My 2022 Model S Refresh Long Range Fit and Finish.

[John Frantz]

My 2022 Model S has had several minor fit and finish issues and the most irritating one is the misalignment of the hatch on the trunk. After a few appointments at the Tesla service center and a referral to a Certified Tesla Body Shop, it was determined that the left rear quarter panel was installed lower than the right side rear quarter panel. With the lower left side quarter panel being installed lower than the specified height there is a raised gap at the midpoint of the left side of the hatch and it is not flush with the quarter panel as it should be.

Tesla is willing to remove the quarter panel and like an onion, it has to be peeled back a few layers and replaced at the proper height. The left side door and the complete hatch must be sanded down and repainted to blend the paint for a quality paint match. I am waiting for the final quote from the Certified Tesla Auto Body Shop and they have indicated that it will be over $10,000. My issue is taking the risk that it might be worse after the fix since the paint might not be as good as the factoring paintshop. Has anyone else experienced this and how was it rectified? Has anyone negotiated a settlement credit with Tesla or even an extended warranty instead of taking the chance on a botched autobody repair? The hatch does not leak and this poor fit and finish do not appear to affect the performance of the car. Advice would be appreciated.

 

[dramsey]

Honestly, unless it punches you in the face every time you see it, I’d leave it alone.

My 2023 Model S LR is my 3rd Model S, following my 2013 and 2016 cars. The earlier cars had some non-uniform panel gaps, and the paint quality wasn’t that great. The multi-coat red on the 2023 is vastly better, but the panel fit is _shockingly_ bad, with the rear hatch and driver door actually rubbing on adjacent panels when opened. Also, despite two services, the funk lid doesn’t reliably unlatch. In total I’ve had 5 service calls for panel adjustments. It’s still not perfect but since everything works I’m…satisfied? I guess I am.

I don’t know why the body fitment took such a nosedive on the refresh cars; fortunately everything else is so much better I’m willing to live with it. But I wish some interviewer would ask Elon why, after more than a decade of production, he builds cars with the worst body quality in the world.

 

[aerodyne]

My issue is taking the risk that it might be worse after the fix since the paint might not be as good as the factoring paintshop.

That's exactly what will happen based ony experience. See if they will offer you some goodwill in the form of compensation

 

[DerbyDave]

Unless your friends have approached the car and ask why is the trunk messed up, I wouldn't worry about it. Most of these cars have unique body and paint imperfections that will never be noticed by anyone and don't affect the resale value of the car. These are character marks that make your car unique. You are wanting them to do major surgery. You didn't post a photo, but is it worth it? The surgery could cause more "damage". Tesla has yet to get their robots to mass produce cars with close gap tolerances and without paint defects ater 10+ years of building cars. Maybe one day?

 

[DayTrippin]

My 2022 S was delivered with the drivers door rubbing the fender so badly they both popped when opening. This was a car driven to my house this way for delivery. They said keep driving it until they could fix it. I said no effing way. It would have caused a massage amount of damage in the month it took for them to finally get to it. I just let it set there until they could get. I couldn't believe they actually delivered the car to me in that way. WTF?!?

If I had drove it, the repair would have been much worse. Likely resulting in a massive amount of repainting. Then you have an issue of diminished value, even if the factory fixes their own eff up.

So as DerbyDave says, if you friends don't notice it, then don't touch it. That is good advice. As for certified body shops, I can say they did better repairing Teslas and getting things back to how they should have been after an accident. I wouldn't go down the major surgery route for this. Murphy's Law says once it is fixed, something unforeseen will come along when you least expect it. Fix it then if it ever happens.

 

[delsky]

The OP by John, sounds eerily familiar to what I am going through with my 2023 MS Mfr date 6/2023. Currently, an advisor mentioned a buy back. However, as soon as I picked up the car new, I drove it to the nearby Tint/PPF place, and put ~ 3K into my car! Ugh. Also, while Tesla was repairing another fit issue with the front window, they scratched the passenger window and had to replace it (now I need to retint.) Furthermore, today they drove my car to a Tesla certified Collision Center to see what needs to be done with the left rear quarter panel and tail gate/hatch! I am getting stressed and frustrated concerned that while this brand new car is being driven around (it will get some dings, and other issues). I also feel may not be worth it, and unsure if the buy back makes sense, or if they would just give me a good will settlement, of just say my FSD (that I invested in on my prior Tesla that was totaled - picked up my new Tesla last week of June and missed the new July offer of a one time opportunity to take your FSD with you.) However, I did get 6 years of free supercharging, and a 1K loyalty credit. Crazy that this problem persists.

