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A comment on Internal documents reveal the grueling way Tesla hit its 5,000 Model 3 target. Parent comment

Re:Internal documents reveal the grueling way Tesla hit its ... by jonathankoren on Tuesday August 21, 2018 @02:33PM (#17812396)
No. The "dealer prep" you're referring to is literally taking just taking the plastic wrap off the car.

He's talking about fixing production errors, like panels being stuck on wrong[0], or window gaskets being misinstalled[3].

As a side note, this is the first time I've heard anyone defend the lemons coming out of Detroit in the 70s. It was so bad, that my dad would check the VINs, so that he would never buy a car that was built on a Monday or Friday, because it was too likely that the workers were either drunk or hungover.[1][2][4] And this is when he was in the UAW as mechanic and then a body man.

I thought these production issues might be overblown, so I checked the deck lids on three 3s in the parking lot at work. All three were misaligned. I didn't expect them to be perfect (it's not laser perfect on my 2010 Jetta either), but I didn't expect to fit my finger through the gaps. All three cars. All three in different places. That killed it for me. I will never buy a Tesla 3.

[0] https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/body-panel-gap-and-a...

[1] https://jalopnik.com/the-ten-worst-car-factories-in-history-...

[2] https://jalopnik.com/5645880/auto-workers-drinking-getting-h...

[3] https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/unfinished-metal-and...

[4] https://www.thisamericanlife.org/403/transcript

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Re:Internal documents reveal the grueling way Tesla hit its ... by omgwtfbyobbq on Tuesday August 21, 2018 @03:53PM (#17813089)
Do you have any pictures of the three 3s? I can see alignment being off a little, but not enough to fit a finger in the gaps.
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Re:Internal documents reveal the grueling way Tesla hit its ... by jonathankoren on Tuesday August 21, 2018 @04:33PM (#17813510)
I’m sure there’s plenty of pictures online. But no, I didn’t bother to take picture of me putting my hand through strangers’ cars. Why would I think to do this?
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Re:Internal documents reveal the grueling way Tesla hit its ... by omgwtfbyobbq on Wednesday August 22, 2018 @11:23AM (#17819311)
To provide proof of your claims. After looking at my 3, I'm thinking you either have the hands of a small child, or you're spreading FUD.

I can see panel gaps being an issue for some cars, but I can't see the deck lid being misaligned to the point where you're able to put your hand through any gaps.

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Re:Internal documents reveal the grueling way Tesla hit its ... by jonathankoren on Wednesday August 22, 2018 @02:24PM (#17820738)
My fingers are thin, and it was a little finger.

A photo of my hand can be provided upon request.

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Re:Internal documents reveal the grueling way Tesla hit its ... by lifeformed on Tuesday August 21, 2018 @03:48PM (#17813056)
How do you convert a VIN to the date of manufacture?
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Re:Internal documents reveal the grueling way Tesla hit its ... by mikestew on Tuesday August 21, 2018 @05:31PM (#17814018)
https://electrek.co/2017/07/18/tesla-model-3-vin-decoder/

EDIT: whoops, missed the context. The above just tells you the model year. But you were replying to someone that implied it could be done down to the day. It can be done down to the month, but in my experience down to the day is rare, if non-existent (none of my vehicle VINs have that resolution).

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Re:Internal documents reveal the grueling way Tesla hit its ... by jonathankoren on Tuesday August 21, 2018 @05:38PM (#17814074)
The last few digits are sequential within a model. Combination of this and knowing when the transports arrive might give you an estimate.

I’m telling you what I remember him telling me. How accurate he actually was, I don’t know. But Detroit earned their horrible reputation, and the Japanese manufactures are them alive.

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