Model X - suspension arm broke with a 5 mile impact... is that normal.

[aniban]

Hey guys am a brand new owner of model X and not a car expert. But need your help.

This morning driving into our garage complex my husband brushed a metal pole at 5mile/HR and broke the plastic rim and the suspension arm that dislocated the wheel out of the car. Am uploading a few pics so hopefully it will help in understanding my case.

My question, is this normal and should have it happened, would it happen in any other car.

We took to the service center and they said it's our fault it's because we hit the pole with the front of the tire, if pushed the weight of the car on the arm and it snapped.

I am no expert but that should have not happened, is this Tesla not owning to their responsibility?

PS: I have more if it will help.

 

[MP3Mike]

Do you have a picture of the pole that you hit and what happened to it?

 

[Xenoilphobe]

I don't know 5 MPH with 6100 lbs of weight is a lot of pressure on a component. My Odyssey minivan did the same thing in a low speed collision - when I asked Honda about it that said it was designed to breakaway to protect the passengers in a front end collision. It was still unnerving to see the wheel come completely off.

 

[K-MTG]

What is the cost?

 

[Tam]

...suspension arm...

Wow! That arm does not look very strong but I see lots of wheels and suspension system gave out in a collision so it makes sense as Xenoilphobe reported, it's designed to break before its occupants do.

 

[mspohr]

Hey guys am a brand new owner of model X and not a car expert. But need your help.

This morning driving into our garage complex my husband brushed a metal pole at 5mile/HR and broke the plastic rim and the suspension arm that dislocated the wheel out of the car. Am uploading a few pics so hopefully it will help in understanding my case.

My question, is this normal and should have it happened, would it happen in any other car.

We took to the service center and they said it's our fault it's because we hit the pole with the front of the tire, if pushed the weight of the car on the arm and it snapped.

I am no expert but that should have not happened, is this Tesla not owning to their responsibility?

PS: I have more if it will help.

So... you think Tesla is responsible for you hitting the pole?
Let's see... 6,000 pound car pulling on a wheel stuck behind an immovable object... something's going to break.

 

[xkwizit]

Hey guys am a brand new owner of model X and not a car expert. But need your help.

This morning driving into our garage complex my husband brushed a metal pole at 5mile/HR and broke the plastic rim and the suspension arm that dislocated the wheel out of the car. Am uploading a few pics so hopefully it will help in understanding my case.

My question, is this normal and should have it happened, would it happen in any other car.

We took to the service center and they said it's our fault it's because we hit the pole with the front of the tire, if pushed the weight of the car on the arm and it snapped.

I am no expert but that should have not happened, is this Tesla not owning to their responsibility?

PS: I have more if it will help.

Please do post more pics. This doesn't appear to be "just brushed the pole" kind of collision

 

[SageBrush]

I am no expert but that should have not happened,

You should decide:

Either you are not an expert and then should not have an opinion,
Or you are an expert and the answers here are unlikely to be contributory.

The post describing a "sacrificial component" is interesting, and perhaps saved you a lot of money be protecting the rest of the system.

 

[karupspc]

Hey guys am a brand new owner of model X and not a car expert. But need your help.

This morning driving into our garage complex my husband brushed a metal pole at 5mile/HR and broke the plastic rim and the suspension arm that dislocated the wheel out of the car. Am uploading a few pics so hopefully it will help in understanding my case.

My question, is this normal and should have it happened, would it happen in any other car.

We took to the service center and they said it's our fault it's because we hit the pole with the front of the tire, if pushed the weight of the car on the arm and it snapped.

I am no expert but that should have not happened, is this Tesla not owning to their responsibility?

PS: I have more if it will help.

I recently got a speeding ticket. Is this normal and should have it happened, would it happen in any other car?
The police officer said I was doing 55 in a 54. He said well do you mind if I look around the car a bit?
I said well my glove compartment is locked so is the trunk in the back. And I know my rights so you gonna need a warrant for that.
He said aren't you sharp as a tack. you some type of lawyer?
I said I am no expert but well I ain't passed the bar but I know a little bit enough that you won't illegally search my *sugar*.

Is this Tesla not owning to their responsibility for me getting a speeding ticket?

 

[Seattle Tom]

Could this be that guy always filing NHTSA reports against Tesla?

