Ugh....I want to return my Y...

[Kuro Houou]

And when those competitors finally enter the market they’ll be prone to the same sorts of new-model glitches experienced by all manufacturers, PLUS they’ll be many of those brands’ first BEVs, a combination that doesn’t bode well for either initial quality or long term reliability.

Tesla literally has a decade head start and millions of cars’ worth of BEV experience and even industry insiders concede that Tesla’s tech and architecture is generations ahead of the legacy mfrs. That experience will serve them well for years to come.

I do think they are years ahead when it comes to battery tech and efficiency.. but electric motors have been around a long time and pretty much all manufacturers build relatively the same types of motors. Everything else about the car, others are years ahead of Tesla, build quality being one key example.

When you think about it as a whole, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, but I don't think any one car maker has perfected EV's, not even Tesla. They are very good at the "E", but not so much the "V"

 

[Electric Steve]

I do think they are years ahead when it comes to battery tech and efficiency.. but electric motors have been around a long time and pretty much all manufacturers build relatively the same types of motors. Everything else about the car, others are years ahead of Tesla, build quality being one key example.

When you think about it as a whole, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, but I don't think any one car maker has perfected EV's, not even Tesla. They are very good at the "E", but not so much the "V"

Tesla is way ahead on the computer side, and they're willing to make their cars different. They're not an old company that's set in its ways.

 

[Zcd1]

Other manufacturers have long ago figured out how to deliver cars with decent paint jobs and panels that actually fit...

It’s interesting/telling that your perspective appears to be that Tesla’s QC and/or build quality are substandard.

I’ve owned more expensive cars that didn't seem to be built as well and less expensive cars that seemed to be built better, so from where I sit, it’s pretty tough to make broad generalizations about Tesla’s (or any other mfrs.) build quality.

Perfect body panel gaps are useless in the face of $1500 PCV valve repairs...

 

[Electric Steve]

It’s interesting/telling that your perspective appears to be that Tesla’s QC and/or build quality are substandard.

I’ve owned more expensive cars that didn't seem to be built as well and less expensive cars that seemed to be built better, so from where I sit, it’s pretty tough to make broad generalizations about Tesla’s (or any other mfrs.) build quality.

Perfect body panel gaps are useless in the face of $1500 PCV valve repairs...

I've owned only less expensive cars, and none of them had serious paint or panel gap issues. Tesla clearly does have these problems.

 

[Shayne]

I've owned only less expensive cars, and none of them had serious paint or panel gap issues. Tesla clearly does have these problems.

For those that rap it in cellophane I can see that being the ultimate problem. If they do not leak and function adequately not so much for some. Nothing is perfect but I have found some things that are good enough for me. Picking your requirements and what is good enough may be a personal preference. The rear seat panels falling off and the trunks not closing right are more important to me than a door gap changing by a couple of mm; especially if the door works and does not leak.

What options are there for an electric that goes like snot, for this cost, produced by a company that has invested in the same amount of charging infrastructure? You can always look for negatives in everything; nothing I have found is perfect. But the positives are also there, no gas, little maintenance, online transactions, more superchargers planned, WiFi updates, goes like snot etc. Wax it; it is a vehicle that will most of the time only depreciate. A vehicle is never a sound investment but an annual expense. 10 years from now some will not care about 2 mm (1/8") but (Cost - current value)/10. That will normally equate to a loss.

 

[Electric Steve]

For those that rap it in cellophane I can see that being the ultimate problem. If they do not leak and function adequately not so much for some. Nothing is perfect but I have found some things that are good enough for me. Picking your requirements and what is good enough may be a personal preference. The rear seat panels falling off and the trunks not closing right are more important to me than a door gap changing by a couple of mm; especially if the door works and does not leak.

What options are there for an electric that goes like snot, for this cost, produced by a company that has invested in the same amount of charging infrastructure? You can always look for negatives in everything; nothing I have found is perfect. But the positives are also there, no gas, little maintenance, online transactions, more superchargers planned, WiFi updates, goes like snot etc. Wax it; it is a vehicle that will most of the time only depreciate. A vehicle is never a sound investment but an annual expense. 10 years from now some will not care about 2 mm (1/8") but (Cost - current value)/10. That will normally equate to a loss.

