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Took delivery and discovered this a few days later—check thoroughly people

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So we noticed an issue with our Model 3 a few days after we took delivery on 6/9—there’s a small dent in the metal frame and a gash in the plastic frame piece directly below on the bottom right side of the car. It looks like it may have been damaged when it was taken off the delivery truck (see attached pictures). When we took delivery, the car was parked in between two other cars, so we didn’t take notice of this issue as we would have had to get on our hands and knees to see it. We noticed it a few days after when approaching the car’s right side from further away. We’re 100% this did not happen after we took delivery, as we definitely would have noticed an event that caused this. We’ve been working from home and it’s constantly parked in our garage, so there was no other opportunity for this to happen.

We contacted Tesla and our SA told us to make a service appointment in the app. A week later, someone from our local Tesla center called and apologized for not contacting us sooner and informed us they were investigating the issue. They said someone would be calling in the next few days to follow up. We got a call two days ago, but I was working so I missed their call. They left a message saying to call back. We tried calling them back later that day and again yesterday. Each time we call, they say they don’t know the person who we’re trying to get a hold of. We’re thinking there’s just a huge disconnect between who the main line connects you to (sales) and the service department. When we use their automated phone system to contact service, it’s just a bunch of informational options. (Or we just can’t find the option that connects you to a real person...)

Long story short, we’re scheduled for a service appointment next week, so I’ll try to keep everyone updated on how they handle this. Bottom Line: check every inch of the car...even if you have to get on your hands and knees to look underneath...haha. We honestly thought Tesla might have right of the bat said “sorry, it’s your problem,” as that would be the response of any other car dealership once you drive it off the lot in our experience. And that could still end up being their stance...we’ll see what they say next week. Or if they ever call us back.

The only other problem we’ve run into is our premium connectivity trial never got activated. We put in a service request and thought it would be able to be taken care of remotely, but it seems as if they’re waiting until we take the car to the service center for the other issue. So maybe check that your streaming music/video capability works before you leave the lot as well.

Other than this issue, we absolutely LOVE the car and it’s a blast driving it. We were between the Y and the 3 and we’re really happy with the M3. We were relatively pleased with the overall build quality of the M3. And we got the wireless charger and USB-C ports.

Sorry for the long post, but just wanted everyone to be aware of this “one in a million” issue.

Cheers!
 

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wow! In regard to the premium connectivity, do you use the app or the touch screen on the car to keep it activated?

From what it looks like, I think it's via your account on the Tesla website. Once you have your car and you click "manage," you can click "details" and you'll see an area titled "Subscriptions." Right now it says that I have a complimentary period ending on June 10, 2021 but also gives me the option to subscribe and start paying for $9.99/mo. But in the car on the screen, it doesn't show that I have premium connectivity after going into the "software" menu.
 
UPDATE: Tesla didn't end up taking responsibility for this issue. If we choose to fix it, it'll come out of our pocket. Lesson learned...get on your hands and knees to check the bottom of a Tesla when taking delivery. C'est la vie

Call back and try to get a hold of the SC manager. Tell him/her that you're going to give a negative feedback when you receive the survey email for the inconvenience this has caused you. Tesla hates hearing about a negative experience. I'm pretty sure they'll handle this for you.

Source: I had to do something similar!
 
They told me I have 100 miles to check over the car and report back any issues they need to fix. Is this true? They are pushing hard to try and deliver tonight as late as midnight! Gotta get that end of quarter delivery. I'll probably pass until tomorrow. No incentive for me to pick it up this late.
 
They told me I have 100 miles to check over the car and report back any issues they need to fix. Is this true? They are pushing hard to try and deliver tonight as late as midnight! Gotta get that end of quarter delivery. I'll probably pass until tomorrow. No incentive for me to pick it up this late.

I was told I had 24 hours and no more than 160km when I took delivery on this past Sunday at noon, by the time the paperwork and issues were fixed or attempted to fix, it was 3pm before I left. I found some other issues and emailed my SA and DA that night, I got a reply back the following morning and was asked if I wanted this other issue fixed that they couldn’t fix the day before to let them know by the end of the day so they could add it. I looked over the car again later that day to make sure that there were no other issues, I did find some minor stuff and thought I would mention them at the end of day, apparently that was too late (5pm) and they wouldn’t be able to add it into their system. I thought was OK because they said to let them know by the end of the day but maybe that was only for that one particular issue as it was already noted.

