Wind noise seems somewhat obtrusive

[vikefan]

@vikefan Do you have a pic of the mirror/plastic?

Sure! Although it’s not very easy to notice in pictures. I attached a couple pics. The piece I have my finger behind is slightly protruding out from the car (without my finger in there).

I also attached a pic looking straight in front-to-back where you can notice the piece is not flush with the rest of the paneling.

 

[omgwtfbyobbq]

For those who are interested, a 100' roll of 1/4" EPDM foam cord is < $30 from MCM/Amazon.

McMaster-Carr

https://www.amazon.com/Standard-Seals-SPONGE-Round-Ring/dp/B0184Q0P7O

 

[Goosby]

Sure! Although it’s not very easy to notice in pictures. I attached a couple pics. The piece I have my finger behind is slightly protruding out from the car (without my finger in there).

I also attached a pic looking straight in front-to-back where you can notice the piece is not flush with the rest of the paneling.

It’s funny, I have the exact same thing on my vehicle but was told by a few Tesla employees that it’s supposed to be like that. The guy who did my PPF said he saw one customer complain enough to Tesla that they (Tesla) somehow adhered it to his liking, but then there was an odd looking “curve” to the plastic part. Let me know if you find an easy solution.

Regarding wind noise, I haven’t noticed anything unbearable but it is certainly present. I have chalked it up, for now, to a lack of engine noise drowning out wind/road noise, as I am sure happens in a standard ICE vehicle. We’ll see if I change my mind in the future and start looking for solutions to address the noise.

 

[Shizzrock]

Wind noise is fine, but sometimes there is a "howl". I'm wondering if people are talking about that usually and if the RPM gasket would help.

 

[omgwtfbyobbq]

I just checked my 3 and the side (passenger) with more wind noise also has the little plastic piece sticking our more. That makes the most sense to me since it's easy to miss with whatever the black foam/adhesive they use to keep it in place is.

 

[tc.cruiser]

I too have more wind noise coming from the passenger side. Everywhere else sounds quiet in the cabin. I took it in Tesla and they also confirmed the noise. Even though they said they fixed it, it still remains. My triangle piece also is not flush with the panel. Have you fixed the problem, if so what did you do? I'm thinking about putting a piece of tape there but I believe that too will cause wind noise.

 

[vikefan]

I have an appt with the service center tomorrow to look at it. Will reply with what they say about it.

 

[vikefan]

Just got my car back from service center. It was an absolute failure. I dropped the car off at 11 AM. They said it’d be ~2 hrs to repair the part, so I took a loaner vehicle. They called at 1:45 PM to say it’s ready. I drive back to the center to pick up the car, and I get there 30 min later. The guy inside has me signing papers and says everything looks good, they did a test drive, wind noise is normal now. When I asked if they noticed anything else that might have been improperly installed (I.e. actually inspect the car rather than just fix the thing I - in my layperson opinion - thought might be the problem), he said “well they didn’t see anything else that could be causing noise, so...” and I said ok great.

Then I walk out to the car, first thing I do is look at the “repaired” piece. It’s EXACTLY the same as when I dropped it off. It’s still clearly sticking out from the car, not adhering to the location it’s supposed to, and I found out later when I drove away, the wind noise is *exactly* as bad as it was before. I immediately brought the service rep out to the car to point this out, and he just asks surprised, as if this didn’t look exactly like this 5 minutes ago, and he sort of pokes at it in the sort of way that implies a, “I don’t see what’s wrong with it,” vibe. Then he eventually says “well for peace of mind we’ll go ahead and order a new part and just replace it.”

So now I wasted my entire day either at the dealership or driving in horrible Southern California rush hour traffic — with a 2 year old — and for absolutely nothing at all.

And the cherry on top was that I tried to call the service center sometime later to ask a follow up question, and of course the wait time on the phone to talk to someone is OVER 45 minutes. And that’s pretty much been the typical experience for me any time I’ve called Tesla for anything so far.

Seriously, SERIOUSLY not happy with tesla’s Customer service. And the wind noise still f’ing sucks. I do a lot of meetings while in my car. This car is the first car I’ve been in where someone on the meeting had to tell me to just mute my mic for the entire meeting because they couldn’t hear anything but wind.

 

[Gwgan]

aaaand…that triangle gap is not the major culprit. That part was replaced on my car early on and made only a small change. Car still sounds like a window is ajar above 55mph

 

[TeeEmCee]

Then I walk out to the car, first thing I do is look at the “repaired” piece. It’s EXACTLY the same as when I dropped it off.

Well, I hate to say that, but what you’re describing was exactly my experience. They told me my reported rattles were “from lawn chairs in the trunk”. Essentially they fixed one issue and didn’t do jack crap about the other dozen.

