2021 Trunk Damage Upon Open/Close

[Nefelibata]

My trunk did it again. This time I noticed before it did damage…but there is a paint chip on the trunk. It is significantly higher, there is a large gap, and you can see it is all misaligned again. It’s going into the dealer again to see if they can fix it….

Frustrating. I only ever open it via the app or screen…and close via the button.

 

[jkeyser14]

Not good... Hopefully this doesn't become more widespread.

 

[BMM3]

Just a month into owning the car and the trunk caught on opening and closing and looks like it bent itself and chipped the paint at the edges. Has anyone else run into this? I filled out a request for service and I assume this will be a warranty repair.

Mine did the exact same thing today! I have a 2021 model 3. It’s only 6 months old. Was yours covered under warranty?

 

[21EV]

Mine did the exact same thing today! I have a 2021 model 3. It’s only 6 months old. Was yours covered under warranty?

Mine was covered under warranty. It was shortly after I received the car which might have made a difference. After the fix I haven’t had any problems but the trunk overall doesn’t seem precise or smooth in it’s closing.

 

[Nefelibata]

Mine did the exact same thing today! I have a 2021 model 3. It’s only 6 months old. Was yours covered under warranty?

Mine was covered both times. The first time I hadn’t even had the car for two weeks and the second time was a little over two weeks after picking it up from being fixed. It seems to be fixed now…hopefully.

 

[TBrownTX]

This thread makes me so nervous, I've stopped using my trunk unless absolutely necessary. Perhaps I'm being silly, but have been using the floorboard behind the driver seat instead for my gym bag, laptop, etc.

Tim

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

Yeah I'm kinda wondering if I should tighten those bolts. Unfortunately that would break all the paint on them and possibly lead to an uncomfortable discussion in the event of future failure, but maybe still the better option.

Mobile tech was out last week to replace my dangling spoiler and he pushed so hard when installing the new one that the trunk almost hit the quarter window trim and I asked him to do it again while I put my fingernail in there to check. It just barely cleared but it inspired me to adjust the stops on the hinge after he left. They're not easy to break free from the paint but I was able to unscrew them enough to become functional without acquiring any new rattles.

I don't know why they're not using those stops (mine were screwed all the way in) but it seems that they could potentially prevent this sort of damage from occurring if the hinge bolt comes loose since they'd limit how far the trunk can sink downward.

 

[Ngpngie]

Same problem! My model 3 is about 6 weeks old and the trunk pops at the side amd doesn’t close all the way when I use the button. This is an awful flaw and I hope will be covered under warranty. I happened to have an appointment tomorrow for installment of Homelink garage door opener ( can’t believe something so basic is not included for this price) and since I can’t have two outstanding service appts at the same time I will have to ask the service technician if he can help with this issue.

 

[TBrownTX]

I've gone back to using my trunk on a regular basis.

I just throw a glance at the bolts on the left hand side before I hit close. Should be easy to tell if the trunk slipped to the point where it would contact the body like this, mine would have to move a good 1/4 inch to make contact and would be obvious as my bolts are "painted in place".

I suspect the slip happens during open, where there is maximum pressure on those bolts. Makes me wonder if this is happening to folks who's trunks were adjusted after manufacture, or those who's were not adjusted, or both?

Seems like a simple issue of those bolts not being torqued to spec, and the weight of the trunk or pressure from the strut causing a slip. I suspect this happens with cars that had their trunks adjusted during delivery QC process or by the SC after for out of alignment issues.

Ridiculous issue I agree, but maybe preventable by keeping an eye on the bolts.

Tim

 

[Ngpngie]

Update- I dropped my car off at the service station a week ago, and they sent it to their body shop. They said they had never seen this issue before but I t would be covered under warranty. Initially they did not have a loaner so they gave me $400 of Uber credit ($100 per day of expected length of time). After a few days they drummed up a 2016 model X as a loaner. I am still waiting for them to finish the repair.

It’s a bit strange that I’m order to get it accepted for a service appointment I had to agree to a $105 service fee. When I got there and complained about that they said don’t worry about it and that the charge would not happen.

I’ll update when i get the car back hopefully all covered under warranty.

 

[Ngpngie]

Update- I dropped my car off at the service station a week ago, and they sent it to their body shop. They said they had never seen this issue before but I t would be covered under warranty. Initially they did not have a loaner so they gave me $400 of Uber credit ($100 per day of expected length of time). After a few days they drummed up a 2016 model X as a loaner. I am still waiting for them to finish the repair.

It’s a bit strange that I’m order to get it accepted for a service appointment I had to agree to a $105 service fee. When I got there and complained about that they said don’t worry about it and that the charge would not happen.

