For a long time, Tesla was plagued by quality control issues. During its first few years of mass volume production at Fremont reports of panel gaps and paint problems were frequent. However, the firm seems to have turned a corner in the past 3 years or so. Particularly since the opening of Giga Shanghai, which is renowned for its production standards.
That said, in the past few weeks there has been an abundance of videos and posts about serious Model Y build quality issues. A number of YouTubers, like Dylan Hong, recently bought 2022 Model Ys and made videos about the unexpected build quality issues they had experienced.
One of the most popular videos was posted by Andy Slye, a well-known "Tesla YouTuber". Andy's wife recently took delivery of a 2022 Model Y. He had several complaints about the vehicle.
Firstly, he was annoyed that Tesla doesn't include the center console tray in the 3 and Y anymore. Granted, this isn't a build quality issue but he feels it's unnecessary cost-cutting from Tesla - especially considering they keep raising prices.
When he picked up the car, he noticed it wasn't properly cleaned everywhere and there was some unknown gunk under the front windshield. Also, some of the upholstery headliner came loose. The left plastic stopper in the trunk fell off, clearly it wasn't fitted properly.
Furthermore, Andy noticed one of the windshield wipers protrudes. He doesn't know if this is normal or not but he feels it doesn't look right. Equally, the steering wheel squeaks loudly when it's adjusting.
One of the seat folding buttons didn't work and had to be fixed. The power wasn't connected and it had to be wired up by a technician. Moreover, the rear motor is unusually loud above 40 mph. Andy noted that he finds it very irritating and wants to get it fixed ASAP.
Andy stated that the paint color between the rear bumper and main body of the car doesn't match. The pearl white of the aluminum body doesn't quite aline with the off-white paint on the plastic rear bumper, why exactly he doesn't know.
In conclusion, Andy was disappointed by the number of build issues he found on his Model Y. He felt a $60,000+ car should simply be made better. He blamed a lot of the quality issues on the fact that his Y was produced at Tesla Fremont. Cars built at Fremont tend to have a reputation for being lower in standard than Teslas produced at other factories such as Giga Shanghai and Giga Berlin. He will be keeping an eager eye on how Giga Austin Model Ys turn out.
