2019 Tesla Model 3 Body & Structure Problems

The chrome lamination/sticker is peeling from the underside of the door handles. This peeling causes an extremely sharp edge that cut my finger. This issue is noted rather constantly over the internet. The sharp edge is hidden by the retracting mechanism of the door handles, and so you don’t see it until you grab it and cut yourself.

The accident happened in a parking lot. There was a tap of the bumpers going really slow. The passenger in the Tesla is claiming whiplash. The car is not safe if it cannot take a slight bump on the fender in a parking lot.

On at least 3 occasions, the glass (windshield, roof and rear window) on my car has been shattered by a small nut (beechnut) falling from a tree. The cost of the damage has totaled thousands of dollars. The latest incidents were on July 31 and August 15, 2024. A previous incident occurred a few years ago.

My wife was dropping my kid in the school drop off line. The speed was probably about 5 mph. The Tesla suddenly went into a sudden spontaneous acceleration. When my wife tried to brake, the brakes did not work. There was no forward collision warning beeping sound that went off, which is supposed to. It hit the vehicle in front and finally hit a fence. so, both the accelerator and brake malfunctioned. The car will go to a body shop tomorrow. Since it was a school drop off zone, safety of a lot of people were put at risk. It was very hard to get Tesla on the phone. so, we went into a Tesla service center and a complaint was filed. They will be reviewing the data but I dont know how long it will take. A software update had been applied a week back. 2 hours after the accident, a software update screen popped up

When heavy down rain falls and the streets start to collect water of 1-2 or more the uderbody skid plates with collect water and the body panels fasteners will fail and the skid plate tears. This has happed twice since I've owned the car. This last time happed last week when a heavy rain came through. I'm now over my warranty but the problem keeps happening. Tesla has a bulletin specifically for this dated September 19, 2019 address this problem. Tesla TSB SB-19-12-00. Tesla service in Austin, TX is denying my car a replacement skid pad since I'm at 55,000 miles, just 5K past my warrenty. Even though they know this part will fail if the car happens to go through enough water from a heavy rain. If this part is not replaced water can then get into the rear bumpers and then cause them to be ripped off which could then cause an accident if this were to happen at hwy speeds.

Vehicle handle will become frozen and because of the design, it is difficult to open the door. Once it is opened, the windows will not roll down far enough for the driver to close the door. Because of this, the driver will need to move or drive the vehicle with the door open.

The casing that the batteries are covered in will sometimes "pop" during charging or preconditioning events. I think it's made from AL and the temperature increase during cold days causes this pop. This may cause high cycle fatigue in colder climates while the vehicle is being charged constantly.

In August 2021, I discovered that the glass roof of my car had major cracks even though I had not had a collision and was not aware of any specific cause for such major damage. According to Tesla technicians who examined the damage, the roof glass had "a small crack running in top layer of glass along with a small star crack on the front left"; the back glass had "several cracks all over it with two large impacts"; "both glass pieces showed external damage on both front and rear." As a result, it was necessary to replace the glass, at a cost of over $2000. A hickory tree stands next to the uncovered driveway where the Tesla is normally parked since it was bought over two years ago. I am incredulous that falling hickory nuts might have caused such extensive damage, as Tesla theorized happened. In any case, if the roof glass is so fragile that a few falling hickory nuts could destroy the roof, it seems that the roof is not sufficiently strong and sturdy and could therefore be a safety hazard.

WHEN GET WET, UNDERCARRIAGE COMPOSITE TRY GETS HEAVY WHEN WATER IS ABSORBED AND FALL/ TEAR AND GET DRAGGED ON THE STREET, SOMETIMES RESULTING IN FRICTION SPARKS.

AUTOPILOT WAS ENGAGED. THE TESLA VEHICLE SENSORS FAILED TO RECOGNIZE 2 PARKED VEHICLES ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE STREET WHILE DRIVING, AND COLLIDED WITH THEM. ANTI-COLLISION MECHANISM AND AUTO-BRAKING FAILED TO APPLY, RESULTING IN COLLISION.

