Rejected 4 cars, was told they would not request more cars for me

[MrG_NY]

This is a little bit of a thread jack, but a small someone who wouldn’t think to look at stuff like this upon taking delivery of a car, what should I actually care about and look for?

Make sure the car looks good to you. No dings, dents etc. Car is clean and shiny. Stand back and and look the whole car over, take someone with you that may see things you don't. Check the interior make sure all the trim is on and isn't hanging. Extra set of eyes is always best. This is just like buying any other car. If something needs to be fixed have them fix it.

The car I am driving now the lease is just about up and I am getting a Model 3 AWD. The car had a scratch I didn't see on top of the door but my wife saw it, we told the dealer and they took the car back in and fixed it. Tesla may ask you to bring it back.

Honestly I don't think you will find anything. I have been to the Tesla sC/Store by me 3 times looking and haven't seen anything that jumps out at me. I am anal about my cars. Lease inspectors have told me multiple times that they haven't seen vehicles kept in such great condition.

 

[Jenremoved]

Make sure the car looks good to you. No dings, dents etc. Car is clean and shiny. Stand back and and look the whole car over, take someone with you that may see things you don't. Check the interior make sure all the trim is on and isn't hanging. Extra set of eyes is always best. This is just like buying any other car. If something needs to be fixed have them fix it.

The car I am driving now the lease is just about up and I am getting a Model 3 AWD. The car had a scratch I didn't see on top of the door but my wife saw it, we told the dealer and they took the car back in and fixed it. Tesla may ask you to bring it back.

Honestly I don't think you will find anything. I have been to the Tesla sC/Store by me 3 times looking and haven't seen anything that jumps out at me. I am anal about my cars. Lease inspectors have told me multiple times that they haven't seen vehicles kept in such great condition.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[Matias]

A car is a very complex machine. It’s a representation of our species mastery of the sciences. Cosmetic fit and finish is subjective

Actually, panel gap (a break or hole in an object or between two objects) is in a way the most objective measurement there is in a car.

“The metre (Commonwealth spelling and BIPM spelling[1]) or meter (American spelling[2]) (from the French unit mètre, from the Greek noun μέτρον, "measure") is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). The SI unitsymbol is m.[3] The metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299 792 458 of a second.[1]”

You may also find it useful to learn about

Micrometer - Wikipedia

If you measure panel gap as parts of metre, I think it is one of the most objective measurements there is in a car...

In what way you find panel gap subjective?

 

[Petrocelli]

I voted "yes" and was shocked to see that I am in a distinct minority. This is something that should be caught at the factory.

 

[MrG_NY]

I voted "yes" and was shocked to see that I am in a distinct minority. This is something that should be caught at the factory.

I voted yes, when I saw the door pictures come up when you open the tail light pics.That gap was huge.

 

[KenC]

I apologize to the OP, because I just looked at my tail light gap and he's right! The left side gap is ginormous compared to the right side! How, have I not noticed before?!?

The thing is, I've never looked that closely at the taillights before. I think I'll return my car now. It's a lemon.

Or, I suppose, I can just keep it and make lemonade. Looks okay to me. I can live with it. Whew! Look at those tail light gaps!

 

[Daniel in SD]

I think OP should keep trying. Mine measures 4.6mm on both sides. I did have to get that fingerprint in the paint on the top of the front bumper fixed and the driver's door realigned after delivery though...

 

[tomas]

I apologize to the OP, because I just looked at my tail light gap and he's right! The left side gap is ginormous compared to the right side! How, have I not noticed before?!?
View attachment 448596

The thing is, I've never looked that closely at the taillights before. I think I'll return my car now. It's a lemon.
View attachment 448597
Or, I suppose, I can just keep it and make lemonade. Looks okay to me. I can live with it. Whew! Look at those tail light gaps!

Well, when you look at it that way... I only notice how great silver looks! {mine is too}

 

[watsongrg]

If it was only the tail lights, I would still give the car a chance. But my experience has been its probably NOT just the taillights.
Hood alignment on the Model is most always poor, gap on the left is much different than on the right. Can they not even get the hood centered? And lately hood gap with front facia is from one extreme to the other, sometime practically touching panels to a huge gap. Door gaps, door alignment, trunk and headlights. Come on. Elon said the Model 3 would be a "world class" car in terms on quality. That should absolutely include fit and finish.
As for quality comparison, look no further than a simple Hyundai and Kia. Pretty much perfect and a much lower price range.
And I don't need calipers to detect it, my eyes see it fine.
The Model 3 is a beautifully designed and styled car, Tesla, stop doing it an injustice and BUILD IT RIGHT !

 

[watsongrg]

If it was only the tail lights, I would still give the car a chance. But my experience has been its probably NOT just the taillights.
Hood alignment on the Model 3 is most always poor, gap on the left is much different than on the right. Can they not even get the hood centered? And lately hood gap with front facia is one extreme to the other, sometime practically touching to a huge gap. Door gaps, door alignment, trunk and headlights. Come on. Elon said the Model 3 would be a "world class" car in terms on quality. That should absolutely include fit and finish.
As for build comparison, look no further than a simple Hyundai and Kia. Pretty much perfect and a much lower price range.
Even Chevy can get panels aligned now. And I don't need calipers to detect it, my eyes see it fine.
The Model 3 is a beautifully designed and styled car, Tesla, stop doing it an injustice and BUILD IT RIGHT !

