Why I sold my 1-month old Tesla Model S.

[TMeister]

Hey all, Just wanted to mention how great this forum was and invaluable to Tesla owners.
.... We picked a new inventory S75 (with new 4.x 0-60) times.

Hmmm. Maybe the issue here is this car was not a customer ordered car but an "extra" one built for inventory. Anyone put the two together yet? Inventory cars vs. customer ordered cars and numbers of issues?

When we decided to get our S100D, it only took 6 weeks to build and receive. I know it was end of quarter rush, so they wanted to get it delivered before end of September. Perhaps you wanted the car sooner than it would have taken by specifying your build?

OTOH, Specifying a car and getting it delivered in 6 weeks is really good. Compare that to ordering a Porsche 911. IF you can find an allocation for what you want, you may be able to get a car in 6 months.

 

[Electroman]

It amazes me sometimes how for some people cosmetic issues like - panels not aligned properly or a swirl on the lower bumper paint, would bother them so much. How it drives for them is probably 10th on the list of importance, and how it looks is numero uno.

I can only chuckle. It is not work of art, a painting, or a sculpture that evokes emotions by just looking at it. It is a piece of machinery that runs on asphalt, grime, dirt and rocks and is constantly pummeled by every pollutant known to man.

To me how the driving characteristics and how safe it is (man it saved me without even a friggin hairline scratch on me, on my recent major accident) matters first and how it looks matters down the list. Wind noise and road noise will perhaps bother me much more than even a dented bumper

 

[stan23]

Hmmm. Maybe the issue here is this car was not a customer ordered car but an "extra" one built for inventory. Anyone put the two together yet? Inventory cars vs. customer ordered cars and numbers of issues?

When we decided to get our S100D, it only took 6 weeks to build and receive. I know it was end of quarter rush, so they wanted to get it delivered before end of September. Perhaps you wanted the car sooner than it would have taken by specifying your build?

OTOH, Specifying a car and getting it delivered in 6 weeks is really good. Compare that to ordering a Porsche 911. IF you can find an allocation for what you want, you may be able to get a car in 6 months.

Apologies for sounding harsh, but that makes no sense in manufacturing. The guy and robot assembling the cars has no knowledge of how the car was ordered, and would not assemble them any different. I took an inventory car (had 6 miles on the ODO) because it was exactly the one I would have built and I think they knocked off a grand for being an inventory car.

 

[doofenshmirtz]

I guess I could have worded it better.

The way I look at it, I lost 1 bitcoin. There, that makes me feel better.

You wouldn't be Satoshi Nakamoto by any chance, would you?

 

[Shock-On-T]

I don't get why people can't believe he doesn't mind dropping $15K.
I can easily imaging someone having enough money that dropping $15K was not an issue.

Anyway @stan23 I'm sorry to hear you had build problems. I've got a few panel gaps myself (at least my car has) but I'm not used to perfection and have been OK without it
Hope you'll come back to the fold at some time in the future. The cars really are a lot of fun...

 

[stan23]

I don't get why people can't believe he doesn't mind dropping $15K.
I can easily imaging someone having enough money that dropping $15K was not an issue.

Anyway @stan23 I'm sorry to hear you had build problems. I've got a few panel gaps myself (at least my car has) but I'm not used to perfection and have been OK without it
Hope you'll come back to the fold at some time in the future. The cars really are a lot of fun...

It Is not possible to find perfection in any mass produced vehicle. One of my gripes was how the service department handled them. That is definitely YMMV kind of situation.

I have not checked TMC in months until I got some alert about an old post I commented on, then out of pure coincidence, I read that Tesla does monitor and read these messages, hence my post.

I sincerely hope Tesla does read this, and better their quality.

I know i'm now labeled a 'Tesla hater' and bringing the negative posts from other members... certainly not been my MO if you look at my post history.

 

[roblab]

I'm an older owner (40) and a huge car/motorcycle enthusiast.

This was over 2 months ago--and i'm not exactly sure why i'm posting this now. Maybe Tesla will read this, and know that to some people, QC does matter!

I'm an OLDER older owner. At 73, I've been driving twice as long as you, and rode motorcycles fifty years. Which has nothing to do with this. Experience has taught me that every car maker turns out a poorly quality controlled car now and then. Looking at average Tesla owners' satisfaction, anyone could see that you are over reacting. All the people I know who had a minor issue or two, got it fixed, and love everything about the car, except you. Of course you contacted Tesla, and of course you tried a different Service Center or two, right? I mean, how far is it to the Factory?? It's got to be the CAR. Or, linear deduction, Tesla doesn't care about quality control. And then you post here, where you KNOW Tesla loyalists hang out.

Sounds like troll.

 

[stan23]

I'm an OLDER older owner. At 73, I've been driving twice as long as you, and rode motorcycles fifty years. Which has nothing to do with this. Experience has taught me that every car maker turns out a poorly quality controlled car now and then. Looking at average Tesla owners' satisfaction, anyone could see that you are over reacting. All the people I know who had a minor issue or two, got it fixed, and love everything about the car, except you. Of course you contacted Tesla, and of course you tried a different Service Center or two, right? I mean, how far is it to the Factory?? It's got to be the CAR. Or, linear deduction, Tesla doesn't care about quality control. And then you post here, where you KNOW Tesla loyalists hang out.

