Poor Model 3 Delivery Experience (photos + video inside)

[jebinc]

I have no idea where this needs to go, and I doubt posting here will do anything, But want to share my Model 3 experience in Vancouver, Canada . Ill post most of the email here, which I sent to their support email. I really am surprised there isn't really anywhere to send these complaints that will actually do something about it. Correct me if Im wrong. Any advice would be appreciated.

"I want to share my subpar experience with my Tesla Model 3 delivery on June 25/2019. The overall experience with staff wasn't too bad. My sales person ****, was fantastic when originally ordered on July 4. Others in between also were satisfactory. However, at the delivery is when things started to be a poor experience for me. Firstly, it seemed the staff were in a constant hectic state, unable to give the customers the care and time they need to feel at peace and content with their purchase. Buying a new car is a special experience for people, and Tesla certainly doesn't make it feel that way. In fact, the Vancouver delivery office feels completely temporary, like a pop up shop. In any case, the whole thing felt extremely rushed, and that asking the staff for something you were bothering them, as they were scurrying all over. Overall the staff were pleasant given their circumstances, minus a few exceptions. The main point I would like to bring to your attention is the the quality control on the cars -- it is abysmal to say the least. It has left an awful sour taste in my mouth and am really disappointed with the way things turned out, as a first time Tesla buyer.

Please see below for all the issues I had with my car. Some I noticed there at delivery, some couldn't be seen until the car was washed and detailed myself, as it was relatively dirty when I received it. I really am upset about this whole situation and will do my best to describe the issues.

1. Cracked wood and chipped wood dash piece (reported to Tesla at time of delivery)

2. Roof liner dirty with hand prints (reported to Tesla). One of the employees said "there's not much we can do, it's cosmetic". That's a huge component to the car is it not? How can I be given a response like that? Cosmetic issues doesn't mean the issue is any less important. I would argue it's just as important as any other issue in a 70k+ new car. I pushed him further to try to replace the panel while I am here, but this wasn't an option apparently. He offered to try to help remove the stain. The guy used some soap and a rag to wipe most of it off, but there is still remnants of a faint black mark which is of course unacceptable to me. He said, "we can keep trying but that's probably the best it will be". I told him to note my file and he said "I'll try to note your file but most likely nothing can be done, they won't replace it". I'll "try" to note your file? How can that be an acceptable response? Basically he's telling me, "you are out of luck, nothing we can do". But it sounds like the staff have just been accustomed to these kinds of issues and just brush them off.

3. Chip in hood (Reported at delivery, they took 30 mins and put some touch up paint on it)

4. Scratches / scuff areas on bumper. Multiple, in 3 different spots in same area. (Reported at delivery, the one obvious area were buffed, but in the sun at home they are clearly visible. Couldn't see in the others in lighting at time of delivery).

5. Nick / chipped paint on door handle (not reported , not noticed til washed)

6. Blob of glue near door release on driver side

7. 3 really obvious tennis ball size discolored areas on one panel in the paint. I'm told this is from wetsanding in the base paint and not polishing before clear coating, ie. a rushed and lazy job. This can apparently not be buffed as it is not in the clear coat but under neath in the base layer.

8. Big u shaped scratch on the front hood, near emblem (noticed after wash)

9. One door not closing as easily as the rest , requires more force and doesn't sound the same as the others

10. Blotchy and uneven clear coat on driver door handle

11. Scratched plastic panel on driver side panel

12. Missing USB cables for charging

13. No Nema 14-50 adapter. In my original discussion purchasing the car, I believe I was told this adapter would be included. Instead all I got was the 110V adapter instead of both.

Please see photos and videos below:
Issue #1) Imgur
Issue #4)

Issue #7)

and

Issue #8)

Issue #10) Imgur
Issue #11) Imgur

Overall, car drives great, my friend is getting a Model 3 next week so I will compare the door issue to his to see if its really a problem or they are all like that to some extent. Im really just hoping to be able to go to a body shop at my own convenience and get reimbursed for that. Is that likely to happen? I can't really seem them giving me a satisfactory resolution. I dont want to repaint a door but if I have to I guess I will.. but on my own time and at my own leisure. Regarding the wood, it will take 2 weeks for a mobile guy to replace it.

