Brand new MY first time on highway the under body plastic came off

[ThatMike]

Picked up MY on Tuesday, did not drive for a few days due to busy work. Finally had a field trip today (80 kilometers one way), when I was on the way to my destination, on my way back home, merged from country road to highway, drove for about 2 minuets then I heard a big noise came from bottom of the car, so I stopped the car and took a look, the plastic cover came off from the front. It is really a bad design, either the screws were not tighten enough or the gap is too big, so it caught the wind and pushed it off. I had to put blinker on and drove at around 40 kilometer per hour back home. Will bring it to dealership on Monday.

I have owned many cars, never had this issue.

 

[CHILLIBAJJI]

quantity over quality!

 

[Pianewman]

Nothing wrong with the design, clearly the plastic tray wasn't attached properly. I agree, ridiculous for a new car to have this problem.

 

[MyMYLRnw]

maybe your car was damaged in shipping- accidentally or deliberately???

 

[EL CapiTRAN]

When I received my MYP, it was missing about 4-5 snap bolts. Mine was in the rear diffuser area. Maybe they forgot yours?

 

[DblOSmith]

Same thing happened to me, but it was a small plastic piece near the front.

 

[InDaClub]

Picked up MY on Tuesday, did not drive for a few days due to busy work. Finally had a field trip today (80 kilometers one way), when I was on the way to my destination, on my way back home, merged from country road to highway, drove for about 2 minuets then I heard a big noise came from bottom of the car, so I stopped the car and took a look, the plastic cover came off from the front. It is really a bad design, either the screws were not tighten enough or the gap is too big, so it caught the wind and pushed it off. I had to put blinker on and drove at around 40 kilometer per hour back home. Will bring it to dealership on Monday.

I have owned many cars, never had this issue.

View attachment 866671

Perhaps an aluminum skid plate would be better suited for those country roads. Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with RPM Tesla.

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[ThatMike]

Perhaps an aluminum skid plate would be better suited for those country roads. Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with RPM Tesla.

Model Y Skid Plates - Aluminum with Road Noise Reducing Urethane

ESTIMATED LEAD TIME: In Stock! Our Model Y are now in stock. Our Sound Dampening Aluminum Skid Plates will protect your Model Y's front and rear axle drive units while dampening road noise. They are made from 1/8" thick powder-coated aluminum along with 1/8" sound dampening urethane foam...

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The country road I mentioned were well paved, nothing wrong with it, the only difference is speed limit. Country road has speed limit of 80, and at 80 kilometer per hour, the wind force wasn't strong enough to push the snaps off, but on highway, at 100km/h, the wind force is enough to push these snaps off or tear the material apart.

 

[ThatMike]

Found this:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1051205096099393536

It is definitely a design flaw.

1. The material is not strong enough, wind force can tear it apart.
2. The whole plate are installed in wrong way. The front part should go under the big plastic plate so it won't pick up any wind force. The back part should go above the other part for the same reason.

If there are small gaps (see below), eventually it will pick up wind force and what happened to me will happen to everyone.

 

[davraker]

Though not as quickly as yours, my plastic cover was not connected properly. As is became insecure from a corner, it ripped and then flapped loudly. Freaked me out the first time I heard it. Ultimately it was replaced. So far, the new one has not been an issue.
Sucks that this happened to you. Best of luck.

 

[InDaClub]

The country road I mentioned were well paved, nothing wrong with it, the only difference is speed limit. Country road has speed limit of 80, and at 80 kilometer per hour, the wind force wasn't strong enough to push the snaps off, but on highway, at 100km/h, the wind force is enough to push these snaps off or tear the material apart.

It’s highly unlikely that it came off from wind force but much more likely that you hit an object on the road.

Found this:

Debris on Texas highways cause hundreds of crashes every year

Debris falling off of vehicles on highways is a major problem in Texas, causing hundreds of crashes every year.According to the Texas Department of Transportation, there were nearly 1,600 crashes caused by debris falling off of vehicles in Texas between 20

cbsaustin.com

 

[Dangerous Fish]

The only way to know why it happened is to get the car on a ramp and inspect it properly, in particular the bolts which attach the tray. They don't use poppers to secure it, they use 10mm bolts.

