Damage repair progress -- doesn't get any better

[skitown]

Yeah I'm starting to wonder if the constant change mantra and "over X # of improvements per week" is the issue here... Perhaps they don't even have that part in stock and don't make them anymore as the design has been changed. To get one they have to make it by hand, which is very costly so they "ship the wrong one" to buy themselves time in the hope that the repair shops just "make it work" and cover up this Achilles heel

I've often thought about this as being a bit analogous to iOS's really large install base of the most recent version, compared to Android's relative fragmentation. This has always given me pause about Tesla's approach when it comes to versioning, because I've always bought into Apple's logic.

 

[cwave1]

If they only have the newer part, could you ask them to also provide the newer trim part to match the holes and cutouts?

 

[shivasmith]

Blending the paint on the door is to make sure the light reflects correctly. Normaly on a horizontal panel, it just means wet sanding the adjacent panel back to base coat and reapplying the clear. Sometimes you will have to apply new base coat depending on age of paint. Dont forget to the the shop know if you have paint protection on the pannels. As it will have to be redone after repair

Thanks -- yes I have CQuartz Finest paint coating on the whole car. Fortunately my insurance will cover that too.

Coincidentally I just chatted with another S 85 owner (same paint and interior as mine even) at work today and he too had used Criswell Collision Center (wayyy back a few years ago) and had a multi-month ordeal similar to what artsci is going through now due to Tesla not having parts. I was hoping that by now they (both Criswell and Tesla) would have their stuff more in order. I mean Criswell at times has several Tesla's in the shop at once -- so you would think they know what they are doing by now. So maybe it really is all Tesla's fault as they scale.

Fortunately in my case I don't think they need any parts -- just repairing an existing panel. My repairs are only supposed to take a week -- I hope that's how it goes and that artsci's situation improves.

Tesla is still going through growing pains... *quality* is *hard*... they are and will continue to learn that.. no way around it. I can be patient, but Tesla should probably get some feedback. I wonder if all this is an inventory software issue... or a parts funding issue... or a personnel issue.

 

[shivasmith]

No chance -- it's a flat out screw-up. The parts that were needed were clear from the beginning and my mods had nothing to do with anything in that part of the car.

Tesla shipped the wrong part and, worse yet, it was badly damaged in shipping. So the body shop (Criswell) had to repair a new part that was needed for repairs to my damaged car. This is Catch 22! It's quite clear that there are some knuckleheads in Tesla's parts dept. Criswell tells me that this has happened several times before -- that is, Tesla ships the wrong parts.

So while I appreciate what Jon is trying to do it terms of management structures, it appears that Tesla also has to deal with some incompetent staff in the parts department. My guess is that they didn't have the part needed for my 2013 so they substituted a newer part that fits but has different mounting points for the interior trunk trim. The two photos make it clear that while the parts look very similar the mount points for the interior trim clips are in different places and have different shapes.

I'm a *huge* Tesla / Elon / SpaceX / OpenAI etc. fan... heck one of the NASA missions I worked on launched on a Falcon 9!

But in such a case I'd say go for a tweet and/or email to Elon maybe! I mean if the parts department is *this* messed up, better fix it NOW before thousands of Model 3's are on the road! Perhaps bringing this up would actually be a *service* to Tesla if done right.

I mean they have *hard* work to do... but they need to know when they screw up... just an opinion.

 

[artsci]

The Body Shop team worked with me and the shop to identify the right part and overnight it to the body shop. They'll get it today. So problem solved.

 

[Akikiki]

artsci, did the body shop get the new panel for your car yet? I'm pulling for you. How many weeks has it been now since it was provided to the body shop?

 

[artsci]

artsci, did the body shop get the new panel for your car yet? I'm pulling for you. How many weeks has it been now since it was provided to the body shop?

Yes, the part arrived at the shop yesterday. But 20 minutes later Tesla called the shop to let them know that it will have to be modified so the plastic clips that hold the threshold trim in place will fit. It was the same "wrong" piece that had been sent a week or so earlier. Evidently they've modified that piece and the old one is no longer available. There's no service bulletin that specifies the necessary mods, so my shop is doing it on the fly.

 

[artsci]

Criswell sent me this photo yesterday. The car will go back to SDR this Monday or Tuesday and it should be ready for pick up when I get back from vacation on August 30.

