coolant leak in rear drive unit (12k miles on odometer) and Tesla says someone touched it so the warranty NOT applicable

[sparklehunt]

Pictures: shows leaking hose. Also notice absence of impact damage.

History: car was traded into Mercedes and Person A bought it. I bought it from Person A.

Tesla says: Service advisor says his Tech person is sure someone non Tesla “touched the car” or was working on the car. Their “proof” is that if the hose was in the correct position, it would not develop a leak.

My doubts: I do know the history is abnormal, but If a car is under bumper to bumper warranty, why would anyone elect to NOT have Tesla work on it? It seems unlikely.

What do I do?

 

[thesmokingman]

I'm not trying to fight anyone. And I did run a CarFax.


Why is this a better situation? I'm not trying to get lawyers. I bought a car to use in a normal and it broke while under warranty.


Neither does Tesla. Does their reasoning make sense to you?

I already told the seller and they are surprised by this too. The seller is a Doctor and works at a hospital.

Carfax is only good for checking if the title is clean. It is NO guarantee on the actual condition of a car.

In a modded part fight, the MMA forces Tesla to prove a mod created the failure. You're situation is MUCH different. They uncovered alterations to the car which caused it to lose coolant. The coolant system is tied to the battery. Tesla doesn't mess around with fixing batteries and cooling, they just swap everything out. This would just come down to your word vs Teslas. That's not a great situation to be in.

This is huge for you. Losing warranty here would be crushing. I'm not sure you get this?

 

[Undecided_2]

How do you mean details of their legal department?

Another post has said to avoid that until a last result. I suppose I meant find out how much you can escalate it as the SC manager isn’t supporting you.

 

[komrade]

@sparklehunt If you are unable to check out another service center (I can recommend one near you), it maybe helpful to file a BBB claim. In my opinion, this is a very effective way to escalate issues to higher ups (service related).

Good luck!

 

[sparklehunt]

Carfax is only good for checking if the title is clean. It is NO guarantee on the actual condition of a car.

In a modded part fight, the MMA forces Tesla to prove a mod created the failure. You're situation is MUCH different. They uncovered alterations to the car which caused it to lose coolant. The coolant system is tied to the battery.

They did not 'uncover alterations'. I think you taking this as fact is affecting your logic. They uncovered the hose is out of place. That's it.

Wouldn't the absence of aftermarket parts should support the claim that this is a factory defect? No one is going to go jack up the car, remove the subframe and reroute a hose. Not to mention you would need to drain the coolant first and then refill it.

This is huge for you. Losing warranty here would be crushing. I'm not sure you get this?

I get it. That's why I'm stressed and looking for advice and help here.

@sparklehunt If you are unable to check out another service center (I can recommend one near you), it maybe helpful to file a BBB claim. In my opinion, this is a very effective way to escalate issues to higher ups (service related).

Good luck!

Thank you! Maybe I should have brought it to another SC, but I already made this mistake. After they do an estimate and make a conclusion, that ends up in the system and the next SC would be biased by that...

 

[gaswalla]

If someone is the third owner of a car and the manufacturer says something is no longer original spec, I’d side w the manufacturer.
That’s the deal w buying a mult owner used car

 

[sparklehunt]

If someone is the third owner of a car and the manufacturer says something is no longer original spec, I’d side w the manufacturer.
That’s the deal w buying a mult owner used car

You're wrong. A warranty explicitly stays with the car. If this is the deal, then they should explicitly state that they are more likely to deny warranty if you are not the original owner.

FYI doesn't matter how many owners. Sid said, "even if you are the original owner, I would make the same conclusion."

 

[komrade]

They did not 'uncover alterations'. I think you taking this as fact is affecting your logic. They uncovered the hose is out of place. That's it.

Wouldn't the absence of aftermarket parts should support the claim that this is a factory defect? No one is going to go jack up the car, remove the subframe and reroute a hose. Not to mention you would need to drain the coolant first and then refill it.

I get it. That's why I'm stressed and looking for advice and help here.

Thank you! Maybe I should have brought it to another SC, but I already made this mistake. After they do an estimate and make a conclusion, that ends up in the system and the next SC would be biased by that...

'After they do an estimate and make a conclusion, that ends up in the system and the next SC would be biased by that...' -- this isn't entirely true.

I had issues with my car and one service center denied to cover it under warranty because of BS reasons. I took it to another one and they covered it without any issues or stating the previous diagnosis..

 

[Undecided_2]

If someone is the third owner of a car and the manufacturer says something is no longer original spec, I’d side w the manufacturer.
That’s the deal w buying a mult owner used car

Tesla have a warranty with the car and not the owner. They also haven’t stated the hose has been incorrectly fitted not an alteration.

 

[Proflig8tor]

Still have not read what Tesla wants to replace the line and the coolant. This does not seem to be a very difficult repair. Rather than making this an test of wills which Tesla is in a superior position to win, why not get and estimate then negotiate?

If it were me I'd have already told Tesla to fix it and enjoy the car that you very likely got for less than it would sell for today. Might as well make the car right so that it brings a higher value later.

If you are insistent on making a claim your best case might be against the seller who represented the car as undamaged goods.

 

[sparklehunt]

Still have not read what Tesla wants to replace the line and the coolant. This does not seem to be a very difficult repair. Rather than making this an test of wills which Tesla is in a superior position to win, why not get and estimate then negotiate?

