Sunk-in hood

[TheShark]

This thread made me look at mine as well... and yup, same misalignment issue. VIN is 30XX series. I'm leaning toward Cricket's assessment of a stamping problem... Why else would a hood get replaced.

I do have to say I am impressed with the significant improvements in panel alignment over the early S and X vehicles.

My S was in the body shop for a week shortly after delivery to get the tailgate alignment sorted out, it really wasn't perfect until after my wife got rear ended and they had to replace the tailgate and a bunch of other pieces!

 

[alloverx]

Hard to believe after all this time though.
They buy engineering firms so what are they all doing?
I have seen a model-3 close-up and did not notice this but did not look for it either

 

[Robocheme]

I drove my new, red M3 home from the Tesla dealership yesterday, January 22, and noticed I saw the edge of the front fender without the adjacent hood where it's supposed to be. Coming out from the car, I saw that the hood was significantly sunk in. Body panels were nicely next to each other up towards the front window and at the front end of the hood, but along the sides, the hood is significantly lower than the fenders. around half a centimeter. My immediate reaction was - this can't be right. Is it? I have notified Tesla. See photos, one of them showing the gap "disappearing when seen from the side because the hood is sunk in.

View attachment 275396View attachment 275397View attachment 275398

Hmmm. I had the same problem with the hood as you did. I brought it in on January 10th and they didn't do anything, At first the service rep and I looked at another 3 and it had the same problem so he concluded that that is just the way it is.

When I got the car back, the report said that it was within specs.

"Technician inspected and adjusted the hood as needed. Re checked and confirmed within manufacturers specification at this time."

I need to check what the gap is on cars produced more recently to see if they've improved things. (My VIN is 12XX)

 

[Norge]

Update on my red M3 that started this thread about a sunk-in hood. Tesla promised a new hood in one week to ten days. We contacted them for updates after 8 and 12 days. I had to push them for basic delivery update, such as whether the hood had shipped. Turned out it hadn't, but they could get it in two days (probably since I asked).

But it would be delivered in black primer and sent to a local Tesla-certified body shop for painting here in Maryland. This is when you start feel like you have bought a used car and wonder what implications this would have on resale. My retailer (very competent Frontguard near Annapolis who will wrap the front) hasn't come across many competent paint shops and believes risk of other issues is high when bringing a human rather than Tesla's robots into the picture.

Not totally decided yet, but I am inclined to rather keep the faulty hood. This sunk hood is more of an issue than the varying panel gaps that I am tolerant of, so it's poor quality control and a disappointing proposed solution by Tesla. I didn't expect a local paint job being their solution. Views?

 

[bonnie]

I had the opportunity to play with @dturkes Black Beauty a couple of weeks ago. I closed the frunk lid three separate times, and it was very easy. Just put the lid all the way down and then give a gentle push with both hands around the logo area. The lid locks with a soft clunk. Easy peasy. Not sure what the fuss is all about.

There are two adjustable (with fingers) rubber bumpers on the front underside of the frunk lid for alignment. Very easy to fix alignment issues. I am sure these will need to adjusted from time to time as the seals wear in.

I agree. When my sister picked up her 3 in December, I made sure she practiced opening and closing the front trunk. She uses it every day now.

 

[Tdave]

Mine (#41xx) has the same sunken hood, but only on the drivers side. The passenger side is not sunken. I saw the issue and pointed it out upon delivery, and got a shrug. Delivery was only 5 days ago, so haven’t yet brought the car in for initial defect fixes.

 

[03DSG]

Update on my red M3 that started this thread about a sunk-in hood. Tesla promised a new hood in one week to ten days. We contacted them for updates after 8 and 12 days. I had to push them for basic delivery update, such as whether the hood had shipped. Turned out it hadn't, but they could get it in two days (probably since I asked).

But it would be delivered in black primer and sent to a local Tesla-certified body shop for painting here in Maryland. This is when you start feel like you have bought a used car and wonder what implications this would have on resale. My retailer (very competent Frontguard near Annapolis who will wrap the front) hasn't come across many competent paint shops and believes risk of other issues is high when bringing a human rather than Tesla's robots into the picture.

Not totally decided yet, but I am inclined to rather keep the faulty hood. This sunk hood is more of an issue than the varying panel gaps that I am tolerant of, so it's poor quality control and a disappointing proposed solution by Tesla. I didn't expect a local paint job being their solution. Views?

If it was me I would definitely keep the original factory painted hood and live with that slight left side misalignment. I have never had any aftermarket paint come out anywhere as good as the factory paint. Pure white or pure black you can probably get a close color match. MultiCoat red over primer by a body shop? Not me.
My experience has been repaints are not a perfect match, not as tough, chip easier, fade differently than the rest and basically just don’t last. Your retailer will probably tell you as well if you wrap that repainted hood with PPF and ever have to remove the PPF the paints coming off with it. Then try and rematch MCR with the very slightly faded factory paint.
I guess it’s obvious I feel pretty strongly about this but you asked for views!!!

