His fault for ordering the Model 3 with the 19" wheel option. The standard "Aero" wheels are 18" wearing 234/45r18 tires.
Granted, I have previously run 235/40r18 tires on my old car, hit plenty of potholes and never damaged a tire or a wheel. (which the 19" option has 235/40r19 tires).
When I bought my Tiguan, I could have gotten the trims with 255/40r19, but didn't because I didn't want to pay the price for replacement tires, so I stuck with 235/50r18