Fit & Finish of the test drive event cars

[cinergi]

It felt like this deserved a new thread because I don't want the focus to be on the actual issues with fit and finish, but rather the reasons for them and to talk about this discerning TMC crowd vs. the general public and what I learned by spending 12 hours this past weekend with the NY Tesla crew.

This applies to things like:

• Retractable door handles
• Panel alignment
• Carpet coverage, alignment, looseness

These cars are not final production quality. It's not only clearly obvious, a long-time trusted Tesla employee that I regularly talk to told me as much. These cars were slightly rushed to get them in our hands. For better or for worse, we need to cut them some slack. I realize they are the ones who exposed us to it without being terribly explicit about what we're observing, but I just spent 12 hours with the NY crew and it's pretty clear we have the wrong impression about a lot of things (believe me -- I had drinks and dinner with them as well). I also observed a lot of people who aren't part of this TMC crowd and none of them said anything about fit and finish. I really don't think we have a public dilemma on our hands.

They're *very* aware of the issues, and I have *zero* doubt they'll fix them. We can & should point out stuff that we notice, but I don't think it's helpful to anyone to have 300 posts about a particular quality issue.

(For any Tesla employees reading -- no one shared anything they shouldn't have and everyone was very professional. It was a fantastic experience to hang out with the crew and I deeply appreciate that it's not frowned upon and can participate and share observations as an owner. Please don't cut this access off -- no Tesla IP was leaked or anything of that nature)

[ckessel]

So, I'm a little confused, if we're not supposed to focus on fit and finish from the test drives in the "fit and finish of the test drive event cars" thread, what exactly are we discussing in this thread?

[Tommy]

That's good to hear @cinergi regarding the issues posted on TMC will be addressed by Tesla. I certainly agree with you that it isn't helpful to keep rehashing the same quality issues,. However, I think that is due to seeing the same quality issue keep surfacing on each release of the latest production run and wondering if indeed Tesla is taking heed to the concerns expressed.

Again, thanks for removing some of the doubt I have had about fit & finish issues.

[Tommy]

So, I'm a little confused, if we're not supposed to focus on fit and finish from the test drives in the "fit and finish of the test drive event cars" thread, what exactly are we discussing in this thread?

The reason why Tesla released cars that have some fit and finish issues:

My take was Tesla released these test cars to "get the show on the road" rather than wait to get the "perfect" car due to time constraints. IMO, the minor fit and finish issues took a back seat in this case to satisfying reservation holder's calls for a test drive before firming up their order.

[cinergi]

So, I'm a little confused, if we're not supposed to focus on fit and finish from the test drives in the "fit and finish of the test drive event cars" thread, what exactly are we discussing in this thread?

I mean, don't use this thread to talk about the details of problems with the door handles, for example. Talk about the general issue of noticing fit and finish, reporting them, how we as a community handle it, deciding whether I'm on crack and everything should continue as-is, etc.

[ckessel]

I noticed the upper right corner of the touch screen was hidden under the dash trim today in Portland. And this is VIN 115 or some such close to that. Not a big deal, but it's something I would have expected to have been addressed in such a recent VIN.

[spatterso911]

@cinergi - Well, given your lengthy conversation with them, I do feel a bit better, but obviously, nothing is going to really assuage my concerns until cars start being delivered and posts appear regarding resolved/remaining issues. I do applaud your efforts to calm the furor.

[Tommy]

The thought has crossed my mind: How does Tesla move away from releasing vehicle with fit & finish issues to releasing flaw free ones. In other words, does Tesla have the culture to slow down and build them right or is it always going to be a rush job as seems to be the case with the releases to date. Just thinking out loud.

[AnOutsider]

Lower B panel issues

[pguerra]

Hi Cinergi it was nice to meet you at the NY event. I didn't notice any fit/finish issues but I haven't spent a lot of time with the Model S. What I did notice however were important to me (and probably a great many number of future owners). I hope Tesla's Engineering Director can see this list and fix these problems before I take delivery. At the very least fixing 1 and 2 would be easy relative to 4-6 below:

1) No concealed space to store stuff.
2) No rear cup holders (should be part of the back part of the middle console, not via an add-on rear seat console).
3) Limited subwoofer range even with 580 Watt speaker option. My Hybrid Escalade sounds much better.
4) Paint Armor should cover entire hood to reduce appearance of visible Paint Armor line.
5) No motorized retractable side mirrors.
6) Poor/limited rear visibility via the hatchback window.

As it stands now: For the rear seat passengers, I'm going to have to put little cup holders that hang off the windows! The removable rear seat console is silly, awkward and takes up passenger space!

Tesla, just fix 1 and 2 above and I'll be happy to rate the car a solid 9 out of 10. (And good job with the rest of the vehicle. The rest is perfect).

Phillip from Texas