So with that experience, I would suggest getting a daytime delivery so you can still contact them the next day for any issues as I would be afraid no one would be available at night to bring up any issues to enter in their system and then have to fight for it later.
 
when I took delivery of my pearl white M3P I walked over the entire car and everything looked good, got home parked the car in the garage, no direct sunlight and discovered I had a small door ding/dent on passenger door, guessing from delivery truck. My closest Tesla service center is 80+ miles way. I think i'm going to live with the ding/dent or get it fixed out of pocket.:(
 
when I took delivery of my pearl white M3P I walked over the entire car and everything looked good, got home parked the car in the garage, no direct sunlight and discovered I had a small door ding/dent on passenger door, guessing from delivery truck. My closest Tesla service center is 80+ miles way. I think i'm going to live with the ding/dent or get it fixed out of pocket.:(

Personally I would bypass Tesla and go to a highly rated Paintless Dent Repair (PDR) company from Yelp. The cost is probably around $150. You could try to make Tesla pick up the bill but the effort may not be worth it.
 
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So we noticed an issue with our Model 3 a few days after we took delivery on 6/9—there’s a small dent in the metal frame and a gash in the plastic frame piece directly below on the bottom right side of the car. It looks like it may have been damaged when it was taken off the delivery truck (see attached pictures). When we took delivery, the car was parked in between two other cars, so we didn’t take notice of this issue as we would have had to get on our hands and knees to see it. We noticed it a few days after when approaching the car’s right side from further away. We’re 100% this did not happen after we took delivery, as we definitely would have noticed an event that caused this. We’ve been working from home and it’s constantly parked in our garage, so there was no other opportunity for this to happen.

We contacted Tesla and our SA told us to make a service appointment in the app. A week later, someone from our local Tesla center called and apologized for not contacting us sooner and informed us they were investigating the issue. They said someone would be calling in the next few days to follow up. We got a call two days ago, but I was working so I missed their call. They left a message saying to call back. We tried calling them back later that day and again yesterday. Each time we call, they say they don’t know the person who we’re trying to get a hold of. We’re thinking there’s just a huge disconnect between who the main line connects you to (sales) and the service department. When we use their automated phone system to contact service, it’s just a bunch of informational options. (Or we just can’t find the option that connects you to a real person...)

Long story short, we’re scheduled for a service appointment next week, so I’ll try to keep everyone updated on how they handle this. Bottom Line: check every inch of the car...even if you have to get on your hands and knees to look underneath...haha. We honestly thought Tesla might have right of the bat said “sorry, it’s your problem,” as that would be the response of any other car dealership once you drive it off the lot in our experience. And that could still end up being their stance...we’ll see what they say next week. Or if they ever call us back.

The only other problem we’ve run into is our premium connectivity trial never got activated. We put in a service request and thought it would be able to be taken care of remotely, but it seems as if they’re waiting until we take the car to the service center for the other issue. So maybe check that your streaming music/video capability works before you leave the lot as well.

Other than this issue, we absolutely LOVE the car and it’s a blast driving it. We were between the Y and the 3 and we’re really happy with the M3. We were relatively pleased with the overall build quality of the M3. And we got the wireless charger and USB-C ports.

Sorry for the long post, but just wanted everyone to be aware of this “one in a million” issue.

Cheers!
 
I'm in the same boat as you and trying to get a ding/paint damage on my door fixed. Can't even get a call back from a delivery advisor despite being told by someone at Tesla corporate to reach out to get a due bill.

I sent an email to resolutions (at) tesla (dot) com to escalate this. Love the car but absolutely pulling teeth to actually get someone to talk to me.
 
We picked up my wife’s M3 June 30th and when we got home, we noticed the undercarriage rubber/plastic piece wasn’t fully attached. Just one little area. Everything else was perfect. Mobile service came by and fixed it - even though they ordered the part just in case the whole thing needed to be replaced. Denver, CO. So that was a positive experience.

My M3 is on order, so I’ll be doing a lot better in checking the car out all over and especially under.