Check your jack points after service!

[caltrader]

I would advise everyone to make sure your Jack Points aren't damaged after having your car serviced.

At 19k miles I caught a nail last week and took my MS to Discount Tire to see about a repair. The tread was too low to legally repair, so I had a new set of Michelin's put on. They said it would take 45 minutes, but after an hour, I peered into the service area to see my MS jacked up on 4 standard floor jacks. 20 minutes later they drove my car to the front of the store. I asked the technician why he used 4 floor jacks, and he indicated they weren't allowed to use lifts on Tesla's. Hmm, I thought, that's pretty strange as I've read it's better to lift a Tesla at all 4 lift points simultaneously, as to limit the amount of torsion applied to the integral suspension which includes the battery.

In a nut shell, they damaged the jack points and battery liner with the floor jacks. I'm having an adjuster look at the damage today.

I've read that 4 hockey pucks could prevent this kind of damage!

 

[Electricfan]

Did your car report any warnings on the display? Just wondering if the battery knows about the damage. Hopefully its not going to require a new battery. Please keep us posted and best of luck with the insurance claim. Did Discount Tire own up? Are they going to help with the damage?

 

[BluestarE3]

"Not allowed" because their lifts can't handle the weight of a Tesla or something else?

 

[kort677]

using a shop that has more experience working on teslas might mitigate the chance of this problem happening, I've never let any mechanic other than a tesla mechanic near my car.

 

[Tam]

I would advise everyone to make sure your Jack Points aren't damaged after having your car serviced.

To prevent this, should we:

1) Go to Tesla only because they have proper equipment with specific fit, not a generic floor jack or lift.
2) Bring our own fitting pieces: hockey pucks or the one made by nick_083

 

[caltrader]

using a shop that has more experience working on teslas might mitigate the chance of this problem happening, I've never let any mechanic other than a tesla mechanic near my car.

I completely agree about using only Tesla knowledgeable technicians, however, it's only tires I thought, and they assured me they service Tesla's "all the time".

That's why I posted the survey.

 

[Tam]

...Tesla knowledgeable technicians...

Knowledge is good but they don't have any floor jack or lift that has 3 prongs to fit the 3 holes in Tesla jack points!

I guess, the first thing is to confirm whether theirs are 3-prong Tesla compatible or not!

 

[caltrader]

Did your car report any warnings on the display? Just wondering if the battery knows about the damage. Hopefully its not going to require a new battery. Please keep us posted and best of luck with the insurance claim. Did Discount Tire own up? Are they going to help with the damage?

No warnings, and I hope it's only plastic that needs to be replaced on the battery!

The assistant manager at Discount Tire initially questioned that the damage was done by them. After I insisted all previous service was done by Tesla, and I had the service records, he backed down on his rhetoric but kept the attitude.

 

[caltrader]

Knowledge is good but they don't have any floor jack or lift that has 3 prongs to fit the 3 holes in Tesla jack points!

I guess, the first thing is to confirm whether theirs are 3-prong Tesla compatible or not!

I'd like to get a set of these tPads, but no response from the company. https://hive.am/IXJ9c

 

[FlatSix911]

Sorry to hear about your issues. I always carry a set of 4 hockey pucks for service at Americas tire and they work great.
Tesla service recently used my pucks for mounting new wheels... Look just under the rocker panel in the photo below.

I would advise everyone to make sure your Jack Points aren't damaged after having your car serviced.

At 19k miles I caught a nail last week and took my MS to Discount Tire to see about a repair. The tread was too low to legally repair, so I had a new set of Michelin's put on. They said it would take 45 minutes, but after an hour, I peered into the service area to see my MS jacked up on 4 standard floor jacks. 20 minutes later they drove my car to the front of the store. I asked the technician why he used 4 floor jacks, and he indicated they weren't allowed to use lifts on Tesla's. Hmm, I thought, that's pretty strange as I've read it's better to lift a Tesla at all 4 lift points simultaneously, as to limit the amount of torsion applied to the integral suspension which includes the battery.

