Refused Delivery Today

[vijichamu]

I didn’t take delivery of my car today at Bellevue, WA. Car arrived Bellevue on June 15th, since I could only take delivery on saturday I left my pickup unchanged. Called few times before making my final payment to see if the car is all good and has been inspected. Till yesterday the service rep said the vehicle is all good and inspected and good to go.

Today when I showed up to pick up, first issue glass had hair line crack just right above the driver seat for almost 1 feet. Still we were willing to take delivery as they said they will fix the glass next week. Next started to look at the other details of car. Lots of paint issues, swirls / paint holes on the frunk hood paint, tail light alignment, scratches on the inside panel,... we did sticky notes for each issue and stuck it on the car.

The delivery specialist and the operations manager came in and said that they are going to keep the car and have the service team look at all the notes stuck on the car. For sure they have to change the glass roof, they are going to see if they can replace the whole hood. We haven’t rejected the delivery yet. Waiting to hear back from the service team on Monday.

 

[Ba2yev]

I took almost the exact same picture of a Y with a build date of 06/07 at the Portland delivery center. The two doors were bad enough but the rear quarter panel was even a different shade than the rear door. It wasn't subtle at all.View attachment 554156

Sorry to hear this! I've checked another four white MY's on the lot. All had issues with the color of the doors being different. At that point, I didn't care much about the alignment of the doors or taillights. The service center could fix them eventually, but I didn't like the idea of the brand new car being repainted.

 

[Ba2yev]

It's crazy how many White Y's they delivered with this problem. I have seen at least 5 of them posted today on reddit and Facebook Model Y group. I would definitely not accept the car with the obvious paint defect either.

I wish I saw those posts before I went to the dealership for delivery. I could not believe my eyes. What's even more frustrating is the fact that Tesla staff knew about this issue, but let a couple of unsuspecting customers drive away in cars with a horrible paint job.

 

[LevelHeaded]

Besides that practice being illegal, I always love these anecdotes: "A Tesla person told me that... " For those in California, the fact the car leaves with temporary plates should tell you the story above is certainly wrong in California. If Tesla routinely fails to register vehicles assigned temporary plates, I'm sure the DMV would be very unhappy.

Don't know about Utah law.

Well the Tesla employee was right in this case; I had the vehicle for 7 full days and the vehicle was never registered to my name. They didn’t even cash my bank’s check:

 

[howlz]

I wish I saw those posts before I went to the dealership for delivery. I could not believe my eyes. What's even more frustrating is the fact that Tesla staff knew about this issue, but let a couple of unsuspecting customers drive away in cars with a horrible paint job.

It almost seems too bad to be true. A few of the people who had the cars with different panels didn't even notice until someone pointed it out online. Now they can't unsee it. Hopefully, whoever is in charge of the painting sees can't unsee it after this either!

 

[Zebibyte]

It took almost a month and I had to refuse two cars to get to delivery, but today they finally came up with one that wasn't bad, just a couple minor trim pieces that need realignment, and a single spot on inside A pillar fabric. Overall very happy with the car, no trunk/frunk/paint issues. I'd refused VIN 5577, 8954, and today accepted 1337x (cuz it's leet AWD LR/MSM/Black/FSD/19"

Don't give up hope! They have terrible paint challenges (I blame being the only auto manufacturer in a state with zero VOC requirements), and assembly has been a mess, but they'll get it figured out.

 

[kigs]

does anyone know the process of documenting and sharing the delivery issues with Tesla? Do you just schedule a service appointment? Or is there a phone number/email we can document this?

I'm travelling for work in the next week so the nearest appointment i can get is a month later... want to make sure this is all documented before i leave and tesla doesnt think I did this

Any advice?

 

[Kelr316]

Sorry I couldn’t help myself.....

 

[HKA321]

Hey Carter, are you from Seattle . I just refused my model Y delivery for the same thing . I was looking forward to drive it until I read so many issues about the vehicle. I decided to check it myself before accepting it and I found so many issues such as alignment, paints, back seats not even. It is unacceptable for a 54K vehicle. I was very disappointed. I refused on June 18 Seattle

 

[nebarle]

I also just refused delivery yesterday. Good thing I've been reading up on this forum. Issues consistent with those that have been mentioned. VIN 7088.

 

[parfl74]

I, unfortunately, did not heed my own advice and took delivery on a car that I knew wasn't up to par but got sucked into believing that Tesla would make it right and fix the car and all it's issues as it should have been in the first place.
Long long story but I'm returning the car today as they are now refusing to acknowledge new items I found once I got home. I am completely in love with this car. Sad to walk by it and know that I have to return it and won't be able to get a new one as per Tesla policy. They really should make an exception for people like us and allow us to exchange the car.
Here is a checklist I had put together prior to taking delivery. VIN in the 8000s.

