M3 Flooded Last Week - Concerned

[SomeJoe7777]

I know the guys at the Tesla service center in west Houston pretty well (have been taking my cars to them for service since I leased my first Model S in 2015).

During Hurricane Harvey in August/September of 2017, this service center dealt with over a hundred flooded Model S and X vehicles. I was told by those guys that the battery and drive systems are surprisingly robust. The HV systems are extremely well-insulated and sealed, and they did not have to replace any batteries or drive units as a result of flooding. Most of the flood damage was upholstery, carpet, seals, HVAC, seats, etc.

One thing your service center is correct on is that the lack of error messages means that there are no broken or grounded components throughout the vehicle. The central CPUs in all of the Teslas constantly communicate over the CAN bus to every other component in the vehicle (body controller, HVAC controller, chargers, BMS, etc.) and will immediately throw an error flag if the communication is interrupted or if the responses aren't correct. If no errors are appearing on the display, then every device on the CAN bus is communicating properly.

Your biggest concern should be mold. Make sure that Tesla replaces every square inch of carpet, upholstery, etc. that got wet. Once any mold sets in, it's very hard to get rid of.

 

[mc2002tii]

You're asking Tesla service to prove a negative and that isn't possible (technically, yes, they could disassemble every component of the car and try to determine if it was exposed to water or not, but that's not going to happen). The absence of error messages from diagnostics is a pretty good sign, but like other's have posted some water damage takes a while to manifest itself.

 

[m3NY]

You're asking Tesla service to prove a negative and that isn't possible (technically, yes, they could disassemble every component of the car and try to determine if it was exposed to water or not, but that's not going to happen). The absence of error messages from diagnostics is a pretty good sign, but like other's have posted some water damage takes a while to manifest itself.

RE: proving a negative - fair enough.

But how can I protect myself against potential long term costs / problems that potentially stem from this incident? If my suspension suffers over time, my insurance company isn’t going to cover that without clear evidence that failure was accelerated by water damage in years past. How would I prove that?

The best advice I’ve gotten is to demand an inspection/review of the vehicle every 4-6 months for the next 3 years. This would allow Tesla to have a reliable record of any progressive deterioration and/or problems that could have begun with the flooding. If something is detected, insurance would have it repaired under the same claim. All of this, notarized, in writing, of course.

Also, upholstery takes 2-3 to get to NY, apparently, so I have plenty of time to come up with other plans.

 

[Plug-n-Play]

Just realized you’re on Long Island. Same here - you dealing with the Syosset service center? I have an appointment with them in two weeks for a paint defect and a non-functioning lumbar control. I hope they’re competent.

 

[m3NY]

Just realized you’re on Long Island. Same here - you dealing with the Syosset service center? I have an appointment with them in two weeks for a paint defect and a non-functioning lumbar control. I hope they’re competent.

Yes.

Communication has been entirely one sided. They tell me they’ll update/call me every day and have literally not called me once.

Service manager does seem very competent and I have confidence in their work. Service advisor/liaison is the worst I’ve ever experienced. An absolute embarrassment. Couldn’t care less about communicating with me or getting anything done. Have to stop typing about them in order to keep my blood pressure down.

 

[Plug-n-Play]

Ouch. Care to name them? In private message if you prefer. I’d like to avoid them if I can.

 

[Matt L]

Thanks for the comment.

Tesla service swears that there is no way that the battery was or could have been compromised. I asked for data/evidence to prove it. I want to know exactly how they determine that it is not compromised.

They've had the car for a week and all they've produced is that water did not enter through the doors, roof or windows (which I told them when I brought it in - there was no evidence of any leak). Now I'm waiting 2 weeks for new upholstery. Sorry, ranting.

What do you think is Tesla’s responsibility here? I’m fairly certain there is no published ability to submerge your car. If you did, call your insurance company. Expecting that Tesla owes you something is misdirected.

 

[m3NY]

Ouch. Care to name them? In private message if you prefer. I’d like to avoid them if I can.

I’m willing to bet that it doesn’t matter and that they’re following protocol. Their entire service department is designed to avoid direct communication with customers. Customers waste time (angry customers waste the most). Like every other big business, Tesla views this as a non-essential cost center so they push you to self help and automation platforms and minimize direct communication wherever possible and provide phone support as a last resort, if at all.

This works for some businesses. Support for your car should better than a freemium poker app.

