Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Are we getting duped by repair shop?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
My wife had some minor front-end cosmetic damage to her SR+ and punctured a small part of the front bumper. The damage was isolated and did not appear to hit or affect any of the sensors.

While we were getting the insurance and repair process figured out, we drove the car normally for about a month, including some long 200+ mile trips. Everything worked fine; autopilot, parking sensors, no error messages or anything.

Eventually we got the insurance estimate (the assessor deemed the damage to be only cosmetic and not interfering with the sensors) and found a repair shop, and dropped the car off to have the work done. Three days after dropping the car off, the repair shop sends us an email claiming that a sensor was indeed damaged, and that our insurance claim will have to adjusted accordingly.

My question is; if there was damage to a sensor, would it have manifested in any noticeable way to us as the drivers, either through error messages or performance issues? Are we getting duped? Or are there redundancies built into Tesla's hardware/software that could have sufficiently masked any damage/issues with the sensor?

Thanks.
 
Three days after dropping the car off, the repair shop sends us an email claiming that a sensor was indeed damaged, and that our insurance claim will have to adjusted accordingly.

They probably just broke the sensor harness or clips while they were disassembling the vehicle. For example, it’s pretty easy to break a harness connector if you don’t know how it works and try to force it. Seems like the most likely explanation. You can always go down and have them show you or have them send you pictures of the damage I suppose.
 
My wife had some minor front-end cosmetic damage to her SR+ and punctured a small part of the front bumper. The damage was isolated and did not appear to hit or affect any of the sensors.

While we were getting the insurance and repair process figured out, we drove the car normally for about a month, including some long 200+ mile trips. Everything worked fine; autopilot, parking sensors, no error messages or anything.

Eventually we got the insurance estimate (the assessor deemed the damage to be only cosmetic and not interfering with the sensors) and found a repair shop, and dropped the car off to have the work done. Three days after dropping the car off, the repair shop sends us an email claiming that a sensor was indeed damaged, and that our insurance claim will have to adjusted accordingly.

My question is; if there was damage to a sensor, would it have manifested in any noticeable way to us as the drivers, either through error messages or performance issues? Are we getting duped? Or are there redundancies built into Tesla's hardware/software that could have sufficiently masked any damage/issues with the sensor?

Thanks.
Is the shop an authorized Tesla body shop? They are trained and have the proper equipment. They should do a scan of all the electronics both before and after.