Sounds like troll.

I'll bite.

Why were my issues with my car comparable to others? Sure, they may be minor in your eyes and many others. And I fully respect that.

The car/service department didn't work for me, and i've stated the reasons why. IMHO, if Tesla had a guy at the end of the line check basic things like door seals, chrome trim pieces, and panel alignment, a lot of these 'quality control' issues would be squashed even prior to the owner knowing about them. Heck, if they drove my car, and saw that the car wasn't aligned correctly, they should have fixed that before delivering the car to me.

I thought this was a Tesla forum? We discuss the good, the bad? If this was just a forum for "Tesla Loyalists" then i'll see my way out. I don't want to be on a forum where all we do is pat each other on the back.

 

[Canuck]

I don't get why people can't believe he doesn't mind dropping $15K.

I think I speak for a lot of us here when I say that I can have a lot more go missing than $15k and I'd never even notice it. At the same time, if I knowingly lost $15k it would bother me to no end -- even losing smaller amounts does that to me -- but I do try to tell myself not to sweat the small stuff. We can't take it with us, but I would like to leave as much as possible for my three daughters.

I can easily imaging someone having enough money that dropping $15K was not an issue

We all can. But those people are few and far between. Despite what people think, wealthy people don't go around as if small potatoes don't matter. If they had that attitude, they would not have the big potatoes. In my experience, wealthy people are generally more frugal than less wealthy people.

Sounds like troll.

I highly doubt that. He made his argument with good points and Tesla does need to tighten things up.

 

[ACA Man]

I'll bite.

Why were my issues with my car comparable to others? Sure, they may be minor in your eyes and many others. And I fully respect that.

The car/service department didn't work for me, and i've stated the reasons why. IMHO, if Tesla had a guy at the end of the line check basic things like door seals, chrome trim pieces, and panel alignment, a lot of these 'quality control' issues would be squashed even prior to the owner knowing about them. Heck, if they drove my car, and saw that the car wasn't aligned correctly, they should have fixed that before delivering the car to me.

I thought this was a Tesla forum? We discuss the good, the bad? If this was just a forum for "Tesla Loyalists" then i'll see my way out. I don't want to be on a forum where all we do is pat each other on the back.

Well said.

IMHO, at the end of the day, it is your money and, as far as I am concerned, you can do however you see fit.

I have seen similar situations from various forums, ranging from cars to audio, where people just criticized any perceived 'negativity' toward their well-loved brand and then labeled others as trolls when such less than ideal messages posted.

 

[ACA Man]

We all can. But those people are few and far between. Despite what people think, wealthy people don't go around as if small potatoes don't matter. If they had that attitude, they would not have the big potatoes. In my experience, wealthy people are generally more frugal than less wealthy people.

I highly doubt that. He made his argument with good points and Tesla does need to tighten things up.

Agreed 100%.

 

[stan23]

Well said.

IMHO, at the end of the day, it is your money and, as far as I am concerned, you can do however you see fit.

I have seen similar situations from various forums, ranging from cars to audio, where people just criticized any perceived 'negativity' toward their well-loved brand and then labeled others as trolls when such less than ideal messages posted.

Thanks for your post. It certainly wasn't my intention to come back to this forum with guns blazing about my hatred of Tesla. Far from it.

I came back to just tell a little story about my Tesla experience. I read here that Tesla has been monitoring the forums, and if they read this, they can learn from my experience, or just chuck it as a crazy ex-owner. I'm fine with either. I still tell people, the driving experience with Tesla has no equal, and I fully believe in the company and their mission statement.

I know my issues may be minor - i'm not arguing that. But many minor issues starts to mount into a big issue IMO. The fact that I went back to the service center so many times on the first month of ownership really didn't bode well with me. These weren't phantom issues mind you, they were all issues that the SA agreed should not have been there on the first place.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

I tend to take issues with people that don't put up a fight, and this case is no different.

I find your decision completely unacceptable because you essentially gave 15K to someone who screwed you.

You didn't get your money back
You didn't push Tesla or the dealer to improve
You didn't make an example of it because you couldn't be bothered.
You took 7.5K from the federal government plus whatever incentive CA still has.

In the end you accomplished nothing, and passed it onto someone else who has to deal with it.

All you did is to show that even the cheap seat Tesla owners have money to burn, and we should be mocked for our frivolousness.

 

[Super_Popular]

I cannot believe that with VIN's over 200K Tesla is still having quality issues with the Model S.

 

[roblab]

I'll bite.

Why were my issues with my car comparable to others? Sure, they may be minor in your eyes and many others. And I fully respect that.

I thought this was a Tesla forum? We discuss the good, the bad? If this was just a forum for "Tesla Loyalists" then i'll see my way out. I don't want to be on a forum where all we do is pat each other on the back.