For all that's good about the design of Tesla cars, they do have all sorts of quality problems, and not only cosmetic ones. I expect that I can get Tesla to fix many of these issues (and I plan to) but they're not likely to do a decent job with the paint, so I'm not going to ask them to try.

They'd either send it to a detailer and not care how well it's fixed, or even worse, do a half-ass job themselves. This isn't worth it; I'd rather just hire my own detailer and skip the part where Tesla adds damage that I'll have to pay to remove.

Is this rational? Think of it this way: if Tesla offered a discount of a couple of thousand dollars if you'll accept a car with significant paint defects, would you take it? I wouldn't, and this amounts to the same thing in the end.

The point of wrapping it in polyurethane is to seal in the paint correction and to protect it against a wide variety of light damage. There's no guarantee that it'll preserve the resale value of the car or even cost less than having dings corrected as needed. If that's your goal, then skip it. My goal is to have less to worry about.

As for wax, that's outdated. Even the sort of ceramic coating you apply yourself is better. The professional kind lasts a long time and protects against UV and water.

 

[Uncle Paul]

With paint and panel fittments being a weak spot for the paint and panel gap obsessed, perhaps there will need to be some after delivery attention paid to those areas. Some will be covered under warranty and others will be customer pay.

Some owners have little concern about a trim piece that does not fit flush or the speck of dust in the paint. They will be delighted with the power, style, advanced electronics and smooth all electric drive to justify their purchase.

For those demanding a flawless finish Tesla often will have those addressed after delivery. For those needing an even higher level of gloss there are tons of detail shops dedicated to the fastidious. Aftermarket also has many options to protect that finish and even enhance it over time with ceramics and loving care.

Tesla is on a quest to make millions of these cars to advance the transformation away from polluting gas/diesel engines. Those are contaminating our city centers and contributing to global warming. For many of us that is the bigger picture.

Perhaps this is similar to those early personal computer owners that had their days ruined when their PC would crash. It turned them off from computers, while the rest of the world simply took a deep breath, rebooted and soldiered on to complete their projects.

 

[Shayne]

For all that's good about the design of Tesla cars, they do have all sorts of quality problems, and not only cosmetic ones. I expect that I can get Tesla to fix many of these issues (and I plan to) but they're not likely to do a decent job with the paint, so I'm not going to ask them to try.

They'd either send it to a detailer and not care how well it's fixed, or even worse, do a half-ass job themselves. This isn't worth it; I'd rather just hire my own detailer and skip the part where Tesla adds damage that I'll have to pay to remove.

Is this rational? Think of it this way: if Tesla offered a discount of a couple of thousand dollars if you'll accept a car with significant paint defects, would you take it? I wouldn't, and this amounts to the same thing in the end.

The point of wrapping it in polyurethane is to seal in the paint correction and to protect it against a wide variety of light damage. There's no guarantee that it'll preserve the resale value of the car or even cost less than having dings corrected as needed. If that's your goal, then skip it. My goal is to have less to worry about.

As for wax, that's outdated. Even the sort of ceramic coating you apply yourself is better. The professional kind lasts a long time and protects against UV and water.

I wish you the best of luck on that quest for perfection. Body and paint 8 years down the road may be cheaper. I for one will be only protecting the screen and clay and seal the glass. Wax and shine will be good enough for me. Unless the weight increases range I see no reason to cellophane it just a bit too much for me. I will spend it on hepa filters maybe as I am outdated. Not all waxes are created equal now a days but you think they are all out of date?

 

[SmartElectric]

Chevy pretty much nailed the battery/motor tech in the Bolt

Having driven a Bolt, and owning other brands of EV's, the Bolt is a truly patch work of disparate systems put together, the result is a significantly more complex set of subsystems that are not optimized.

Examples : battery heater is separate from cabin heater, separate from air conditioning (with compressor), just like my old 2013 Model S which increases the chance of one or more of those systems malfunctioning, vs the single conditioning system in the Model Y.

