Your fleet running reports

[dinny_g]

Put my private reg on the Grand Vitara. Annoyingly the front plate was held on by two plastic screws, not sticky pads so I had to cut them off because they were stuck. So I used the smaller (legal) plate I had on the front of the MX5 rather than the full-sized plate I'd intended. I swapped them on the day the insurance renewed so I didn't have to pay an admin fee Which meant I had to do it in the pitch black after I'd got back from work on Wednesday. Took me an hour because I didn't have any other torch to hand except on my phone.

Imagine my annoyance, then, to get home last night and find the bonnet catch wasn't holding the bonnet shut. It was obvious that it was just the spring in the mechanism which had come off, but it's impossible to get to without taking the whole mechanism off the slam panel. So I spent an hour in the dark doing just that and fixing it last night. I was grateful for three things:

1. Having a selection of different sockets and ratchet drivers is invaluable when you need to find one to fit in a tiny gap.
2. Lithium grease is well worth keeping in the garage - the mechanism was a bit stiff which is what caused the problem in the first place.
3. Always, always make sure you have a magnet on a stick. I dropped the three nuts holding the mechanism on down onto the undertray half a dozen times and they'd have been irretrievable without the magnet on a stick.

Maybe also worth doing such jobs before you've had a couple of pints, and not in the pitch dark. Anyway, it's fixed now.

4. Having a head torch ???

[Jobbo]

Dinny, having the right tools, working in the day time - all good tips

[dinny_g]

[Jobbo]

I maintain that the magnet on a stick is the single most useful thing though. I'd have been utterly fucked without it

[Matty]

I'd got you down as a man with a large garage, Jobbo. Working in the driveway, in the dark?

However, I can attest to the greatness of a headtorch. It makes you look special, but they're awesome. It's bright wherever you look!

[Jobbo]

I have two large garages, Matt - sadly the one which is sufficiently empty to put a couple of cars in is 40 miles away, while the one at home surrendered its MX5 space to a large quantity of Lego. Plus I'd had a couple of pints so I just started the job ignoring the conditions

[dinny_g]

Plus I'd had a couple of pints so I just started the job ignoring the conditions

We've all been there...

[V8Granite]

I bought some finger lights on Ali Express as I have a flashlight fetish and they are surprisingly good, wherever type want to put your hands they light up

They actually made me a virgin again though they are that tragic.

Dave!

[Matty]

But most of the time working on cars involves getting your fingers and hands into tight spaces. Surely finger lights just make this more difficult and reduces finger dexterity.

I'll stick to a head torch*

*for all the time I never work on cars

[mik]

I have two large garages, Matt - sadly the one which is sufficiently empty to put a couple of cars in is 40 miles away, while the one at home surrendered its MX5 space to a large quantity of Lego.

Picking up bits of lego with a magnet on a stick keeps a Jobbo busy for hours.

[Mito Man]

I had to return my magnetiser after it didn’t work on Lego

Anyway yet another Tesla update - my dad heard from a patient that the handover takes hours. The appointment for tomorrow was in reality a “group demonstration” showing the features of the car before then being given the car after 2 hours Not wanting to waste half a day being shown how to make the car fart he’s managed to cancel that and handover should now take 10 minutes.
It’s a bit of a poor show having a group demo like that, don’t think I’ve ever heard of another manufacturer do that? And then you’ll have some prick in the group probably wanting to ask endless questions whilst everyone else just wants their new car and not to waste any more of their weekend than necessary
Anyhow can’t get insured on it as I suspected, premium goes from £480 to over £1500 which won’t make up for the sub 1000 miles I do a year.

Edit - another moan and phone call that they’re too busy to charge the cars so they’re giving a warning that they will only have a 120-150 mile range

[Mr Pish]

Tesla's sales model is the complete opposite of the traditional stealer, you buy online, you turn up, sort out finance, do the group training (optional), inspect car and agree any remedial work and take delivery.

They have very few people at the centre but most are shipping out 100-150 cars a day (3700 in September).

Apart from waiting for my slot (which was delayed) to take delivery it was a 15 min experience for me as I had paid cash to them and didn't want the training (which they are fine with as they expect most buyers to have learned most things on youtube).

Not having to deal with stealers, no haggling, not having them try to scam you for everything they can, all the extra insurances etc. made for a very relaxing buying experience I think.

The only thing that let it down for me is the lack of notice on delivery (no week number). You get a call seemingly at random a week in advance with your delivery slot and payment has to be finalised 48 hours before hand. Which if you have a car to sell that does not give you a lot of time to dispose of it and get the money cleared.

There is a special "battery activation" charge that has to be done at the factory which if I recall correctly limits the car to a 50-70% charge, with the speed of the handover and the numbers they are selling they simply wouldn't have time to fully charge all the cars. The delivery centre in Dartford had lorries with new cars on out on the road as they had no space on site for all of that days handovers.

[Jobbo]

I bought some finger lights on Ali Express as I have a flashlight fetish and they are surprisingly good, wherever type want to put your hands they light up

They actually made me a virgin again though they are that tragic.

