Model 3 repair disaster

[whoshotya1978]

Help....someone please say something that will make me feel better about my Tesla M3 purchase.
Bought the car in.....April 2019
Slow speed head on collision with vehicle at light...May 2019
Car in the repair shop at Kenwood Autobody in Maryland for over 90 DAYS!

So, first question is why didn't the car stop on its own before I hit the car in front of me at the light? I was going less than 30 mph at the time. Will they give me the crash data?
I tried to find a way to call or chat with Tesla but they have absolutely removed all human interaction with owners..Only choice I have is to visit the service center and cause a scene... This is unacceptable after spending $45k on a vehicle. BMW, KIA, or even the worst VW dealership would never treat a customer like this... Any suggestions?

 

[3Krazy]

Help....someone please say something that will make me feel better about my Tesla M3 purchase.
Bought the car in.....April 2019
Slow speed head on collision with vehicle at light...May 2019
Car in the repair shop at Kenwood Autobody in Maryland for over 90 DAYS!

So, first question is why didn't the car stop on its own before I hit the car in front of me at the light? I was going less than 30 mph at the time. Will they give me the crash data?
I tried to find a way to call or chat with Tesla but they have absolutely removed all human interaction with owners..Only choice I have is to visit the service center and cause a scene... This is unacceptable after spending $45k on a vehicle. BMW, KIA, or even the worst VW dealership would never treat a customer like this... Any suggestions?

If you were not using autopilot functions, the car will only slow down and not stop fully. You are expected to brake yourself. If you were using autopilot in stop and go traffic, then the car will come to a full stop by itself and move forward again by itself when traffic starts to move.. Your car did not malfunction if you were not in autopilot. What was your situation? On the other hand, it's no secret how horrible Tesla service is especially in having collision damage repaired, and I feel for you in that regard.

 

[75Shappyt]

try very hard not to get in a collision, sometimes it can take awhile to get parts, and sometimes it's the body shop, have had a 2 fender benders, Tesla got me in, only took 2 days at the body shop, sounds like you had much more damage, sorry to hear that.

 

[tvad]

Have you asked the body shop why the car is not finished?

If it has to do with parts on order, this has been a known problem for many many months. There have been news reports about Tesla's parts shortage causing repair delays.

We bought our Model 3 knowing this was a problem, and we have our finger, toes and eyes crossed hoping we don't have an accident.

BTW, in 2001, our BMW 540i was involved in an accident. $19,000+ in damage. It was five months before our car was repaired. We drove it for another 18 years.

 

[TeeEmCee]

BTW, in 2001, our BMW 540i was involved in an accident. $19,000+ in damage. It was five months before our car was repaired. We drove it for another 18 years.

That was a model worth waiting for!

 

[tvad]

That was a model worth waiting for!

Indeed it was! Best car we've ever owned. One of the best cars BMW ever made.

 

[Tam]

...first question is why didn't the car stop on its own before I hit the car in front of me at the light? I was going less than 30 mph at the time...

Your car is not certified as Self Driving so the bucks stop at you.

The manual says the automation works sometimes and not other times so it's your responsibility to make sure you don't get into an accident.

Your car manual shifts all the responsibilities of driving to the driver even when the automation system is used or active.

Tesla does have Automatic Emergency Braking but if you read its manual, its purpose is not to brake to a halt but to reduce the speed so you can COLLIDE at a lower speed.

So by its purpose, if it worked in your case, it still allowed a collision even with a lower speed.

You would have a better chance if you have your car running on Autopilot. It stops for obstacles most of the times but there's no guarantee that it does every time. That is why there are still Autopilot crashes, injuries, and deaths.

...Will they give me the crash data?...

No. Maybe yes in some special cases but not routinely.

However, Tesla does sell you the retrieval tools so you can get it yourself:

Event Data Recorder

 

[GHammer]

I had heard all the horror stories about body work so I was ready for the worst when my S85D was rear ended. Fears were unfounded. Body shop ordered parts and gave estimate based on my photos only, $9000. Parts came in in little under a month and they had my car for 10 days. All in all, a very good experience.

 

[Bet TSLA]

Car in the repair shop at Kenwood Autobody in Maryland for over 90 DAYS!

Why? Is is not drivable? I was happily driving both my S (read-ended) and 3 (badly damaged front end) for weeks before the parts came in and I took the cars to the body shop to be repaired. Sounds like your accident was minor. So?

So, first question is why didn't the car stop on its own before I hit the car in front of me at the light?

Why would it? Was TACC on? If not, the best emergency braking is supposed to do is slow it down to minimize the damage, not acting until it is too late to stop the crash. It's not there to interfere with your driving.