 

[T3SLAROD]

That’s why this car is perfect as a DD, you don’t have to worry about it getting ruined... it comes like that from the factory....

In all seriousness Tesla has been great in fixing things I have found in a Used Model 3 I purchased. They replaced my steering wheel that has a tiny bit of peeling, replaced a fog light that was working, replaced the charge port that was misaligned. It would have been a battle to get a traditional dealer to do all that even under warranty.

 

[KenC]

If it was only the tail lights, I would still give the car a chance. But my experience has been its probably NOT just the taillights.
Hood alignment on the Model is most always poor, gap on the left is much different than on the right. Can they not even get the hood centered? And lately hood gap with front facia is from one extreme to the other, sometime practically touching panels to a huge gap. Door gaps, door alignment, trunk and headlights. Come on. Elon said the Model 3 would be a "world class" car in terms on quality. That should absolutely include fit and finish.
As for quality comparison, look no further than a simple Hyundai and Kia. Pretty much perfect and a much lower price range.
And I don't need calipers to detect it, my eyes see it fine.
The Model 3 is a beautifully designed and styled car, Tesla, stop doing it an injustice and BUILD IT RIGHT !

You have another account?!?

Taillights, hood, doors, trunk and headlights are all adjustable items. Anything that opens or fits into an opening is adjustable, ie fixable. Your “experience” should have told you that.

 

[KenC]

So, just to make this real clear, I put the OP's pics up against my own pic of my gaps from yesterday:

Apparently my car has a big gap differential too, about as bad as the car the OP rejected. And the OP's point is that this differential is visible with the naked eye from 10ft. And here's my pic from 10ft:

Is that differential visible to the naked eye?

 

[Daniel in SD]

Is that differential visible to the naked eye?

Yes.
I have seen far more visually offensive defects though.

 

[Leeclanual]

I wouldn’t order you a 5th car either... go find another make and model.

The M3 cost $50K because it’s on the leading edge of EV technology... not because it’s a luxury car as many might think. It’s comparable to a Honda or Toyota mid/full size ICE model in a mid/high trim level... but light years ahead in technology to both of them. If you want a nice mid size ICE car go out and look at a Mercedes C class, BMW 3/4 series... but they won’t be an EV.

I personally got rid of my Porsche Panamera (which was high quality) to try out a my M3 and the EV technology... never looked back and love my Tesla.

 

[OCR1]

I can’t see both the left and right side at the same time unless I stand back far enough that I can’t really judge the width of each gap with my eyes. I do have a bigger gap on one side than the other but without taking out a tape measure and examining it closely I would never notice it, so it’s just not something that would bother me. I’d say the OP was being too picky on the taillight gaps. No big deal. They still work perfectly fine.

 

[tomas]

If it was only the tail lights, I would still give the car a chance. But my experience has been its probably NOT just the taillights.
Hood alignment on the Model is most always poor, gap on the left is much different than on the right. Can they not even get the hood centered? And lately hood gap with front facia is from one extreme to the other, sometime practically touching panels to a huge gap. Door gaps, door alignment, trunk and headlights. Come on. Elon said the Model 3 would be a "world class" car in terms on quality. That should absolutely include fit and finish.
As for quality comparison, look no further than a simple Hyundai and Kia. Pretty much perfect and a much lower price range.
And I don't need calipers to detect it, my eyes see it fine.
The Model 3 is a beautifully designed and styled car, Tesla, stop doing it an injustice and BUILD IT RIGHT !

“Most always”? “Is”? What is basis for these generalizations? Do you have data? Or are just on a rant with no basis in fact??

 

[Manitoba Keith]

I know that I wouldn't want either of his identities to purchase ANYTHING from me.
Hasn't this thread gone on long enough? You will never convince either one of his identities and you can't fix .... <=Add your choice.

 

[Economite]

Some of these are just minor issues that any car would potentially have. Like the trunk, it would be just the stopper that needed to be adjusted. Or the chrome trim on the door that just had to be reseated.

Here's the difference. With any other brand he could have just gone out and chosen any car on the lot that meet his standards.

With Tesla, all he could do was make a take/no take decision on theone car they offered him each time.

This system makes it way too easy for Tesla to avoid doing decent quality control pre-delivery, and instead force customers to put up with poor builds, deal with due bills, or have to wait to be offered another car (which also might not be that great).

 

[tomas]

Here's the difference. With any other brand he could have just gone out and chosen any car on the lot that meet his standards.

With Tesla, all he could do was make a take/no take decision on theone car they offered him each time.

This system makes it way too easy for Tesla to avoid doing decent quality control pre-delivery, and instead force customers to put up with poor builds, deal with due bills, or have to wait to be offered another car (which also might not be that great).

I sort of agree. Depends on what car you are buying. Regarding “any other brand”: If it is an in demand car and you want a specific config, most dealers won’t have it, and will search regional dealerships to do a swap. There may be few or only 1 to choose from. If you factory order, you will wait months, and communications are nonexistent until your car arrives.

Maybe I’m naive, or maybe I’ve just never frequented an auto forum before Tesla... but I don’t recall doing detailed inspections on new cars in the past. I guess I always figured that dealer would fix any problems.

But also, my first Tesla (2012) is first car I’ve had paint corrected, PPFd, ceramic’d, and hand wash weekly. Aaarghhh, Tesla made me anal! Anyone for a class action???