Dead Model S…urgent response needed

[fiskepun]

I have this older Model S that I’ve worked on myself after an accident, that I managed to source parts, put back together, and drive for a year with minimal problems. Unfortunately, it sat for a long time while I was overseas during Covid, and when I came back, it was completely dead including the center screen…

It’s way too long to go into what I’ve been trying to do to the car since then, but basically, I’ve finally given up after many different attempts to revive car on my own and taken it to a Tesla certified shop, and they had the car for a while. After weeks, they told me I’ll have to take it to Tesla themselves.

So my question is…what’s the worst that can happen if I take it to Tesla? The frunk isn’t intact, because I didn’t put it back together thinking I’ll take it apart again. They will know some Joe Schmoe worked on it. They prob will take away my lifetime supercharging but could it be worse like they won’t release the car back to me or something along the line..?

 

[NewbyMaybe]

Tesla will take a while to tell you that you need to spend a lot of money on the car.

Finding another car is what I would do.

 

[ucmndd]

but could it be worse like they won’t release the car back to me or something along the line..?

That’s not a thing. Companies can’t just decide they’re going to keep your property because they want to.

 

[fiskepun]

Thank you for your response. Yeah, I’m probably going to rid of it as a project car most likely…so guess the worst case is getting blacklisted.

 

[z0lt3c]

It's not a warranty claim so I don't think Tesla will care. Worst case is you pay 1 hour labor ($200 here in NJ) for diagnostics if you decline a repair.

If your title is salvage, and you are still able to supercharge, this maybe another concern.

 

[wk057]

With any other information (what have you tried? what has the car done?) it's hard to say.

Generally they can sit with the 12V dead for a lonnnng time and be fine by just replacing that if nothing else is wrong with the car. Unfortunately, it seems critters like to eat important things in these cars when they're left unattended for long periods, too, so that could be an issue.

 

[cmaster]

I can tell you, TESLA will reduce their estimate if you already helped dissemble trim pieces already. They will take that into account when working on your car. Also, if you leave any trim pieces inside the car when you drop it off, they'll happily to do their best to put it back together again. They don't care really if it's a mess or not. Just as long as they can fix the exact issue claim.

 

[fiskepun]

I can tell you, TESLA will reduce their estimate if you already helped dissemble trim pieces already. They will take that into account when working on your car. Also, if you leave any trim pieces inside the car when you drop it off, they'll happily to do their best to put it back together again. They don't care really if it's a mess or not. Just as long as they can fix the exact issue claim.

Thanks for your response! Wow, that’s almost exactly the opposite of what I thought they’d think about. I thought they do NOT like you or any non-Tesla people touching the car…Do you have first hand experience of this? Because I’m this close to giving up and towing this car to Tesla.

 

[fiskepun]

With any other information (what have you tried? what has the car done?) it's hard to say.

Generally they can sit with the 12V dead for a lonnnng time and be fine by just replacing that if nothing else is wrong with the car. Unfortunately, it seems critters like to eat important things in these cars when they're left unattended for long periods, too, so that could be an issue.

After a hit and run accident to the front, I fixed everything myself but couldn’t connect the Freon hose in the front (not sure why as I got the right part. Seemed like I had to bend a little bit to connect, which I chose not to do) and also couldn’t source the clothy guard between the plastic guard and the wheel/tire, so my plan was to disassemble the car again (when I get the parts) and put them all back perfectly…but then the pandemic came around and things changed very quickly including losing my residence. It ran fine without the Freon/AC for a while but then when I came back from extensive stays overseas, the center screen was dead and the car wouldn’t move even when it very sporadically allowed me to shift the gear to D from P. I was able to charge the battery immediately after getting a new battery from Ohmmu but that only lasted for a bit before it started giving me replace 12v battery again and wouldn’t take the charge to the main battery anymore…

 

[wk057]

The air-conditioning system shouldn't matter much in this case, unless the compressor isn't plugged into the HV at all that is.

Have you tried externally supporting the 12V system (takes a decent size 12V charger/support to do so)? It sounds like the HV battery fell too far out of balance while sitting discharged, but could be a number of different things. If you can get the error codes from the notifications list, that'd be helpful.

 

[cmaster]

Thanks for your response! Wow, that’s almost exactly the opposite of what I thought they’d think about. I thought they do NOT like you or any non-Tesla people touching the car…Do you have first hand experience of this? Because I’m this close to giving up and towing this car to Tesla.

When I replaced the PTC heater, I didn't put back all the trim inside the car. And, I didn't put back the trim underneath the frunk. When I dropped it off at the service center, I included the trim pieces in the trunk. They didn't even ask me if they could re-install the trim. They just did it. When I went to pick up the car, they didn't say anything. Took the car, and everything looks good as new....LOL....My car is also out of warranty too.

Also, they will issue you Uber vouchers if you need it. Just ask your service advisor on the app. Pretty convenient for me. For everyday the car is at the service center, you get $100 Uber Credits/day to use. Or, you can ask if they have a loaner too.

 

[cmaster]

 

[fiskepun]

When I replaced the PTC heater, I didn't put back all the trim inside the car. And, I didn't put back the trim underneath the frunk. When I dropped it off at the service center, I included the trim pieces in the trunk. They didn't even ask me if they could re-install the trim. They just did it. When I went to pick up the car, they didn't say anything. Took the car, and everything looks good as new....LOL....My car is also out of warranty too.

Also, they will issue you Uber vouchers if you need it. Just ask your service advisor on the app. Pretty convenient for me. For everyday the car is at the service center, you get $100 Uber Credits/day to use. Or, you can ask if they have a loaner too.

Wow, so they actually don’t really care much if you work on the car yourself. I thought it was a huge no no. Which service center did you go to, May I ask? And is this recent..?

 

[cmaster]

Wow, so they actually don’t really care much if you work on the car yourself. I thought it was a huge no no. Which service center did you go to, May I ask? And is this recent..?

Watertown, Massachusetts....a few weeks ago

 

[fiskepun]

Watertown, Massachusetts....a few weeks ago

Ah…that explains…you guys have the official right to work on your cars over there. It’s the only state I heard Tesla gotta release their tools to Tesla certified mechanics.

 

[geordi]

"release" does not mean free though.... Anyone anywhere can buy a subscription to Tesla Toolbox ($$$) or get the service manuals free - that's via the same subscription signup on the website, but the cost is zero.

Now if Massachusetts people get toolbox for free.... I'mma move there ASAP!

 

[cmaster]

Well, goddammit. I didn't even realize Massachusetts supports right to repair. See, even with the right to repair, I still need to bring my car to the service center. The argument that the "right to repair" takes revenue away from the service center is false man. The TESLA parking spot was 100% filled up every day with undriveable cars!....lol....They should've thought, "if we have given them the right to repair if they accidentally damaged their car, they will for sure bring the cars to us".....lol

 

[NewbyMaybe]

Would like to know the number of Tesla's waiting for parts/labor vs the number of ice cars waiting to be crushed.