In a nut shell, they damaged the jack points and battery liner with the floor jacks. I'm having an adjuster look at the damage today.

I've read that 4 hockey pucks could prevent this kind of damage!

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

I've read it's better to lift a Tesla at all 4 lift points simultaneously, as to limit the amount of torsion applied to the integral suspension which includes the battery.

I've never read this before. Does it say that in the manual. I was planning on rotating my own tires, so hopefully it doesn't matter.

 

[Kutu]

I made up some hockey pucks with a tapered rubber bumper attached. The bumper fits in that center hole on the jack points and the puck stays there until you pull it off with a twist.

 

[patrick40363]

I would advise everyone to make sure your Jack Points aren't damaged after having your car serviced.

At 19k miles I caught a nail last week and took my MS to Discount Tire to see about a repair. The tread was too low to legally repair, so I had a new set of Michelin's put on. They said it would take 45 minutes, but after an hour, I peered into the service area to see my MS jacked up on 4 standard floor jacks. 20 minutes later they drove my car to the front of the store. I asked the technician why he used 4 floor jacks, and he indicated they weren't allowed to use lifts on Tesla's. Hmm, I thought, that's pretty strange as I've read it's better to lift a Tesla at all 4 lift points simultaneously, as to limit the amount of torsion applied to the integral suspension which includes the battery.

In a nut shell, they damaged the jack points and battery liner with the floor jacks. I'm having an adjuster look at the damage today.

I've read that 4 hockey pucks could prevent this kind of damage!

Where is discount tire located? I have used America's tire in Santa Rosa once and Rohnert Park all other times. I have never had a problem with them.

 

[caltrader]

Where is discount tire located? I have used America's tire in Santa Rosa once and Rohnert Park all other times. I have never had a problem with them.

It's America's Tire in Simi Valley, CA. They are Discount Tire everywhere else.

Curious if they used a lift with blocks or 4 floor jacks?

 

[SMSMD]

 

[GlmnAlyAirCar]

using a shop that has more experience working on teslas might mitigate the chance of this problem happening, I've never let any mechanic other than a tesla mechanic near my car.

Obviously you don't live in PA. Here, Tesla can't perform the annual inspection so you are forced to take it to an independent mechanic.

 

[jelloslug]

I had my tires changed at my local Firestone and I went in the shop and show the tech exactly where the points were and what to avoid.

 

[TaoJones]

It's America's Tire in Simi Valley, CA. They are Discount Tire everywhere else.

Curious if they used a lift with blocks or 4 floor jacks?

Used America's Tire once in North Carolina to repair a slow leak.
Used Discount Tire once in SoCal to replace OEM Michelins with OEM Goodyears (first gen at the time).
Tesla SvCs all other times, of which there were many.

The first used 1 floor jack.
The second used 2 floor jacks.

That car got traded in. The damage was not an issue - outside plastic covering only.

For the new car service visits, I take pictures inside and out as well as around the jack points *before* service begins, and visually inspect the aforementioned before leaving the service location.

The extra 5 minutes that this takes is well worth it, given that a dented bezel costs $341 to replace, kickplates aren't as cheap as you'd think, torn tint costs $x00 to replace when it's Photosync, and then of course there's the sort of damage seen above.

If you don't hold people accountable, you're doing the entire Tesla community, including the service location(s) in question, a disservice.

 

[Tiger]

I would advise everyone to make sure your Jack Points aren't damaged after having your car serviced.

I believe this is one more thing Tesla should redesign, @JonMc, it's unacceptable that a regular tire jack would damage the car.

 

[kort677]

Obviously you don't live in PA. Here, Tesla can't perform the annual inspection so you are forced to take it to an independent mechanic.

are you referring to a state mandated inspection? if yes those inspections are cursory and usually don't require much more than a visual inspection if you are referring to the tesla annual service I don't know if any independent shop is equipped or qualified to do that annual inspection. until this year the closest tesla service center was almost a 150 mile drive for me and many others are in similar situations.