Wow, after reading this poor delivery experience, I wonder why you still accepted the car. And if you plan to return it before seven days pass? Not all M3's are delivered like this. Mine was delivered in June and was flawless (thank goodness).

 

[camalaio]

Wow, after reading this poor delivery experience, I wonder why you still accepted the car. And if you plan to return it before seven days pass? Not all M3's are delivered like this. Mine was delivered in June and was flawless (thank goodness).

To re-iterate previous posts, accepting the BC provincial incentive ($3000 or $5000 off, depending when they ordered the car) negates the 7 day return policy because upon signing for the incentive, you agree to not transfer ownership of the vehicle for the first year. This isn't Tesla's fault, but is annoying.

That compounded with the fact that BC is extremely busy with deliveries due to the incentives means that at best a lot of cars get treated somewhat poorly. Seems most are delivered with some level of minor scratches, mine included, that they may or may not have said they can fix that day and to come back later. Some actually get more damage due to all the moving around they have to do, perhaps also due to the underground parking. For example I'm certain my front passenger side was damaged and fixed prior to delivery, the paint there is very dull and does not match the rest of the car if you look closely.

Issues like OP's should have never left the factory and stand out to me. This isn't something that got mistreated in the BC delivery rush and resulted in minor scratches that can be fixed. This is a combo of bad paint/topcoat and perhaps extreme neglect before delivery (that wood, ugh). They seem to have a lot of pressure to deliver vehicles even in sub-par condition. And due to the way they handle deliveries here ("they're inspected", "we have a process", "register the car first and then we'll go do the delivery") they imply you can trust them and then tadaaa, this.

 

[jebinc]

To re-iterate previous posts, accepting the BC provincial incentive ($3000 or $5000 off, depending when they ordered the car) negates the 7 day return policy because upon signing for the incentive, you agree to not transfer ownership of the vehicle for the first year. This isn't Tesla's fault, but is annoying.

That compounded with the fact that BC is extremely busy with deliveries due to the incentives means that at best a lot of cars get treated somewhat poorly. Seems most are delivered with some level of minor scratches, mine included, that they may or may not have said they can fix that day and to come back later. Some actually get more damage due to all the moving around they have to do, perhaps also due to the underground parking. For example I'm certain my front passenger side was damaged and fixed prior to delivery, the paint there is very dull and does not match the rest of the car if you look closely.

Issues like OP's should have never left the factory and stand out to me. This isn't something that got mistreated in the BC delivery rush and resulted in minor scratches that can be fixed. This is a combo of bad paint/topcoat and perhaps extreme neglect before delivery (that wood, ugh). They seem to have a lot of pressure to deliver vehicles even in sub-par condition. And due to the way they handle deliveries here ("they're inspected", "we have a process", "register the car first and then we'll go do the delivery") they imply you can trust them and then tadaaa, this.

I missed the Canada location - my error. I said it was Tesla's fault for the same reason you point out, "Issues like OP's should have never left the factory and stand out to me." In any case, it just pains me to see a car like this being presented to a customer.

 

[mediaboy]

Wow this is totally unacceptable. The fact that a vehicle in this condition left the factory is an indicator Tesla is struggling in manufacturing. The dealer-less model is also not working. Most car dealers would have intercepted this and never put this car in front of a customer.

I don’t care about fanboyism. This *sugar* is unacceptable and Tesla won’t be in business much longer with this kind of quality.

It would cost them nothing to do the QA work in the factory but they seem to insist on customers doing that work and some of you are surprised this company has the reputation that it does.

 

[khaltire]

Just a quick update here guys.

I found a couple other issues

1. left USB port doesn't work, only right. Narrowed it down after lots of testing

2. Scratch on trim near steering wheel
Imgur

3. Glue/scratch near headliner
Imgur

3. Mismatched windshield wiper cover. One is new and one looks like its off at 10 year old car
Imgur
Imgur

However, these are just minor in comparison to the difficulty Ive had trying to resolve any of these issues. Since I posted this thread, I still havent heard back, including emailing all Tesla support emails, including the delivery centre where I was instructed by my sales person to send an email. Its becoming harder and harder to defend to my colleagues and friends whats happening here. I am at a loss for words, Im not really sure how to proceed. Literally after sale, you are just ignored. This echoes other people's experiences. I cant even imagine what will happen if my car breaks down as some people have experienced.

