Refusing/ Declining Delivery

[Mm2021]

Hi All,

Just curious to know- those of you who refused a delivery after inspection based on say build quality issues did Tesla present any problems on your refusal? What happened next? Did the same car get fixed before you accepted delivery or did you get allocated a new car? How long did you have to wait for your new replacement car? Were you in general satisfied by the replacement?

Thank you for your insight!

I have ordered a Model 3 however after reading SO many negative posts, blogs and YouTube videos on build quality I am mentally preparing myself about the possibility of having to say NO to the Tesla presented to me (something I wish more people had done considering the misery they were put through after delivery in getting things sorted).

 

[nxsynjs]

I would wait and see, for every person who has had a horrible experience or delivery there are at least 10 who have had a trouble free one and love the car

 

[Dilly]

Mine was delivered on day one of the March lockdown. The end of March was of course a difficult time and Tesla pulled the stops out for me. It was driven here 120 miles by a TNT driver.
There was nothing I could fault then or since.
As @nxsynjs says, there are plenty of perfect cars.

 

[Tonyf]

Lockdown March delivery here too, minor trim issues only and easily rectified by the excellent mobile service chap.

The most surprising thing about my collection was that it was a beautiful day and the car was absolutely pristine. Just couldn’t get over how well presented it was.

 

[Mm2021]

This is great news! Thank goodness it’s not all doom and gloom then. Thank you for sharing your positive experiences- it’s a huge relief to read something positive about the delivery experience.

 

[Durzel]

By the nature of forums and complaints you’re only really going to hear from people who have had issues.

There are things to look out for, for sure, hence the collection checklist, but there are thousands of people out there who took delivery that had never heard of this stuff, and are just getting on with their lives with their cars.

 

[snowywhite]

+1 to the comments above - my mate who got his M3LR before me - spotless - no issues - not even a paint chip or panel gap- has never gone to the SC. Me on the other hand - got the car 2 months after him - many paint issues - massive panel gap issues across doors, trunk, boot, internal trim falling off on me - and 7 months of Tesla SC lowering my expectations - to the finance company taking the car back and giving a partial refund.

They don't register the car with the DVLA in your name till you drive off with it. Under any circumstance - do not get into the Service centre repair loop to repair issues. They are particularly hard to deal with after the 1st week (period within which you can return the car) - not their fault entirely - the SC are told to handle 200 cars instead of 50 - they just cannot cope. Everything will be passed off as "within spec" or "cannot see with the naked eye, so doesn't exist" or even the particularly amusing " we are a tech company - not a car company - so don't expect much" (all this from the West Drayton SC)

Don't mean to scare you off as the car is miles ahead of everyone else if you get a good one. And the new MIC ones should ideally be better quality.

The only lesson I learned - Reject if you are not happy (for any reason, big or small) - a new car should not have these issues - and one shouldn't have to deal with all the stress

 

[HenryT]

They don't register the car with the DVLA in your name till you drive off with it. Under any circumstance - do not get into the Service centre repair loop to repair issues.

Can you clarify what are you suggesting the buyer should do instead?

Reject the car for any flaw or insist they repair it while you wait? Bear in mind a lot of these deliveries will be taking place 'off site' so full workshop facilities won't be available.

 

[Mm2021]

+1 to the comments above - my mate who got his M3LR before me - spotless - no issues - not even a paint chip or panel gap- has never gone to the SC. Me on the other hand...

@snowywhite thank you so much for this insight! Some of the comments they have given you sound outrageous excuses for poor build quality “we are a tech company - not a car company - so don't expect much”- just wow.

Will go open minded to the fact that the car may well be in great condition but based on yours and others experience I will not be accepting anything less than what one should expect with a £50k+ car. If nothing else to send a clear message to Tesla that these are unacceptable issues happening too frequently. I have wanted a Tesla for years and want them to do really well into the future but frankly 2021 will be a watershed year for electric vehicles (https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/new-electric-cars-2021) and they’re going to have to do better with build quality to keep their growth rate up or maintain market share, that or nail FSD (which might just save them).

