II have a 2018 M3 LR that went into the SC and for corroded brake lines and has now has been found to have a defective battery due to corrosion issues. Tesla is refusing to honor the warranty because they say there is dirt in the undercarriage. I explained that the underside of the car has been cleaned repeatedly and dirt is an unavoidable fact of life on roads that get sanded. They claim this is "misuse" and my less than 5 year old tesla is now totaled. I am still hoping to get a better resolution, but for now I would warn against owning a tesla if you ever drive on a dirt road, ski area parking lot, etc.
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Driving on Sanded/Dirt Road Voids HV Battery Warranty
- Thread starter David Webb
- Start date
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- Tags
- battery warranty Model 3 rust
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
I would immediately file an arbitration claim (assuming you didn't opt out of arbitration when you bought the car). Don't waste any more time trying to hold their feet to the fire any other way. You may or may not ultimately be successful but this is the best avenue available to you for resolution.
Also - as a brand new member with a single post, please provide some documentation of your issue like a screen shot of your service estimate / technician notes.
Also - as a brand new member with a single post, please provide some documentation of your issue like a screen shot of your service estimate / technician notes.
android04
Active Member
Exactly what part of the battery got corroded, and did you notice any issues? I believe that the outside shell of the pack is aluminum, because I don't see any corrosion on mine after 133,000 miles and over 5.5 years. I drive mine in the winter and sometimes through dirt and gravel roads. Is the problem with dust getting into electrical connections instead? Do you have any pictures?
Just curious about your exact issue and if you can provide more info perhaps other people can look at their cars to see they have the same thing.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Yes - you agreed to an arbitration clause as part of the order agreement when you purchased the car.
Here’s the current order agreement:
Basically, first you need to email [email protected] and give them a chance to address your concern. Then you file for arbitration if they don’t.
zoomer0056
Active Member
I wonder what type of conditions cause the underside to need cleaning. In over 30yr of driving I've never felt to need to clean the underside.
I never noticed any issues with the battery. I still haven't seen it- but it was described as corrosion on the battery pack, which then failed a leak test and was declared too dangerous to re-enable.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
zoomer0056
Active Member · From Camarillo, CAYeah, not many problems with this in Camarillo compared to New Hampshire.
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
That seems legally dubious. You never told them to look at the battery and they took their own initiative and disabled it? At minimum they should return it back to you in its original condition. If they deem it too unsafe to drive, you can have a tow truck tow it away (but battery must be put back in its original condition).
But I guess you want to see if you can have them fix under warranty, so perhaps you are not at this step yet.
Hire an attorney, and use the weight of the law to hold automaker accountable.
You may, or may not be, forced into arbitration, depending on the strength of NH consumer protection laws.
Either way, any further pleading with Tesla will not help. They have a sad reputation for employing self-serving warranty reneging actions like the one you've described.
GreenHokie
Member
I guess this means we should not take/drive our vehicles to areas/conditions like what is currently shown on Tesla’s own website!!! 
Seriously... they also show the M3 on a dirt road.I guess this means we should not take/drive our vehicles to areas/conditions like what is currently shown on Tesla’s own website!!!
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Shelburne
Member
Perhaps you've never felt the need to clean the underside of your car in Camarillo. But if you drive on dirt/gravel roads or roads that have salt/sand applied to them in the winter (as most people in New England do), then you definitely need to was the underside of your car on a regular basis
zoomer0056
Active Member
That's exactly what I assumed, and was expecting confirmation from @David Webb . But only get people answering for him. He's says that he has to wash the underside repeatedly. Just looking for OP description of his driving conditions.
Edit: I reread the first post where Dave says roads are sanded. No sanding where I live, does it stick to the underside. More likely the sand got stuck in battery pack cracks and crevices... but I can only speculate.
When you get your car back Dave, it would be informative to see some pics, thanks.
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Yes- roads are sanded and salted during the winter in New England, and many other northern states, Canada, Scandinavia, etc. You also end up driving on dirt roads from time to time. There is a lot of sand and silt that gets kicked up and trapped by the plastic sheet that covers the underside of the car. This has not been an issue on any other car I've ever known, but is a big problem for the M3, maybe other models as well. This is not made clear to tesla owners at all. I found this out the hard way. You probably have nothing to worry about in SoCal.
Edit- to be crystal clear, this car was driven in a completely normal way for any person in Northern New England- not used for off roading, farming, etc.
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
I think this is the same as most car companies. They show promo pictures of the cars being used off-road or in extreme conditions, but they don't warranty for damage caused by such usage.I guess this means we should not take/drive our vehicles to areas/conditions like what is currently shown on Tesla’s own website!!!
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A related thing I think of are equipment advertised as weather or water resistant, but the warranty typically still has an exclusion for water damage.
Note the potential legal remedy however for this is not in terms of warranty coverage (it's unrelated), but rather typically damages/penalties for false advertising.
But for OP, I don't think this even applies or matters, he is saying he is just using the car on normal roads, and didn't take it off road, so he satisfied the warranty conditions.
Interesting, another member from NH posted in the MY forum in April, about a very similar issue.
teslamotorsclub.com
I would suggest they contact each other and compare notes. It might be the same service center.
Dirt Roads and Salt Brine: Rusted 2 Y.O. Model Y Rear Brake Lines in New Hampshire
Hello All, I have a 2020 Model Y that I drive up in fairly rural New Hampshire - part of my road is dirt, and I drive regularly on roads that are treated with brine including I-89. When I went to get my car inspected, the mechanic pointed out my rusted (to the point of near failure) rear brake...
teslamotorsclub.com
I would suggest they contact each other and compare notes. It might be the same service center.
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