Tesla Model 3 at Los Angeles Auto Show.
The Model 3 still gets a lot of rave reviews from owners but it doesn't always fare as well with professional reviews.
[For the week ending Sunday March 11, 2018.]
As Tesla approaches the 10,000 mark for Model 3s produced, a reality check may be in order, according to some car enthusiast publications.
A Green Car Reports post on March 8 about a Model 3 it tested in February doesn't mince words: "Tesla Model 3 quality is terrible, but will it matter to buyers?"
The build quality of the early Model 3 we tested in late February was, in a word, appalling...
During the test itself, two things became clear: The Model 3 works largely as intended, and the build quality was the worst we have seen on any new car from any maker over the last 10 years.
The report goes on to bullet-point nine problems with the Car. (Including "Misaligned body panels...Widely varying gaps between panel edges...Headlights protruding above panels in some places, sunken below them in others...Glovebox door that didn't sit square in its opening.")
Note that Green Car Reports said that a "first-drive report and a full review" is forthcoming.
But this isn't the first and likely won't be the last publication to cite quality problems*. A review posted by Edmunds this week (via the Los Angeles Times) said: "Tesla's scramble to increase its Model 3 production seems to have adversely affected Model 3 build quality...Body panel gaps are inconsistent, reflecting a lack of attention to detail, and this applies not only to our own car, but even to Model 3s we've seen on display."
And there was this video review from Munro & Associates back in February. It wasn't pretty and said many of things that Green Car Reports discussed.
Also: This video (below) from Transport Evolved, "Why It’s Time To Talk About Tesla Model 3 Problems," (posted on March 8) hits on some salient points. Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield of Transport Evolved said, among other things: "Tesla's loyal followers...are also harming the company in the long run by not holding Tesla to the same level of accountability that they'd expect from another firm."
As a counterpoint, TechCrunch posted a positive Model 3 review on March 8 (below). Which, I should point out, is another in a long line of positive Model 3 reviews. And I'm including a link to a second positive review from an owner at bottom. Like I said, upbeat owner reviews are the rule not the exception.
What's the future hold for Model 3 quality:
I asked, via email, John Voelcker, Senior Editor at Green Car Reports, about his take on Model 3 quality:
"Yeah, I get the appeal of being part of a movement ... look at the passion of all those EV1 lessees...
"But If Tesla has a long-term future, it has to become 'a normal car, only better' sooner or later, and if it wants to sell 500K cars a year, that may be sooner..."
"Of course BMW owners know their cars have worse-than-average reliability and don't care, because they have a BMW...."
And Voelcker added, unrelated to quality:
"It's an entirely DIFFERENT question as to whether the company is structurally bankrupt at any given moment. Clearly more financing will be required."
My take (briefly) on Tesla quality:
--New car makers fail by default. The shows the impossibility of the task. I think the harshest, chronic Tesla critics -- some with good intentions -- pretty much disregard this very relevant fact. The truth is, Tesla is not going to become a mass producer (on the scale of General Motors or Toyota) of very-high-quality cars overnight. Not going to happen. But it has to start mass producing sometime. It really has no choice at this point. Let's just hope it achieves consistent build quality sooner rather than later.
--Tesla critic diehards (who actually are quite numerous in the media) also overlook the impact of the wow factor on the average Model 3 buyer (one of the principal reasons for the numerous positive owner reviews). The Model 3 comes closer to a computer on wheels than any other car today. That, and the car's ride and performance, is enough to satisfy a lot of owners, as this very positive owner's YouTube review (March 8) points out. And Consumer Reports said (March 1) that "it's really fun to drive" and CR's "Tesla Model 3 First Impressions" was generally positive.
----
*I asked for comment from Tesla about the Green Car Reports review but didn't hear back. That said, I have spoken recently with Tesla about quality problems. And in December Tesla offered extensive comments about its quality in general -- see: "Tesla Week: Model 3 Update, Quality Questioned, Stealing Porsche Customers"
">Tesla Model 3 at Los Angeles Auto Show.
