VIDEO: Is THIS All-new Tesla Model 3 Owner's Quality ISSUES A Sign Of BIGGER Problems Or Are They Trivial?

Tesla's Elon Musk certainly made a bit of a spectacle in 2018 between his guest appearances on the Joe Rogan podcast and getting emotional while discussing the "production hell" experienced with the all-new Model 3 sedan. Oh, and how could we ever forget the tweet heard around the world?

Long story short, 2018 was a rough year for Tesla.

If that all wasn't enough, initial Model 3 vehicles were shipped with some rather glaring quality issues. When Munro & Associates did a tear down, the company's namesake who does this across the industry compared the build quality of the Model 3 to a Kia from the 1990s. A follow up showed the Tesla was a profitable vehicle for the electric vehicle manufacturer.

Initially, criticism was fast and furious. After a bit of time though it was chalked up to a mixture of early production vehicles and growing pains.

But, is that really the case?

An owner, Jason Fenske, recently took delivery of his own Tesla Model 3 and inspected it top-to-bottom. The end result? Numerous scratches, panel gaps and other issues.

You can see the full walkthrough in the clip below that details his findings. This got me wondering: Is this a sign of a BIGGER problem at Tesla or is Fenske simply being a bit petty? In addition: Do you wager these are largely issues that occurred at the factory or is this simply poorly trained auto transporters?

Weigh in below, Spies!


A detailed look at the build quality issues with my mid-range Tesla Model 3 including exterior scratches, paint quality issues, panel gaps, and panel placement. What quality issues did my Tesla Model 3 Mid-Range arrive with? It's been heavily reported that while Tesla has been ramping up the production quantity of Tesla Model 3's, the quality of the builds is not fully there. In this video we'll look at all of the various paint scratches on my Model 3, paint defects, and also the mismatching panel gaps on each side of the vehicle. As a control, we'll also look at the panel gaps on my Subaru Crosstrek (a vehicle that cost 1/2 the price), and see how the panel gaps compare to the Tesla at the exact same locations. All of the issues shown in this video are from how the car arrived at my house. I took delivery on November 29th, and the car went straight into my garage at 22 miles on the odometer for this video to be filmed. I had not yet driven the car before filming this video, except from taking it from the delivery truck and placing it into my garage, several hundred feet of travel. Are the flaws I show worth mentioning, or am I simply being petty? Feel free to let me know how you feel in the comments.

mre30 - 12/24/2018 4:13:24 PM

+5 Boost

Tesla has had quality problems for its entire existence, sometimes terrible quality problems. This is more of the same.

Tesla is just a lower quality vehicle, manufactured by an under-capitalized car company.

Lease it, don't buy it.

Is there a way to get 'Lemon Law' data on Tesla's? Is that public record? Can someone look that up?

MDarringer - 12/24/2018 4:43:19 PM

+3 Boost

Agree. Lease, don't buy.

ricks0me - 12/24/2018 4:45:53 PM

-2 Boost

Exterior scratches, paint quality issues, panel gaps, and panel placement. Of all of the above, only scratches can happen in transit. The other issues could happen, but maybe once every leap year. This ain't a leap year.

MDarringer - 12/24/2018 4:54:16 PM

+3 Boost

The big difference in gaps from left to right side indicates that the body is cockeyed.

CANADIANCOMMENTS - 12/25/2018 10:05:43 AM

+3 Boost

I've never worked a line in a car factory, but I have seen enough videos taken from the production floor. The staff all have plastic space measuring tools (cards really) on a key chain. They use them to check door and hood gaps. It isn't rocket science. Not sure why this step seems to be missing at Tesla. I would want to give the whole car back myself.

MDarringer - 12/25/2018 10:14:46 AM

+5 Boost

Tesla is spegacked because they are building cars without any previous experience. They have very little money to begin with so the money that competent manufacturers spend studying how to make their cars better isn't available. Thus, the sins of the S and X are infecting the 3 and because the 3 is being produced in such great quantity, more people are seeing the mess. I wonder if the 3 has decimated the S for sales.

malba2367 - 12/25/2018 7:34:04 PM

+4 Boost

Scratches could have happened at any time during transit. All the other issues are ongoing problems with Tesla in the fit and finish department. These kind of issues were to be expected once the genius decided to build a tent to build cars faster. I don't understand why he had to build the tents...GM/Toyota used to build 450,000 cars a year in that factory.

MDarringer - 12/25/2018 8:15:46 PM

+2 Boost

Snake-oil salesmen love the carney atmosphere is my theory.

CarCrazedinCali - 12/26/2018 4:22:08 PM

+1 Boost

Seems to me they are rushing to achieve sales numbers and sacrificing quality, no thanks!

SanJoseDriver - 12/26/2018 11:28:38 PM

+1 Boost

I don't get it, I just ran downstairs to check mine and the paint is flawless. I don't have the measuring device he used for panel gaps but visually they look perfect. 1-2mm is pretty negligible, I don't think I could tell. Your phone is 8-10mm deep.

That being said, I would call that unacceptable delivery quality. They will have to repaint the whole car essentially, and that is the most expensive paint option at $2,500. Waste of everyone's time versus getting it right out the factory.