Panel mismatch

[jlghertner]

yiu guys are driving me nuts w all the production problems. I’m not a perfectionist but....having built airplanes, I make every part fit perfectly, every seam exactly the same , every painted part match perfectly.

Then after reading about panel misalignments, I went out to look at my one year old Tacoma. The hood is a noticeable 1/8” lower on the left relative to the adjacent panel. I ran my finger on the door seams and left my garage shaking my head. You have made me a neurotic!

Maybe I’ll just keep my old Subaru that burns oil, rattles like a rototiller, and is so loud it turns off my hearing aids. No way!

 

[Tdriver]

Quit being concerned about panel gaps and be concerned that the drive system, brakes, suspension, and electronics are all working properly.

 

[TT97]

yiu guys are driving me nuts w all the production problems. I’m not a perfectionist but....having built airplanes, I make every part fit perfectly, every seam exactly the same , every painted part match perfectly.

Then after reading about panel misalignments, I went out to look at my one year old Tacoma. The hood is a noticeable 1/8” lower on the left relative to the adjacent panel. I ran my finger on the door seams and left my garage shaking my head. You have made me a neurotic!

Maybe I’ll just keep my old Subaru that burns oil, rattles like a rototiller, and is so loud it turns off my hearing aids. No way!

I'm in the same boat. I have never notice panel gaps or paint discolorations. After reading all the posts, I went out to look at my C300 and noticed not all the panels lined up perfectly - now I know but doesn't concern me too much. Don't know if it came from the factory that way or from three years of hitting potholes.

 

[slotti]

My bosses 100k Jag has 1/4" misaligned panels....Jag says it is within tolerances.
Funny how Tesla is being burned by this when every single manufacturer out there cannot do much or any better.

 

[ranss12]

This is a self-reinforcing issue. I've purchased may 10 or so new vehicles in my life. I've never went over them with a fine tooth comb before taking delivery. I never would have noticed minor paint splotches, panel gaps, scratches in tail light lens, wrinkled seats, etc. What I was concerned with was reliability. Now I feel that I need a checklist to help guide my delivery inspection. Maybe the buyers doing these hyper-inspections are hardcore car guys, but I'm not. I wax my car maybe once a year - wash them maybe once a month. The paint flaws that people are talking about would never be noticed on my cars. I'll probably be more forgiving at the delivery center than most posters here on TMC.

 

[Visscher]

I found a lot of issues with my X when I picked it up. Most of them have worked themselves out. FWD's didn't line up. Now, 10,000km later, they have settled into place. FWD's wouldn't close, they kept sensing an obstacle. Now they have calibrated themselves better and work perfectly. But we love driving it, and have not had any issues at all, and our gas bill went down $1000/mo. Tesla has had a lot of silly obstacles thrown at them, but the product is so good that they will do just fine.