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New M3P Mechanical Issues

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I have only driven on the 18’s so I can’t share any personal experience with the 19’s. There are numerous threads comparing the 18’s to 19’s in this forum. In general people go for the 19’s primarily for looks and slightly better performance. They go for the 18’s for comfort and better range.

Even on my 18’s, if I’m driving on a bumpy road the cabin definitely feels busy. The Model 3 does not absorb bumps as well as my Lexus did, but I would not expect it to since it’s designed to drive more like a sports sedan than a cushy family sedan.

Good point, I think it really comes down to preference and what you are used to. I am coming from a C7 Grand Sport Corvette, which has sway bars as thick as axles so the M3P+ feels a bit soft to me, especially with the cushy seats. BMWs tend to ride firm so I would expect not much change for those prior owners but if you are used cushy sedans from Lexus, Cadillac, Lincoln, etc. then the M3 will feel firm. This is where magnetic ride suspension would be a nice option so you can have the best of both worlds. I had this in my Camaro and Corvette and you can go from comfy to feeling every pebble in the road with the turn of a dial.
 
Good point, I think it really comes down to preference and what you are used to. I am coming from a C7 Grand Sport Corvette, which has sway bars as thick as axles so the M3P+ feels a bit soft to me, especially with the cushy seats. BMWs tend to ride firm so I would expect not much change for those prior owners but if you are used cushy sedans from Lexus, Cadillac, Lincoln, etc. then the M3 will feel firm. This is where magnetic ride suspension would be a nice option so you can have the best of both worlds. I had this in my Camaro and Corvette and you can go from comfy to feeling every pebble in the road with the turn of a dial.

My model 3P feels a bit softer than the 2016 435 with Msport suspension I had previous to it. I always drove that car in sport mode, with the sporty suspension. The model 3P feels softer to me, but still sporty. I really like it, but these things are fully subjective. To the OP, it sounds like you already have decided to return the car, so you should proceed with that. Life is too short to have a ton of angst when you dont have to, and in this case, you dont have to, and it doesnt sound like you want to pursue fixing it so should just return it.
 
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Does the Model S come with air suspension?
I think air is the only option now?
mine has air but the coil S cars I have driven felt similar.
the 3 is super connected feeling in comparison but could use real racing dampers and springs.

I have heard speculation they will do an air suspension version of the 3 soon but that will probably be with a race/ludicrous package I'd guess? wouldn't hold my breath though
 
I have an August 2018 LR RWD with stock 18s and the ride is harsh and bumpy in my opinion, coming from my 2001 Lexus sedan which had much more comfortable suspension. I forgive it because model 3 drives like a sports car. But I can't recommend the car to most people in big cities because it's bumpy and jarring on rough city roads. Maybe the model 3 you rented is the same but the problem only shows up on certain roads, that's the case for me. Might need to return it and get a car with more comfortable suspension.
 
I have an August 2018 LR RWD with stock 18s and the ride is harsh and bumpy in my opinion, coming from my 2001 Lexus sedan which had much more comfortable suspension. I forgive it because model 3 drives like a sports car. But I can't recommend the car to most people in big cities because it's bumpy and jarring on rough city roads. Maybe the model 3 you rented is the same but the problem only shows up on certain roads, that's the case for me. Might need to return it and get a car with more comfortable suspension.

Coming from almost any lexus, the model 3 is going to feel "bumpier and rougher". I cant stand how lexuses (lexi?, lol) drive. Its all subjective and what a person is used to.
 
So I'm looking at new inventory cars and it doesn't seem any M3 LR AWDs have FSD, which is a deal breaker for me. So I'd be looking at 2-3 more months for a new car to be built.

They took my trade-in and there's no way to get that back, apparently, so I have to rent a car for several months now? Adding thousands to the cost of these already pricey vehicles. Not to mention now missing the tax rebate for 2019!

Online customer support basically tells me to submit a customer support request on the website, which just leads to a web faq (attached). They also are trying to rush me off the chat. That seems to be a characteristic Tesla customer service cultural value: "Rush Your Customer Out".

I will try just showing up at both service and delivery today, I guess? I have a feeling I'm about to burn an entire day on this and not get anywhere as I'll just be dealing with a bunch of clueless people trying to hand me off to someone else as quickly as possible.
 

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So I'm looking at new inventory cars and it doesn't seem any M3 LR AWDs have FSD, which is a deal breaker for me. So I'd be looking at 2-3 more months for a new car to be built.

They took my trade-in and there's no way to get that back, apparently, so I have to rent a car for several months now? Adding thousands to the cost of these already pricey vehicles.

Online customer support basically tells me to submit a customer support request on the website, which just leads to a web faq (attached). They also are trying to rush me off the chat. That seems to be a characteristic Tesla customer service cultural value: "Rush Your Customer Out".

I will try just showing up at both service and delivery today, I guess? I have a feeling I'm about to burn an entire day on this and not get anywhere as I'll just be dealing with a bunch of clueless people trying to hand me off to someone else as quickly as possible.

FSD can be added to any car on delivery, so I am not sure why you are letting that stop you. You would just order one and tell them to add it to the car before you pick it up.