 

[SonOfSimon]

The suspense is killing me. Did you hear back khaltire? This is not good. So sorry. We just picked up our 3 last weekend in Vancouver. Great experience, and the car is (so far) flawless. The "delivery expert" said they are moving out 25 per day average, and as many as 100 in one day from that single location. They have staffing issues due to the high demand. Truly amazing how many 3s are in Vancouver (and Victoria, where we are from) now. I believe the paint issues, and body panel fit issues are much improved lately, but your situation should not have happened. Hopefully they are taking care of you now.

 

[mswlogo]

I think some of these issues are silly. Your gonna be seen as someone they can never satisfy, so why bother doing anything. Obviously some are more serious. I’d focus on the more serious ones. You might take it to a detailer that can do “paint correction” first. The less Tesla does, the better off you are. Some issues might be easily corrected without repainting. Get those out of the way first. Things like a little scuff on the door sill won’t be noticed with other scuffs that will happen shortly.

I’m curious if this was a inventory car or ordered. How many miles on it when delivered.

Those tennis ball blotches look like the worst issue and not sure they need repainting or not. Is this a solid black car?

 

[khaltire]

Hey sorry for lack of update.

I'll summarize as best I can. After about three months they contacted me, however by that point I had to take matters into my own hands because I use his car for business and I didn't feel that it was professional with the big marks on the side . I also had planned to vinyl wrap the car as well. I was only able to put my life on hold for 3 months before I decided finally to just move on with my plans for the car. I didn't want to wait anymore just to get an email reply back. I ended up going to a detailer to polish and buff the whole car, this remove most of the tennis ball-sized marks and some of the scratches, but not all. I then vinyl wrap the car, escalated to Tesla beyond the regular customer service and sent them the bill for the detailing before. I regret to say they did not do anything about this nor reimburse me for the detailing or polishing cost.

Regarding the scratched wood, they replaced it . I received approval from this escalated person by email. However when I schedule my service stating I wanted the wood replaced and I arrived they said they didn't have anything on file and they had no record that this piece needed to be replaced. Figures. I spoke with the manager there and showed him the email and he said he could approve it. Luckily they had the piece in stock, however it still took four hours for it to be replaced. I was given a rental car which I had to leave the area to go pick up, to a completely different location however they did take me over to that location.

Regarding the windshield, they were able to try to buff it out with polishing compound. It did not restore the windshield to its original finish, it's actually quite sticky now and it never looks clean no matter what even after fresh wash. I'm pretty a dissatisfied with this and asked hem for a replacement, I'm still waiting to hear back. The manager said they would be able to offer this if this didn't fix the glare.

They also put on my file that they will replace some of the plastic pieces that are scratched, so that's nice of them. They also are going to replace my seat if I so choose because the bolster was installed incorrectly and it's all wrinkled straight from the factory, it cannot be replaced without replacing the seat. I thought this was a little ridiculous because I don't really want my seat replace but, it is pretty ugly and they told me that it was installed improperly in the factory. I have not decided if I will go for this as it seems like it would have potential to have a lot of issues down the road or something else could go wrong.

I asked what they could offer me in terms of compensation or anything of that sort after all this trouble. The only thing they offered me was a USB cable and maybe a 1450 adapter. To which I replied I've already bought both in the three months delay. I asked for supercharging credits however I've been waiting about a month to see if that's approved or not because it has to go through California. the manager said they typically don't approve that sort of thing in Canada, they are the strictest regarding supercharging.

Regarding the car, it was ordered not inventory.

 

[Csamika]

You get what you ask for. If you want to inspect the car before paying for it you have to tell them that is what you will be doing. It’s not as black and white as you make it out to be. I’ve done five deliveries now and every time they have tried to tell me how it will be done, and every time they ended up doing it my way.

Very curious of your 5-time delivery advise. What is your routine?

and @khaltire so sorry about this shitty experience. At least none of these were serious drive-related problems but nonetheless it's an expensive purchase and we are right to expect more from Tesla. I am holding my breath that my vehicle is not coming with all sorts of issues. i'm on day 43 awaiting my VIN.

