FWD --- BUSTED

[fatmiko]

Well... the dumbass of the year award goes to yours truly...

Pulled up in the driveway after a 4 hour drive back from seeing family, wife and 1 of two kids got out of the car, thought kid 1's FWD closed after hitting the button on the screen. Kid 2's FWD was almost closed so I started creeping into the garage. Shortly thereafter, the sound of breaking glass and crunching brick... Apparently Kid 1's door didnt respond to the close command I'm pretty sure I sent.

Gut. Wrenched.

Anyone have any experience with this or body shops or Tesla? My Service Center folks in STL have been responding via email this evening (fantastic on a Sunday...) but they seem to be handing me off to their certified local body shop. I'm two hours away from them. Cant close the door to drive it up to them...
I've been searching the forums for a couple hours. I'm most curious on the amount of time a body shop might need to fix something like this. Bad couple weeks here to be without my precious...

Anyway - hope everyone is having a fantastic holiday season!

 

[GEAUXHOOKEM]

fatmiko,

I'm so sorry that happened to your car. I'm glad no one was injured. We are close to pulling the trigger on a model with the exact specifications listed in your signature. I can honestly say that "injuring" one of the FWDs is my greatest nightmare. I'm sure a qualified body shop will have you and the family enjoying your X again in no time. I've been reading through a number of websites and see that the very account you gave is similar to what others have posted who have had the same thing happen. Most of them seemed to indicate that there were 3-5 weeks that went by before the ball really got rolling on the repair. However, most of those accounts seems to have been posted in 2016 so there could have been many variables (part availability, shop expertise, etc.) that pushed out the time-line to completion. There is some information out there that speaks to your situation. This is my first post so I'm terrified of violating site rules by posting any type of link, but I will see if I can't share what I found via PM.

 

[VT_EE]

Ouch! Reminds me of the time I pulled into the car port with our bikes on the roof. Ripped them right off.

 

[Barklikeadog]

ouch

 

[K-MTG]

Oh No!!!!!!!! I always fear from this happening to me!!

 

[ChadS]

Yikes. Sorry to hear that; I hope repairs go quickly but a lot will depend on your local body shop.

20 years ago we bought a van with a pop-top roof. When we picked it up, an employee told us stories of people that had tried to drive in to their garages with the top up. I assume he was trying to burn it in to our memory so we wouldn't do the same thing. I think it worked; I sure remembered. (The other story he told was about people that tried to open the black storage tank after gaining significant elevation).

My stepmother and a friend (both years ago with ICEs) have both done something similar going the other way - they backed out of the garage, one with a rear door open and the other with a hatch open, and both caught. I am sure it is a terrible noise and a wrenching feeling. But hey, the holidays can only get better from here, right? Good luck.

 

[kiwiguy]

Is there a setting for warning or preventing driving with open doors?

 

[ChicagolandMX]

Is there a setting for warning or preventing driving with open doors?

Yes, there are chimes that go off warning a FWD is still open. It does not disable the vehicle from driving. I'm guilty of driving while they'e shutting after dropping kids off at school in open air.

 

[Sprandt23]

Oh man, that really stinks - I feel for you. I had an incident 2 days after I picked up my CPO in Phoenix and was driving it back to St. Louis - a coyote ran out of the median (it was 1 am) and did a fair amount of body damage to the front end. The guys at the STL service center have always been helpful, and did refer me to Car Craft Auto Body in Chesterfield, as they were the only Tesla 'certified' body shop in the area. I will say, my experience with them was great - but it did take several weeks to get the work done, as there were more damages internally once they opened it up than what they could see from the initial estimates. I can PM you the guy's number that I worked with, he deals with all the Teslas that come in (and sadly there were quite a few there when I was in).

 

[polymathic]

Ouch. Sorry to see this. Body work takes forever on our beloved Teslas.

 

[Akikiki]

Wow. That was hard to read. But it was even harder-worse to see those pictures as they came into view. I feel your pain.
Sorry this happened to you.

 

[Qbenjamin]

Oh my...

 

[Yggdrasill]

Wow, that sucks. I can't quite understand how you managed that. (Those chimes are really loud.) But I know the feeling, after rubbing up against a column within 30 minutes of taking delivery of the car. Luckily it was easy to fix, and not that pricey at like 500 USD.

But I wouldn't get my hopes up when it comes to repair time. It can take time.

 

[Hank42]

I cannot see how this turns out well, but I wish you the best. On the plus side, if it's repairable at the Factory approved body shop, then it will be good as new - Tesla chooses their shops carefully.

 

[RVD98072]

ouch that hurts just to look at that.

i would guess that this will take a long time to fix but hopefully there is a way for you to drive it over to the body shop? maybe tie it down.

I have driven before with the FWD in the process of closing...maybe I won't do that anymore.

 

[Bill33525]

Our Audi Q5 engages the electric parking brake if the driver tries to drive when a door is ajar.
Sounds like a good option to have.

 

[PhantomX]

Wow, that sucks. I can't quite understand how you managed that. (Those chimes are really loud.) But I know the feeling, after rubbing up against a column within 30 minutes of taking delivery of the car. Luckily it was easy to fix, and not that pricey at like 500 USD.

But I wouldn't get my hopes up when it comes to repair time. It can take time.

Actually, we have had the door opened on its own on 3 occasions when the car is moving (likely inadvertent fob operation) . It was slow speed while backing out of the parking space, but twice I didn't realize the door were opening until I looked around to check traffic because the parking sensor sound was likely masking the door warning sound.

BTW, has anyone had garage opened into their fully opened falcon wing door before? In our garage, the door will go full height when the garage door is closed, but that means the FWD will get scratched if someone opens the garage while FWD is opened. And this may happen if the X is at home and someone else is coming home and didn't realize the FWD is opened (yup, learned from experience ). Just want everyone to be aware of other FWD risks.

 

[Barklikeadog]

Actually, we have had the door opened on its own on 3 occasions when the car is moving

I see this sort of story on occasion and being a dad with a carseat... that is f'n frightening. A couple months ago I saw a model X with
the fwd slightly open, looked like it was being held shut driving down the road.

 

[TOBASH]

Our Audi Q5 engages the electric parking brake if the driver tries to drive when a door is ajar.
Sounds like a good option to have.

After a motor vehicle accident, the sensors can misfire and you can be left stranded. I hated the auto lock function on my 2016 X6 that prevented driving with a door open. It is just stupid and dangerous. It also prevented aligning oneself to a parking spot without cameras. In rain and snow, when cameras function poorly it became a real stupid PIA.

Drivers should be able to override ALL functions! In emergencies you are otherwise left in danger.

Just make sure you listen to the alerts. I feel super bad for the OP, but there is really no excuse. The audible sounds the X makes when doors and hatches are open are impossible to ignore unless one is hearing impaired or is on a destructive juggernaut.

Best.

T

 

[silverwolfe08]

Our Audi Q5 engages the electric parking brake if the driver tries to drive when a door is ajar.
Sounds like a good option to have.

Agree as long as you can turn it off in the settings. The Model X very loudly warns you if you shift out of park with a door ajar. But I like that the driver is still in control and can override that if needed.