Last week I had my HPWC cable replaced under warranty (HPWC had it's own warranty) now my chargeport needs replacement according to Tesla. They are quoting around $1,100 for the replacement and are replacing the MCU under warranty (this was replaced this August). My question is why am I being charged for the chargeport when the HPWC was the cause for this issue? The service department even told me it was the cause.
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Melted HPWC results in charge port needing replacement.
- Thread starter wcfinvader
- Start date
Clearly you shouldn't be - you could try reminding them that if you put a claim in to your insurance company for the chargeport repair, they'll just go after Tesla as the HPWC manufacturer and they'll obviously win, and recover your deductible - meaning Tesla will have to pay in either case but, that way, it'll cost the company far more money, since negotiating insurance claims is expensive.
A line employee may not care about this, but they should. With a low level manager, who knows - but you could give it a try.
A line employee may not care about this, but they should. With a low level manager, who knows - but you could give it a try.
Late yesterday they stated that they were going to cover the Chargeport under the HPWC warranty but are now stating that the Master Charger needs to be replaced which will cost $2,000 just for the part. They state that the master charger failed along with the chargeport but the failure of the master charger is unrelated to the melted chargeport. Also the MCU failed at that time as well. I had my MCU replaced just this past August so they are covering that under warranty as well. Do I have any recourse over the Charge being replaced or not? They are saying it just happened to happen at the same time and not that it's related to the Melted Chargeport.
My guess is that the melting caused a bad connection which spiked the current and blew the fuse(s) in the charger. So the charger failure is probably a result of the HPWC failure. If Tesla would just replace the $10 fuse, or both if they both blew, instead of replacing the entire charger...
The person I talked to was trying to convince me that the charger failed independently of the melted chargeport. He stated that if there was a fault in the chargeport it would not allow that power to the charger. I don't understand at all how that could be the case. If the chargeport was melted and only showing background faults then how can he be sure that it didn't affect the charger. It seems highly suspicious as to why the charger would fail at the same time as the chargeport but not be caused by the melted plug from the HPWC. The charger didn't completely fail from what I understand. What it'll do is charge for a little while then stop and throw faults. That leads me to think it's something more than a blown fuse. I'm supposed to pick the car up tomorrow and pay the $2600 repair bill for the charger. I'm not sure how to proceed from here.
If they all failed at the same time, how could any reasonable person assume that the master charger wasn't also damaged by the same thing the chargeport was???
I'm going to stick with my suggestion that your insurer isn't going to like this Tesla employee's tapdance any more than you do.
Obviously the -- Tesla made and sold -- HPWC had a fault, which they acknowledge, and it all proceeds from there. If an AC-side fault couldn't damage the charger, then the charger wouldn't be fused, right? But it is, and that's probably what's wrong with yours.
Anyway, if you put it in to your insurance they'll take it all out of Tesla's hide. You'd have to be an idiot to believe any of this was coincidental and not caused by Tesla equipment. Lean on Tesla and remind them if you have to involve your insurer, they'll end up paying more than if they do the right thing and fix it for you gratis now -- and see what happens.
Obviously the -- Tesla made and sold -- HPWC had a fault, which they acknowledge, and it all proceeds from there. If an AC-side fault couldn't damage the charger, then the charger wouldn't be fused, right? But it is, and that's probably what's wrong with yours.
Anyway, if you put it in to your insurance they'll take it all out of Tesla's hide. You'd have to be an idiot to believe any of this was coincidental and not caused by Tesla equipment. Lean on Tesla and remind them if you have to involve your insurer, they'll end up paying more than if they do the right thing and fix it for you gratis now -- and see what happens.
You're suggesting this won't fall into the scope of comprehensive coverage? My expectation is that it would, but you're giving me the feeling that I ought to go have a hard look at my policy.
It's not like he was just driving down the road and had a breakdown - another device malfunctioned and damaged his car (and while it was parked, too). But maybe I have too rosy a view of what's covered on my policy.
I think you are being overly optimistic. Mechanical Breakdown is almost always separate from Comprehensive. Comprehensive normally covers external damage to your car while stationary through vandalism, acts of nature, etc. It also covers damage due to flying debris while driving because it's not due to your action as the driver. If you tried to claim the charger failure on your Comprehensive insurance, they could probably point out the clause in your insurance that excludes it.
I just escalated my concern for executive review under the My Tesla page. I have been unable to get a hold of the service center today after leaving a message and calling four different times. I am very frustrated at this point. I have talked to corporate customer support and the home charging support. The home charging support agent recommended that I escalate my concern. I was unaware of this option but he stated that It goes to the regional manager. The regional manager then looks into it and should return my call within 24 hours so probably Monday. I was supposed to pickup my car today but I'm going to wait until this is resolved. I didn't think anything would have gotten me to the point I'm at now but if this ends up being something I have to pay for I will be canceling my Model 3 reservation (I reserved day 1 but want the smaller battery) and I will consider selling my Model S. I've not had any issues with my secondary vehicle which is a Chevy Volt so if need be I will just drive that instead and sell the Tesla. I still can't believe I'm at that point where I am actually considering selling my Tesla. I used to be Tesla only from now on but now I'm at the point where I feel that they still need to grow and especially get their OEM parts prices lowered before I'll consider buying another Tesla.
Tesla has offered to charge me for the charger alone or to remove and bypass the Master Charger which would cost roughly $800. Neither solution is satisfactory to be so I'm calling insurance to see if any of this is covered. If it comes down to it I will be cancelling my Model 3 reservation and will not buy another Tesla until they allow third party mechanics to work on it. I've even got to the point of considering selling my car just to not have to deal with Tesla Service again.
What is your reasoning that you think your insurance would cover it? Is it because you think an external item/event caused damage to your vehicle even though Tesla says that isn't the cause of the charger failure?
It does seem highly unlikely that the charger would fail at the same time for an unrelated reason... But I suppose it is possible. I have seen a number of charger failures in the earlier Model S vehicles, mostly out of warranty. (Or maybe those are the only ones that people report here.)
If you do end up paying for the repair you might want to request that you keep the failed charger so that it can be inspected. (Or you can sell it to recover some of the repair expense.)
Because it was an external device that damaged my charger. My agent doesn't see any reason why this wouldn't be covered. Claims is reviewing it now and a claims specialist will contact me at some point. I do intend on keeping the faulty charger if they allow it.
Definitely get the "failed" master charger back if your insurance ends up paying for the repair. Tesla can only keep warranty failed parts, you own everything else.
I gotta agree though that you likely have a blown fuse and that it is from the melted connector issue. So once you have the old on board charger sell it on ebay.
I gotta agree though that you likely have a blown fuse and that it is from the melted connector issue. So once you have the old on board charger sell it on ebay.
How do they determine that an external device did the damage and that it wasn't just a normal failure? Do they just take your word for it? (If they ask Tesla they will be told that the external device didn't cause the damage.)
Read the exclusions in the policy. It is covered unless the exclusions specifically apply. A "wear and tear" exclusion would not cover this, in my opinion.
An old law school professor used to say that a fire and theft policy on your house only covers you if you are robbed while your house is on fire. All humor has an element of truth.
An old law school professor used to say that a fire and theft policy on your house only covers you if you are robbed while your house is on fire. All humor has an element of truth.
The last time I talked to the service center They claimed that the Chargers were asking for too much power and thus cause the melting incident. I'm not buying that though because if that were the case then why would anything have been covered under the HPWC warranty? Insurance is currently doing their investigation and we will see how this turns out. I'm waiting to hear from them before picking the car back up. They did initially take my word for it. They have to do the investigation before finding out if it is for sure covered or not.
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