Am I seeing things, or does the area around the rear door handle look sunken in?

[fredjan]

Just wondering if I'm being paranoid.

 

[fredjan]

I'm talking about the area around the door handle, right below the body line that extends from the rear fender

 

[LoudMusic]

Have you noticed this when parked in a different place? Does the other side appear similar? Are there angles where it doesn't seem this way? How does it feel when you run your hand across it?


The handle appears correct. The pictures are difficult to interpret otherwise.

 

[PianoAl]

Respectfully, I'm thinking that if you can't really tell whether something looks wrong, you shouldn't let it bother you.

 

[fredjan]

I think I figured it out. This patt of the panel is supposed to have a curvature, which the right side *does* have. The left looks flat because... well, I know why, but that doesn't matter much. Think of it as someone pressing their body hard against the door, lol, enough to cause that slight dent.

... that dent can probably be pulled with PDR, but it would involve removing trim pieces of the door. None of the "PDR guys" in my area are comfortable pulling trim pieces off of Teslas - I know this based on a different, separate dent that I looked into last year.

Does anyone have recommendations for PDR shops that *would* remove trim pieces from Teslas? Is taking your car to that kind of place even recommended? Or stick to Tesla Collision Centers for anything that's more complex than immediately sucking the dent out, no trim/panel removal allowed?

 

[fredjan]

Finally got some pictures.

The right side is what the door is supposed to look like. The body line toward the door handle, and the door handle kinda twists.
The left side looks like it lost part of the body line, since the door handle is now flat instead of extending outward.

 

[zoomer0056]

I'm talking about the area around the door handle, right below the body line that extends from the rear fender

That's the inward curvature of the panel as it abruptly ends to create the space for the handle. This type of post is seen alot on Reddit.

 

[fredjan]

That's the inward curvature of the panel as it abruptly ends to create the space for the handle. This type of post is seen alot on Reddit.

I just posted the reddit thread, lol. I think that curvature is what's missing on my left side.

 

[fredjan]

I just spoke with some PDR specialists, sent them pictures of both sides, and they couldn't really find the issue. I think I am just being paranoid...

 

[fredjan]

Here is what my vehicle looks from the side, in the area where it would have been damaged. It's not visible at all from the side, since the issue is more about depth and fullness/curvature (if that makes sense).

For comparison, this is what the exact same area of my car looked like pre-"accident." I think another picture from the exact same angle would make things a lot clearer... it kinda looks like that small section was pushed in

 

[fredjan]

And here is another one from days after I took delivery of my car:

 

[fredjan]

Ugh I don't know why my photos are not uploading...

 

[fredjan]

Here we go. They're not the exact angle, but you can kinda tell the difference in curvature.

First pic is post-damage. Second Pic is "before."

...

I kind of don't want this car anymore.