Was showing a friend autopilot at night on a road w/out streetlights, when we ran into this massive trench in the road. Looked like 5 ft of asphalt was sectioned out across the whole lane for construction or some bullcrap, but there was no warning whatsoever . We were going about 30 mph which was the AP speed limit for that road, and AP didnāt slow at all and just barreled into it. We only saw the trench about a half second before hitting it so I was not able to intervene in time. Heard/felt a loud bang as the bottom of the car hit the oncoming edge.
Looking underneath when I got home, the front aero shield had two big chunks knocked out where front sway bar and brackets punched through. The sway bar brackets appear to have taken the direct impact and are mashed up a bit. Right (passenger) side bracket got hit harder it looks like. Everything else underneath (besides brackets and aero shield) appear ok.
There were no warnings from the car and no other noises from driving/turning after, but I did notice the alignment is no longer straight, the car pulls to the right slightly, and suspension on the right side is sagging ~inch lower than the left side.
Obviously gonna get it serviced, but afraid of how bad the underlying damage could be, and worried why the suspension is sagging on one side, or if itās safe to drive. Only had the car a little over a month so pretty sad ą¼¼ ć¤ ą²„_ą²„ ą¼½ć¤ about this.
Has anyone had something like this happen, basically smashed the front undercarriage on a pothole, which affected their alignment and suspension slightly? If so what was the repair cost? I have Tesla insurance so should be covered but would like to avoid submitting a claim if at all possible. Thanks in advance!
Had I been driving w/my foot on the pedal I likely could have let off to slow to 20 mph or so instead of barreling on into the trench at 30 mph like autopilot did.
Anyhow, stay safe out there everyone! and be vigilant when using autopilot or FSD!
Note: in photos I have removed the front fascia valance and front screws from aero shield to get a better look at any potential damage.
Looking underneath when I got home, the front aero shield had two big chunks knocked out where front sway bar and brackets punched through. The sway bar brackets appear to have taken the direct impact and are mashed up a bit. Right (passenger) side bracket got hit harder it looks like. Everything else underneath (besides brackets and aero shield) appear ok.
There were no warnings from the car and no other noises from driving/turning after, but I did notice the alignment is no longer straight, the car pulls to the right slightly, and suspension on the right side is sagging ~inch lower than the left side.
Obviously gonna get it serviced, but afraid of how bad the underlying damage could be, and worried why the suspension is sagging on one side, or if itās safe to drive. Only had the car a little over a month so pretty sad ą¼¼ ć¤ ą²„_ą²„ ą¼½ć¤ about this.
Has anyone had something like this happen, basically smashed the front undercarriage on a pothole, which affected their alignment and suspension slightly? If so what was the repair cost? I have Tesla insurance so should be covered but would like to avoid submitting a claim if at all possible. Thanks in advance!
Had I been driving w/my foot on the pedal I likely could have let off to slow to 20 mph or so instead of barreling on into the trench at 30 mph like autopilot did.
Anyhow, stay safe out there everyone! and be vigilant when using autopilot or FSD!
Note: in photos I have removed the front fascia valance and front screws from aero shield to get a better look at any potential damage.