An extensive survey of 5,000 Tesla Model 3 owners conducted by Bloomberg reveals that buyers are finding increasingly improved vehicle build quality and an overall uptick in positive ownership experience. Bloomberg’s four-part, 164-question survey has drawn mixed responses from Tesla owners since the survey began in early 2018. But with a noticeable upward trend in general owner satisfaction over time, one can presume that Tesla has been paying keen attention to negative customer feedback and improving upon them.
Looking back at Tesla’s history, specifically the timeframe when the electric carmaker was in the trenches of production hell, issues concerning improper paint, body gaps, poorly installed components, and electronic glitches were widely reported by Model 3 owners. Early buyers reported deficiencies in vehicle build quality, including Consumer Reports who dropped its recommendation of Tesla’s most affordable vehicle. A Finnish Model 3 owner claimed that they experienced so many issues with their vehicle’s cosmetic appearance after 1,300 miles of driving that it prompted them to seek a third-party opinion on the vehicle’s quality. The professional described Tesla Model 3’s paint as “soft”, noting that they were able to scratch the black coloring from the vehicle with very little effort. Similar reports of poor quality control, leading to production cars with body panel gaps above industry standards, and misaligned components, Bloomberg’s poll of Model 3 owners clearly shows a higher dissatisfaction rating in early 2018 than today.
Since Bloomberg’s poll began in early 2018, Tesla has made numerous changes in the vehicle’s most notable issues. In response to harsh criticism from industry experts on Model 3’s build quality, CEO Elon Musk took noted Tesla’s increasing effort to better refine its manufacturing process. “Since we began shipping Model 3 last year, we have been very focused on refining and tuning both part and body manufacturing processes. The result being that the standard deviation of all gaps and offsets across the entire car has improved, on average, by nearly 40%, with particular gap improvements visible in the area of the trunk, rear lamps and rear quarter panel.”
As the company scaled from what some considered a boutique automaker in the early days of the Tesla Roadster to mainstream mass-market electric vehicle maker, Tesla’s cosmetic issues have more than likely been related to growing pains. Through iterations in streamlining production and improving upon its overall manufacturing process, Tesla’s commitment to learning and implementing more efficient processes has ultimately translated to a much-improved build quality that hasn’t gone unnoticed. Retired auto industry veteran Bob Lutz, who has been vocally critical of Tesla in the past, has noted the new gaps have been improved upon so much that they measure up to being “world-class”. The sentiment among later Model 3 owners polled in Bloomberg’s survey also measured up, with one responding, “No noticeable panel gaps, near-flawless paint, and fitment of body and interior materials.”
To see the full list of comments by Model 3 owners, visit Bloomberg’s extensive Tesla Model 3 Survey.
Tesla has adjusted the functionality of a crucial climate feature as Winter weather has started to arrive throughout some parts of the United States. The new feature was highly requested by owners.
Tesla has a Cabin Overheat Protection feature that helps keep the temperature regulated if it reaches a certain threshold. Inversely, it can be used in cold weather as well, which will automatically warm the cabin if it sinks to a temperature that is too low for the owner’s comfort.
This is a great way to keep the cabin either warmed up just enough or cooled down just enough so that it never gets too hot or too cold. Extreme temperatures could damage certain parts of the vehicle or damage personal belongings that are kept inside the car.
Overheat protection is a great thing to have in hot climates like Arizona or Texas, especially with the Premium trims of the Model 3 and Model Y, which feature a glass roof.
Many owners appreciate the feature, but they argue that using it at home will utilize too much energy, especially during extreme temperatures. For a while, many Tesla fans have requested an option to disable this feature when the car is parked at home, which the company recently added, according to Not a Tesla App.
The feature is part of Software Version 2025.44.3, and the release notes state:
“You can now choose Exclude Home when Cabin Overheat Protection or No A/C is enabled.”