Tesla Delivery Checklist.pdf

 

[chengka]

I have a "source VIN" and I think I'm prepared for the eventual delivery, lists, expectations, etc. However what is not clear to me is the difference between "refused delivery" and "released VIN". Could someone explain? Also, have you paid for the car before you reach either conclusion?

 

[BreatheEasier]

I have a "source VIN" and I think I'm prepared for the eventual delivery, lists, expectations, etc. However what is not clear to me is the difference between "refused delivery" and "released VIN". Could someone explain? Also, have you paid for the car before you reach either conclusion?

Good question. I never even got to see my car, so I guess I didn't technically "refused delivery". I just dealt with the SC over the phone, as they wouldn't even let me see the car before delivery. Since it had a list of problems they spent 3 weeks (so far) trying to address, and have not been able to complete then, lost faith in the vehicle and "released the VIN" over the phone, and have not heard anything or received a new VIN since. I do feel somewhat better that they admitted from the beginning the car was not acceptable for customer delivery, but the story never was consistent about what exactly was wrong, and what fully needed to be repainted, or why it was taking so long, so I lost faith and released the VIN.

 

[Kahuna555]

Today was the day that I was finally going to take delivery of a Model Y (LR/AWD/Induction/Blue/Black). I live in Seattle, WA and we (my wife and two kids) drove down to the Renton Service Center for delivery.

I was armed with delivery checklist and was mentally prepared to walk away from the car if it seemed like it had too many issues. Well, I won't bury the lede: it had way too many issues. The highlights:

• Almost a dozen small paint issues/scratches all over the car (front and back).
• A few large scratches on the rear bumper area.
• Several panel gaps that were either too wide or too narrow (flush with another panel or trim).
• Condensation in one of the fog lights.
• Door trim that was oddly faded and not matching the blackness of the rest of the trim.
• Rear tail lights totally mis-mounted and sticking out / mis-aligned.

It's pretty clear that little to no quality control or inspection went into this vehicle (vin # 011xxx) before it was presented to me for delivery.

The delivery specialist I spoke to was pretty clear: if I accepted delivery, it would be my car and I'd have to hope for the best in terms of getting these issues fixed. He also reminded me that if I returned the car under their 7-day return policy, I would be prohibited by buying another Model Y for 1 year.

He suggested that I give them a chance to correct the issues. He seemed confident that his delivery team could correct the paint/cosmetic issues, but he said he'd have to check with Service on the issues regarding panel gaps, tail light mounting, etc.

So, we drove home without the Tesla Model Y. I apologized to my wife and promised my kids a treat on the way home. I'm expecting to hear from Tesla about a re-scheduled delivery, so fingers crossed that they can correct these issues!

On question and one bit of strong advice:

Advice: whether you take delivery OR NOT, please take tons of pictures and video. I didn't do that, and I really wish I had so that I could share them with you all now and get your thoughts on whether these were issues or not.

Question: Does anyone know of any good, clear photos of what "spec" panel gaps and alignment should be? I would have killed to have been able to reference this during my delivery.

Thanks!

Sorry about your 1st delivery, I had the same experience except my Delivery guy actually decided Tesla should get me another car, which was great because it took the decision out of my hand, yes I was disappointed but happier that I wasn’t driving home a car I wasn’t satisfied with. I got a new vin # with 72 hours and just took delivery on a much better car. There are still some minor issues but nothing major. The Carlsbad delivery center here in San Diego Was pretty helpful and I never felt pressured not to reject the car.
As far as the gap issues I have not actually seen anything written about Tesla specs other hearsay from their sales and delivery guys. best thing you can do is inspect them and reject the car if they bother you. I actually am a small car dealer and I see gap issues in lots of other cars too. I am really bothered by the rear tail light issues but every MY I have looked at has them, I will continue to pressure Tesla to fix them. And no I am not Tesla fan boy, but this is my 2nd Tesla and they are a blast to drive LOL

 

[carter_seattle]

Hey Carter, are you from Seattle

Yup! I briefly had a new VIN assigned, but got a call on Friday that the car was not up to their standards. So I'm sitting here playing the waiting game.

 

[BreatheEasier]

I guess all the malcontents should follow this person above with one whole post and buy Mach-Es.

Let us know how your first 3,000 mile road trip goes!