 

[mikeeus]

Sorry you are going through this. I rejected delivery recently. Interesting how the showroom model is flush?

 

[drunkenbuda]

Yeah, mine wasn't perfect too. Keep us updated!

 

[stefanre]

Sounds very similar to my gap/step issue on the rear quarter panel to trunk. I rejected this MSP delivery yesterday for this reason and they are trying to align the trunk better now but I’m sure it won’t get perfect as I see it to some degree on every new MS. Based on this photo was your misalignment better or worse? Would you accept this?

 

[DayTrippin]

Not going to get much better than that. I have one car that did but that is far better than most. The other was worse and they got it about that good. I seems as if one of the body panels must be formed wrong.

Leave it to Tesla to try and fix and make it worse. I've learned to choose my battles wisely with them on what to try and fix.

 

[DerbyDave]

Looks like normal Tesla gaps to me.

 

[dramsey]

Sounds very similar to my gap/step issue on the rear quarter panel to trunk. I rejected this MSP delivery yesterday for this reason and they are trying to align the trunk better now but I’m sure it won’t get perfect as I see it to some degree on every new MS. Based on this photo was your misalignment better or worse? Would you accept this?

View attachment 963569

I am on my third Model S (2013, 2016, and now 2023 LR), and all of then have had this noticeable gap variance in the hatch/rear fender shut line as shown in your photo. I find it actually kind of gob-smacking that after more than a decade of production, Tesla simply doesn't care enough to do anything about it. It's not something that can be adjusted out; the physical stamping (probably of the hatch) would need to be changed. I'm sure they've heard a LOT of customer complains over the years.

The panels gaps on my 2013 were embarrassing; the 2016 was much better (except for the hatch). By "much better", I mean they were good enough that friends who saw the car didn't spontaneously comment on them.

I love my 2023 LR for its expanded range and vastly improved interior, but the body fit is so horrible I feel embarrassed to have accepted delivery. The car has been to the service center 5 times (frunk wouldn't open because of misaligned latch, rear hatch and driver door rubbed against adjacent panels when opened, driver side rear door wouldn't open, etc.). The cheapest Hyundai or Kia has vastly better body quality than this $100K Tesla.

I understand that Model 3 and Y cars have much better body fit, comparable to what you'd expect in any other car. Given that Musk has on occasion said things to the effect of he doesn't know why they bother to build the S and X and more, since so few are sold, I don't imagine we'll ever see these issues resolved.

 

[delsky]

I am on my third Model S (2013, 2016, and now 2023 LR), and all of then have had this noticeable gap variance in the hatch/rear fender shut line as shown in your photo. I find it actually kind of gob-smacking that after more than a decade of production, Tesla simply doesn't care enough to do anything about it. It's not something that can be adjusted out; the physical stamping (probably of the hatch) would need to be changed. I'm sure they've heard a LOT of customer complains over the years.

The panels gaps on my 2013 were embarrassing; the 2016 was much better (except for the hatch). By "much better", I mean they were good enough that friends who saw the car didn't spontaneously comment on them.

I love my 2023 LR for its expanded range and vastly improved interior, but the body fit is so horrible I feel embarrassed to have accepted delivery. The car has been to the service center 5 times (frunk wouldn't open because of misaligned latch, rear hatch and driver door rubbed against adjacent panels when opened, driver side rear door wouldn't open, etc.). The cheapest Hyundai or Kia has vastly better body quality than this $100K Tesla.

I understand that Model 3 and Y cars have much better body fit, comparable to what you'd expect in any other car. Given that Musk has on occasion said things to the effect of he doesn't know why they bother to build the S and X and more, since so few are sold, I don't imagine we'll ever see these issues resolved.

I had a long discussion with the body shop that has been working close with Tesla since the beginning. He gave an interesting overview of the lift gate misalignment issues - it goes way back. Hear you @dramsey and agree, probably won't change until they really change the S body, or drop the model. Maybe time to explore other EVs, especially with the share super chargers now, and improvements in the established car companies. Sad, want to support American build, and Tesla.

 

[DayTrippin]

I love my 2023 LR for its expanded range and vastly improved interior, but the body fit is so horrible I feel embarrassed to have accepted delivery. The car has been to the service center 5 times (frunk wouldn't open because of misaligned latch, rear hatch and driver door rubbed against adjacent panels when opened, driver side rear door wouldn't open, etc.). The cheapest Hyundai or Kia has vastly better body quality than this $100K Tesla.

