New 3PD. Issues: Paint pits, paint drips, front hood gouges, door sill scratches, no frunk mat

[SMAlset]

Same with us. Five BMWs, and four Porsches in the past 20 years. All were delivered in perfect condition with no due bill work required.

And do you know for a fact that no work had to have been done on all of your cars to begin with after delivery to the dealership? What do you think the chances of that are coming from factory, on carrier, to dealership, in dealership storage lot, and sometimes put back on carrier to "trade" with another dealership who has a buyer for that trim? If people think their cars come from factory and eventually into to their hands pristine, I don't know what to say.

 

[OCR1]

I don’t really care if the dealership addressed some blemishes prior to selling me the car as long as I don’t notice them when I’m taking delivery. As long as I don’t have to make follow up appointments and chase after Tesla to complete a due bill it’s not a big deal to me.

If Tesla addressed these things prior to the customer taking delivery we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But they don’t, so it puts the burden on the buyer to do a very thorough pre-purchase inspection prior to accepting the car.

When Elon first announced the 7 day return policy it sounded great. He made it sound as if you could easily return the car if you are not happy with it. Since the return policy was established, we have learned that Tesla takes 60 days to refund the buyers money. That’s a lot of time to be without a car and without $50K+. But what really sours the entire situation is Tesla’s refusal to let you order another car in the same trim level. That means you can’t just return the car because you discovered after delivery that it had defects.

And for those of you who get to pay the “net” sales tax after trade in (California not included) you lose the advantage of the tax savings as well. So for all of these reasons the 7 day return is highly impractical and should only be used as a last resort.

 

[candyfordays]

And for those of you who get to pay the “net” sales tax after trade in (California not included) you lose the advantage of the tax savings as well. So for all of these reasons the 7 day return is highly impractical and should only be used as a last resort.

You hit it right on the head. Unfortunately due to the trade in (46k), if I go the refund route, not only will I not be able to reorder the same trim and lose the free interior upgrade comp. but I won’t be able to get a refund to cover the full cost of a new vehicle. I feel forced into the decision to keep the car. The longer I thought about it, the option of a refund was never really an option unless I wanted to take further monetary loss. Ultimately this ends on me for not inspecting it closer at delivery time and I feel like an idiot. What’s done is done. I just have to try to make the situation the best it can be.

 

[VRUNNER]

And do you know for a fact that no work had to have been done on all of your cars to begin with after delivery to the dealership? What do you think the chances of that are coming from factory, on carrier, to dealership, in dealership storage lot, and sometimes put back on carrier to "trade" with another dealership who has a buyer for that trim? If people think their cars come from factory and eventually into to their hands pristine, I don't know what to say.

So here is the difference between Tesla and all other manufactures. Tesla’s are shipped via common carriers that are small firms capable of transporting 2-8 cars at a time. These are 3rd party contractors that bid on transporting Tesla’s. Low bid wins. Problem is the quality of those transporters runs from poor to excellent. I needed to ship my Corvette this past January from Utah to NJ and had a difficult time securing a spot because Tesla had the majority of the contractors tied up shipping M3’s.

When the shipping company arrived with my Corvette (intercity, excellent enclosed carrier) he has 3 Tesla’s, two M3 and 1 MS on the truck. There are so many crisscrossing the country they pick them up to fill their trucks. Obviously the 3 on his truck were transported exceptionally well. But that’s not the case for all of them. Some are very poor, thus the varied problems people see.

All other manufactures use auto carriers that have contracts with the auto makers. Some ship their cars covered, some are shipped enclosed. On the rare occasion a car is damaged there is a set claims process to document and repair it. Those repairs are supposed to be disclosed at time of sale.


I have worked at various dealerships in the past and bought lots of cars, only once was a car presented as repaired due to shipping damage, it was priced accordingly and included the repair details and cost.

Tesla has no such system, cars are delivered, obviously checking them isn’t done the same way, again leading to the various issues.