The Model 3 still gets a lot of rave reviews from owners but it doesn't always fare as well with professional reviews.
[For the week ending Sunday March 11, 2018.]
As Tesla approaches the 10,000 mark for Model 3s produced, a reality check may be in order, according to some car enthusiast publications.
A Green Car Reports post on March 8 about a Model 3 it tested in February doesn't mince words: "Tesla Model 3 quality is terrible, but will it matter to buyers?"
The build quality of the early Model 3 we tested in late February was, in a word, appalling...
During the test itself, two things became clear: The Model 3 works largely as intended, and the build quality was the worst we have seen on any new car from any maker over the last 10 years.
The report goes on to bullet-point nine problems with the Car. (Including "Misaligned body panels...Widely varying gaps between panel edges...Headlights protruding above panels in some places, sunken below them in others...Glovebox door that didn't sit square in its opening.")
Note that Green Car Reports said that a "first-drive report and a full review" is forthcoming.
But this isn't the first and likely won't be the last publication to cite quality problems*. A review posted by Edmunds this week (via the Los Angeles Times) said: "Tesla's scramble to increase its Model 3 production seems to have adversely affected Model 3 build quality...Body panel gaps are inconsistent, reflecting a lack of attention to detail, and this applies not only to our own car, but even to Model 3s we've seen on display."
And there was this video review from Munro & Associates back in February. It wasn't pretty and said many of things that Green Car Reports discussed.
Also: This video (below) from Transport Evolved, "Why It’s Time To Talk About Tesla Model 3 Problems," (posted on March 8) hits on some salient points. Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield of Transport Evolved said, among other things: "Tesla's loyal followers...are also harming the company in the long run by not holding Tesla to the same level of accountability that they'd expect from another firm."
As a counterpoint, TechCrunch posted a positive Model 3 review on March 8 (below). Which, I should point out, is another in a long line of positive Model 3 reviews. And I'm including a link to a second positive review from an owner at bottom. Like I said, upbeat owner reviews are the rule not the exception.
What's the future hold for Model 3 quality:
I asked, via email, John Voelcker, Senior Editor at Green Car Reports, about his take on Model 3 quality:
"Yeah, I get the appeal of being part of a movement ... look at the passion of all those EV1 lessees...
"But If Tesla has a long-term future, it has to become 'a normal car, only better' sooner or later, and if it wants to sell 500K cars a year, that may be sooner..."
"Of course BMW owners know their cars have worse-than-average reliability and don't care, because they have a BMW...."
And Voelcker added, unrelated to quality:
"It's an entirely DIFFERENT question as to whether the company is structurally bankrupt at any given moment. Clearly more financing will be required."
My take (briefly) on Tesla quality:
--New car makers fail by default. The shows the impossibility of the task. I think the harshest, chronic Tesla critics -- some with good intentions -- pretty much disregard this very relevant fact. The truth is, Tesla is not going to become a mass producer (on the scale of General Motors or Toyota) of very-high-quality cars overnight. Not going to happen. But it has to start mass producing sometime. It really has no choice at this point. Let's just hope it achieves consistent build quality sooner rather than later.
--Tesla critic diehards (who actually are quite numerous in the media) also overlook the impact of the wow factor on the average Model 3 buyer (one of the principal reasons for the numerous positive owner reviews). The Model 3 comes closer to a computer on wheels than any other car today. That, and the car's ride and performance, is enough to satisfy a lot of owners, as this very positive owner's YouTube review (March 8) points out. And Consumer Reports said (March 1) that "it's really fun to drive" and CR's "Tesla Model 3 First Impressions" was generally positive.
----
*I asked for comment from Tesla about the Green Car Reports review but didn't hear back. That said, I have spoken recently with Tesla about quality problems. And in December Tesla offered extensive comments about its quality in general -- see: "Tesla Week: Model 3 Update, Quality Questioned, Stealing Porsche Customers"
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