 

[Matt L]

RE: proving a negative - fair enough.

But how can I protect myself against potential long term costs / problems that potentially stem from this incident? If my suspension suffers over time, my insurance company isn’t going to cover that without clear evidence that failure was accelerated by water damage in years past. How would I prove that?

The best advice I’ve gotten is to demand an inspection/review of the vehicle every 4-6 months for the next 3 years. This would allow Tesla to have a reliable record of any progressive deterioration and/or problems that could have begun with the flooding. If something is detected, insurance would have it repaired under the same claim. All of this, notarized, in writing, of course.

Also, upholstery takes 2-3 to get to NY, apparently, so I have plenty of time to come up with other plans.

Demand that from who? Your insurance?

Tesla isn’t going to pay for that, nor should they.

 

[m3NY]

What do you think is Tesla’s responsibility here? I’m fairly certain there is no published ability to submerge your car. If you did, call your insurance company. Expecting that Tesla owes you something is misdirected.

Document the potential issues that could arise down the road which would not appear immediately, but may present themselves later. Put it in clear terms that A, B and C could occur due to the exposure to water. Give me something that will protect me against a $9,000 bill 4 years from now. In writing. My insurance company won’t cover it without a clear timeline tracing the issue back to this incident.

 

[Dan203]

Do you have to claim with insurance now? If a problem develops down the road can't you still claim? Or is there some sort of statute of limitations on insurance claims?

 

[m3NY]

Demand that from who? Your insurance?

Tesla isn’t going to pay for that, nor should they.

Tesla service is the authority here (rightly so). If they say the car is fine now and I wind up with a critical problem 2-3 years down the road, I’m out of pocket for thousands (potentially 10s of thousands). No one is going to go out of there way to connect the history in order to save me money. I’m trying to protect myself against that now, in advance. The second the car leaves the service center without assurances in writing, I’m on the hook for whatever may happen in the future due to the incident last week.

 

[VT_EE]

Just for my own clarification. You think that if the car is underwater it should not leak?

+1 There should be no expectation that any vehicle cabin is water tight enough to prevent leaks when submerged (even only 12 inches). It is unlikely any of the battery/drive train was damaged as they their seal mechanisms are far more robust than door seals.

 

[Matt L]

Tesla service is the authority here (rightly so). If they say the car is fine now and I wind up with a critical problem 2-3 years down the road, I’m out of pocket for thousands (potentially 10s of thousands). No one is going to go out of there way to connect the history in order to save me money. I’m trying to protect myself against that now, in advance. The second the car leaves the service center without assurances in writing, I’m on the hook for whatever may happen in the future due to the incident last week.

So you expect Tesla to be on the hook?

This is why they really shouldn’t be doing this work. You want them to assume the liability for your negligence.

 

[m3NY]

Do you have to claim with insurance now? If a problem develops down the road can't you still claim? Or is there some sort of statute of limitations on insurance claims?

Yes, I do. I want clear terms about potential failure, issues, compromise due to the conditions suffered due to water so that the insurance company would cover such repairs in the future, under the same claim (and avoid a $500 deductible per incident, as they occur). Don’t know about SOL.

 

[Matt L]

Document the potential issues that could arise down the road which would not appear immediately, but may present themselves later. Put it in clear terms that A, B and C could occur due to the exposure to water. Give me something that will protect me against a $9,000 bill 4 years from now. In writing. My insurance company won’t cover it without a clear timeline tracing the issue back to this incident.

That is far beyond the scope of a SC. Are you paying for all this work they are doing?

 

[m3NY]

So you expect Tesla to be on the hook?

This is why they really shouldn’t be doing this work. You want them to assume the liability for your negligence.

I’ve written this a few times - Tesla is the authority. Insurance company is on the hook. Insurance won’t do anything unless Tesla tells them to. If Tesla says the car is fine now and a problem directly related to this develops down the road, it won’t be covered.

 

[m3NY]

That is far beyond the scope of a SC. Are you paying for all this work they are doing?

Insurance is paying the SC.

 

[Matt L]

Insurance is paying the SC.

Then honestly, this is between them. You are filing a claim with Ins for them to make your car whole again. If they feel like this work fixes it, great. If it turns out later it didn’t, they are still on the hook to make it right.

 

[VT_EE]

One option, if you are really worried, is to dry the car out, sell it, and buy another one.