New Tesla Owner- Are these Model 3 Car Issues “Normal”?

[Mm2021]

Hi Tesla Family,

I’m officially a first time Tesla Model 3 owner after collecting my car today. I wanted to check a few things that I’ve picked up with my car in the first few hours of use and wasn’t sure if this was all normal, acceptable or if I should raise an SC issue for them?
- There seems to be a bit of condensation inside the windows of the rear passengers. At one point the entire left rear passenger window was fogged up with condensate and stayed there for the rest of my drive (about 30 mins). Photo attached of the “better “ side. Couldn’t obviously picture the worse rear passenger side as was driving.
- The wiring in the boot seemed to be exposed. The Tesla rep told me this was normal and could not be fixed? Photo attached
- The interior fabric seemed to ever so slightly be coming apart at the edge- again photo attached. Ask SC to fix?
- One of the rear door handles is recessed inside more than any of the other door handles. The Tesla rep told me this was within spec and could not be fixed?
-There’s a very minor misalignment (I think) at the boot- it’s so minor I would hesitate to fix unless you all think could cause problems later on?

Thank you so much for all your thoughts and opinion. It would be good to hear from all you experienced Tesla owners to know what’s normal and isn’t with this car. I’m painting a negative picture but honestly (so far) the rest of the car is amazing from what I can tell and have enjoyed every minute driving it.

 

[15Peter20]

I’ve got the rear door handle recession going on. My car is black so it’s less noticeable I guess, really a non-issue.

Condensation is fairly common. I tend to give it a blast of a/c to dry the air out.

If it stops raining I will go and check the other points!

 

[Irata]

The wire is exactly the same on mine,I never noticed before, but took me a few seconds to find the angle of your photo.

 

[Jason71]

pull out the rear handle and see if the plastic behind appears to be seated correctly. I have seen cases where "tabs" are sticking out. if its not seated correctly then they should fix. Compare to the other handles that are OK and see if there is any difference.

 

[Durzel]

I think all of those are "normal", to be honest.

I can't really see the misalignment of the boot in your photo, not sure what I'm looking for (that might speak volumes)

Window condensation, I would guess, is due to the the glass not mating properly with the rubber seal. Unfortunately being frameless there is always a degree of variability with these, but there is quite a lot of adjustment in all 4 directions with the window glass, so if you find it's making a noise or it lets water in when you wash it, etc then by all means ask for it to get fixed.

The door handle doesn't look obviously wrong, compared to other Model 3s I've seen. They generally tend to be recessed a bit than not.

You've got me wondering whether I need to check the interior fabrics to that degree (no offence).

 

[Adopado]

- There seems to be a bit of condensation inside the windows of the rear passengers. At one point the entire left rear passenger window was fogged up with condensate and stayed there for the rest of my drive (about 30 mins). Photo attached of the “better “ side. Couldn’t obviously picture the worse rear passenger side as was driving.

Looks like the glass needs to be realigned as it's not pressing onto the seal properly.

 

[Jez_GB]

FWIW the only issue that would make me twitch is the possible glass alignment, the rest would not detract from my enjoyment whatsoever




........... Of course the colour is totally the wrong shade of white, but within spec I'm sure

 

[Peteski]

mmm...... Just wondering if you always looks for "micro-defects" in your new cars or is this due to reading too many Tesla forums? It's a genuine question, not trying to be rude. There was a poster the other day complaining about tiny creases in a seat. It seems to me that new Tesla owners are becoming increasingly paranoid about build quality and spending way too long thinking about stuff that doesn't really matter.

Anyway if those are the only things you can find wrong, then you are doing pretty well. I had a lot more issues with poor panel fits and my door handles are recessed to varying degrees! I can't say I've looked that closely in the boot to find any exposed wiring. The window condensation sounds like an actual fault worth sorting.

 

[Roy W.]

Welcome to the club!

Looking at your photos, I think the only thing that may need doing is to realign the window to make it a better fit against the rubber. All the rest seem pretty minor tbh, but if they will bother you in the future by all means raise a service request with your photos attached and see if Tesla will rectify them. You need to be happy with your new car.

 

[Durzel]

If you're going to get the glass done you might as well ask about the recessed handle at the same time, since the glass needs to come out to make any adjustments to it anyway. It is "within spec" though, in terms of comparing it to other Model 3s.

 

[hoppo1979]

Cant speak for the other points but that rear door handle looks fine. My March 2020 came like this, the Tesla Mobile Tech took about an hour to sort it. The door is double skinned where the handle bolts in, he had to gently manipulate the door to sort it which he managed to my satisfaction.

 

[Envchem]

I would be worried about the window only; nothing else. No offence but that alignment thing looks like to be TESLA specific. I cant remember when I was hanging around on my previous cars forums anyone ever mentioning alignment checks or anything like this. I saw an i-pace recently. Belongs to the wife of a colleague; he brought it to work so I had a good look at it. The alignment on it was horrendous. When I mentioned it to him he was looking at me like I came from another planet.

 

[a1psx]

Yes, I think a lot of the issues come from BMW owners (I'm one) - they really do have great panel alignment from what I've seen. From the photos above I would look at the fabric issue - as that could fray in the future, misting could be due to other factors in the cabin - it should go - if it doesn't bring it up with the service centre.
I'm picking my first M3 up on Weds next week, I am worried about the paint as apparently you only have 100 miles to report it and I'll use 60 driving home.

 

[Drew57]

A slight fabric misalignment was the only issue on my April 2020 LR - fixed within 5 minutes by Tesla when I dropped into the SC just after receiving the car.

My rear door handles are recessed slightly more than an identical spec 2021 MIC LR that I looked at a few days ago but it never bothered me.

Condensation forms on the seals when I wash the car but as part of the drying process I open each door and wipe round with a microfibre cloth. It also happens occasionally in very heavy rain but I always accepted that this was a slight factor with frameless windows.

 

[BigBoy]

I had to report minor defects to Tesla in order to cover myself against the leasing company. Luckily the SC were pretty good and most of the issues were within spec and they said they'd record it for the leasing company.

The car is pretty much perfect, but we're put in that awkward situation.

 

[Mm2021]

Thank you so much to everyone for your thoughts! I am so grateful to you all for sparing your time in replying. It’s really helped guide. As it’s a lease- I’ve decided to raise the small issues on the app but I would not mind if they said it was in spec. The condensation issue is really the main thing after what you have all said that I really want looked at. Superb car overall and so proud to be a part of the Tesla owners team. Thank you so much again!

 

[Durzel]

To clarify my post, the glass doesn’t have to come out completely to adjust it, but 80% of the job in making an adjustment to the door handles is the same in adjusting the glass (removing door card, etc).

It’s actually quite an ingenious design, there is a screw that lets you adjust the glass in or outwards, to pull it towards the seal. It’s probably a 3 minute job in your case, once the card is off.