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Shocking Steering Vibration.

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Hi

For what it's worth, the 10 days or so of ownership of a new Model 3 Performance has been incredibly disappointing.

First, I collected the car from Bristol/Portishead. It was pouring with rain. A car park. No facilities, zero. I got soaking wet transferring my bits from my 2020 Model 3. Then I was asked to sign for the car! I said 'nope'. How could you sign for a car that's covered in water and no facility to dry it to inspect. I was pretty stunned to be honest. Then it had 45 miles of charge to get me back to Cheltenham, so, off to a charger then.

On the way up the M5, my hands started fizzing. There's an awful resonance coming through the steering wheel....instantly noticeable.
I got home, rang Tesla - waste of 30 minutes. So I emailed them and complained about the vibration and shocking delivery experience. They couldn't care less. Just said make a service appointment and if you aren't happy with it you've got two weeks to return it. 'Really? Is that it? How about you come and collect the £62k car and fix it?' was my response. Ha! Another waste of breath. OK OK, grit your teeth and get it looked at, my thinking (and online reading) maybe it's tires or balancing.

Then as I'm looking at the car 3 days in I see a proper dent in the front nearside wing next to the camera. That's it. Finito! So I email the girl and say I'm returning the car, done. No reply.

2 days later I get an email saying that because I bought it as a business expense, I can't return it. "but you just told me I had 14 days to return it?" 'we got that wrong....no you can't, you have to give it to us to repair'.

I can't tell you how mad I am. I have to have a vibrating car and fresh paint on a brand new vehicle? Surely that can't be acceptable.

So, today I did some extensive testing. Not on the dent obviously. The steering vibes start at 5mph. Yep. Worse by 70mph but I kid you not, you can feel the vibes almost the second you drive off. Which means it's not wheel balancing that's needed, the low speed rules that out straight away.

Has anyone else experienced this?
 
Yep - same issue with our Dec 21 M3 LR. Noticed the vibration instantly as soon as I took delivery. It’s been back to Tesla 3 times and apparently they have balanced the tyres, rotated tyres for flat spots and checked all the suspension components and advised all is in order and drives like any other M3 and the vibration is road surface vibration. Nothing more can be done. I’ve learnt to live with the vibration - strangely sometimes it’s more pronounced than others on the same stretch of road. Becomes a little tiring on a long journey but it’s very subtle - not shake the whole car vibration. Feel some vibration through the accelerator too - subtle again.
 
Hi

For what it's worth, the 10 days or so of ownership of a new Model 3 Performance has been incredibly disappointing.

First, I collected the car from Bristol/Portishead. It was pouring with rain. A car park. No facilities, zero. I got soaking wet transferring my bits from my 2020 Model 3. Then I was asked to sign for the car! I said 'nope'. How could you sign for a car that's covered in water and no facility to dry it to inspect. I was pretty stunned to be honest. Then it had 45 miles of charge to get me back to Cheltenham, so, off to a charger then.

On the way up the M5, my hands started fizzing. There's an awful resonance coming through the steering wheel....instantly noticeable.
I got home, rang Tesla - waste of 30 minutes. So I emailed them and complained about the vibration and shocking delivery experience. They couldn't care less. Just said make a service appointment and if you aren't happy with it you've got two weeks to return it. 'Really? Is that it? How about you come and collect the £62k car and fix it?' was my response. Ha! Another waste of breath. OK OK, grit your teeth and get it looked at, my thinking (and online reading) maybe it's tires or balancing.

Then as I'm looking at the car 3 days in I see a proper dent in the front nearside wing next to the camera. That's it. Finito! So I email the girl and say I'm returning the car, done. No reply.

2 days later I get an email saying that because I bought it as a business expense, I can't return it. "but you just told me I had 14 days to return it?" 'we got that wrong....no you can't, you have to give it to us to repair'.

I can't tell you how mad I am. I have to have a vibrating car and fresh paint on a brand new vehicle? Surely that can't be acceptable.

So, today I did some extensive testing. Not on the dent obviously. The steering vibes start at 5mph. Yep. Worse by 70mph but I kid you not, you can feel the vibes almost the second you drive off. Which means it's not wheel balancing that's needed, the low speed rules that out straight away.

Has anyone else experienced this?
If you didn’t sign it’s a distance sale and you can return within 14 days
 
I seem to remember a year or so ago (around Dec 20) there were a lot of complaints about steering vibrations with M3P deliveries. Might be worth a trawl through some of those threads. There was some talk of bad batches of tyres, but I don't know if anything was proven. Vibrating at 5 mph is pretty special. Are you sure the wheels are not square?
 