Dave!

I can only think of a fleshlight after reading your post, Dave. Since you've regained your virginity perhaps that's the right thing.

[Mito Man]

Tesla's sales model is the complete opposite of the traditional stealer, you buy online, you turn up, sort out finance, do the group training (optional), inspect car and agree any remedial work and take delivery.

They have very few people at the centre but most are shipping out 100-150 cars a day (3700 in September).

Apart from waiting for my slot (which was delayed) to take delivery it was a 15 min experience for me as I had paid cash to them and didn't want the training (which they are fine with as they expect most buyers to have learned most things on youtube).

Not having to deal with stealers, no haggling, not having them try to scam you for everything they can, all the extra insurances etc. made for a very relaxing buying experience I think.

The only thing that let it down for me is the lack of notice on delivery (no week number). You get a call seemingly at random a week in advance with your delivery slot and payment has to be finalised 48 hours before hand. Which if you have a car to sell that does not give you a lot of time to dispose of it and get the money cleared.

There is a special "battery activation" charge that has to be done at the factory which if I recall correctly limits the car to a 50-70% charge, with the speed of the handover and the numbers they are selling they simply wouldn't have time to fully charge all the cars. The delivery centre in Dartford had lorries with new cars on out on the road as they had no space on site for all of that days handovers.

Car has failed paint inspection and will take “some days” to rectify

[Mr Pish]

Car has failed paint inspection and will take “some days” to rectify

probably one of these

https://insideevs.com/news/363703/more- ... -problems/

[nuttinnew]

I was going to reply to Mito with "It hasn't got any " then clicked on Pish' link
'80s retro is the current thing, Tesla's aping Lancia.

[Mito Man]

Car has failed paint inspection and will take “some days” to rectify

probably one of these

https://insideevs.com/news/363703/more- ... -problems/

What are your paint problems?

Seeing as Tesla thought the car in the video was acceptable I imagine this one must have been dropped off the transporter for them to fail it
Hopefully it means it won’t need to visit them again for rectification as they’ll go over it more thoroughly in the paint booth - I actually thought the whole crap paint was just a few very picky people moaning on the internet but seems it’s quite widespread. Surely it works out cheaper if they just paint them better from the factory

[Mr Pish]

What are your paint problems?

Seeing as Tesla thought the car in the video was acceptable I imagine this one must have been dropped off the transporter for them to fail it
Hopefully it means it won’t need to visit them again for rectification as they’ll go over it more thoroughly in the paint booth - I actually thought the whole crap paint was just a few very picky people moaning on the internet but seems it’s quite widespread. Surely it works out cheaper if they just paint them better from the factory

its about speed, they are production capped and painting is their biggest bottle neck, i suspect the car in the vid was one of the ones that went through the outside 'hand painting tents' they used for a short time till they increased the production line paint capacity, so they keep production maxed out and sort the smaller paint problems out later

I have 3 paint faults:

a fresh 1" scratch in the lacquer on the front bumper, which 100% happened at the unloading PDI stage, dead easy to fix as the paint is not damaged

a piece of dirt about 1mm under the lacquer on the near side front wing, this they admit should have been picked up by the factory

the near side rear arch has a 'hard' paint line running parallel to the arch, as thou it had been corrected at the factory but they had not blown the paint out over the panel

the arch and the dirt under the lacquer 99% of average punters would not see, I had to hold my phone light up to the arch before their paint guy could even see it. tbh i was just being picky

£300 to sort the lot at a chips away place

it will all be irrelevant after a couple of years of assholes smashing car doors into it in car parks or backing into it etc.

[integrale_evo]

That car in the vid is horrific. Not just for the poor paint, heck, mistakes happen, but to then go through the full assembly process and however many quality checks before making it to the dealer and then the customer is just absurd. It wouldn't be possible to correct it to an acceptable standard without completely stripping it down and repainting it.

Left alone I bet it would have enough rust to be uneconomical to repair within 5 years.

[Mito Man]

But that’s an easy case for the warranty to take cover, did the chap eventually have to take it to court to get fixed? A lot of Americans online advising Model 3 owners to rust proof their car but I just read the warranty which states that rustproofing/undercoating voids it
Stupid is as stupid does.

Body Rust Limited Warranty
This Body Rust Limited Warranty covers rust perforation (hole through the body panel from the inside outwards) resulting from a defect in material or workmanship for a period of 12 years and unlimited miles, excluding the following:
• Vehicles treated against rust, i.e., procedures commonly referred to as rustproofing or undercoating;
• Corrosion from defects in non-Tesla manufactured or supplied materials or workmanship causing perforation in body panels or the chassis from the inside out;
• Surface or cosmetic corrosion causing perforation in body panels or the chassis from the outside in, such as stone chips or scratches;
• Corrosion caused by, due to, or resulting from accidents, abuse, neglect, improper maintenance or operation of the vehicle, installation of an accessory, exposure to chemical substances, or damages resulting from an act of God or nature, fire, or improper storage.