Example : Bolt has outrageously unsophisticated traction control and it's torque steer on the front wheels is well documented, my Smart ED has a similar problem even though it's rear wheel drive because it inherits from the manufacturer gas car systems which are woefully inadequate at managing immediate torque delivery in corners.

I could go on. Your statement is demonstrably false.

 

[SmartElectric]

Until more competition comes to the market though Tesla knows as long as the cars look ok to most people they don't have to do anything else to improve QC

This is demonstrably false. Check out the Model Y tear down on YouTube
Watch Munro's Tesla Model Y Teardown Proceed: Floorpan, Wiring

Tesla has made significant strides on reducing the complexity of the build, improving quality.
It's not at the level you desire, but Tesla is absolutely making progress, and has many innovations the competition have no answer for.

 

[pichner]

With paint and panel fittments being a weak spot for the paint and panel gap obsessed, perhaps there will need to be some after delivery attention paid to those areas. Some will be covered under warranty and others will be customer pay.

Some owners have little concern about a trim piece that does not fit flush or the speck of dust in the paint. They will be delighted with the power, style, advanced electronics and smooth all electric drive to justify their purchase.

For those demanding a flawless finish Tesla often will have those addressed after delivery. For those needing an even higher level of gloss there are tons of detail shops dedicated to the fastidious. Aftermarket also has many options to protect that finish and even enhance it over time with ceramics and loving care.

Tesla is on a quest to make millions of these cars to advance the transformation away from polluting gas/diesel engines. Those are contaminating our city centers and contributing to global warming. For many of us that is the bigger picture.

Perhaps this is similar to those early personal computer owners that had their days ruined when their PC would crash. It turned them off from computers, while the rest of the world simply took a deep breath, rebooted and soldiered on to complete their projects.

I couldn't agree with you more, well said! I love my Y even tho it's not perfect. I will say the tech is much better than my Apple IIe and seems to have fewer issues than I remember during the early days of computing I am happy to support this company if not for the environmental reasons alone.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

My point was not an excuse - it was that every brand of vehicle involves compromise of some sort.

Buyers decide which compromises they can live with every time they buy a car.

Yes and no.

For NOW, just about everyone can dump GHG's, in ANY quantity, for free. (We'll just let our children deal with trashed planet, because that's what our "leadership" is doing, and they like having campaign fundraisers from the fossil fuel industry.) This really means that buying any ICE vehicle is a blatently immoral and unethical choice. See:
News | Huge Cavity in Antarctic Glacier Signals Rapid Decay

Which states:

About the size of Florida, Thwaites Glacier is currently responsible for approximately 4 percent of global sea level rise. It holds enough ice to raise the world ocean a little over 2 feet (65 centimeters) and backstops neighboring glaciers that would raise sea levels an additional 8 feet (2.4 meters) if all the ice were lost.
[truncated]

Second, if this buyer is ignorant of the facts above (and why Tesla exists in the first place), and is really so concerned about the welding seams on his brake pedal(!) that he's willing to post about his "trauma" here, he likely needs to be in another brand of EV as Tesla has bigger issues to focus upon, such as building more Giga (and Tera) Factories to save our entire planet's future.

Geesh, talk about First World problems . . . .

 

[pichner]

Yes and no.

For NOW, just about everyone can dump GHG's, in ANY quantity, for free. (We'll just let our children deal with trashed planet, because that's what our "leadership" is doing, and they like having campaign fundraisers from the fossil fuel industry.) This really means that buying any ICE vehicle is a blatently immoral and unethical choice. See:
News | Huge Cavity in Antarctic Glacier Signals Rapid Decay

Which states:

About the size of Florida, Thwaites Glacier is currently responsible for approximately 4 percent of global sea level rise. It holds enough ice to raise the world ocean a little over 2 feet (65 centimeters) and backstops neighboring glaciers that would raise sea levels an additional 8 feet (2.4 meters) if all the ice were lost.
[truncated]

Second, if this buyer is ignorant of the facts above (and why Tesla exists in the first place), and is really so concerned about the welding seams on his brake pedal(!) that he's willing to post about his "trauma" here, he likely needs to be in another brand of EV as Tesla has bigger issues to focus upon, such as building more Giga (and Tera) Factories to save our entire planet's future.