As I said, every car brand has QC issues now and then. Your car had several problems, and IMHO, they were minor. I don't understand why the SC didn't fix them, but I took my new S to your nearest SC and the service was terrible. They were bragging that they had worked previously for BMW, as I recall. I figured they were out trying to sink Tesla. I now use a service center 110 miles from my home, but it only takes one visit. There is a difference.

Sure, this is a Tesla forum. You are free to complain about your car, and I can brag about my experience. I suggested you try another SC, go to the Factory, call Tesla, but you have the right to complain, probably ineffectually, here. EVERY car company has the occasional car that seems to miss the final QC. The way you get it fixed is to contact Tesla, not us, although the one in a thousand who have problems like yours have the right to complain on line. But it gives a false impression.

I don't think any of us are patting anyone on the back when it comes to final fit and finish, but rather our great luck in getting to drive this really amazing electric car.

Get it fixed, and enjoy it. Best Car EVer. And we're not talking about how the chrome fits, which is adjustable BY HAND .

 

[Shock-On-T]

I know i'm now labeled a 'Tesla hater' and bringing the negative posts from other members

Not at all. Your post was very straightforward and I think most of us would agree with you that Tesla sometimes drops the ball on build quality.

 

[Shock-On-T]

I think I speak for a lot of us here when I say that I can have a lot more go missing than $15k and I'd never even notice it.

Can I PM you my account details?

 

[Alphacrux]

I'll bite.

Why were my issues with my car comparable to others? Sure, they may be minor in your eyes and many others. And I fully respect that.

The car/service department didn't work for me, and i've stated the reasons why. IMHO, if Tesla had a guy at the end of the line check basic things like door seals, chrome trim pieces, and panel alignment, a lot of these 'quality control' issues would be squashed even prior to the owner knowing about them. Heck, if they drove my car, and saw that the car wasn't aligned correctly, they should have fixed that before delivering the car to me.

I thought this was a Tesla forum? We discuss the good, the bad? If this was just a forum for "Tesla Loyalists" then i'll see my way out. I don't want to be on a forum where all we do is pat each other on the back.

I just bought my second tesla model s. There was a slight misalignment on one of the body panels which the service department promptly fixed.

Now having owned two model s’s with build dates 2 years apart, I can attest to the numerous minor improvements tesla has made. This car just keeps getting better. Will never go back to a regular ice car.

Now will other manufacturers step up and come up with compelling evs?

 

[stan23]

As I said, every car brand has QC issues now and then. Your car had several problems, and IMHO, they were minor. I don't understand why the SC didn't fix them, but I took my new S to your nearest SC and the service was terrible. They were bragging that they had worked previously for BMW, as I recall. I figured they were out trying to sink Tesla. I now use a service center 110 miles from my home, but it only takes one visit. There is a difference.

Sure, this is a Tesla forum. You are free to complain about your car, and I can brag about my experience. I suggested you try another SC, go to the Factory, call Tesla, but you have the right to complain, probably ineffectually, here. EVERY car company has the occasional car that seems to miss the final QC. The way you get it fixed is to contact Tesla, not us, although the one in a thousand who have problems like yours have the right to complain on line. But it gives a false impression.

I don't think any of us are patting anyone on the back when it comes to final fit and finish, but rather our great luck in getting to drive this really amazing electric car.

Get it fixed, and enjoy it. Best Car EVer. And we're not talking about how the chrome fits, which is adjustable BY HAND .

Look man, at my age you pick your battles. I know from my experience when to take an L.

When I was having these issues, the service center was very apologetic and I voiced my opinions to them. I emailed the laundry list of issues to my OA, and the OA's manager - both were ignored. I decided to do what's best for me. May not be for you, but for me. I decided to cut my losses and move on. So far, I have had no regrets.

I think you maybe reading too much into my post. I'm only here to tell my short 1-month ownership story. That's it. What and who exactly am I giving a false impression to? I bought the car, I am telling my story. To anyone who is interested in buying the car, certainly my little post isn't going to do anything to sway them, right?

Best car ever is subjective. And I applaud you for thinking that, and I absolutely believe that you think that, and that is fantastic.

As for the chrome trim comment, yes, it's adjustable by hand, but mine somehow became unadjusted a day later, just by driving it. To be perfectly honest, that was the least of my complaints and only mentioned for full disclosure.

I'm go ahead and put you on ignore since you are pretty adamant that I still have the car, and I should get it fixed to 'drive the best car ever'.

I suggest, you go back and read every single one of my posts.

 

[stan23]

I just bought my second tesla model s. There was a slight misalignment on one of the body panels which the service department promptly fixed.

Now having owned two model s’s with build dates 2 years apart, I can attest to the numerous minor improvements tesla has made. This car just keeps getting better. Will never go back to a regular ice car.

Now will other manufacturers step up and come up with compelling evs?

Thank you for your post. You get it. I'm not trying to take anything away from happy owners. I did like driving the car, and I absolutely believe in the future of EVs. I sincerely wished it worked for me, but it didn't. I did get a few older Tesla loaners at the beginning and I do note the build quality differences. The older ones seems much louder inside.