 

[Pianewman]

Post # 9 is OLD NEWS, Model 3! The OP has a Model Y. Tesla has re-designed the tray, now plastic and not mysterious fiber material.

Keep the analysis simple. The shield was probably missing the appropriate mounting hardware. Inconsistent QC, nothing nefarious, nothing "deliberate".

If there is no sign of an impact, and the shield isn't damaged, simply have the SC reattach it. If it's damaged from dragging, I'd insist on having the SC replace the tray.

( I have installed an MPP skidplate, to protect from road construction debris, which is all over the DFW region. Helps to protect the plumbing to the battery, which is at the rear edge of the skidplate.)

 

[joe.smith]

The country road I mentioned were well paved, nothing wrong with it, the only difference is speed limit. Country road has speed limit of 80, and at 80 kilometer per hour, the wind force wasn't strong enough to push the snaps off, but on highway, at 100km/h, the wind force is enough to push these snaps off or tear the material apart.

Thanks for the explanation. Here in the States, a 'country road' can be pretty brutal, so I first thought you ran over some large ditches/potholes/rough terrain and such. Seems that's not the case.

 

[Kandiru]

I keep a spare front and rear aluminium spare skidplates in my garage. Got them before I realized they upgraded the fiberboard ones to plastic, but you never know when they get damaged.

Sorry for your quarter end push slapper together car. Please have a decent mechanic inspect it thoroughly, unless you have the skills to fine comb it.

 

[Ccmun]

Not sure whether its a design or QC issue, but it also happened on my previous car, a 2019 Model 3. It’s not a big deal and can be easily fixed with a service call.

 

[thesmokingman]

To be fair this is far more common than you may think. The "industry" is what's wrong, they've been pushing these felt underbody panels when they should be plastic to metal, but ofc those materials cost a lot more money. You'd be surprised the felt even is used on trucks. I've noticed recently some new cars whhich had used felt have switched to plastic like the new Z.

Front felt undercarriage

Front felt undercarriage

www.m3post.com

https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/undercarriage-deflector-panel-took-damage-off-road.2050/

 

[jjrandorin]

Found this:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1051205096099393536

It is definitely a design flaw.

1. The material is not strong enough, wind force can tear it apart.
2. The whole plate are installed in wrong way. The front part should go under the big plastic plate so it won't pick up any wind force. The back part should go above the other part for the same reason.

View attachment 866719



If there are small gaps (see below), eventually it will pick up wind force and what happened to me will happen to everyone.

View attachment 866720

I was with you till you used a 4 year old model 3 post to make a point about a brand new model Y.

 

[ThatMike]

Found this:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1051205096099393536

It is definitely a design flaw.

1. The material is not strong enough, wind force can tear it apart.
2. The whole plate are installed in wrong way. The front part should go under the big plastic plate so it won't pick up any wind force. The back part should go above the other part for the same reason.

View attachment 866719



If there are small gaps (see below), eventually it will pick up wind force and what happened to me will happen to everyone.

It’s highly unlikely that it came off from wind force but much more likely that you hit an object on the road.

Found this:

Debris on Texas highways cause hundreds of crashes every year

Debris falling off of vehicles on highways is a major problem in Texas, causing hundreds of crashes every year.According to the Texas Department of Transportation, there were nearly 1,600 crashes caused by debris falling off of vehicles in Texas between 20

cbsaustin.com

No, I am 100% sure I did not hit any object on the road. It's just wind force.

 

[jjrandorin]

Found this:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1051205096099393536

It is definitely a design flaw.

1. The material is not strong enough, wind force can tear it apart.
2. The whole plate are installed in wrong way. The front part should go under the big plastic plate so it won't pick up any wind force. The back part should go above the other part for the same reason.

View attachment 866719



If there are small gaps (see below), eventually it will pick up wind force and what happened to me will happen to everyone.

No, I am 100% sure I did not hit any object on the road. It's just wind force.

At least for me, each time you refer to information from a model 3 in 2018 as being related to your issue with your 2022 model Y, you lose me.