Geesh, talk about First World problems . . . .

Facts!

 

[Vines]

I do think they are years ahead when it comes to battery tech and efficiency.. but electric motors have been around a long time and pretty much all manufacturers build relatively the same types of motors. Everything else about the car, others are years ahead of Tesla, build quality being one key example.

When you think about it as a whole, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, but I don't think any one car maker has perfected EV's, not even Tesla. They are very good at the "E", but not so much the "V"

While I agree Tesla has some work to do on fit and finish issues, they very much lead in batteries and electric motors. Just check out the Sandy Munroe tear downs

The model 3 uses a type of electric motor that isn't super common. Its called the PMSW and the magnets are additionally cut and glued back together with the poles fighting each other resulting in a stronger magnetic field than the 2 pole magnet size would generate. This allows the Tesla drive unit to be about 40% more powerful for the same weight. Just one of the reasons why Tesla has an advantage in the drivetrain.

Sadly, they wont put the large QC effort into making near perfect car bodies until the market competition is here and the build quality of Tesla causes demand problems. Luckily for me, things like welds on my brake pedal aren't a concern, and I have never looked at mine. It might look EVEN WORSE!

 

[TSLA Pilot]

While I agree Tesla has some work to do on fit and finish issues, they very much lead in batteries and electric motors. Just check out the Sandy Munroe tear downs

The model 3 uses a type of electric motor that isn't super common. Its called the PMSW and the magnets are additionally cut and glued back together with the poles fighting each other resulting in a stronger magnetic field than the 2 pole magnet size would generate. This allows the Tesla drive unit to be about 40% more powerful for the same weight. Just one of the reasons why Tesla has an advantage in the drivetrain.

Sadly, they wont put the large QC effort into making near perfect car bodies until the market competition is here and the build quality of Tesla causes demand problems. Luckily for me, things like welds on my brake pedal aren't a concern, and I have never looked at mine. It might look EVEN WORSE!

Oh, the horror!

How can you sleep at night not knowing what your brake pedal welds look?!?

I'm going to remove my rubber brake pedal cover to check the back, just to make sure the rubber mold lines are acceptable . . . .

 

[Vines]

Oh, the horror!

How can you sleep at night not knowing what your brake pedal welds look?!?

I'm going to remove my rubber brake pedal cover to check the back, just to make sure the rubber mold lines are acceptable . . . .

Ikr, OP reaching here if you ask me.

 

[rxlawdude]

OP nowhere to be found. Maybe he returned the Y?

 

[john5520]

The people that are dissatisfied with some thing or the other (usually a laundry list), often point to other cars as having better fit and finish or interior materials etc. Ok, no one is saying you shouldn't vent or be honest. But what I don't get, is if you're the type of person that nitpicks the little details (some might be justified but usually fixable), why not simply get a car with the desired fit and finish from the get-go? Or at the very least, return the Tesla within the 7 day period assuming some things were missed on delivery? I hate to be one of the 'mob' members that pile-on, but a post like the OP's invites that type of response. It's like someone that keep sticking their feet in the fire and complaining it's hot.

 

[Electric Steve]

I wish you the best of luck on that quest for perfection. Body and paint 8 years down the road may be cheaper. I for one will be only protecting the screen and clay and seal the glass. Wax and shine will be good enough for me. Unless the weight increases range I see no reason to cellophane it just a bit too much for me. I will spend it on hepa filters maybe as I am outdated. Not all waxes are created equal now a days but you think they are all out of date?

I think ceramic coating fulfills the role that waxes once had, so yes, they're out of date. I agree that the case for film, especially full-body, is contingent upon some things that aren't universal. But doing paint correction and ceramic coating seems like a no-brainer to me.

 

[everydaychris]

I'll take a few issues that can be fixed easily if it means I get a car that changes with time, crazy battery range, and autopilot software.

I'm so sick of paying x amount for a car only to find a year or two later they add and change new features to make the car better and it's not like I can return the car or sell it to get a the newest model lol.

Also, not all Japanese cars are perfect. Our Lexus had a hinge missing from the door, the suspension would squeak so much randomly, orange peel on the paint, minor scuffs on leather that were repaired with paint, etc.