Elon Musk says don't buy a Tesla during production ramps for best quality (TSLA)

<p><img src="https://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5eba877d204ad3603317ceb6-2400/tesla factory fremont.jpg" border="0" alt="Tesla factory Fremont" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Stephen Lam" data-mce-caption="A worker descends from the top deck of a car carrier trailer carrying Tesla electric vehicles at Tesla's primary vehicle factory after CEO Elon Musk announced he was defying local officials' coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions by reopening the plant in Fremont, California on May 11, 2020."></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>For years, Tesla has caught heat over quality control issueswhether it's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-model-y-roof-fell-off-family-claims-quality-control-concern-2020-10">improperly affixed roofs</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-recall-idUSKBN2851KD'taid=5fbe949f585f620001900d23&amp;utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&amp;utm_medium=trueAnthem&amp;utm_source=twitter">loose bolts</a>, or <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-fixing-quality-issues-nearly-5000-model-3-owners-say-2019-10">shoddy bodywork</a>with one of the most vocal critics being Sandy Munro, an auto-manufacturing expert who once likened the build quality of a 2018 Model 3 to a Kia from the 1990s.&nbsp;</p><p>In a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch'v=YAtLTLiqNwg">one-on-one interview</a> with Munro published this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk fessed up to some of the company's production hiccups and recommended the best time of year to buy a new Tesla.&nbsp;</p><p>Asked how the fit and finish of two Model 3 sedans Munro had examined could be so vastly differenteven though they were built only a month apartMusk admitted that build quality tends to be worse when Tesla is working to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-tesla-became-a-manufacturing-juggernaut-2020-7">rapidly scale up production</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>"Friends ask me, when should they buy a Tesla. Well, either buy it right at the beginning, or when production reaches a steady state," Musk said.&nbsp;"But during that production ramp, it's super hard to be in vertical climb mode and get everything right on the little details. It's just a super difficult thing."</p><p>Customers who "really want things to be dialed," Musk went on, should buy a very early model or one built "once production has leveled off."</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/startups-most-likely-to-go-public-2021-aurora-lucid-2021-2'r=tl-sub">Aurora and Lucid Motors are among the 5 electric-vehicle and self-driving startups most likely to go public in 2021, experts say</a></em></p><p>Last year, and especially in its final months, Tesla pushed hard to deliver 500,000 vehicles, an aggressive sales target that the company <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/telsa-just-missed-its-goal-of-delivering-500000-vehicles-2021-1">missed by only a few hundred cars</a>. But racing to accelerate production came with drawbacks, Musk said.&nbsp;</p><p>The CEO told Munro that as Tesla sped up manufacturing, one problem it faced was that "the paint wasn't necessarily drying enough," leading to quality issues. He said that Tesla did "improve gap and paint quality quite a bit towards the end of last year, even in the course of December."</p><p>Musk, who tends to be <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-2020-promises-goals-accomplishments-missed-deadlines-2021-1">overly optimistic about Tesla's ambitions</a>, acknowledged in the interview that mass-producing cars is no easy task. A testament to that, he said, is that Tesla is the first US car startup to reach volume production since Chrysler was founded in 1925.&nbsp;</p><p>"Prototypes are easy and fun, and then reaching volume production with a reliable product at an affordable price is excruciatingly difficult," Musk said. "Our production is hell."</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-best-time-to-buy-tesla-quality-issues-2021-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-parasite-delivered-one-of-the-best-twists-in-cinema-2020-2">What makes 'Parasite' so shocking is the twist that happens in a 10-minute sequence</a></p>
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