Some Tesla Model Ys are reportedly suffering from major quality issues

[Humza]

A hot potato: Tesla peeps are usually an expressive bunch, so it's not hard to imagine how one's joy and excitement at meeting their expensive new high-tech EV is turned into frustration and disappointment at the sight of inconsistent panel gaps, loose seat belts, defective seals or misaligned steering. It's a problem that several Model Y buyers have been facing lately, with some refusing to take deliveries, while a few others have had theirs canceled altogether by Tesla due to manufacturing defects with its latest SUV.

Tesla has been rather busy making headlines over the past few weeks. Following the news of its production-ready Semi truck, the company's stock price went through the roof, briefly making it the most valuable carmaker in the world.

However, ever since the company's Fremont facility in California opened last month, new buyers of its Model Y SUV have been reporting some significant manufacturing defects. Electrek notes that a surprising number of people are now communicating these issues on multiple forums and are refusing to take deliveries, while a few end up having it proactively canceled by Tesla. In some cases, the company is still pushing for deliveries despite these defects.

QC issues include botched paint, defective door and glass seals, loose seatbelts...

Of course, most carmakers' first-gen models are usually susceptible to build quality issues, and these complaints are likely coming from a minority of Model Y buyers. However, this car uses the Model 3's platform, a vehicle which Tesla has spent years refining and now mass produces in its Shanghai factory in China, making it all the more unusual for a newer model to ship with such defects.

Ars Technica also reports on a crowdsourced checklist, which the Model Y community has created for helping new buyers in examining their vehicle before accepting delivery. Production problems with the Model Y haven't gone unnoticed by Elon Musk as a recently leaked internal email from Tesla's CEO confirmed that the company was having production challenges with the mid-size SUV.

...back seats detaching from their base, improperly installed sound dampeners and lights

Musk's controversial decision to re-open the Fremont factory was meant to ramp up Model Y production, and it seems like the company will take some time to return to pre-shutdown production levels. "It is extremely important for us to ramp up Model Y production and minimize rectification needs. I want you to know that it really makes a difference to Tesla right now," said Musk, adding that the company was doing "reasonably well" with the production of its other vehicles.

Tesla is also nearing its second quarter and reportedly had over 18,000 Model Y orders in the backlog for North American buyers as of last week. The rush to meet an estimated 8,200 Model Y deliveries in Q2 could also be why such issues are increasingly slipping through company's quality control.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/85685-tesla-model-ys-reportedly-suffering-major-quality-issues.html

 

[wiyosaya]

Surprise, surprise, Elon. Rushing for the bottom line results in quality issues.

 

[Uncle Al]

You buy from a trash company you get ..... trash!

 

[Vulcanproject]

I mean yes it's unacceptable, but not unusual. At all. It's just Tesla have extra scrutiny.

This is the kind of thing you would see corrected routinely by dealers before final handover. That's one downside of not having dealers. Your new model is likely to have some build issues.

Dealers would typically complain to the parent about improving quality and that feedback helps some manufacturers. Within 6-12 months most of these issues are sorted on the line.

This is also why you never order a new model. You wait about 1-2 years of production and you get one built with all the kinks ironed out, or at least most of them.

 

[Mister_K]

You buy from a trash company you get ..... trash!

How is Tesla a trash company? The only company to really push a stale industry? F*ck me people aren't ever happy and always something to moan about. Reminds me of us British; good weather? TOO HOT! poor weather? TOO COLD. At least have solid basis or just don't post, otherwise you sound like those Facebook boomers on political posts (gotta say, fun to watch).

Elon is certainly an interesting character, for the good and bad (@Twitter). But we know for sure, we need more like him. It's the thought process that is priceless.

@Vulcanproject pretty much nailed it.

 

[Jerry in WA]

Any new Tesla model (or feature) is the automotive equivalent of Early Access software.

Obligatory:

 

[VitalyT]

Wow, that's a real hack job, Elon Mask!

 

[ColdSoup]

Any new Tesla model (or feature) is the automotive equivalent of Early Access software.

Obligatory:

Tesla is the new Apple. According to the users, nothing is ever wrong unless it personally affects them.

 

[mbrowne5061]

One of my coworkers used to be an electrical engineer in one of Tesla's factories. According to him, Quality Control and Quality Assurance simply weren't roles the company filled or hired for. Yes, they had a few people with 'quality engineer' in their title, but their work had nothing to do with ensuring product quality, and instead were closer to systems engineers in their day-to-day duties.

 

[noel24]

Anyone remembers That?

 

[JKnight]

I will stick with the other car company with the T emblem.

 

[wiyosaya]

One of my coworkers used to be an electrical engineer in one of Tesla's factories. According to him, Quality Control and Quality Assurance simply weren't roles the company filled or hired for. Yes, they had a few people with 'quality engineer' in their title, but their work had nothing to do with ensuring product quality, and instead were closer to systems engineers in their day-to-day duties.

Interesting, and, from my perspective, not surprising.