I was supposed to pick mine up last Thursday but like the OP found various issues, some manufacturing, some most likely caused during shipping. I declined the car. Repaints are very subjective. IMO painting a new car should be avoided at all costs.

 

[Nuclear Fusion]

The guy who will be applying paint protection film (no visible seams) with ceramic coating on my car told me what to look for prior to taking delivery (including how to angle the torch at the bodywork when checking)
He said the only car company in the world that ensures each panel has no blemishes is Rolls Royce

 

[nvx1977]

Not sure if this is still an issue, but when I took delivery in early 2018, they weren't protecting the front and rear bumpers. I had scratches all over the rear bumper and some on the front from the delivery. The chrome trim piece along the doors was deeply scratched, and my hood was not aligned well.

So I had Tesla fix via a body shop. I told them no paint; just buff out the scratches (and replace the chrome trim). Hood came back perfectly aligned. Chrome trim was replaced. Bumpers were buffed. Scratches were still visible but you had to know where to look to see them.

It's been 1.5 years now with the car. The initial woes are way in the past. But I've had an amazing car for all this time. It's just a frame of mind. Either you can make this into a huge "dilemma" or you can be chill and enjoy the car.


pic of some of the scratch damage on the rear bumper:

 

[MrMassTransit]

As long as they are willing to give you a due bill in writing, I'd get it fixed. That seems to be the best option at this point.

 

[Nuclear Fusion]

If you’re having protection film applied, you can’t accept delivery

 

[SMAlset]

So here is the difference between Tesla and all other manufactures. Tesla’s are shipped via common carriers that are small firms capable of transporting 2-8 cars at a time. These are 3rd party contractors that bid on transporting Tesla’s. Low bid wins. Problem is the quality of those transporters runs from poor to excellent. I needed to ship my Corvette this past January from Utah to NJ and had a difficult time securing a spot because Tesla had the majority of the contractors tied up shipping M3’s.

When the shipping company arrived with my Corvette (intercity, excellent enclosed carrier) he has 3 Tesla’s, two M3 and 1 MS on the truck. There are so many crisscrossing the country they pick them up to fill their trucks. Obviously the 3 on his truck were transported exceptionally well. But that’s not the case for all of them. Some are very poor, thus the varied problems people see.

All other manufactures use auto carriers that have contracts with the auto makers. Some ship their cars covered, some are shipped enclosed. On the rare occasion a car is damaged there is a set claims process to document and repair it. Those repairs are supposed to be disclosed at time of sale.


I have worked at various dealerships in the past and bought lots of cars, only once was a car presented as repaired due to shipping damage, it was priced accordingly and included the repair details and cost.

Tesla has no such system, cars are delivered, obviously checking them isn’t done the same way, again leading to the various issues.

I was supposed to pick mine up last Thursday but like the OP found various issues, some manufacturing, some most likely caused during shipping. I declined the car. Repaints are very subjective. IMO painting a new car should be avoided at all costs.

Tesla was contracting out for the carriers when Model 3s were first being shipped. After running into bottlenecks with carrier companies, they bought at least one carrier company we heard about in the news. With vastly increased numbers of Model 3s being ordered and shipped from that early delivery issue time frame, I will say I haven’t heard any other carrier supply issues being reported and have no idea what the size of their carrier fleet is now.

So tonight while sitting at a light near 101 and 152 eastbound, we saw a carrier loaded full with cars. Not Teslas. No covers and open. This Gilroy area has a number of dealerships right down the street to the west on 152 so guessing maybe these cars came from one of those dealerships and were being delivered to another location. Found it interesting in light of the discussion on car carriers and reaffirming the open transporters that I’ve seen regularly in this area of California.

Sorry your delivery has been postponed but if you aren't happy with the car’s condition you were right to reject it. As for the paint issues, while I agree that it’s not desirable to have any corrective paintwork done, life is such that if you’re not fully wrapping your car, you’re likely to be getting road stone chips anyway requiring touch up at some point in time. And even wrapping it is no guarantee depending on circumstances beyond PPFs protection level. So after rejecting a a car with some minor paint issues, you could still find yourself with basically the same paint issues. Heck someone could total your pristine car the next day too. Perspective is everything.