Didn’t spot that he was business, thanks
That may be the case, but I'm lead to believe that the following applies even for businesses:

Sales and Supply of Goods Act:

They must provide a vehicle of satisfactory quality
  1. What is satisfactory quality?
  2. Well, it’s the standard that a ‘reasonable person’ would regard as satisfactory, taking into account the description given, price paid and any other considerations such as the mileage or type of vehicle.
  3. The appearance and the goods are free from minor defects. The act says that this is as a ‘reasonable person’ would expect the condition to be in. So, if you are buying a used car, it would be expected to have fair wear and tear. The level of this would be based on its age and mileage. If you’re unsure as to what counts as fair wear and tear, then you can download the BVRLA Fair Wear and Tear Guide .
  4. The vehicle should have durability. This means that it should work as expected. If it does not, then you can reject the goods and give the supplier the opportunity to repair the fault. If this is unsuccessful, you can request a full refund or a replacement vehicle.
I'm having the car independantly inspected by a garage this morning, just so they can't tell me 'nothing wrong with it mate'. If they can't find it (but they will I'm sure) then fine. All in my head.
 
I seem to remember a year or so ago (around Dec 20) there were a lot of complaints about steering vibrations with M3P deliveries. Might be worth a trawl through some of those threads. There was some talk of bad batches of tyres, but I don't know if anything was proven. Vibrating at 5 mph is pretty special. Are you sure the wheels are not square?
Exactly. The mistake that can be made is to assume it's tyre related. It's not. I've been around the garage trade all my adult life and since the introduction of electric steering never heard of or seen this issue. The whole point is to remove steering feedback from every lump and bump in the road, cost to of course no doubt, so you shouldn't ever get vibes through the steering wheel - save inevitable feedback from out of balance tyres. These vibes are mechanical in nature, like the vehicle motors spin up as you accelerate and a high pitch vibe transmits through the steering. It's not right and for two years I didn't have a single issue like this with my last one (same model). Wish I'd kept it now.
 
Yep - same issue with our Dec 21 M3 LR. Noticed the vibration instantly as soon as I took delivery. It’s been back to Tesla 3 times and apparently they have balanced the tyres, rotated tyres for flat spots and checked all the suspension components and advised all is in order and drives like any other M3 and the vibration is road surface vibration. Nothing more can be done. I’ve learnt to live with the vibration - strangely sometimes it’s more pronounced than others on the same stretch of road. Becomes a little tiring on a long journey but it’s very subtle - not shake the whole car vibration. Feel some vibration through the accelerator too - subtle again.
I'm sorry, but not surprised, that you've got the same and told to clear off. This is my point though. There's a fault. The service center can't find it, so they then tell you 'they're all like that Sir'. So if you're prepared to, you put up with it. I find that extraordinary. As I've said, the last one didn't do it, why should this one. You shouldn't have to put up with tingling fingers after one hour on the road. A '60+k tedious' Just ridiculous the more I give thought to it.

Of course, anyone who joins and rants on a forum can be seen as a moaning mini. But from day one I've been a Tesla fan. I put up with the shocking fit and finish of my last one, because I loved it. The nicest ownership experience I've ever had with a car in terms of enjoyment and reliability. The new one is so much nicer in many ways. But it's destroyed by this fault and the dented wing is just adds to it.
 
Exactly. The mistake that can be made is to assume it's tyre related. It's not. I've been around the garage trade all my adult life and since the introduction of electric steering never heard of or seen this issue. The whole point is to remove steering feedback from every lump and bump in the road, cost to of course no doubt, so you shouldn't ever get vibes through the steering wheel - save inevitable feedback from out of balance tyres. These vibes are mechanical in nature, like the vehicle motors spin up as you accelerate and a high pitch vibe transmits through the steering. It's not right and for two years I didn't have a single issue like this with my last one (same model). Wish I'd kept it now.
Yeah it does sound like something totally un-related to tyres or wheel balance. More like some issue with your front motor mounts or bearings causing excessive vibration that just happens to manifest itself through the steering. Probably because the steering rack is bolted to the same frame as the motor (guessing there, as I haven't looked at the layout in detail).