OP, I mean no disrespect if the above is not the case. It's just very reminiscent of that guy's MO.

But to your question - no, Tesla isn't shirking responsibility. You hit a pole and depending on the angle of impact you could do some damage. With e collision, you broke the wheel and control arm - that's not covered under warranty by any manufacturer, ever.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Keep in mind these cars have horse power and torque that no normal car can but down between 0 to 5 MPH. I think many people underestimate the power of these cars - maybe the components are built to ICE metrics, verses handling the bad ass Tesla HP and torque. Just saying - how many people have owned a car this powerful before? The X has to be the most powerful minivan/CUV on the market - right?

 

[ecarfan]

This morning driving into our garage complex my husband brushed a metal pole at 5mile/HR

I question the use of the word "brushed".

You hit a metal pole, that I assume was bolted into the concrete, with a very heavy car that has much more torque than most cars on the road today. It is not a surprise that something broke. Compare the size and strength of the metal pole to the suspension piece that broke.

 

[SageBrush]

Morals to this story:

1. The Tesla is a heavy car
2. Leverage is cool only when it works in your favor

 

[BigMskiman]

"Static" analysis is you pushing into the pole at 0 mph. The pole will win in that simple case also, with enough petal on the metal.
Add @5 MPH, you bring dynamics into play, and the pole will win further due to "Kinetic" energy yer car has before impact.

The physics are the same for any car, so the answer is generally yes. But specifically, go get the crash test results for MX and compare to "other cars" you are talking about. I doubt you will find any test result for this kind of low speed incident.

It's your responsibility, no one else.

 

[SageBrush]

OP might feel a little better if I rephrase her story in terms of a Honda Fit:
"I uhhh.... slammed the wheel of my Honda Fit into a pole going 15 mph and it broke an arm. Is Honda responsible ?"

Or in terms of a mechanic:
"I uhhh ... was slamming the <<< biggest >>>> hammer I could raise, as hard as I could, into the end of the control arm and the damned thing broke. Is the manufacturer responsible ?"

 

[Tjhappel]

I recently got a speeding ticket. Is this normal and should have it happened, would it happen in any other car?
The police officer said I was doing 55 in a 54. He said well do you mind if I look around the car a bit?
I said well my glove compartment is locked so is the trunk in the back. And I know my rights so you gonna need a warrant for that.
He said aren't you sharp as a tack. you some type of lawyer?
I said I am no expert but well I ain't passed the bar but I know a little bit enough that you won't illegally search my *sugar*.

Is this Tesla not owning to their responsibility for me getting a speeding ticket?

We'll see how smart you are when the k-9's come
Said two middle aged white guys who own Tesla's and listen to rap music...

 

[stopcrazypp]

I'm pretty sure no automaker will say this is their fault. You had an accident that had the wheel push against a pole, something the car is decidedly not designed for and the warranty explicitly doesn't cover damage from collisions and accidents.

The burden is going to be on you to prove that the suspension arm was defective in breaking like this in your accident. No one here is going to be able to prove that just from looking at a few pictures.

 

[Tam]

...No one here is going to be able to prove that just from looking at a few pictures.

Shocking!

What's the use of this forum if there's no one with a PhD in Forensic Digital Image Analysis? Any one?

 

[Xolt]

The picture does not show the whole wheel, was the wheel broken also. That black plastic trim can give enough to not show much damage and then allow the pole to impact the front of the tire. This will then allow 100 percent of the forward momentum of the cars weight to be placed on a suspension part that is not designed to have that force in that direction. 100 percent driver error, be happy there was not a small child "brushed" between the car and the pole, unless that would have been Teslas fault also. I've seen videos of the small overlap "brush" testing and they seem to do much more damage. As seen here.

 

[MXWing]

There is no SUV in the world is safer to be inside of than a Model X.

I would also love details on how the conversation went down. There would of been no better use of a Saturday to be a fly on that service center wall!

How much time was spent trying to convince Tesla, your husband hitting the pole was the fault of the service center?

Did the SC employees keep their cool? What kind of expression was on the faces of the people as you were trying to see if this could be pinned on them?

How many employees were involved and how far did you escalate? Did 1,3 or 5 people tell you that that if your husband hit something, it was actually your husbands fault?

Finally, how are you going to do the repair? Pay your deductible? Or is it going to be a cash repair? How much is the repair going to be?