 

[nxsynjs]

I do sometimes wonder what the fault rate would be for other car makers, if they didn’t PDI their cars instead of giving them a complete check over before handing them over to the customer

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Will go open minded to the fact that the car may well be in great condition but based on yours and others experience I will not be accepting anything less than what one should expect with a £50k+ car. If nothing else to send a clear message to Tesla that these are unacceptable issues happening too frequently. I have wanted a Tesla for years and want them to do really well into the future but frankly 2021 will be a watershed year for electric vehicles (https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/new-electric-cars-2021) and they’re going to have to do better with build quality to keep their growth rate up or maintain market share, that or nail FSD (which might just save them).

Someone once commented that it's not really a ~£50k car, it's a ~£20k car with ~£30k of added tech. Might seem a bit harsh, but the reality is that the fit, finish and detail quality isn't really that of a £50k car, even if you get a good one. The majority of the issues that are commonplace, though, are pretty minor, and most seem down to a virtually non-existent pre-delivery inspection process. The Tesla way seems to be to not resolve any issues prior to delivery, but to get customers to find them and get them fixed post-delivery.

For example, there were obvious paint defects on my car, that could be seen from across the other side of the collection area, yet the response when I pointed these out that was that I needed to go into the app and book a service appointment to get them fixed - they would not consider fixing them before I signed for the car. This works OK, in my case the SC (Bristol) has always been very good, but for me it it's half a day out just to get to the SC and back, so not that convenient.

Overall, my car is a mix of some outstandingly good features, a tiny number of fairly poor features and a fair number of minor niggles and defects, that have mostly been put right by SC visits (three in all). The single most annoying thing is that the vast majority of the things wrong with the car when it was delivered are things that would have been picked up and sorted out prior to delivery with any other manufacturer. I'm not convinced that Tesla is any worse than any other manufacturer when it comes to new car defects, it's just that customers rarely ever get to see these with other manufacturers, as they get fixed during PDI.

 

[GRiLLA]

@snowywhite thank you so much for this insight! Some of the comments they have given you sound outrageous excuses for poor build quality “we are a tech company - not a car company - so don't expect much”- just wow.

Will go open minded to the fact that the car may well be in great condition but based on yours and others experience I will not be accepting anything less than what one should expect with a £50k+ car. If nothing else to send a clear message to Tesla that these are unacceptable issues happening too frequently. I have wanted a Tesla for years and want them to do really well into the future but frankly 2021 will be a watershed year for electric vehicles (https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/new-electric-cars-2021) and they’re going to have to do better with build quality to keep their growth rate up or maintain market share, that or nail FSD (which might just save them).

I would cancel now, you are only going to have grief getting your money back as you already seem to have a very negative opinion already. It's clearly going to be an issue if your expectations are very high.

 

[Neilda]

It's highly likely that your new Tesla will be perfect. There's a small chance that you notice something that the service centre can easily fix for you.... My Tesla arrived on December 30th and looked as perfect as any of the Astons, Morgans or Bentleys I've owned. In fact, far better built than the hand built Morgan I have which cost twice the price.

There are some Tesla owners who measure everything with micrometers and expect total perfection. Maybe it's the first new car they have ever owned, maybe the most expensive... no idea. But perfection in any car, even a Zonda, doesn't really exist.

 

[Mm2021]

I would cancel now, you are only going to have grief getting your money back as you already seem to have a very negative opinion already. It's clearly going to be an issue if your expectations are very high.

No no just tempering my expectations. Disappointment on build quality can be a harsh pill to swallow if not mentally prepared. I have a good idea of what is acceptable and unacceptable now e.g multiple panel gaps, interior fit misalignments, chipped paint, deep scratches, condensation in headlight casing etc taken together= unacceptable.

Happy to hear counter opinions and continue to adjust expectations.

 

[Mm2021]

It's highly likely that your new Tesla will be perfect. There's a small chance that you notice something that the service centre can easily fix for you.... My Tesla arrived on December 30th and looked as perfect as any of the Astons, Morgans or Bentleys I've owned. In fact, far better built than the hand built Morgan I have which cost twice the price.

There are some Tesla owners who measure everything with micrometers and expect total perfection. Maybe it's the first new car they have ever owned, maybe the most expensive... no idea. But perfection in any car, even a Zonda, doesn't really exist.

@Neilda great observation! You are right no car is perfect and need to adjust expectations accordingly but still there are limits- I guess one needs to decide how many things that need to be fixed following delivery at an SC is acceptable and how many may not be.