 

[SoCalGuy]

Just got my car back from service center. It was an absolute failure. I dropped the car off at 11 AM. They said it’d be ~2 hrs to repair the part, so I took a loaner vehicle. They called at 1:45 PM to say it’s ready. I drive back to the center to pick up the car, and I get there 30 min later. The guy inside has me signing papers and says everything looks good, they did a test drive, wind noise is normal now. When I asked if they noticed anything else that might have been improperly installed (I.e. actually inspect the car rather than just fix the thing I - in my layperson opinion - thought might be the problem), he said “well they didn’t see anything else that could be causing noise, so...” and I said ok great.

Then I walk out to the car, first thing I do is look at the “repaired” piece. It’s EXACTLY the same as when I dropped it off. It’s still clearly sticking out from the car, not adhering to the location it’s supposed to, and I found out later when I drove away, the wind noise is *exactly* as bad as it was before. I immediately brought the service rep out to the car to point this out, and he just asks surprised, as if this didn’t look exactly like this 5 minutes ago, and he sort of pokes at it in the sort of way that implies a, “I don’t see what’s wrong with it,” vibe. Then he eventually says “well for peace of mind we’ll go ahead and order a new part and just replace it.”

So now I wasted my entire day either at the dealership or driving in horrible Southern California rush hour traffic — with a 2 year old — and for absolutely nothing at all.

And the cherry on top was that I tried to call the service center sometime later to ask a follow up question, and of course the wait time on the phone to talk to someone is OVER 45 minutes. And that’s pretty much been the typical experience for me any time I’ve called Tesla for anything so far.

Seriously, SERIOUSLY not happy with tesla’s Customer service. And the wind noise still f’ing sucks. I do a lot of meetings while in my car. This car is the first car I’ve been in where someone on the meeting had to tell me to just mute my mic for the entire meeting because they couldn’t hear anything but wind.

Which SC was this?

 

[vikefan]

Which SC was this?

Costa Mesa, CA

 

[LeonHe]

Wow...so after WEEKS of being annoyed to hell by the horrible wind noise, even after buying and installing the rubber wind reducer gasket from RPM Tesla, I finally decided to have someone drive in the car with me and try to pinpoint where the sound was coming from while I was driving (since it was clearly coming from the right side of the car).

Soon after, I discovered the reason...the triangular piece of plastic that sits right next to the side view mirror and in front of the passenger side window is not fully attached! The upper half of it was not popped into place correctly, so it’s just been hanging slightly off the car which has been causing all the wind noise. The defect was subtle enough to not be noticed unless you’re looking very closely right at it.

I had heard the stories about Tesla’s poor quality control, but I figured that wouldn’t happen to me...

Thanks, my car is having the exact same problem. The wind noise is quite noticeable while I sit in the front passenger seat, as if the front passenger window is not fully closed. I also noticed the the plastic piece is not fully attached and it is hanging way off. Everyone in my family suspects it is this piece that is causing the noise and talked about scheduling a service appointment with Tesla.

As a side note to other posts I read, I am not comparing wind noise among different cars. I am comparing the noise while I am in different seats in the same Model 3.

About the hanging triangular-shaped plastic piece, my son joked, the QA/QC of mature ICE auto makers like Toyota will never let a car get out of its factory with a problem like this, and maybe Tesla is letting its customers doing final QA/QC, which is not necessarily bad if its service center can fix it quickly.

 

[LeonHe]

Thanks, my car is having the exact same problem. The wind noise is quite noticeable while I sit in the front passenger seat, as if the front passenger window is not fully closed. I also noticed the the plastic piece is not fully attached and it is hanging way off. Everyone in my family suspects it is this piece that is causing the noise and talked about scheduling a service appointment with Tesla.

As a side note to other posts I read, I am not comparing wind noise among different cars. I am comparing the noise while I am in different seats in the same Model 3.

About the hanging triangular-shaped plastic piece, my son joked, the QA/QC of mature ICE auto makers like Toyota will never let a car get out of its factory with a problem like this, and maybe Tesla is letting its customers doing final QA/QC, which is not necessarily bad if its service center can fix it quickly.

Forgot to mention that the noise is obvious at 50 mph or higher speed

 

[Ulmo]

Everyone else here on TMC swore their Model S was quieter than all their ICE's. At the time, I switched from a very quiet 2005 Mercedes E500 to a very noisy 2016 Tesla Model S60D, and the Model S was extremely loud in every dimension compared to my Mercedes. Tesla never resolved this, and I sold it less than a year later.

I have since heard that some Model 3's and Model S's come noisy and most come quiet. I have heard that some service centers will fix it, whereas others will tell you to stuff it and to live with the noise (my experience).

The worst part is the deniars: you will run into lots and lots of deniars that say the Teslas are very quiet, so you should shut up. No; your Teslas, if they are very noisy, are definitely very noisy; you are right, and they are wrong. Get it fixed!

Best will be in the future when there's lots of good Model 3's available used, and you can just test drive it before purchase or go elsewhere. Also, inventory models would be great to test drive before purchase!

 

[Ulmo]

Wow...so after WEEKS of being annoyed to hell by the horrible wind noise, even after buying and installing the rubber wind reducer gasket from RPM Tesla, I finally decided to have someone drive in the car with me and try to pinpoint where the sound was coming from while I was driving (since it was clearly coming from the right side of the car).