 

[DumbIdea]

This is the point where you buy a front end wreck on copart and give criswell the part you cut out of it. If Tesla has a problem with that..... seriously, what do they expect you to do?

The great part is that people ARE buying these cars wrecked and parting the heck out of them.

 

[JPUConn]

While it's apart are you adding the extra bumper and rear facing seats or don't need it?

 

[Akikiki]

aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, success !!!! Congratulations...

 

[artsci]

While it's apart are you adding the extra bumper and rear facing seats or don't need it?

No rear facing seats needed. Extra bumper? Not sure what you mean by that.

Two more progress photos today.

 

[JPUConn]

It's an extra high strength crash bar beneath the plastic bumper. Mandatory if you add the rear facing seats.

 

[shrink]

Evidently they've modified that piece and the old one is no longer available. There's no service bulletin that specifies the necessary mods, so my shop is doing it on the fly.

You have a 2013, right? How can Tesla not have available parts for a 2013? That doesn't seem right.

Getting parts for my Roadster has been an issue, but I was not expecting parts being an issue for the Model S.

Glad you have a skilled body shop on your side. Good luck and hope you're enjoying your car again very soon.

 

[Drewflux]

Update looks good. Luckly its only some trim fittment holes that need to be modified.

 

[von_lucifer]

Yes, the part arrived at the shop yesterday. But 20 minutes later Tesla called the shop to let them know that it will have to be modified so the plastic clips that hold the threshold trim in place will fit. It was the same "wrong" piece that had been sent a week or so earlier. Evidently they've modified that piece and the old one is no longer available. There's no service bulletin that specifies the necessary mods, so my shop is doing it on the fly.

I dont think your bodyshop repair many Tesla's. That issue with the different hole pattern on the rear end panel, was something we in the bodyshop I work in discovered aprox two years ago.

 

[artsci]

I dont think your bodyshop repair many Tesla's. That issue with the different hole pattern on the rear end panel, was something we in the bodyshop I work in discovered aprox two years ago.

Not the case -- they're an authorized Tesla body shop, one of only three in Maryland, and they repair many Teslas. They knew about the hole pattern issue from the getgo but were hoping that Tesla had the original part.

 

[shivasmith]

I just wanted to give a report on the excellent repair outcome I had with Criswell Collision Center. They completed the repair in 1/2 the time they estimated -- I brought the car in Tues, had it back on Fri. (same week). The repair has made the upper left rear quarter panel look *brand new*. Very very impressive work -- paint matching is perfect. The scratch and dent repair is also perfect -- no visual evidence of body work at all... no micro-swirls.. nothing... absolutely perfect. And to top it off the total cost came in exactly at the estimated amount $1898... most reasonable estimate I got from all 3 Tesla-certified shops I tried. I also had the daily update photos on the progress of the work -- very cool.

To sum it up, Criswell Collision Center is a class act! At the time I was there they told me they had *14* Teslas in the shop... that must mean something.

Final results on upper left rear (driver's side) quarter panel:

 

[artsci]

I just wanted to give a report on the excellent repair outcome I had with Criswell Collision Center. They completed the repair in 1/2 the time they estimated -- I brought the car in Tues, had it back on Fri. (same week). The repair has made the upper left rear quarter panel look *brand new*. Very very impressive work -- paint matching is perfect. The scratch and dent repair is also perfect -- no visual evidence of body work at all... no micro-swirls.. nothing... absolutely perfect. And to top it off the total cost came in exactly at the estimated amount $1898... most reasonable estimate I got from all 3 Tesla-certified shops I tried. I also had the daily update photos on the progress of the work -- very cool.

To sum it up, Criswell Collision Center is a class act! At the time I was there they told me they had *14* Teslas in the shop... that must mean something.

Final results on upper left rear (driver's side) quarter panel:

Couldn't agree more about the quality of Criswell's work.

 

[artsci]

Learned today from SDR what I expected: that when the liftgate is replaced much of the internal wiring for both the liftgate and the trunk needs to be redone. This is complicated and tedious work and it means the soonest I'll have my car back will be the end of this week. Nearly all of this wiring has to be threaded through the tube the connects the liftgate and the back of the car roof, which is a real PIA. Add to that the additional connections that need to be made for the lighted rear appliqué and get even more complicated. One would think that Tesla would have designed a system of plugs to make all ot those connections but why do something simple when it can be made infinitely more complicated