Only choice I have is to visit the service center and cause a scene...

How about visiting the service center and not causing a scene? I can understand you are upset, but from what you've described here you got yourself in a crash and you're unhappy about it. Not Tesla's problem. How have they treated you badly?

 

[MP3Mike]

Slow speed head on collision with vehicle at light...May 2019

I was going less than 30 mph at the time.

How fast was the car going that you had the head-on collision with? Were they going 30 MPH as well so it was more like a 60 MPH collision?

Or was it not a head-on collision at all and you just rear ended someone?

 

[Wennfred]

I don’t have AP EAP FSD etc but it stills notifies me I’m about to hit something or warns (Scares the *sugar* out of me) to slow down because I’m close to hitting someone. I’m driving a SR+

To the OP, what version Model 3? and do you have those features listed above.

Fred

 

[TeeEmCee]

Indeed it was! Best car we've ever owned. One of the best cars BMW ever made.

Yes, most BMWs of that vintage were quite special. Once that era was over, circa 2004-2005, I saw no reason to buy another.

 

[jboles]

Help....someone please say something that will make me feel better about my Tesla M3 purchase.
Bought the car in.....April 2019
Slow speed head on collision with vehicle at light...May 2019
Car in the repair shop at Kenwood Autobody in Maryland for over 90 DAYS!

So, first question is why didn't the car stop on its own before I hit the car in front of me at the light? I was going less than 30 mph at the time. Will they give me the crash data?
I tried to find a way to call or chat with Tesla but they have absolutely removed all human interaction with owners..Only choice I have is to visit the service center and cause a scene... This is unacceptable after spending $45k on a vehicle. BMW, KIA, or even the worst VW dealership would never treat a customer like this... Any suggestions?

You just joined today and this is your first post? Are you a trolling or what?

Also, you would have to be deliberately trying to crash if Collision Avoidance did not alert you to stop. It personally saved me many times, without fault. I can't say I can say the same from the other safety systems on my previous cars (Lexus, BMW, MBenz)...

 

[SMAlset]

Wouldn’t Kenwood Autobody be the one to press for answers, not Tesla. As far as I know crash data isn’t provided to owners but to police, insurance companies, attorneys during a lawsuit when proper channels have requested it. As mentioned there are tools out there and probably companies that bought them that could do the recovery of data but it sounds like maybe you weren’t aware of how your car operates.

Did they give you a bad estimate timeframe? Were more parts needed after they started disassembly? Did they have too many other cars ahead of you to start on yours? Was insurance dragging their feet on approving work? Were parts unavailable? Not knowing how extensive the damage was and answers to some of the other questions, hard to say too much about the timing but I feel for you being without your car all the same.

 

[atnbirdie]

I'm in line at Kenwood too since late July. Communicated with them this week to get status. They said they are still waiting on parts. They specifically mentioned they have had a car since May and are still waiting on parts for it. So it appears you are first in line for parts/repair. I'm fourth in line and they are projecting mid-Oct for my car (front end damage including damage to battery cooling system so it isn't drivable).

My take is that the delay is a Tesla, not Kenwood, issue due to lack of parts availability.

 

[tvad]

Like Elvis back in the day, the OP has apparently "left the building".

 

[AKinDC]

I don’t have AP EAP FSD etc but it stills notifies me I’m about to hit something or warns (Scares the *sugar* out of me) to slow down because I’m close to hitting someone. I’m driving a SR+

To the OP, what version Model 3? and do you have those features listed above.

Fred

Yes, I get a really loud beep when the car thinks I'm getting too close to someone...it saved me from a serious accident once already.
It's something you can turn on and off in the settings though. I'd recommend it for everyone.

 

[AKinDC]

Just out of curiosity, why did you go to Kenwood instead of the Tesla Service Station in Rockville? Do they not do body work there?

 

[Darmie]

from the OP

 

[whoshotya1978]

Sorry for the late response... My frustration is not with the body shop but the overall process. They really need the supply chain increased as well as the number of locations.

Why? Is is not drivable? I was happily driving both my S (read-ended) and 3 (badly damaged front end) for weeks before the parts came in and I took the cars to the body shop to be repaired. Sounds like your accident was minor. So?


Why would it? Was TACC on? If not, the best emergency braking is supposed to do is slow it down to minimize the damage, not acting until it is too late to stop the crash. It's not there to interfere with your driving.


How about visiting the service center and not causing a scene? I can understand you are upset, but from what you've described here you got yourself in a crash and you're unhappy about it. Not Tesla's problem. How have they treated you badly?