I’ll update when i get the car back hopefully all covered under warranty.

Last update- I picked my car up and it is fixed. It took about 10 days most of which I had a model x loaner. They did not replace anything but just fixed the damage. The supposed cost was about 575$ but was covered under warranty. Santiago the service rep said he has seen this issue w model 3’s only and about 3-4 times. So if you have this problem it should definitely be covered under warranty as it is apparently a manufacturer defect in the drivers side trunk mechanism. Hope this helps others.

 

[eddieman]

Hi guys, I finally got mine fixed. It took an eternity because I was sent to an external car paint shop. I bought my car in February and I have been taking it in an out of service for multiple aesthetic defects: headliners, a bubble in the roof glass ..
I believe the cause of my bent/ scratched trunk was that they installed the wrong backglass when they replaced it (the previous model) and the trunk servo was pressing the rubber gasket. They fixed it by cutting that rubber gasket, like in the new model. In the paint shop, they must have adjusted something too because I feel the trunk opens and closes softer.
The paint results were good. The adjustment (the trunk got a bit bent) are not perfect, but close enough. You can see the previous state in my previous post in this thread.
The rear camera did not work after the paint job, but it did some hours later. It recovered by itself.
Of course, everything was covered by them. They did try not to give me a loaner car sometimes but I insisted and said that it was the least they could do for me after I had been to service so many times with a new car.
Anyway, I hope that now that the car is all good it lasts a lot of years! Enjoy your cars and hope you don't have to take it to service as many times as I did.

 

[Ralbright]

Didn’t want join this club, but alas…. My trunk is now damaged too.

Opened a service ticket, however was forced to use mobile service (weird since I’m 30 mins from a service center)

Here’s hoping to get it sorted under warranty.

 

[Doggiedog]

Had that happen to mine when I asked them about fixing the panel gap. They adjusted the gap too tightly causing the arm to press against the body. Had Tesla fix it but it took about two weeks. Afterwards, I thought someone stole the badges off of my trunk until I realized the body shop never put the badges back. Someone nice enough on this forum sent me his unused Dual Motor performance badge and I bought a Tesla bad for the center of the trunk.

 

[Mark 3]

Same happened to my 2022 M3 today. Just a routine open and close. The trunk actually got stuck and took a few attempts to open.
Only had it a month……

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

I'm surprised (and concerned) that this is still happening. I had hoped it was just an isolated batch of cars with loose bolts but now I'm getting more worried that all refresh 3's may be susceptible to this, especially early ones like mine.
I want to re-torque those bolts so badly but I'm afraid that if I do and have this problem anyway they may decline a warranty claim since there's no way for me to do it without leaving evidence.

 

[Durzel]

Always seems to happen on the left, which should tell Tesla something (uneven force of opening).

 

[Ralbright]

I'm surprised (and concerned) that this is still happening. I had hoped it was just an isolated batch of cars with loose bolts but now I'm getting more worried that all refresh 3's may be susceptible to this, especially early ones like mine.
I want to re-torque those bolts so badly but I'm afraid that if I do and have this problem anyway they may decline a warranty claim since there's no way for me to do it without leaving evidence.

I just had mine repaired last week and in the parts list for replacement was for an o-ring on the power strut ( among other things). I'm thinking this is more of a power strut issue, that when fails causes a bending / warping of the hinge.

I know after the damage they attempted to adjust the hinge to re-align so it wouldn't hit prior to being repaired, and they couldn't get it back to it's initial alignment prior to the incident.

EDIT - Also, the guy at the body shop said " it always seems to be the white ones"

 

[GoldCountryCA]

I just had mine repaired last week and in the parts list for replacement was for an o-ring on the power strut ( among other things). I'm thinking this is more of a power strut issue, that when fails causes a bending / warping of the hinge.

I know after the damage they attempted to adjust the hinge to re-align so it wouldn't hit prior to being repaired, and they couldn't get it back to it's initial alignment prior to the incident.

EDIT - Also, the guy at the body shop said " it always seems to be the white ones"

I believe that’s just a numbers thing. It was the cheapest color after the refresh, so there’s bound to be more of them…but maybe not. EDIT: in this thread there are blue ones, red ones, dark grey ones, etc.

I was thinking of pulling the power to the strut altogether just to prevent this issue. I keep my eye on the bolts though. I wonder if anyone has noticed loose bolts just before damage occurred. Not likely.

 

[Madsavon]

Just a month into owning the car and the trunk caught on opening and closing and looks like it bent itself and chipped the paint at the edges. Has anyone else run into this? I filled out a request for service and I assume this will be a warranty repair.

I have my service appointment tomorrow at the Sarasota location. I hope they do a good job.