AS I WAS OPENING THE PASSENGER DOOR, MY NAIL GOT CAUGHT IN THE SPACE BETWEEN THE HANDLE AND THE CAR. AS BACKGROUND, IN ORDER TO OPEN THE DOOR ONE I HAS TO PUSH THE HANDLE ON ONE SIDE FOR THE OTHER SIDE TO COME OUT, AS I WAS DOING THIS MY NAIL GOT CAUGHT IN THE GAP CREATED WHEN PUSHING ONE SIDE TEARING OFF MORE THAN HALF OF MY NAIL. THIS ALSO RIPPED THE SKIN AND I HAD TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL WHERE I GOT TWO SHOTS BECAUSE THE PAIN WAS SO INTENSIVE, AND THEN I NEEDED WRAPPING AND A SPLINT.

TESLA MODEL 3 THE MID AERO SHIELD WAS DAMAGED WHILE DRIVING IN THE RAIN. TESLA HAD PREVIOUS ISSUED A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN (SB-19-12-001) TO REPLACE THESE DEFECTIVE MID AERO SHIELDS BUT IT APPEARS THE NEW PIECE IS AS SUSCEPTIBLE TO RAIN WATER DAMAGE AS THE ORIGIN PIECE. TESLA IS CHARGING ITS CUSTOMERS TO REPLACE DEFECTIVE MID AERO SHIELDS WHEN THESE DEFECTIVE PRODUCTS SHOULD BE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY OR SHOULD BE RECALLED. THE ORIGINAL MID AERO SHIELD PART NUMBER WAS 1104313-00-A. AFTER THE TSB, THE REPLACEMENT PART NUMBER IS 1104313-00-B. 1104313-00-B IS AS EQUALLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO WATER AND RAIN DAMAGE AS THE ORIGINAL PART. THERE ARE OVER 2000K COMPLAINTS ON THE FOLLOWING FORUMS; FORUMS DETAILING AERO SHIELD DAMAGE IS RAIN. HTTPS://TESLAMOTORSCLUB.COM/TMC/THREADS/RIPPED-UNDERCARRIAGE-COMPOSITE-FROM-THE-RAIN.131903/PAGE-11 HTTPS://FORUMS.TESLA.COM/FORUM/FORUMS/UNDERCARRIAGE-COMPOSITE-TRAY-RIPPED HTTPS://WWW.REDDIT.COM/R/TESLAMOTORS/COMMENTS/BAVO7P/MODEL_3_HARD_PLASTIC_VERSION_OF_UNDERCARRIAGE/ HTTPS://TESLAOWNERSONLINE.COM/THREADS/FRONT-UNDERBODY-AERO-PIECE-CAME-OFF-ON-HIGHWAY.11820/ HTTPS://WWW.QUORA.COM/WILL-DRIVING-FAST-THROUGH-1-OR-2-INCHES-OF-WATER-DAMAGE-THE-UNDERCARRIAGE

THIS IS FOR THE 2019 TESLA MODEL 3. PART NUMBER 1131205-00-C >PP-GF20< LOCATED IN THE FRUNK (FRONT TRUNK AREA) NEAR THE AIR INLET / 12VOLT BATTERY. I REMOVE THE SHROUD PART ABOVE THE ARE INLET AND BATTERY AND NOTICED THERE WAS PLAY (UP/DOWN) MOTION BY A PANEL FASTENER. UPON CLOSER OBSERVATION , I FOUND THE NOTED PART LISTED ABOVE PARTIAL BROKEN OFF HOLDING ON TO ONE OF THE VERY THIN ATTACHMENT POINTS. I BELIEVE THIS PART IS TO HOLE THE SHROUD MATING/FASTENING PART UP BY RESTING ON THE LOWER PART ASSEMBLY. AS YOU SEE IN THE IMAGES THIS IS A POOR DESIGN, WHICH SHOWS THREE VERY THIN SLIVERS OF MATERIAL JOINING TWO PARTS TOGETHER. PART #14 IN PARTS ASSEMBLY

PART NUMBER 1131205-00-CC (PP-GF20), POOR DESIGN BREAKS EASY ON (3) THIN TABS UNABLE TO SUPPORT PUSH/PULL OF PANEL TO SEAT GROMMETS, USE TO HOLD UP PANEL IN FRUNK PORTION OF VEHICLE WHERE CLEAN AIR INTAKE. THIS ALLOWS A PANEL TO HOLD THE PUSHING AND PULLING OFF OF A PANEL. ALOT OF PEOPLE ARE UNAWARE THIS PART IS BROKEN, USUALLY STARTS IN MANUFACTURING INSTALLATION.