Front Motor bottom cover ripped off

[shiv987]

Was getting my tires rotated at TireDiscounters, and noticed the bottom cover for the front motor was half ripped off and missing. I also noticed there were some screws missing which should have held the bottom cover in place. There is no damage to the bottom that could have caused this to rip away. I think the screws were missing from factory or poor workmanship. This was the first time I've seen the bottom of my car on a lift.
Is this warranty claim ? 11k Miles Model 3 Performance Sept 2018

 

[qdeathstar]

looks like more of an insurance claim to me...

 

[badiban]

Did this happen while you were rotating your tires? Or did you only notice it once you took it to get the tires rotated?

 

[shiv987]

Did this happen while you were rotating your tires? Or did you only notice it once you took it to get the tires rotated?

I noticed it today when they lifited the car on a rack to do a tire rotation, it appears bolts are missing which held most of the cover in, and looks like the rest ripped off.

 

[shiv987]

looks like more of an insurance claim to me...

This wasnt because of a collision/damage, appears to have bolts missing where it should have held the entire cover on

 

[qdeathstar]

This wasnt because of a collision/damage, appears to have bolts missing where it should have held the entire cover on

You can’t know that. It’s entirely possible that the material was ripped off. Once it was ripped off, the screws are no longer tensioned against something, is they are free to wiggle out due to vibrations from driving.


I highly doubt tesla will accept this as a warranted claim, couldn’t hurt to try i suppose, but i wouldn’t burn a lot of calories on it either.

 

[LemmeSmackU]

I had the exact same thing happen to the rear end of my LRM3. My brother noticed a plastic piece was hanging off when he was driving behind me. Scheduled an appointment and they replaced a complete piece that was missing (mine also showed exposed electronics/components like your photos) and then reconnected the hanging piece WITHOUT charge (the service receipt from Tesla marked it as ‘basic warranty’). Car is 6 months old.

I too am positive it was not damaged by a bump or accident. Honesty it could have been hanging/the other piece completing missing like this since I picked up the car in June as the hanging piece wasn’t noticeable unless you step far back from the rear end and bend over a bit.

The Tesla service receipt said:

Correction: Panel - Aero Shield - Mid (Remove & Replace)
Parts Replaced or Added

Tesla service didn’t ask me any questions about whether or not I caused this. I’d recommend setting up an appointment and see what happens.

 

[shiv987]

looks like more of an insurance claim to me...

Check this NHSTA Tesla Service Bulliten: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10166054-9999.pdf
It appears this is a known issue for earlier models, they have since upgraded the 'Aero" covers for the front and back undercarriage

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Was getting my tires rotated at TireDiscounters, and noticed the bottom cover for the front motor was half ripped off and missing. I also noticed there were some screws missing which should have held the bottom cover in place. There is no damage to the bottom that could have caused this to rip away. I think the screws were missing from factory or poor workmanship. This was the first time I've seen the bottom of my car on a lift.
Is this warranty claimView attachment 498088 View attachment 498088 View attachment 498089 View attachment 498090 View attachment 498089 ? 11k Miles Model 3 Performance Sept 2018

It was pretty common in that timeframe for cars to come with missing and loose bolts. Mine (Nov 2018) came with three bolts missing in total. They were eventually replaced by mobile service. In my inspection of other cars at my work, it was hit or miss. At delivery I pointed out two missing bolts on the mid aero performance shield of someone else taking delivery at the same time.

I would file a warranty claim. Though I would imagine you should have noticed this making noise when it got ripped off when driving through a puddle, it’s at least a 50% chance it would have stayed on if it had been properly attached in the first place.

 

[cheungus87]

Mine ripped off after a heavy rain with local flooding. Also lost an aero cover going through puddles. Took it to the service center and they took care of it and reinforced it with more bolts. I was told that the cars were coming out of the factory built for CA where they only needed 70% of the bolts to hold the covers up. In the NE, they frequently saw covers ripped from snow so they tend to add 100% of the bolts at SC. Only paid for aero replacement. My build is Oct 2018.