 

[tvad]

And do you know for a fact that no work had to have been done on all of your cars to begin with after delivery to the dealership?

It’s all about the quality of the car at delivery.

The delivery condition of the OP’s car was sh*t in my opinion. Not up to standards of any respectable dealership from any brand. Tesla should be ashamed of the product they provided this buyer.

If people don’t get it, then I don’t know what to say.

 

[Litigate28]

Sorry to hear OP. I’m about to go through this myself today. Delivery scheduled for this afternoon and got a call last night there’s a visible dent in the rear quarter panel. They said I can refuse, let them fix it and then take delivery or take delivery and then a due bill.

I have incentives so I have to take delivery by 9/30 or lose them, so looks like I may have to go the due bill route.

 

[Schroeder0202]

Sorry to hear OP. I’m about to go through this myself today. Delivery scheduled for this afternoon and got a call last night there’s a visible dent in the rear quarter panel. They said I can refuse, let them fix it and then take delivery or take delivery and then a due bill.

I have incentives so I have to take delivery by 9/30 or lose them, so looks like I may have to go the due bill route.

How are these cars even making it to the point of delivery with damage?? Its a disgrace they would even present a car like this.
Have you seen the pages and pages of brand new cars on ev-cpo with less than 1000 miles. These are all returns for some reason or another and I assure you its not because the customers didnt like the ride. Im guessing they all have some sort of defects or were rejects.
This is what Tesla needs to fix, the quality control and will save them millions of dollars. There is no reason cars should be shipped with paint defects or fitment issues. They are in such a rush to build cars and sell cars there is no quality control taking place which is very sad. I have a great offer from Tesla to trade in my car this month and get a new one but the only thing holding me back is the quality of whats coming out of the factory right now. Very few if any cars are coming out as clean as the early models is my personal opinion.

 

[Faksnima]

How are these cars even making it to the point of delivery with damage?? Its a disgrace they would even present a car like this.
Have you seen the pages and pages of brand new cars on ev-cpo with less than 1000 miles. These are all returns for some reason or another and I assure you its not because the customers didnt like the ride. Im guessing they all have some sort of defects or were rejects.
This is what Tesla needs to fix, the quality control and will save them millions of dollars. There is no reason cars should be shipped with paint defects or fitment issues. They are in such a rush to build cars and sell cars there is no quality control taking place which is very sad. I have a great offer from Tesla to trade in my car this month and get a new one but the only thing holding me back is the quality of whats coming out of the factory right now. Very few if any cars are coming out as clean as the early models is my personal opinion.

I'm confused - everything I've read is the contrary. The cars coming out now seem to be in better shape with more polish than the ones from '17, '18, and early '19.

 

[Schroeder0202]

The data shows otherwise. I think they had a few good runs then rush rush rush.
"Oh the car has many paint issues and fitting issue, ship it." At some point you cant get mad you just shake your head and feel sad.

 

[WilliamG]

How are these cars even making it to the point of delivery with damage?? Its a disgrace they would even present a car like this.
Have you seen the pages and pages of brand new cars on ev-cpo with less than 1000 miles. These are all returns for some reason or another and I assure you its not because the customers didnt like the ride. Im guessing they all have some sort of defects or were rejects.
This is what Tesla needs to fix, the quality control and will save them millions of dollars. There is no reason cars should be shipped with paint defects or fitment issues. They are in such a rush to build cars and sell cars there is no quality control taking place which is very sad. I have a great offer from Tesla to trade in my car this month and get a new one but the only thing holding me back is the quality of whats coming out of the factory right now. Very few if any cars are coming out as clean as the early models is my personal opinion.

You’ve reached a faulty conclusion if you ask me. Most cars have little or no issues. The people with actual major issues are a very vocal minority, as they should be. But don’t let that put you off.

 

[Johnii__82]

See this:

Fit & Finish Issues - Which ones would you ask to be corrected?


See today delivery at finland. Also thin paint noticed.