Tesla reportedly shipping Model Ys with significant manufacturing defects

Buying a car during its first year of production can always be a bit of a crapshoot. Sadly, that definitely appears to be the case with Tesla’s latest crossover, the Model Y. The source of these complaints? The notably pro-Tesla publication Electrek and the popular subreddits for fans of the American electric car brand. Yesterday, Electrek published an article citing multiple examples of customers refusing delivery on Model Ys due to production defects like broken seatbelts, loose seats, and more.

Quality control has been an issue with new Tesla models in the past—when the brand started building the Model 3 sedan in 2017, CEO Elon Musk regularly complained that the company was in “production hell” as it tried to work out the kinks of an expensive new automated production line. Eventually, the company had to resort to assembling the cars on a completely new, much less automated line, using temporary structures rapidly assembled at its factory in Fremont, California.

That was not supposed to be the case with its latest vehicle. Model 3 production issues are believed to have been solved at this point, particularly as Tesla is now mass-producing that vehicle at a new factory in China, incorporating the lessons of the last few years. And given the high degree of commonality between the Model 3 sedan and the Model Y crossover, it was reasonable to expect that this newest addition to the lineup would happen smoothly.

However, last week Musk told his employees that there were “production and supply chain ramp challenges” with the new crossover and implored his workforce to do better.

Among the issues catalogued at Electrek, on Reddit, and on YouTube channels are excessive road noise and alignment issues, rear hatches that don’t close properly, charge port doors that don’t close, misaligned doors and exterior trim, scratched body panels, substandard paint, underfloor panels that weren’t fully attached to the car, dirty or damaged interiors, broken seat belts, and even rear seats that aren’t actually attached to the rest of the car.

The Tesla Model Y community has even gone so far as to create a crowdsourced checklist of things that buyers of the $60,990 electric crossover should examine carefully before accepting delivery.

The editor in chief of Electrek, Fred Lambert, had harsh words for the brand regarding Model Y production problems, writing:

I am the first to cut Tesla some slack when it comes to the quality of vehicles early in a production ramp-up, but this seems a lot worse than usual.

We covered the Model 3 launch closely and it certainly wasn’t without quality issues, but it was nothing like the reports I am seeing for Model Y these days.

Of course, what we don’t see are the happy Model Y owners reporting deliveries of flawless vehicles because they are too busy enjoying their new car, but I wouldn’t chalk this up to a vocal minority having issues here.

There’s not a day that goes by without Model Y owners reporting to us that Tesla attempted delivery of an unacceptable vehicle and I am seeing a surprising number of people communicating similar issues on forums.

It looks to me that the “rectification needs” Elon mentioned are overwhelming Tesla’s quality control, but the automaker is still trying to deliver the Model Y vehicles with defects in order to save their quarter.

As Lambert notes, these problems are occurring close to Tesla’s traditional end-of-quarter production push, but they could not be happening at a worse time for the carmaker. Tesla lost several weeks of production to an enforced factory shutdown due to COVID-19, and The Wall Street Journal reported that its deliveries of new vehicles in California in May were down 70 percent, year on year, compared to a general industry decline of 52 percent.