Refused Deliver 4/26 - should I get repair or new VIN?

[amitmishra4]

I have to say, as much as I am excited for my 3 and rooting for Tesla to succeed, this is starting to sound more and more ridiculous by the day. This is not some Kia (no offense and honestly neither should they accept any of these issues) but a nearly $60,000 luxury car and to have to deal with this kind of stress despite paying that sum of change is unacceptable.

@gbdc You did great and caught a dozen issues but maybe there are more than didn’t meet your eye, maybe even internal - a typical buyer (myself probably) may not have caught those items soaked in the excitement of taking delivery of his/her dream car and noticed these flaws over a week and that would have resulted in some sour taste and regret(barely acceptable when ordering a bad meal but tolerable for the loss in time and money).

I also understand there are checklists floating around for pre delivery inspections.. but why should there be any? After spending that kind of money, you expect not just a certain level of quality but service as well and that is the last thing you should be worried about when taking delivery of your brand new vehicle. I am sorry for the people that are experiencing these issues and it certainly mars the “Tesla” experience even hearing about these. Rant over. -Another NJ prospect owner.

 

[Phrixotrichus]

Absolutely unacceptable for a car in the 60k$ range. Request a new VIN!

 

[beantownrich]

Dare I ask what your VIN number is (as I prepare to pick up my car next week)?

 

[Homer's Dad]

If it were me in your shoes then I would almost certainly reject the car, though I would probably have steam coming out of my ears after having waited so long for it to actually arrive. The faults you list are totally unacceptable for a brand new vehicle, especially one that is being marketed and sold as a "luxury" car. I do worry that quality control might be compromised in the mad dash to increase production numbers. Your own example does nothing to promote the brand, sadly. From a purely selfish perspective I truly hope that cases such as yours are no longer an issue once the M3 eventually becomes available in the UK - especially given we are talking perhaps 2 years into the future. I sincerely hope you get your situation resolved quickly and without further pain!

 

[cgrubbe]

Nice job catching all of that, it's unfortunate that owners have to be looking at their cars so critically after so many years.

If it were me, I'd get them to fix what I can and accept the rest as the price I'm paying for the big dumb grin every time I get to floor it on a freeway entrance ramp or when a light turns green.

Having said that I'll echo what someone else already pointed out, it's your money and you have to do what you feel comfortable with. Best of luck to you and welcome!

 

[gavine]

I'll throw-in my 2 cents and I preface this with the fact that I'm not one to nit pick about panel gaps and such. I would ask myself, does the car look good going-down the road? If I accept delivery, will these things bother me a year from now when the honeymoon is over? My early VIN Model X has some issues, but I love the vehicle and I don't even notice anymore. Everyone is different though.

I would have them fix the issues as best they can and accept delivery. There's no guarantee that a new VIN will be better and you might have to go-through that whole process again.

 

[MistaEV]

When we bought our house, it was a brand new build. One of the major issues we had was in the basement which was a walk-out (instead of a walk-up). The door leading out of the basement to the backyard would drag on the door casing and caused deep scarring. At first I was okay with them putting a strike plate in as it was a good work around on an otherwise (at the time) seemingly good product (had other issues later that we discovered before closing and after inspection/closing, things that a regular inspection would not catch). However, I thought about it over the weekend then demanded that they replace the door and fix the door casing. In my mind, brand new, freshly built house should not have these 'fixes' in place. It should be redone completely especially if it is not the same as rebuilding the foundation of the home. In an older home, I would be more accepting of things like this since the door may have fallen out of plumb through the course of the home settling (I also live fairly close to the Marine Corps' artillery range, oorah! <----Devil Dog).

Later we found that they never sealed the top portion of the new door so water got in and was causing mildew in the walls and frame around the door. They fixed this but this was only one of a slew of actual major issues with the home that we found AFTER the fact. I don't blame the inspector, some of these things were not easily detectable. In any event, new products should not have such large deficiencies and if they do, they should be QC'd out of circulation. I would deny my car if it had these noted issues especially as it pertains to panel gaps.

 

[SDRick]

I would tell them you want a new vin. Tell them if they happen to get the first car repaired to your satisfaction before the new one arrives, you will take it.

 

[jimmyjohn]

I'm always confused when I see a giant list of issues and no pictures within the post...

 

[SDRick]

I'm always confused when I see a giant list of issues and no pictures within the post...

Good point!
It is difficult to provide accurate feedback without seeing the severity of the complaints.

 

[gbdc]

Dare I ask what your VIN number is (as I prepare to pick up my car next week)?

Hi the VIN was 13XXX range

 

[gbdc]

[EDIT with UPDATE - 2 days later] Hi - after reading through all the comments, I chose to have Tesla repair the issues. Long story short, I have way too much going on in my life... I just want to get something reasonable and move on. I'm still giving my trust to Tesla they will do the right thing for whatever it's worth.

However, still some drama after I decided to not request VIN.

• Delivery perso promised to call me the next day morning, but did not.
• I called them 4 times only to get their voice mail. I then called their sales line and got immediately connected to a person. She shared this happened because the person got sick and they had too many customers. I understand stuff happens, but don't like it when coincidences happen at convenient times.
• Took 30 min to talk through issues. They acknowledged issues 1, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9. They offered to have a body shop fix it. That left 2, 3, 7 as unresolved.
• For 2 and 3, they advised not trying to fix due to the car's design (seriously?!) I asked them to just make it less noticeable even if not perfect. He said they will try but no commitment what so ever.
• For 7, I asked to have the car doors and glass panels re-inspected to be sure no material issues. They said they do that anyways, but I'm skeptical at best given all that so far. This is the one that bothers me the most because it doesn't make sense why that will happen.
• In addition, I asked them to adjust the windows so they roll down to the same height. They said they'll try but also again no commitment.
• In all conversations... I appreciated them trying to remain professional and clear on the details. I didn't appreciate the strong undertone these are all cosmetics only and repair is the only option.

After writing these, I actually wonder if I should have demanded VIN just because the guy started giving the "other card dealers" vibe from trying to sway me so strongly to not requesting a new VIN. I may actually do that if repair comes back crappy.

This experience is giving me new perspectives on Tesla as an investor. They created a beautiful tech that others will have trouble catching up - but they are so bad at scaling actual operation especially when it comes to humans. Look at their operation. Look at all the turn-over at exec levels and key engineers. Now I see it with embarassing quality issues which they are basically outsourcing to local body shops to fix.

Building cars need people, not just software. I'm sorry but indications are piling up their workers are either untrained or sloppy. This delivery experience is showing they are understaffed at best and likely missing key checks and balances. The people also seemed junior or inexperienced.

Anyhow... thank you all for options, thoughts and information. Hope all this helps with next owners in waiting...

ps. Also it's my mistake I didn't take any relevant photos to share. Ones I took turned out out of focus or not at the right angle showing the issues. I asked Tesla to send me photos afterwards but they sent only pic for only one issue (paint chips) that doesn't actually show it either. I know how it sounds - but I was dead tired end of a very long day for what it's worth.