EDIT: With that being said, tesla did not used to do "exchanges" which is a return and a re-sale, so you would have to return the car, wait for the refund deal with financing payments while waiting for refund, etc.

its definitely MUCH easier to drive down there and ask them to look at it, as @dmurphy suggested, but from your posts it appeared to me that you had already moved past that, and were proceeding down the process of returning the car, which is not "quick". At least its possible, with most other car purchases in california, "there is no cooling off period", so a return would not even be an option.
 
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FSD can be added to any car on delivery, so I am not sure why you are letting that stop you. You would just order one and tell them to add it to the car before you pick it up.

EDIT: With that being said, tesla did not used to do "exchanges" which is a return and a re-sale, so you would have to return the car, wait for the refund deal with financing payments while waiting for refund, etc.

its definitely MUCH easier to drive down there and ask them to look at it, as @dmurphy suggested, but from your posts it appeared to me that you had already moved past that, and were proceeding down the process of returning the car, which is not "quick". At least its possible, with most other car purchases in california, "there is no cooling off period", so a return would not even be an option.
Thanks, didn't know this. Does this include New Inventory models?
 
Latest update: just tried calling: two local service centers, my delivery center, a sales advisor, and asking for a call via customer service. Literally nobody picked up the phone, all just phone trees that hung up on me. Customer service chat bot/person said she'd 'get someone to call me'.

Still can't book service using the mobile app - still erroring out.

I'm now going to burn what I expect is the rest of today showing up at the service center and delivery center. I will probably just return the car at this point, I'm not sure how Tesla continues to do so well given this absolutely atrocious customer service and support. You think they'd try to support their new owners but it seems like the second they have your cash they give you the finger.
 
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Latest update: just tried calling: two local service centers, my delivery center, a sales advisor, and asking for a call via customer service. Literally nobody picked up the phone, all just phone trees that hung up on me. Customer service chat bot/person said she'd 'get someone to call me'.

Still can't book service using the mobile app - still erroring out.

I'm now going to burn what I expect is the rest of today showing up at the service center and delivery center. I will probably just return the car at this point, I'm not sure how Tesla continues to do so well give this absolutely atrocious customer service and support. You think they'd try to support their new owners but it seems like the second they have your cash they give you the finger.

I wouldnt bother going to the delivery center, I would go to the service center.. if you are intending on getting the car fixed that is. Tesla is hard to get on the phone in the best of cases, and right now at the end of the year it is no surprise at all that you cant get anyone on the phone, given how many cars they are trying to deliver right now.
 
Does anyone have the direct contact information of an Order Advisor, Sales Advisor, Service Advisor, customer support agent, anybody that they would mind sharing with me?

In the meantime I'm driving over to service to see if I can at least get a diagnosis what the issue is. Pending the results of that, then on to the delivery center to return, and then over to Hertz rent a car to pick up my new car :p.
 
I think those loud thunks are coming from the battery disconnecting or something. It's supposed to be normal based on what I have read online. Here is a repost of it.

"I got curious and did some searching and over on the Tesla.com site going back months there were reports of a thunking sound being heard by owners and most of the time when the car wasn't even moving. The explanation someone was given by service and mentioned by a number of owners was it was from the High Voltage contractors opening and closing. Notably after parking the car or waking it up. Some people however reported hearing the sounds throughout the night (which wouldn't be normal and also reported battery drain). Over the months some people said they noticed it happening after they got a particular software update. I think unless it's constant over hours and draining your battery it's just a normal EV sound.

Here's a few threads I found on the home site if you are interested:
Clunking noise when parked | Tesla
What the ever-living are the knocking noises? | Tesla

There's also this thread on TMC that seems related:
Thunk while supercharging"

Random Thunk While Driving
 
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Does anyone have the direct contact information of an Order Advisor, Sales Advisor, Service Advisor, customer support agent, anybody that they would mind sharing with me?

In the meantime I'm driving over to service to see if I can at least get a diagnosis what the issue is. Pending the results of that, then on to the delivery center to return, and then over to Hertz rent a car to pick up my new car :p.

Even if you have a broken part, etc. - that is giving you this problem - it does not say that you have a lemon.

I have purchased lots of cars that have developed problems early on. Once those problems were fixed, they rarely broke again.

Lemons tend to be recurrent problems that cannot be diagnosed by service. Most people do not know they have a lemon until weeks or months afterward.
 
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New Tesla owners are so cute. It's like parents of a newborn - worrying about every little thing. These cars make a lot of weird noises, which are perfectly normal. And new tires are going to ride more firm than tires that are worn in. Enjoy the car!!
 
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New Tesla owners are so cute. It's like parents of a newborn - worrying about every little thing. These cars make a lot of weird noises, which are perfectly normal. And new tires are going to ride more firm than tires that are worn in. Enjoy the car!!

Be that as it may someone should be available to explain this to the customer if it is in fact normal.

This is a communication breakdown that will result in a lost sale and bad word of mouth. They need to be better at this.
 
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When we got our first Tesla last December it was making a rattling noise any time we drove over a bumpy road. We were really worried there was something wrong with the suspension or some other major issue. We took it into the service center and went on a drive with the advisor where we were able to demonstrate the loud rattle. So they sent us home in a loaner Model S while they looked at the car.

A few hours later they called us back to say the car has been fixed. The problem? The VIN plate under the windshield had a loose screw and made the rattling noise. Since it’s right next to the steering wheel it’s easy for the driver to hear. They tightened the screw and sent us home.

And that’s the last time we ever visited a service center for two Model 3’s over the past year.
 
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