 

[Durzel]

Just to throw another spanner in the works, it’s not totally unheard of for cars to come out of SCs with more damage, scuffs etc than when they went in. You really are at the mercy of whoever works on it - how inclined they are to take good care of it. Some SCs, I hear, are better than others.

Chances are that they’re never going to care as much about your car as you do, working on them is just a job, a means to an end.

The only mark (scuff) I have on my car, on the drivers door, occurred when it went into the SC. I didn’t notice it immediately because it had been touched up - so it couldn’t have happened anywhere else. By the time I noticed it was too late to flag it.

Also, when I dropped the car off I thought about buying and fitting a disposable seat cover (I have the white interior, and I’ve never worn jeans in my car since getting it). In the end I didn’t, but I spoke to the lady booking the car in and she told me not to worry - they always use them. She said that just as a tech came out and got straight in the car, no seat cover, and drove it into the garage.

So yeah, if you can get a mobile appointment to fix issues I’d try and do that.

 

[pgkevet]

More folk need to be prepared to reject cars or give SC an 'X-days to get it perfect'. Otherwise Tesla has no need to up their game until the competition blossoms. Heck these ain't cheap toys and you deserve decent quality for the hard earned. While there may be fewer cars complained about than the forums imply, you can also bet there's plenty of folk who either 'don't like to complain' or don't know enough about cars to spot the problems or are just prepared to put up with stuff to avoid hassle. Don't be one.

 

[snowywhite]

Can you clarify what are you suggesting the buyer should do instead?

Reject the car for any flaw or insist they repair it while you wait? Bear in mind a lot of these deliveries will be taking place 'off site' so full workshop facilities won't be available.

I'm suggesting rejecting the car - as some others in this forum have - and then it is upto the Sales person to find you a new car (at a different date) - just suggesting not to get into Service Centre as it is not the best workforce in there to fix stuff. Sales will do everything possible to push the car beyond the 1st week in your ownership and promise you quick fixes - just so that it becomes a Service problem.

Having said this - folks up north (Edinburgh etc) and elsewhere have had awesome service experiences. So really down to where you are.

 

[snowywhite]

It's highly likely that your new Tesla will be perfect. There's a small chance that you notice something that the service centre can easily fix for you.... My Tesla arrived on December 30th and looked as perfect as any of the Astons, Morgans or Bentleys I've owned. In fact, far better built than the hand built Morgan I have which cost twice the price.

There are some Tesla owners who measure everything with micrometers and expect total perfection. Maybe it's the first new car they have ever owned, maybe the most expensive... no idea. But perfection in any car, even a Zonda, doesn't really exist.

I agree with this comment too - most of the cars are fine - and there are great expectations in the ones coming in from China as they seem to be built better - and the car goes through changes to improve quality with every batch.



However, it is not Ok for the paint to start scraping off every time you close the boot - as the alignment fixes are done so bad that the boot touches the headlamps every time. It's not Ok for the A-pillar trim to fall on you while driving and expose all the wiring. ( I guess I got the shortest straw - and the interns put my car together on the production line).

Every other maker I know has signed up to the Motor Ombudsman - except Tesla. I was just lucky with Black Horse being FCA regulated and having processes built in to address Quality issues - if I had paid cash - then no recourse and the SC knows that too. Interesting take from Elon here -

(1.18 mark onwards)

 

[snowywhite]

@snowywhite thank you so much for this insight! Some of the comments they have given you sound outrageous excuses for poor build quality “we are a tech company - not a car company - so don't expect much”- just wow.

This was a below the belt comment from the foreman of the SC in West Drayton after failing to fix some of the trim issues - and according to them every repair they did was a "favour" to me and not a flaw in the car. After about 3 months, the SC advisor called me from his personal phone and said that they cannot keep with the volume of issues and the paint shop they are using (Heathrow Coachworks) also are not able to turn things around the first time - they are being instructed to turn people away with the "it's within spec" script. He suggested I get the finance company involved - Black Horse agreed and said I should've come to them in Week 1.

I've only just received the refund from Black Horse on Friday - still undecided between the M3LR again (yes I did love the car and it's commendable in terms of the tech) or ID4/Enyaq/iX3 - since in lockdown the car's not really an urgent need in my case - I can wait - all I can say is going back to ICE is a non-option for me at the moment.