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On February 5th, a ship docked in the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, and it disgorged thousands of Tesla’s highly anticipated Model 3 cars. After a few snags, such as a day-long national strike, were mastered, the cars were on their way to European customers. Some of them anxiously waited several years for their electric car. If comments in usually Tesla-friendly online forums are an indication, Model 3 anticipation has given way to Model 3 morosity.

Germany’s TTF Forum already has a sub-forum called “Model 3 problems/fails,” and four days ago, TTF opened a poll on Model 3 delivery problems [now made inaccessible, see P.S.] At the time of this typing, there were 56 responses. 34% reported no problem. 66% reported small to serious problems. One respondent said he already returned the car. 14% said they are considering returning the car. (20% considered returning the car a day after the poll was posted.)

TTF stands for “Tesla Fahrer und Freunde,“ German for „Tesla drivers and friends.“ It is an on-line gathering place for hardcore Tesla fans, and it is beyond suspicion of any anti-Tesla tendencies. Which makes the forum’s ongoing accounting of Model 3 gripes even more appalling. Here is a short excerpt with links to the original postings in German:

Considering that the shipload on Model 3s was destined for all of EU, and that only a few Model 3 should have arrived, this German gripe list is shocking. The problems seem to be all over the place, there is no clear pattern, except maybe for the missing charge cable, the greyed-out controls for the headlights, and the well-known wet trunk.

What is even more shocking is that the Model 3 has been made in (somewhat) earnest for more than a year. Normal teething problems should be long solved by now. After Consumer Reports yanked the car’s recommendation, because “owners report problems with paint, trim, and electronics,” Tesla claimed that “the vast majority of these issues have already been corrected through design and manufacturing improvements, and we are already seeing a significant improvement in our field data.” What arrived in Europe sounds very much like a grab bag of the same problems with paint, trim, and electronics.

The run-of-the-mill dinosaur legacy carmaker would have a pre-delivery inspection (PDI) operation at that dock in Zeebrugge, and failed cars would be sent right back to where they came from. Abandon all hope, at Tesla it is likely to get worse: A week after the ship docked, Tesla CEO Elon Musk swooped into Zeebrugge on his Gulfstream, and as a first order of business, he fired the Belgian company that was too slow (too thorough?) in handling the pre-delivery. Tesla is doing it itself now, and it is looking for “Delivery Experience Specialists” and “PDI Service Technicians” who can “ensure that all Tesla vehicles are in perfect shape to be handed over to the owner of the car (our highly-valued customer),” both working in Zeebrugge.

What stands out from the complaints on the German forum: As opposed to what is going on in U.S. Tesla forums, people posting problems in Germany are not automatically shouted and voted down as idiots who don’t realize that there is a world to change, an occurrence so common that is has become a fodder for satire.

Tesla owners, if you want to discuss your gripes without being hung from the virtual lamp posts, learn German.

P.S.: Hours after this story appeared, the thread with the poll apparently was moved into a protected area of the forum. The thread may be accessible by registered members only. Other linked contributions were still accessible at the time of this typing.

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