 

[Norge]

Thanks, 03DSG. What you wrote is exactly what my detailer told me. I'm keeping the original hood, and the car is with detailer for front wrapping. Looking forward to start using the car.

 

[AllDigital]

I had lots of fit gaps when we picked it up (Vin 20xx). The big ones were on both sides of the trunk and both driver side doors. We also had gaps inside. We took it to service expecting a referral to the body shop, but they were able to get all of them back to 100% right without the body shop. Our hood also sinks in slightly, but was not enough of a concern to have them rework it. I suspect the panels were all stamped fine, but those lazy robots were not 100% accurate assembling.

 

[Supertester777]

Maybe it was hand-assembled? Robots are not "lazy"

 

[AustinPowers]

Perhaps it was hand-built by Roberts:

 

[Robocheme]

Thanks, 03DSG. What you wrote is exactly what my detailer told me. I'm keeping the original hood, and the car is with detailer for front wrapping. Looking forward to start using the car.

Thanks for the update, Norge. I brought my 3 back to the Service Center today and I tried to talk them into a new hood. They resisted a new hood and, after reading your reasoning, I think that I'll just keep the old hood, too.

 

[Norge]

Hi Robocheme. As I picked up my car at the detailer putting on a film on the front, he had improved the “hood situation”. It turned out that the adjustment screws near the font being heightened had more impact than I imagined higher up on the hood. I left the car for travel and haven’t looked into the matter carefully, but I suspect that higher adjustment screws upfront causes the hood to bend a tad upward when you push to lock it. That’s what I think happened. Not perfect, but a good deal better.

 

[EkBuZ]

The sunken hood is still an issue. I saw a handful of 3s in MN last week that had just arrived. Most of them had a sunken hood and VINs in the mid 5xxx.

 

[azred]

Hi Robocheme. As I picked up my car at the detailer putting on a film on the front, he had improved the “hood situation”. It turned out that the adjustment screws near the font being heightened had more impact than I imagined higher up on the hood. I left the car for travel and haven’t looked into the matter carefully, but I suspect that higher adjustment screws upfront causes the hood to bend a tad upward when you push to lock it. That’s what I think happened. Not perfect, but a good deal better.

Just picked mine up yesterday after some minor adjustments including the sagging hood, and like yours, I think it is better. I can still feel a slight sagging but it’s not very noticeable visually. But had I not read in this forum about the issue I might have missed it altogether. If the hood stuck up above the fender it would obviously be more noticeable and much more objectionable.

 

[oldtrip]

Just saw my first M3 in the Bellevue, WA showroom. They just received it a week ago. After reading this forum, the hood was one of the first things I looked at. Indeed, it was "below grade" most significantly on the driver's side, pretty noticeable if you're looking for it. As I write this, I regret not checking the vin #. I pointed it out to another reservation holder. He hadn't noticed it, but did point out that it was more apparent on the driver's side.

 

[bnsfengineer]

If it was me I would definitely keep the original factory painted hood and live with that slight left side misalignment. I have never had any aftermarket paint come out anywhere as good as the factory paint. Pure white or pure black you can probably get a close color match. MultiCoat red over primer by a body shop? Not me.
My experience has been repaints are not a perfect match, not as tough, chip easier, fade differently than the rest and basically just don’t last. Your retailer will probably tell you as well if you wrap that repainted hood with PPF and ever have to remove the PPF the paints coming off with it. Then try and rematch MCR with the very slightly faded factory paint.
I guess it’s obvious I feel pretty strongly about this but you asked for views!!!

Couldn't agree more... had promises before on a BMW and after market paint is just not going to be factory which would drive me more crazy than the misalignment!

 

[Shoal007]

The sunken hood is still an issue. I saw a handful of 3s in MN last week that had just arrived. Most of them had a sunken hood and VINs in the mid 5xxx.

you must of seen mine which I just picked up. was out of town. I'll try the bumper fix and see if that helps. The DS said thats what he saw on all of them... dunno.

 

[Shoal007]

you must of seen mine which I just picked up. was out of town. I'll try the bumper fix and see if that helps. The DS said thats what he saw on all of them... dunno.

Adjusted still a good 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch below fenders...

 

[Icer]

OT: Should be a market for steel/Fiberglas/some sort of plastic hood.
Sell the perfect shiny one to pay for it.

Also rear wheel skirts. Plastic would be fine. Full skirt, half skirt.
400 mile range with correct tires? Yup.
goofy neon colors, or black/white prepped to paint.
Auto parts stores can sell you a can of the factory color BTW.
Mixed in an aerosol can, about 25$.

Then wheels, 16-17", use higher profile tire. (cheap)
By adjusting air pressure, can get more/less rubber on road/cushier ride as desired.

Someone please paint the aero caps white or silver or yellow?
A contrast color to the wheel should fool the eye into seeing a wheel.

Thanks.