If it were me I'd have already told Tesla to fix it and enjoy the car that you very likely got for less than it would sell for today. Might as well make the car right so that it brings a higher value later.

If you are insistent on making a claim your best case might be against the seller who represented the car as undamaged goods.

I have not delayed it I’m still waiting on the estimate.

I am definitely going to get it fixed right. The price I got it is irrelevant. If I overpaid for the car, I don’t get more entitled to the warranty as someone else.

Soapbox: If all consumers just accept what the mfg tells us, then we lose our rights very quickly. Consumer rights is vital in a capitalist-like society. We need to help each other with reviews and publicity on forums, twitter, etc. You know for sure profit driven companies are doing their part to maximize their advantage over consumers at every possible angle.

Also, Seller did not misrepresent the alert just showed up yesterday.

 

[Undecided_2]

I have not delayed it I’m still waiting on the estimate.

I am definitely going to get it fixed right. The price I got it is irrelevant. If I overpaid for the car, I don’t get more entitled to the warranty as someone else.

Soapbox: If all consumers just accept what the mfg tells us, then we lose our rights very quickly.

I agree. These are expensive hunks of metal and should be assembled properly, but with all manufacturers some miss the mark. I wonder how the SC works. Main dealers charge it back but I suppose the SC can’t. Perhaps they’re told to fight/refused unless pushed.

 

[DanDi58]

Still have not read what Tesla wants to replace the line and the coolant. This does not seem to be a very difficult repair. Rather than making this an test of wills which Tesla is in a superior position to win, why not get and estimate then negotiate?

Unless it has to do with the nipple the hose attaches to - if that is broken, then they have to replace the entire battery pack as it's integral with the pack. Which might be exactly why our friend Sid is balking at the warranty coverage.

 

[Empiro]

You might want to try to keep escalating if you keep getting denied. I would also carefully read the warranty documents and see how disputes are resolved. If there is an arbitration clause you can try to take that route.

My understanding is that arbitration costs you nothing, and even if you lose, you're just where you are today -- on the hook for the repairs. They might decide to just do the repairs rather than fight it, because arbitration is expensive for them.

Arbitrators are required to follow the law and you can point out the relevant laws. Get written statements from previous owners asserting that no third party work has been done on the car. If all they have to go on is that the hose is out of place, they'll likely lose.

 

[ElectricNerd]

The warranty proof falls to the manufacturer to prove without a shadow of a doubt that issue is not a defect. I'd ask for that proof as I don't see it in the photos myself. I would definitely get another SC to take a look at it though. Public relations is a powerful tool, so I would suggest tagging Elon and Tesla on Twitter to state the debacle this is. You never know. Good luck!

 

[qdeathstar]

No way to verify was or wasn't. But in the absence of evidence that it was, should Tesla be assuming the worst?

If true, then that would mean any Tesla sold private party, will be subject to the same doubts, which effectively voids the warranty.....

FYI, I found it odd that they used the hose being out of position as the reason they think it was touched. Because the hose itself is the faulty piece. They are saying the item that is faulty and should be fixed under warranty, IS the reason they don't think it falls under warranty. That is some mental acrobatics.

We don’t know what happened. The tech is just an employee who routinely deals with warranted work. He doesn’t have a vested interest in differentiating between a warranty claim and a non warranty repair. He gets paid the same either way.

It’s more like that your seller (who does have a vested Interest in selling the car and therefore ay be less inclined to give you all the derogatory details) is hiding something than it is that the tech (who deals with warantee claims on a regular basis and has no skin in the game) is deciding to single you out to scam.

Just my opinion

 

[gaswalla]

Good luck OP. You seem very reasonable and open to discussion and understanding.

 

[kelpcar]

We don’t know what happened. The tech is just an employee who routinely deals with warranted work. He doesn’t have a vested interest in differentiating between a warranty claim and a non warranty repair. He gets paid the same either way.

Are you stating this from a position of knowledge that there are no Tesla policies or performance measurements on service techs to identify situations to not cover? None specific to that service center?

A few people, yourself included, seem content to conclude this must be an owner action (but can't suggest what that would have been), despite the well known history of the company for manufacturing slips. Warranties cover the duration of time/mileage no matter how many owners there are, without a mandate that the manufacturer recertify the car at the time of transfer. The buyer here made a reasonable effort to assess the car - what more should have been done?

Escalation beyond the service manager is clearly called for, and if necessary, arbitration as Empiro suggests. But I would hope he could find a more reasonable person in this chain, as there is nothing reasonable about "hose isn't where I think it should be" on a car with 12k.

 

[FlatSix911]

Unless it has to do with the nipple the hose attaches to - if that is broken, then they have to replace the entire battery pack as it's integral with the pack. Which might be exactly why our friend Sid is balking at the warranty coverage.

Here is the video that details the repair of a similar coolant hose issue on a Model 3 - start at the 14:00 minute mark. Hope this helps.

 

[Pianewman]

The above video doesn't have anything to do with the OP's situation. Red herring, for sure.

 

[kelpcar]

The above video doesn't have anything to do with the OP's situation. Red herring, for sure.

still an interesting followup to the prior post saying that a nipple failure means having to replace the whole thing. (Lovely engineering decision there, btw)