Another long shot is that the electric steering assist motor has a fault. I once had an isolated issue with our MX when the steering one morning suddenly started vibrating at low speed when steering through corners. It was really obvious (and just like the vibration you get from lane departure warning, even though I always have that disabled) and so I requested an immediate service. Drove it to the service centre a few days later and the problem had disappeared and was never diagnosed or repeated since. I put it down to a one-off software glitch triggering the steering motor to vibrate.
 
I put up with the shocking fit and finish of my last one, because I loved it. The nicest ownership experience I've ever had with a car in terms of enjoyment and reliability. The new one is so much nicer in many ways. But it's destroyed by this fault and the dented wing is just adds to it.
Our early 2021 US built M3 LR had the worst panel fits ever. Looked like they had literally thrown the panels on the car. Everything from the bonnet through to the boot was on the piss. Service managed to "improve" it slightly, but they had no chance in reality. But it still drove brilliantly and has been very reliable. We just took delivery of a new MY and I have to say it is a massive improvement in build quality. So much so I'm swapping our wonky M3 for a second MY. Trade-in value is pretty much what we paid for the car in Dec 20, so not complaining there. The panel fits are now an SEP!
 
Our early 2021 US built M3 LR had the worst panel fits ever. Looked like they had literally thrown the panels on the car. Everything from the bonnet through to the boot was on the piss. Service managed to "improve" it slightly, but they had no chance in reality. But it still drove brilliantly and has been very reliable. We just took delivery of a new MY and I have to say it is a massive improvement in build quality. So much so I'm swapping our wonky M3 for a second MY. Trade-in value is pretty much what we paid for the car in Dec 20, so not complaining there. The panel fits are now an SEP!
Ha. Yes, panel fit, or lack of it gave the 2020 I had an air of character :cool:

I was going to change it for a Model Y but just about every review has said poor the ride quality is. Y would be perfect for me TBH. But even the sales guy at the showroom told me to stick with the M3! So how do you find it by comparison?
 
The car got driven back to Bristol. I left the log book and the keys and won't be having it back under any circumstances.

Looks like I'm driving the van until this gets sorted. See how it plays out I guess.

Pic below shows: Top left - crease. Dent to the right of that. Secondary slight crease and further dent below. The white scratch you can see is through the lacquer coat at least, maybe into paint too.

Tesla 1.JPG
 
That may be the case, but I'm lead to believe that the following applies even for businesses:

Sales and Supply of Goods Act:

They must provide a vehicle of satisfactory quality
  1. What is satisfactory quality?
  2. Well, it’s the standard that a ‘reasonable person’ would regard as satisfactory, taking into account the description given, price paid and any other considerations such as the mileage or type of vehicle.
  3. The appearance and the goods are free from minor defects. The act says that this is as a ‘reasonable person’ would expect the condition to be in. So, if you are buying a used car, it would be expected to have fair wear and tear. The level of this would be based on its age and mileage. If you’re unsure as to what counts as fair wear and tear, then you can download the BVRLA Fair Wear and Tear Guide .
  4. The vehicle should have durability. This means that it should work as expected. If it does not, then you can reject the goods and give the supplier the opportunity to repair the fault. If this is unsuccessful, you can request a full refund or a replacement vehicle.
I'm having the car independantly inspected by a garage this morning, just so they can't tell me 'nothing wrong with it mate'. If they can't find it (but they will I'm sure) then fine. All in my head.
Yep, it's the distance selling returns that are excluded. See you've bitten the bullet. Good luck. Keep us informed!
 
I don’t know about the vibration but you have zero chance of handing it back because of those dents.

They will fix them and the Car is yours. You also need to give them an opportunity to fix the car before you can hand it back.

As an aside I also know to my own detriment when I ran a business that your rights are an absolute fraction as a business compared to being a consumer.
 
I don’t know about the vibration but you have zero chance of handing it back because of those dents.

They will fix them and the Car is yours. You also need to give them an opportunity to fix the car before you can hand it back.

As an aside I also know to my own detriment when I ran a business that your rights are an absolute fraction as a business compared to being a consumer.
Well I won't be taking the car back. I've told them that if & when I get a refund, I'll order (or should I say my wife AKA a proverbial consumer & not business) a new one. But a test drive first me thinks.

This is interesting: Slight vibration in steering wheel above 25 MPH
 
Strangely the vibration seems worse on cold days - last Saturday where the temp was around 18 the vibration was less pronounced. Can’t work it out. Good luck - mine is a lease so can’t sell it on before the term without incurring significant cost. Love the car though and would take another without hesitation.