 

[SMAlset]

BTW The USB phone cable and the 14-50 adapter were part of what came with the cars here in the U.S. until a little while ago. Assume the same is true for Canada and I think whether it was included might have depended on the manufacturer date of the car, so possible the store person might not known what you’d get. Model 3s use to come with one phone cable for an iPhone and one for an Android but people were trying to find others to trade out one for the other frequently. So I guess the solution was let people just order what they needed. And then for many it became a moot point and they didn’t want either because they installed their own wireless charging pad (cables still charge faster).

As for the 14-50 I think it was just an adapter that many left sitting unused. Here the J-1172 which I think you got (unless different for Canada) is used a lot for L2 chargers like ChargePoint or EVGo locations. People who have garages usually have at least a 110 outlet so it can help get them by initially so has always been included. We installed a 14-50 in our garage but the HPWC is also very popular for charging at home so again I think they decided not to package unnecessary adapters that might sit unused. Sorry you were disappointed and maybe misinformed about these two items.

Regarding the windshield issue this sounds like maybe what I noticed on my car windshield that was determined to be clearcoat overspray. Sort of tiny spots that I could notice only when the sun for example was at a certain angle. I posted some photos in a thread on here a while back. The service center was able to remove most of it from the windshield, saw a bit left over afterwards and I guess over time the rest has seemed to have cleared up by itself as I haven’t noticed it in a long time...have had my car for over a year now.

 

[WayneWA]

before I say anything else about issues I would like to say support here in Australia has been a little hit and miss but Tesla Staff have been great for the most part, Callum in Sydney was the poor chap I sent my complaints/issues to and he set wheels in motion.
I waited best part of 3 years for my 3 didn't even get the referral klms initially because a system issue and was told we'll fix that before you get the car (they didn't) ok so long wait, money paid, zero government incentives here in Australia so bummer on that one.
day before delivery a call? my 3 has been damaged in transit and they want to fix before handing over, a week delay but as a sorry they would allow the referral to be credited to my account (should have been done already so no gift there).
new delivery date comes round another call, delayed again because nobody scheduled the truck OR I could go to a location they selected by UBER at Tesla cost to collect my car, I chose this option, turned out this location was a Subaru delivery carpark under a tree in bright sunshine, I couldn't see the defects due to the dappled light.
while the young fella introduced us to the car he noticed a broken switch on drivers seat and ordered a replacement, only when I got home I started to see the issues, we love the car absolutely best thing ever, my Jag feels terrible in comparison (don't tell the wife as she drives the jag now lol)
ok the faults: 1. dent on left rear quarter panel, 2. dent lower half of door left front 3.marks on frunk in paint look like chemical spillage won't wash off. 4. scuff marks inside frunk. due to second delay delivery call promised a further 1500klms supercharger credit for inconveniences, it hasn't happened YET, the initial transit damage has been repaired faultlessly.
overall I wouldn't send the car away but these issues really took the shine off it at the start, we had to cancel a trip due to the delays, luckily I didn't lose much with cancellations and have rescheduled.
Six weeks after delivery the switch for seat arrived and I got the call to go in and it was replaced while having a pleasant chat with the tech my grandson sat in the car playing the car game.
the tech was great, fixed the switch, couldn't do much with scuffing in frunk so gave me a set of Tesla approved floor mats (missed the one for the boot though) which was nice and an acceptable workaround.
the paint and dent issues he took a look and we scheduled a new appointment with the paint shop so hopefully they will be fixed then.
I am still waiting for the second klms credit but considering here in Western Australia the nearest supercharger to me is 160klms away I can wait for the credit lol.
ok well that's my delivery experience, I appreciate Tesla staff doing their best to accommodate, definitely never had any negative "we can't do anything about that" from them only positive efforts, shame the delivery and issues were marred but that's life I guess.

 

[SonOfSimon]

BTW The USB phone cable and the 14-50 adapter were part of what came with the cars here in the U.S. until a little while ago. Assume the same is true for Canada and I think whether it was included might have depended on the manufacturer date of the car, ...
As for the 14-50 I think it was just an adapter that many left sitting unused. Here the J-1172 which I think you got (unless different for Canada) is used a lot for L2 chargers like ChargePoint or EVGo locations.

Yes, in Canada, the USB cables stopped being included in April '19. Same for 14-50. The Model 3 does come with a J1772 adaptor.