I'm still going to await my 2nd VIN, and hope that it works out. Since the SC told me 5-6 weeks to expect my 2nd VIN, maybe things will be better by that time. Some are on their 3rd VIN, and still have egregious issues, so who knows, so I choose to hedge by bet. In almost 50 years, I have never taken a cross-country trip in a vehicle, and never plan to, so that length of journey is irrelevant to me. 180 miles one-way is the max I'll ever take, due to health issues/constraints, and have no issues stopping along the way if I need to. My disappointment is about believing in a company's vision and positive impact to the world, and feeling like I'm being taken advantage of as a consumer. I want to love this car, and I'm a huge Tesla fan.

 

[gundarx]

@carter_seattle @BreatheEasier I know you guys are waiting for a blue Y- just FYI that service center let me know that there was a large batch of blue and white Ys that were produced post-shutdown that have significant paint defects; some of the white Ys were embarrassingly bad to service team (unfortunately delivery team was pressured to deliver them, making it a pain for customers and for service team to address, lots are filling up and 75-100 deliveries per day and the quarter numbers target)- they're painted by robots in Fremont but it seems the spray pattern was not configured/calibrated correctly and there were noticeable horizontal sweeps that went missing (vertical sweeps near door edges seem to have good coverage); my blue Y was part of this problematic batch and Seattle-Renton essentially repainted all 4 doors, my hood, pillars, and rear fenders, and to make it all blend- basically they repainted the entire exterior of my car. It's getting a final inspection by service manager to make sure there is no remaining defect before I get it back.

 

[BreatheEasier]

@carter_seattle @BreatheEasier I know you guys are waiting for a blue Y- just FYI that service center let me know that there was a large batch of blue and white Ys that were produced post-shutdown that have significant paint defects; some of the white Ys were embarrassingly bad to service team (unfortunately delivery team was pressured to deliver them, making it a pain for customers and for service team to address, lots are filling up and 75-100 deliveries per day and the quarter numbers target)- they're painted by robots in Fremont but it seems the spray pattern was not configured/calibrated correctly and there were noticeable horizontal sweeps that went missing (vertical sweeps near door edges seem to have good coverage); my blue Y was part of this problematic batch and Seattle-Renton essentially repainted all 4 doors, my hood, pillars, and rear fenders, and to make it all blend- basically they repainted the entire exterior of my car. It's getting a final inspection by service manager to make sure there is no remaining defect before I get it back.

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Gundarx - thank you SO much for providing insight and sharing your story/pics. You are more tolerant than I, as far as I was told, the quarter and rear hatch needed to be repainted, and a dent removed, and I still rejected it. Yours is a whole new level of incompetence. I've been sitting here for 20 min soaking in the new level of paint QC failure that I'm seeing. I really think your pics, plus the color mismatched panels on other threads, really needs to be posted publicly. This behavior will not change until Musk is forced to deal with it and is shamed into addressing this chronic problem. A fully repainted car may sound 'better' because you may get a higher-quality paint job than the factory, but is that what you really asked for when you purchased a $50K+ new car?

 

[rxlawdude]

For California, a dealer cannot sell a car on trial, then accept return and subsequently sell as new:
Rollbacks and Unwinds (CVC §5901)—A rollback occurs when:

• A buyer purchases a vehicle from a dealer, operates it on the customer copy of the report of sale, and returns the vehicle to the dealer.
• Financing is rejected for a buyer so a second contract is completed with a cosigner, another name added, or a new buyer.

The report of sale cannot be voided on rollbacks. All fees due, including any transfer fees, are payable upon the date of the first retail sale.

If a dealer sells a vehicle to a purchaser whose financing is rejected (requiring a new contract) and the replacement contract has a cosigner, another party added, or a new purchaser, the application is a rollback.

An unwind occurs when the report of sale document is completed by the dealer, but must be voided because the sale was not consummated and the buyer never took delivery. Refer to Chapter 11 for additional information.

 

[rxlawdude]

@carter_seattle @BreatheEasier I know you guys are waiting for a blue Y- just FYI that service center let me know that there was a large batch of blue and white Ys that were produced post-shutdown that have significant paint defects; some of the white Ys were embarrassingly bad to service team (unfortunately delivery team was pressured to deliver them, making it a pain for customers and for service team to address, lots are filling up and 75-100 deliveries per day and the quarter numbers target)- they're painted by robots in Fremont but it seems the spray pattern was not configured/calibrated correctly and there were noticeable horizontal sweeps that went missing (vertical sweeps near door edges seem to have good coverage); my blue Y was part of this problematic batch and Seattle-Renton essentially repainted all 4 doors, my hood, pillars, and rear fenders, and to make it all blend- basically they repainted the entire exterior of my car. It's getting a final inspection by service manager to make sure there is no remaining defect before I get it back.

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Thanks for the info. I'm always a bit skeptical of what the service center tells owners, but there have been lots of very bad white paint jobs. This post is the first (or one of very few) report for a blue.