Tesla has been great at listening to what owners want with new features, and this is one that will reserve some charge and prevent unnecessary utilization of available power, especially as the car is parked at home. If owners want to condition the cabin or get the car ready for operation with a comfortable interior, they can utilize the Tesla app to adjust the climate.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed today on the social media platform X that legacy automakers, such as Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, do not want to license the company’s Full Self-Driving suite, at least not without a long list of their own terms.
“I’ve tried to warn them and even offered to license Tesla FSD, but they don’t want it! Crazy,” Musk said on X. “When legacy auto does occasionally reach out, they tepidly discuss implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years with unworkable requirements for Tesla, so pointless.”
I’ve tried to warn them and even offered to license Tesla FSD, but they don’t want it! Crazy …
When legacy auto does occasionally reach out, they tepidly discuss implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years with unworkable requirements for Tesla, so pointless. 🤷♂️
🦕 🦕
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2025
Musk made the remark in response to a note we wrote about earlier today from Melius Research, in which analyst Rob Wertheimer said, “Our point is not that Tesla is at risk, it’s that everybody else is,” in terms of autonomy and self-driving development.
Wertheimer believes there are hundreds of billions of dollars in value headed toward Tesla’s way because of its prowess with FSD.
A few years ago, Musk first remarked that Tesla was in early talks with one legacy automaker regarding licensing Full Self-Driving for its vehicles. Tesla never confirmed which company it was, but given Musk’s ongoing talks with Ford CEO Jim Farley at the time, it seemed the Detroit-based automaker was the likely suspect.
Tesla’s Elon Musk reiterates FSD licensing offer for other automakers
Ford has been perhaps the most aggressive legacy automaker in terms of its EV efforts, but it recently scaled back its electric offensive due to profitability issues and weak demand. It simply was not making enough vehicles, nor selling the volume needed to turn a profit.
Musk truly believes that many of the companies that turn their backs on FSD now will suffer in the future, especially considering the increased chance it could be a parallel to what has happened with EV efforts for many of these companies.
Unfortunately, they got started too late and are now playing catch-up with Tesla, XPeng, BYD, and the other dominating forces in EVs across the globe.
Tesla is backtracking on a strange adjustment it made to its in-car Navigation feature after numerous complaints from owners convinced the company to make a change.
Tesla’s in-car Navigation is catered to its vehicles, as it routes Supercharging stops and preps your vehicle for charging with preconditioning. It is also very intuitive, and features other things like weather radar and a detailed map outlining points of interest.
However, a recent change to the Navigation by Tesla did not go unnoticed, and owners were really upset about it.
For trips that required multiple Supercharger stops, Tesla decided to implement a naming change, which did not show the city or state of each charging stop. Instead, it just showed the business where the Supercharger was located, giving many owners an unwelcome surprise.
However, Tesla’s Director of Supercharging, Max de Zegher, admitted the update was a “big mistake on our end,” and made a change that rolled out within 24 hours:
The naming change should have happened at once, instead of in 2 sequential steps. That was a big miss on our end. We do listen to the community and we do course-correct fast. The accelerated fix rolled out last night. The Tesla App is updated and most in-car touchscreens should…
— Max (@MdeZegher) November 20, 2025
The lack of a name for the city where a Supercharging stop would be made caused some confusion for owners in the short term. Some drivers argued that it was more difficult to make stops at some familiar locations that were special to them. Others were not too keen on not knowing where they were going to be along their trip.
Tesla was quick to scramble to resolve this issue, and it did a great job of rolling it out in an expedited manner, as de Zegher said that most in-car touch screens would notice the fix within one day of the change being rolled out.
Additionally, there will be even more improvements in December, as Tesla plans to show the common name/amenity below the site name as well, which will give people a better idea of what to expect when they arrive at a Supercharger.
Tesla adjusts crucial feature as winter weather arrives
Tesla CEO Elon Musk sends rivals dire warning about Full Self-Driving
