Tesla Model 3: Made in China much better quality than Made in U.S.A.?

ssun30

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There's quite a bit of shock in the industry when the 12365Auto (China's equivalent to J.D.Power) published a survey on 'number of complaints per vehicle'. The list shows that Tesla Model 3 made at the Shanghai Giga Factory has by far the least amount of complaints (0.7 for every 10000 vehicle), beating industry average by a factor of 50. This is in stark contrast to J.D.Power's 2020 Initial Quality Study that showed Tesla has by far the worst at 250 for every 100 vehicle.
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ssun30

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Obviously, the internet is calling BS on this 'survey', as the 'Shanghai Model 3' was shown to have many quality control issues even in cherry picked media test samples. Also German brands rank much better than Japanese brands which is also counter-intuitive. Just like J.D.Power's 'Initial Quality Study' which has been accused for being rigged to make American brands look better, this report is also not representative of true quality of a vehicle especially in the long term.

This survey tracks the number of complaints of ALL vehicles sold, which means older models will naturally rank worse as they age. The TM3 has only been sold for 8 months, and delivery on a large scale only started 3 months ago, so almost all TM3 owners surveyed have only received their car for a short period of time.

There's also the problem that people buying Teslas and premium vehicles are less likely to file complaint (for example a life-threatening malfunction is considered a 'minor technical glitch' to Tesla owners), while buyers of cheaper cars are more concerned with minor issues.
 

Will1991

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My guess is similar to you last paragraph, as even in Europe Tesla owners tends to look away from some major manafacturing problems...
 

Sulu

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Tesla is a polarizing automaker -- you either love it (and seemingly willing to go to all lengths to defend it) or hate it. So I would not be surprised if current Tesla owners are willing to forgive problems -- and not report them -- that owners of mass-market brands would complain (loudly) about.