The fact that they have a few engineers with 'quality' in their title is probably to fool the inspectors from the quality assurance auditors if they even participate in such a program.

I once worked at a company that had that kind of program, and as long as they documented every issue (it was in their process documentation) they were following their process and would pass the audit. For me, it was a case of the company saying we can continue shipping crap as long as we document that we are shipping crap. ?

Again, assuming they are participating in a certified quality assurance program (as I see it, that is a big assumption), it almost would not surprise me that Tesla would have some sort of documented process that says something like "we need to have a few engineers that have 'quality' in their title" as the extent of their quality process.

 

[yRaz]

People are complaining about panel gaps while other car makers have to replace 3 transmissions in their first year.

I say this as a car guy, the amount off issues new cars see(as in modern day cars) is astounding. Some panel gaps and a bad seal? That's nothing. If this was any other company than Tesla this wouldn't even make the news.

 

[p51d007]

Never buy a "first off the line", be it smartphones, cars, televisions, ANYTHING brand new especially with so much software dependence.
Give them a few months to work out the bugs. Heck, when I think about buying a newer smartphone, I wait until the END of production. All the bugs are (hopefully) gone, software is up to date, and since a new model is coming, the price is usually less.

 

[Tom Yum]

People are complaining about panel gaps while other car makers have to replace 3 transmissions in their first year.

I say this as a car guy, the amount off issues new cars see(as in modern day cars) is astounding. Some panel gaps and a bad seal? That's nothing. If this was any other company than Tesla this wouldn't even make the news.

This is one of the quality issues linked in the Electrek forum.

Pretty sure I've never had a car dealer try to deliver me a car with the rear seat not even attached.

 

[brucek]

The few of my friends who own Teslas, love them. LOVE them. Even while describing experiences that I would consider completely unacceptable if they had happened to me. One of them had a problem with driver's side door lock, requiring him to enter from the passenger side and climb over. It was weeks before Tesla could get to it. His satisfaction with the car and company was still A+ level throughout and after.

I don't know what to make of all that. Truly exceptional vehicles when they work? Cognitive dissonance? Both?

 

[yRaz]

This is one of the quality issues linked in the Electrek forum.

Pretty sure I've never had a car dealer try to deliver me a car with the rear seat not even attached.

While I won't completely disregard this, I will most certainly need another source before I believe it.

 

[wiyosaya]

The few of my friends who own Teslas, love them. LOVE them. Even while describing experiences that I would consider completely unacceptable if they had happened to me. One of them had a problem with driver's side door lock, requiring him to enter from the passenger side and climb over. It was weeks before Tesla could get to it. His satisfaction with the car and company was still A+ level throughout and after.

I don't know what to make of all that. Truly exceptional vehicles when they work? Cognitive dissonance? Both?

FWIW - A few years back, Consumer Reports published an article on quality in the automobile industry. The article included, I believe, a survey of CR readers as to what they felt was quality. Based on their input, CR was able to assess what people regarded as quality and, as I see it, it was highly subjective.

IIRC, they had heard from people who always owned a particular model of car, and in this case, it was Corvette. As you may know, repair histories on Corvettes are crap in comparison to many other vehicles. The Corvette owners they heard from were basically used to their cars being in the shop quite frequently. However, to the owners, the cars were quality cars.

The point being, in this case, that since the owners of the cars had never experienced owning another vehicle that may have had a much lower rate of being in the shop, they based their judgement of what was quality from their experiences with what they had owned.

I cannot put my hands on a link to the article, however, I found it quite fascinating that anyone would base their assessment of quality in an automobile from their experience with a single car model. I have to wonder what they would have thought of Corvettes if they had owned a car that had far less troubles.

 

[wiyosaya]

While I won't completely disregard this, I will most certainly need another source before I believe it.

pretty easily found...

Tesla Has Some Serious Quality Control Problems With the Model Y

At least a few customers have gotten Model Ys delivered to them without the backseat being attached to the frame of the car. No big deal, right?

www.extremetech.com

 

[kimo1]

It's a shame that criminal scum are taking a huge **** on Nikola Tesla's name.

 

[yRaz]

pretty easily found...

Tesla Has Some Serious Quality Control Problems With the Model Y

At least a few customers have gotten Model Ys delivered to them without the backseat being attached to the frame of the car. No big deal, right?

www.extremetech.com

Easy to find or not, it's not my job to find sources for other people's claim's. But, thanks for the link, that's actually quite shocking and I'm surprised techspot didn't mention it. Panel gaps and seals are common problems that aren't worth mentioning but the seats not being mounted is real news.

That's not a small issue, how the eff does QC miss that? Were they still drunk from quaratine?

 

[Nobina]

I watched a video about this issue over a year ago. Looks like the quality didn't improve. I think a lot of people are ignoring issues like this because they are emotionally invested into the brand.

 

[Freddie159]

I watched a video about this issue over a year ago. Looks like the quality didn't improve. I think a lot of people are ignoring issues like this because they are emotionally invested into the brand.

Or WANT to be!!