I highlighted the part that was horrendous about my MS LR, the driver door impacting other panel and scraping the paint off. You couldn't even open the door easily without it being hard to do so, yet they still drove the car to my house to deliver it. There is no damn way they couldn't tell there was an issue getting in the car.

I just let it sit there for a month and didn't drive it so it could get fixed without them having to repaint a bunch of parts. We all know how badly that can go. Then you have repainting on your new car which knocks down the value. It literally over a month before I could actually drive the car after buying it. That really pissed me off and dampened a lot of enthusiasm. I had ordered the 3 much later than the S and it arrived just a few days after the S but at least I could drive it.

 

[dmurphy]

Here's my 2021 from when I picked it up this past February (used) ... I don't have any issues whatsoever with these panel gaps - they are more than acceptable.

So clearly they *can* get it right.... at least good enough for my eyes, anyway.

 

[Plaidness]

I personally don't have any panel gap concerns on my car, and some of the ones posted seem pretty minor to me. But it's surprising that this would be an issue at all in a world where car builds are designed to tight tolerances on computers and built by robots. Why is a tech company like Tesla having so much trouble with an issue that is fully automated and thus removes human error as a cause? I can see it in places where people do the work, like trims pieces, etc (although of course quality control should pick up on those things), but not in areas where the robots do the work.

 

[DerbyDave]

That is the real oddity. The robots evidently paint cars differently and assemble panels differently causing gap issues from car to car. Correctly built and managed robots should repeat the same process with the same tolerances for every car. Having owned a Tesla now over 3 years, I see that the programming of the infotainment, FSD, and other automated internal car processes differs from car to car, and sometimes it takes several days for an update to "gel" into consistency on any vehicle. It performs differently after first installed, and then a few days later it settles in. Having been in IT all my professional life, I have never observed this behaviour. How can this happen? Is Artificial Intelligence causing these inconsistencies in the existing Tesla products?

 

[delsky]

Tesla is buying back my car and transaction nearly complete. I ordered another one nearly identical, but this time with the 19 inch wheels. I am able to move over the 6 years of Supercharging, but could not move the FSD since my old MS was a total loss in June. Tomorrow I drive the old one to pick up the new one. I hope that the trunk alignment is not as bad. I keep checking out all the new MS in my hood, and their defect is there, but much less prominent. I will keep my finger's crossed. I also hope for no wind noise like the one I have currently.I pick up the 9/5/23 baby tomorrow!

 

[dramsey]

I personally don't have any panel gap concerns on my car, and some of the ones posted seem pretty minor to me. But it's surprising that this would be an issue at all in a world where car builds are designed to tight tolerances on computers and built by robots. Why is a tech company like Tesla having so much trouble with an issue that is fully automated and thus removes human error as a cause? I can see it in places where people do the work, like trims pieces, etc (although of course quality control should pick up on those things), but not in areas where the robots do the work.

I suspect the assembly of the Model S isn’t automated to the degree that you assume it is. I’d bet the front trunk lid, doors, and rear hatch are all installed by humans, albeit with some degree of automated assistance.

Back in the day, Tesla used to have factory tours in Fremont. I took one, in 2013. If someone has taken one recently, perhaps they could tell us how the cars are actually built.

 

[John Frantz]

Tesla is buying back my car and transaction nearly complete. I ordered another one nearly identical, but this time with the 19 inch wheels. I am able to move over the 6 years of Supercharging, but could not move the FSD since my old MS was a total loss in June. Tomorrow I drive the old one to pick up the new one. I hope that the trunk alignment is not as bad. I keep checking out all the new MS in my hood, and their defect is there, but much less prominent. I will keep my finger's crossed. I also hope for no wind noise like the one I have currently.I pick up the 9/5/23 baby tomorrow!

I am glad to see that you were able to negotiate a buyback. Tesla was prepared to take the car in and butcher the quarter panel and put in a new one together repainting the rear driver's side door and the new quarter panel and the hatch. The cost was going to be close to $10,000 paid by Telsa and I did not want to go through with this and take the chance the paint would not match perfectly with the rest of the car with the factory paint.

They gave me $3,650 in credits that I could use for service or accessories. They did offer a new car from excess inventory. They had a red car and a white car with 20" wheels and they only gave me a few days to decide. I have and midnight blue with 19" Tempest wheels. The gap is negligible but Tesla did admit that it was out of alignment. I still love the car and can live with the small gap. If anyone else has Fit and Finish Issues push back because it is the only way Tesla will improve their Fit and Finish. There is no doubt most Fit and Finish Issues are robotic glitches and Telsa will get better.