn't stop so he says he will report it back and will book an appointment. I then asked him so you will book another appointment? The reply was yes. He went off and I plugged in and noticed then one of the lights was chipped at the top. There was also glue spilt on my new boot mat inside the car for some reason? I also find new paint defects on the side rail of the car that is stuff again under the paintwork.

So after buying a new car supposedly it now has to have the top ripped off to put in new glass?

Was an appointment booked days later no... I did it for an appointment in 2 months sometime if February myself, what great service!

I sent Tesla an email to complain about this and after 2 weeks no answer. I have called and waited on the phone to be told I will get a call back that afternoon 3 times and did not. Sometimes people even hang up on you when you try to ask for someone who can take action a replacement car or start the rejection process. I have now been told to write another email with bullet points because the one of file is too detailed! So they can most likely reject the car.

What an experience so far Tesla and the 1000,s of people that watch me live on YouTube every day are now listening to this experience as it still unfolds and are in shock. I was very patient for 2 months but people should beware. Tesla You do 0 factory checks, allow customers to turn up without even notifying them their new car has obvious defects for the factory to pressure them out of the door with no care or attention. Its a car sale and after support disgrace. You are knowing inviting your buyers into repeated visits to fix their cars just to meet sales targets. My car is riddled with manufacturing defects what a day one experience!

For a laugh have a look how my Eniro was recovered from france by the RAC and KIA, is there a decent car manufacturer about these days?:

Hi,

I will make sure to save your username as I have a very similar experience now going on 3+ months awaiting parts because the lack of thinking that went into to my service appointments wasting my time.

The Heathrow pickup person rushed us so much and tricked us into signing for the car having asked this isn't to handover the car yet as I want to check it over to which he replied no you can still check it over before signing this is just to put it in your account.

Turning up to a paint shop appointment that I waited 2 months for to fix delivery day issues and then to be told oh no we will just replace the part that will be another 8 weeks!!?!?

Seems like Tesla is falling apart by expanding too quickly and there are no plans to fix any of the issues, I mean Elon can put a rocket into space but it takes 8 weeks for a part to come from Califnoria!? No they are just to mean to spend the money on shipping at the customers expense!

If its not fixed early January I will be seeking a lower price for the car, rejecting it or getting it fixed or taking legal action

The car is decent apart from:-
-After sales support got fired
-Service centres waste customers time with repeat unnecessary appointments
-Smart charging is broken
-Voice recognition doesn't work
-Wipers are still random
-Key fob now doesn't let me open the doors first time due to delay
-Spotify works random
-Random lane keeping alerts when changing lanes on the motorway and the car taking over
-Random emergency SOS/GPS errors

So count me in for any updates on your situation!

This company is now valued at 73b but seems their customer service department might have left on Falcon 9!
 
Last edited:
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I'd be well hacked off if my car and service response was like that of the OP. I'd be rejecting now under consumer law. With hindsight a rejection at handover would have been better but a lot of us know what the "push" was like to get us out of the door. Fortunately most of us got a decent car with maybe just a couple of minor defects. For those who didn't there is clearly a lot of pain as Tesla is in crisis with after sales support - this is not hard to understand given that their growth has been phenomenal.

The true test will be how quickly they put it right - assuming they do! It's worrying that there are lots of early S and X owners on the Tesla Facebook group who are now getting thoroughly disenchanted as well. Tesla have to address this as an absolute priority else the crap will hit the fan. This then needs to be followed up by supercharger availability which also seems to have stalled a little. People will stop buying if the support infrastructure breaks down. I'm sure Elon is aware and ramping up but he needs to crack on. The car is superb but this alone won't be sufficient in the mid/long term.
 
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You description above of the issues seems very much at odds with your description on the eNiro video- since your still hawking your referral link for super charger miles on your Niro video
Was going to say the same thing.

I know it’s difficult to reject the car after you’ve built yourself to to getting it, and don’t have an alternative car (don’t get rid of that one before you’re satisfied?) but if you aren’t happy you have to be strong enough to walk away.

With that list of problems I would’ve rejected the car and asked them to call me once it had been fixed or a suitable replacement car sourced. If that couldn’t be done - well that’s a shame I guess my Tesla ownership is not going to happen.

People dropping £40k+ on cars or otherwise committing themselves to lease/PCP agreements on cars that aren’t fit for purpose, why?

The above said that’s not the first time I’ve read that Heathrow techs try and get you to sign the iPad pretending it’s not signing for the car. Shady af.
 
The above said that’s not the first time I’ve read that Heathrow techs try and get you to sign the iPad pretending it’s not signing for the car. Shady af.

Yes and they casually say schedule a service which turns into a 2 month wait for them to then order parts than never arrive months later...

I am sure they won't be happy when articles start appearing in the media telling the truth about all these growing pains that have been going on for years and now just accelerated!

You description above of the issues seems very much at odds with your description on the eNiro video- since your still hawking your referral link for super charger miles on your Niro video

So you ignore the whole thread and point to some referral link, perhaps he had hoped better from Tesla and had initially wanted to promote them, who cares about £60's worth of supercharging anyway when the £40k+ is not fit for purpose!
 
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