Soon after, I discovered the reason...the triangular piece of plastic that sits right next to the side view mirror and in front of the passenger side window is not fully attached! The upper half of it was not popped into place correctly, so it’s just been hanging slightly off the car which has been causing all the wind noise. The defect was subtle enough to not be noticed unless you’re looking very closely right at it.

I had heard the stories about Tesla’s poor quality control, but I figured that wouldn’t happen to me...

Congratulations!

And yes, this is exactly the type of thing Tesla does in spades.

 

[Ulmo]

Just got my car back from service center. It was an absolute failure. I dropped the car off at 11 AM. They said it’d be ~2 hrs to repair the part, so I took a loaner vehicle. They called at 1:45 PM to say it’s ready. I drive back to the center to pick up the car, and I get there 30 min later. The guy inside has me signing papers and says everything looks good, they did a test drive, wind noise is normal now. When I asked if they noticed anything else that might have been improperly installed (I.e. actually inspect the car rather than just fix the thing I - in my layperson opinion - thought might be the problem), he said “well they didn’t see anything else that could be causing noise, so...” and I said ok great.

Then I walk out to the car, first thing I do is look at the “repaired” piece. It’s EXACTLY the same as when I dropped it off. It’s still clearly sticking out from the car, not adhering to the location it’s supposed to, and I found out later when I drove away, the wind noise is *exactly* as bad as it was before. I immediately brought the service rep out to the car to point this out, and he just asks surprised, as if this didn’t look exactly like this 5 minutes ago, and he sort of pokes at it in the sort of way that implies a, “I don’t see what’s wrong with it,” vibe. Then he eventually says “well for peace of mind we’ll go ahead and order a new part and just replace it.”

So now I wasted my entire day either at the dealership or driving in horrible Southern California rush hour traffic — with a 2 year old — and for absolutely nothing at all.

And the cherry on top was that I tried to call the service center sometime later to ask a follow up question, and of course the wait time on the phone to talk to someone is OVER 45 minutes. And that’s pretty much been the typical experience for me any time I’ve called Tesla for anything so far.

Seriously, SERIOUSLY not happy with tesla’s Customer service. And the wind noise still f’ing sucks. I do a lot of meetings while in my car. This car is the first car I’ve been in where someone on the meeting had to tell me to just mute my mic for the entire meeting because they couldn’t hear anything but wind.

This is exactly how I got treated, except we never even knew what was causing my problems of noise. You are lucky you might have found the problem. Round 1: Tesla service center. Can you push it into place, or will it bust? If you can push it into place, then Round 2: high adherence polyurethane carefully applied between the pieces and 24 hours of mechanical holding to make sure it cures right (not sure how to do that ... perhaps with the window down, you can put insulated C-clamp on it in your garage on the weekend); that means not touching or driving for 24 hours.

Another poster said replacing that triangle didn't fix their issue; is it possible their replacement is also ajar? Or is it some other part causing noise?

 

[cab]

One t.f hing you guys might do is turn on your video camera on your phone and, while driving with wind noise, move it all around the perimeter of the windows and roof. You can then watch/listen afterwards and see if you can pinpoint location a bit. I am guessing it will be loudest near the side mirrors so not much help, but it couldn't hurt.

 

[vikefan]

I’m still waiting on the SC to get the new triangle part ordered, and I’m really hoping that solves the wind noise problem, because they’re acting like it can’t possibly be anything else. It also worries me that they already thought the wind noise was fixed when they test drove it before handing the car back to me, because it was definitely exactly as bad as when I dropped it off.

I also know for a fact the wind noise is not (or should not) be considered normal or acceptable for 2 reasons:

1 - I’ve never been told by someone on a meeting call while in my car to mute my mic before because of the wind noise.

2 - it’s clearly only coming from one specific area of the car (near the front passenger side mirror). If this was normal, I should hear the same amount of noise from the left side of the car as well, and I definitely do not.


And yes, it is noticeable to me from 40mph on up. It’s really terrible above 75, to the point where I’m actually discouraged from driving any faster than that now (maybe that’s a good thing...)

 

[Matt L]

I’m still waiting on the SC to get the new triangle part ordered, and I’m really hoping that solves the wind noise problem, because they’re acting like it can’t possibly be anything else. It also worries me that they already thought the wind noise was fixed when they test drove it before handing the car back to me, because it was definitely exactly as bad as when I dropped it off.

I also know for a fact the wind noise is not (or should not) be considered normal or acceptable for 2 reasons:

1 - I’ve never been told by someone on a meeting call while in my car to mute my mic before because of the wind noise.

2 - it’s clearly only coming from one specific area of the car (near the front passenger side mirror). If this was normal, I should hear the same amount of noise from the left side of the car as well, and I definitely do not.


And yes, it is noticeable to me from 40mph on up. It’s really terrible above 75, to the point where I’m actually discouraged from driving any faster than that now (maybe that’s a good thing...)

Have you tried putting some tape on it to test if that’s actually it?