I had the same issue a few weeks ago. Took the car into Tesla and was told it was an issue with the stabilizer bars. The problem went away after they were replaced.
That "thing" is called an underbody shield. It is used to reduce air drag and of course, increase range or mpg for those nasty ICE vehicles. Very common part nowadays. That clunking is not from that part.
Hope till comment can help someone atleast. I feel so stupid after this tho... I had similar noise on Tesla M3 LR 2021 and it was very annoying and always on uneven surface, never on speed bumps unless I went over them in an angle. So I took the car to tesla and they replaced something with steering rack and sway bar(I drove like 1000miles to my nearest Tesla, crazy long drive.) Noise was still there. I asked my boyfriend to push on the hood and it was the stupid latch on the frunk that made the noise. I did screw out the plastic nobs on each side under the frunk to raise the hood so the latch was taighter = noise was gone -.-
I just noticed the same problem on mine 2 days ago. It was just delivered one week ago. Really frustrating, even though the rattle seems to have decreased over the past day. I’m going to have to have them take a look
I had 2 Model S Telsla's purchased back due to the same knock...slow speed uneven ground. 9 months in shop in total between the two. A model 90D and 100D. Mine WASN'T the plastic plate. It was definitely near the steering rack.or struts. I currently don't own a Tesla due to the 26 service issues in 2 years.
did you find out what was the problem? I have the exact same issue , noise and I can't identify the source of it. Service center is 400 miles rountrip so I'm hesitant to even take it there if there' s something simple I can get fixed driving 3 miles from home. thanks! Daniel
Salil Sawarim front subframe bolts expanding causing the subframe to bang against the body of the car at times, creaks coming from the b pillar due to bad welding from the factory, various other creaks and rattles from the interior. Having driven a more recent VIN 3 for an entire day, I can confirm that, at least the one I drove, was far better assembled than my GTI.
Logan Rossignol Newer heard (I have worked with vw cars since 2004) about that subframe bolt thing neither b-bilar welding problem. Where this car was made of?
Salil Sawarim car was made in Germany with all other MK6's as far as I know. The subframe bolt issue has a TSB for the Jetta but I don't think VW ever applied it to the GTI for some reason. I assume the b pillar issue is not widespread, but the various interior squeaks and rattles are extremely common on the GTI.
Guess he published another one yesterday they said that's exactly what it was. I was going to say this or the control arm. Bushings can go bad (unlikely that quickly) or these links just don't get tightened down properly and you'll get that knocking noise from the free play. The stock bushings in the control arms they put in my model car are notorious for going bad after about 30-45k miles. I've had them replaced twice already.
Mel, did you hear back from Tesla regarding what the issue was. I hear similar rattling noise from mine and having trouble reproducing it at Tesla and they are not helping with resolution.
I thought Tesla said that they would ship to California 1st so that they could address any build issues. Seems like that's exactly what's happening. Early California cars have issues that are being fixed quickly.
i had the same issue but in the back making a drone/druming noise intermitently. Its the shitty fabric under tray tesla uses. I know fabric is the best for noise reduction but c'mon design something better man!
You are the most unlucky Tesla owner. Strut issues. I had that issue with my 2004 Subaru WRX STI. First year of this car. They replaced it 3 times. Tesla is not the only OEM that have first year issues with their cars. You just do not have any luck. Following you is very depressing.
I absolutely love that the problem is "let's see if we can go really slow, and hold a special mic out the door, and it has to be the third tuesday, AND you have to have superman level hearing". Says a lot about the quality of the model 3 that these are worst things that are coming up!
For $60,000 there shouldn't be any rattling from loose bolts on the undercarriage. You can buy a well-spec'd Mercedes C-Class or E-Class for that money and I guarantee you won't hear any rattling from the body of those cars. That said, EV's are inherently less complicated so you shouldn't be having issues worse than loose bolts rattling. That is if Tesla's QC was done at least 50%. If they had done QC as close to 100% as feasible, these could be very nice cars. But these "minor" software and hardware glitches are really not something to laugh at. Ben from Teslanomics still prefers his 2013 (ish) Model S because there's just too many "little things" about the Model 3 that make it a less enjoyable car for him.
Time to return the car and get a Hyundai Ionic... oh wait, just saw a post on another site about the Ionic EV that would not charge: see: electrek.co/2018/02/15/hyundai-ioniq-electric-recalls-charger-issue/ First rule of new tech: Wait 6 months before buying the items so the manufacturer can work out the bugs.. i.e. don't be an early adopter. The principle has been around for years (well before Tesla EV-s) and those who live by it are much more satisfied with their purchase. (It's why I waiting until late 2015 to buy a Model S.)
I wonder how proud are you when the American car company asked for a bailout? That's is even more embarrassing if you asked me. America does not make anymore quality stuff anymore..but mostly overpriced. "Make America Great Again"