I keep hearing this from people, especially my friends who work for other manufacturers. I personally couldn't care less.
Hell, if they sold it pre-scratched and pre-dented It'd be even better, would same me the paranoia of something happening to it.
Why would anyone pay new car prices for a damaged car? It has lower resale value.
> Why would anyone pay new car prices for a damaged car? A) I didn't say it had to be the same price. Sell the car with a bumper blemish and give people a discount to account for the fact that you didn't have to reject parts.
B) People might buy it for the same reason that others gent bent out of shape about panel gaps; personal differences in what they value.
It feels like the quip everyone uses without any meaningful value.
Do panel gaps really matter? Probably not, but if I'm paying Tesla prices, maybe?
There's absolutely nothing sudden about people caring about panel gaps on new vehicles.
Cockeyed panel gaps are a tell-tale of a used/bodged vehicle, this has been the case my entire life. It's the last thing you want to see on what's supposedly a new vehicle, and it sticks out like a sore thumb.
It didn't help that the experience of renting from Hertz was terrible, but renting the Y seemed to confirm every terrible Tesla rumor and then some. It didn't drive well, the range was surprisingly bad(abused battery maybe?), the controls were confusing and distracting, and hell, even the acoustics of the interior were terrible(glass roof is dumb).
And yet it takes the #4 spot for most vehicle sales in 2023 in the US, and likely the #1 spot globally.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g43553191/bestselling-cars...
I went to a showroom I looked at Teslas. I could not find a single car with even panels gaps. The wipers don't work. The car doesn't have USS anymore and Tesla vision sucks. I could go on and on and on. I seriously considered one but just too many shortcomings.
For the price of Model Y, I can buy a Lexus ES300h(car is QC and build perfection) and drive that car for the next 15 years with oil changes once a year.