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?

 

[kelpcar]

If it was door to outside influence, it becomes an insurance claim.

oooh...let the insurance lawyers sue Tesla. Just need to get the manager to put that cause down in writing?

except....there's is, or should be a 1000-2500 deductible.

 

[DanDi58]

UPDATE: the manager said it is not warranty because the "outside influence" could have been from rodents or going over a hard bump. I asked for proof, and he said he needs to talk to his Technician.

@KArnold seems you actually have experience, if I do an NCDS, how long does it take?

Wow, now they are just casting around for an excuse. Rodents tend to chew things, not move them around. Teeth marks would be fairly obvious, I would think. And if a hard bump was able to move a hose slightly, well, then I don't know what to say about Tesla engineering. Of course, having already made the fix and (assumedly) tossed the old parts, they can't prove anything.

 

[KArnold]

@KArnold seems you actually have experience, if I do an NCDS, how long does it take?

From the time I filed the paperwork to the time of the hearing was exactly 2 months for me. In this case you may be able to pay out of pocket to get your car and try NCDS for refund perhaps - I don't recall the fine print of the agreement.

 

[Poprex911]

would love to see the outcome. also what did the manager say to the repairs being done before you approved anything?

 

[nero71]

I think we've all spent more than $600 of our time reading this thread. Pay the money, have it repaired and then sue them in small claims to get your $600 back. Get a declaration from the previous owner that he didn't make any modifications to the hose etc. There's no reason to expend any more effort on this.

I am sorry but I did the same thing, I thought this was a 20k repair, I read about 5 pages then found out this is this all over a $660 repair.