“Friends ask, ‘When should I buy a Tesla? ‘, Musk said. “Well, buy it right at the beginning or if the production is steady. During the production ramp, it’s very difficult to be in vertical climbing mode and get everything right about the details.”
Munro also interviewed Musk more recently about quality control issues. He bought a 2021 Model 3 at the end of last year, comparing it to a Model 3 someone else bought a month later – and saw significant improvement.
“At the end of the day, this guy’s car was fantastic … as good as anyone could do,” Munro said. “I just do not understand. Mine was built this month, his was built a month later. Mine had problems. His was perfect.”
Musk said Tesla continued to make progress until December last year, noting that the company is finding problems faster as the pace of production continues to accelerate.
“If you go faster, you just discover these things,” he said. “If we had known them beforehand, we would have fixed it beforehand.”
Musk also discussed some other challenges the company has experienced before. After Munro praised the seats in the Model 3 as the most comfortable he has ever experienced in a car, Musk voluntarily indicated that he was going to the seat in the early Model S, one of the company’s first vehicles, as’ referred to as a ‘stone chair’. “
“The early Model S’s probably had the worst seat of any car I’ve ever sat in,” Musk said.