Model S: DANGEROUS Retracting Door Handle !!!

[Ande]

So... Did this hysterical fictional woman got "pulled in" or what ?
I bet the poor stock shorter will tell his Model S has this upgraded door handle mechanism:

 

[SOULPEDL]

So... Did this hysterical fictional woman got "pulled in" or what ?
I bet the poor stock shorter will tell his Model S has this upgraded door handle mechanism:

Wow, that's fast.

 

[brkaus]

I've had both my kids hold their hands in the handle when it closed to show them it doesn't hurt - after they watched me do it. They both laughed about it after.

There is nothing dangerous about it. Just a bit surprising. Now that they know it won't hurt they won't get startled and try to rip their hands from it.

 

[ucmndd]

I fully agree that the description and reaction of OP is big-time hyperbolic, but I also know what they mean about getting a fingertip pinched between the handle and the body. I even believe it would be alarming and likely cause some pain if a long nail got caught in there.

Loss of limb? of course not. "Excruciating pain and blood loss"? C'mon.

Angry high maintenance rich lady going ballistic about ruining her $90 mani? Plausible.

 

[bmah]

Moderator note: To anybody who's considering writing another post on this thread...please avoid trolling people who have a point of view different from yours.

Thanks,

Bruce.

EDIT: Not specifically addressed to the poster immediately before this.

 

[evfeh]

Your first post ever on TMC, after owning practically every Tesla product? Plus a survey and a Twitter social mention to retweet the drama? Could be wrong, just sayin'.

TSLAQ, is that you being desperate? Lol

Same thing I thought. Troll probably.

 

[maxse]

There is absolutely no safety issue with the door handle design whatsoever.

I have had multiple handles replaced and viewed the spring inside the handle. The spring isn’t even strong enough to pinch your finger let alone cut your finger.

I did see someone posting about this same issue on a fb group and same conversation there. Nobody has had a similar experience.

 

[trm2]

The thing I find the most unbelievable is that 7 people have caught their fingernail in the tiny crack in the door handle. And that isn't the "I don't believe you" type of unbelievable, just the I never imagined it happening to so many people from a small sample kind of unbelievable.

But yeah, I did have the handle start to close on my fingers once. It was certainly unexpected, but not at all painful. Not like getting a fingernail trapped.

 

[CrayZ1]

This is honest curiosity, I haven't noticed this issue when I've driven the Model S. I'm trying to figure out why this would occur since my car with retractable door handles doesn't exhibit this behavior.
How does the door handle close with your hand in it?

I ask because my wife wears long nails, and sometimes we will borrow an MS.

 

[Mark_T]

How does the door handle close with your hand in it?

I ask because my wife wears long nails, and sometimes we will borrow an MS.

Generally, it doesn't...

What can happen is someone reaches for it just as it is beginning to close, so they believe they will be injured and jerk their hand away, thus causing a problem that would not have happened if they had left their hand where it was...

 

[bob_p]

When our front passenger door handle failed, it would snap back quickly into the body - and while it wasn't enough pressure to break bones (at least for an adult) - when it happened, it was pretty painful. The handle would snap back while the hand was in the handle - as I recall, this happened while pulling the door open.

After Tesla repaired the handle - we haven't had any problems since.

We've only had this issue one time - and have owned a 2012 S P85 for almost 100K miles and now have a 2017 S 100D with 35K miles.

 

[Vsasson]

This happened with my 2015 Model S 60, but I sold that Tesla to Carvana, and bought a 2016 Model S 75D from Tesla.com. I have had that car since Nov. 14, 2019, and haven't seen the door handles retract without warning. In the case of the 2015, I had close calls, but my fingers were never actually caught in a handle. (BTW, if you are buying a used Model S from Tesla, you get a much better trade-in price for your old Model S from Carvana, which gave me $5,000 more.)

 

[SmartElectric]

Just be thankful it wasn't something else that got caught...

h

 

[TonyT]

Just be thankful it wasn't something else that got caught...

h

Is there a video? Thought there was a anti-pinch?

 

[smartypnz]

We have regularly used our Model S's to trim our nails.

 

[SmartElectric]

Is there a video? Thought there was a anti-pinch?

Yes, Byorn Nyland jokingly tried to destroy all manner of items including hot dogs and such. Very funny.

 

[TonyT]

Yes, Byorn Nyland jokingly tried to destroy all manner of items including hot dogs and such. Very funny.

Oh boy! that carrot!!!

 

[CrayZ1]

I would assume if you are driving in the nude, this could be a problem?

 

[4vircom]

Thanks to everyone on this forum who replied and provided helpful information. We appreciate the suggestions and will definitely open a service request to have Tesla look at the door handles.

We completely understand some of the skepticism here, but this is one of those things that can only be understood if you experience it firsthand. We were equally startled by the fact that we had to actually lock the door to release the fingernail not the other way around. It is still difficult for us to believe that this even happened at all on a Tesla vehicle, given the high engineering and safety standards in place.

Again, our goal here was to bring awareness to the issue as we feel we did not initially receive adequate support from Tesla when we raised our concern with the Tesla showroom customer reps, especially since this is a recently purchased brand new 2020 model. While Tesla is in a strong position in the EV / sustainable energy market, the overall Tesla customer experience needs to improve. These are not $100 tablets / phones we are talking about here -- these are $100k+ vehicles that need a service experience to match. This scenario would have been handled much differently at a BMW or Mercedes dealership.