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Help! I need advice! A deer jumped into my roadster and knocked off the mirror!

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Help!
I need advice!

I was driving along at 40 mph and a deer leaped out- hit my Roadster :scared::scared::scared:, bounced off it :eek::eek::eek:, and knocked the right passenger mirror off :cursing::cursing::cursing:.
No other damage that I can see.
Tesla in NY called me and they have a mirror, and they have it painted red.
They have offered to 1. Mail me the mirror, and I can have a local body shop put it on
2. Send a ranger (in a few weeks) to come put it on.
What would you do?
1. Do I need a special body shop which understands carbon fiber? Any recommendations in New York or New Jersey? Or how to find one?
2. Would you have the ranger come out and do it? (Not clear to me of the rangers would have much experience with this-- they are more a change the fans/blow out the dirt/repairs guys, less body shop guys...)
I appreciate all advice! Send me a pm, or post it here for all, or send me an email at [email protected].
Thank you!
Anne Sumers
 
I knocked the passenger mirror off my Roadster rolling the garbage can by it in the garage. Which isn't half the story you'll be telling your friends, but I digress...

I believe there is a single screw that attaches the mirror housing to the mount. It's a matter of removing interior panels to get access to the back side of the mirror mount and should be a no-brainer for any local shop. Why wait for a Ranger?

Enjoy telling your story...
 
Aww, Anne! Sorry about that. I'm glad the deer didn't do anymore damage than a mirror. I have a lot of deer and other wildlife in my neighborhood and I've noticed that when driving the Roadster (vs. an ICE), that they don't show the same common sense as they do when hearing an engine.

I agree with Steve. A local shop should be able to quickly get you back to business as normal.

(Your story is much better than Steve's story. Just an fyi.)
 
Anne,

I am sorry to hear about the mirror but glad it wasn't worse. Living in rural VT, I live with the constant concern of the same thing happening. I haven't seen the deer steer clear of my ICE cars historically either though. How far is the service center from where you live? Maybe a day trip and while you wait repair if there is anything interesting nearby?

David
 
A local body shop can do it. Nothing special.

There are two parts to the mirror: the mount on the car, and the mirror itself that goes on the mount. I'm guessing just the mirror part needs to be replaced?

I suggest they send you an extra little colored (body color) adhesive circle that covers the screw. It can easily get damaged taking it off the old mirror.
 
Deer run in a random direction when startled - probably an adaptation to avoiding predators that doesn't work so well with cars that aren't actually chasing them. My experience has been that deer are easily startled by the ICE sounds, but not nearly as much by the comparatively quiet Roadster. I've had a deer just sit there and watch me go by. In your case it probably startled late, which is why it hit you instead of vice-versa.
 
If you attach a pic people can give better advice :) There's an external screw that has tape over it, it matches your paint and the tape is red. was it just the 'mirror' part that rotates or the mirror mount to the door that got damaged? I'm not sure if you remove that tape/screw but possibly that may just pop off and you can pop/screw the new one back in without having to remove the entire mirror mount if that's still good. Just an idea.

Again pics help.

I'd also inspect very close to where the impact was near the fender and door to ensure there's no minor cracks in the paint that may indicate a fracture in the carbon fiber panels, although they're very tough they still can crack.
 
The weak point in the system is the attachment of the mirror assembly (at the car's end of the adjustment gooseneck) to the mirror mount on the door: there are just two small plastic posts that insert into a female receptacle, only one of which is then retained by a screw through the receptacle from inside the door. It's just an educated guess, but I'm willing to bet one or both of those plastic posts snapped off when the deer hit the mirror housing. You'd be surprised how little force it takes to break the mirror assembly off the car. In my case, only the post retained by the screw snapped off leaving the second post intact, and I was able to temporarily remount the mirror with clear packing tape until Tesla Service could get a new mirror assembly painted in my body color.

If I still had the car I'd take some pictures and post them...
 
I don't know why but I can't seem to post the photos-- I asked Bonnie for help, or, if anyone wants to send me their e-mail, I'll forward the pix to you to post here.
I really appreciate your advice on all this.
You should have heard my husband's voice when I said, "A deer hit me but it only broke off the mirror and I am alright" and he said, "And.........which car were you driving.... the Hyundai, right? Tell me the Hyudai?"...."uh, no, not actually......."

- - - Updated - - -

It's the mount & the mirror... :(
 
Reduced the file size, that seems to work.

Screen Shot 2012-12-22 at 4.40.40 PM.png
Screen Shot 2012-12-22 at 4.40.13 PM.png
Screen Shot 2012-12-22 at 4.39.48 PM.png
Screen Shot 2012-12-22 at 4.39.30 PM.png
 
Doesn't look too bad, but I'm not sure about the condition of the bolts.

I suggest you send the pics to Tesla and see what they think. If they suggest that just the new mirror needs to be put on, then a local shop should be able to do it.
 
What happened to the deer? Venison for Christmas dinner anyone?

Actually this happened to my brother-in-law a couple of years back and his pretty old car was effectively totalled. (Front end crushed, hood buckled, windscreen broken, airbag deployed etc.) Happy to hear nothing happened to you.