Ouch! Meeting with a tow hitch....

[NigelM]

Lights changed to green, truck in front of me starts moving, brakes suddenly due to a pedestrian, my Roadster meets his tow hitch......:crying:

Slow speed collision (maybe 5-7mph?) but carbon fiber vs steel isn't a fair fight. Nice hitch shaped hole in my car now but it's my own fault.

Looks like a new nose, grill and some foam.

 

[adiggs]

Ouch!

Seeing what happened to you, I think I got off lucky. I managed to back my Roadster into the trailer hitch of a piece of farm equipment. I was braking and had practically come to a stop when I made contact. I got off with a 1" by 2" scrape on the left rear panel that I think will be easily paint repaired. Apparently not much more and there would have been a hole in the panel :|

I guess the lesson is don't hit things with our Roadsters. Yeah - that's a good lesson. Especially bigger and steelier things.

 

[NigelM]

I guess the lesson is don't hit things with our Roadsters. Yeah - that's a good lesson. Especially bigger and steelier things.

I was pretty amazed that such a slow bump caused that much damage. The truck had nothing on it, not even a speck of paint on the tow hitch, guess I'm lucky I'm not paying for two cars.

 

[jordanthompson]

Sorry for your loss :crying:

 

[MileHighMotoring]

Ouch, that hurts (right in the wallet). Hopefully your post saves other Roadsters from the same fate.

 

[ModelX]

So sorry to see and hear that!

 

[ML Auto]

Lights changed to green, truck in front of me starts moving, brakes suddenly due to a pedestrian, my Roadster meets his tow hitch......:crying:

Slow speed collision (maybe 5-7mph?) but carbon fiber vs steel isn't a fair fight. Nice hitch shaped hole in my car now but it's my own fault.

View attachment 114367

View attachment 114368

Looks like a new nose, grill and some foam.

The bumper cover is just plastic,not carbon fiber. Carbon fiber would have had a lot less damage.
I would love to have your old bumper and foam if and when you get them replaced. I'm just down near Fort Myers. Shoot me a PM if you are willing to part with it.

 

[Jaff]

That sucks Nigel...sorry to hear about this.

 

[ecarfan]

Nigel, ouch that hurts to look at! Sorry to hear your news.
I do think that damaged body part is plastic, but I could be wrong.
Over the last decade or so I have developed the habit of leaving almost an average car length of space ahead of me when stopped at a light or stop sign, and watching my rear view mirror to make sure the car behind me is paying attention and stopping. Then when the car in front of me starts to move, I move but maintain the spacing. There have been a few times where that additional spacing may have helped me avoid a low speed collision when the car in front unexpectedly brakes. Since we Roadster drivers generally can't see beyond the car in front of us when moving at low speeds, I think extra caution is necessary. I'm sure that some drivers around me are annoyed that I am leaving a big gap in front of me; I don't care.
Nigel, let us know how long it takes Tesla to find a replacement front bumper piece. Hope your car gets back on the road soon.

 

[jordanthompson]

Nigel, ouch that hurts to look at! Sorry to hear your news.
I do think that damaged body part is plastic, but I could be wrong.
Over the last decade or so I have developed the habit of leaving almost an average car length of space ahead of me when stopped at a light or stop sign, and watching my rear view mirror to make sure the car behind me is paying attention and stopping. Then when the car in front of me starts to move, I move but maintain the spacing. There have been a few times where that additional spacing may have helped me avoid a low speed collision when the car in front unexpectedly brakes. Since we Roadster drivers generally can't see beyond the car in front of us when moving at low speeds, I think extra caution is necessary. I'm sure that some drivers around me are annoyed that I am leaving a big gap in front of me; I don't care.
Nigel, let us know how long it takes Tesla to find a replacement front bumper piece. Hope your car gets back on the road soon.

I've gotten in the habit of keeping the driver and/or their rear-view mirror in front in my line of site. I've had cases(!) where the driver in front doesn't see me and backs up(!) This IS Florida and our rednecks drive BIG trucks...

 

[Madartist]

I'm so sorry to see what happened to your beautiful Roadster, Nigel. It hurts just to look at it. I'm amazed that such a low speed collision did so much damage. Glad no one got hurt. The only bright side may be that it's easier to deal with a few replacement bumper parts than a body shop. Good luck with your repairs.

 

[thefortunes]

I happened to be scanning eBay for Roadster goodies last weekend and noticed a few bumpers on there (which I thought was strange). You might want to take a look if Tesla doesn't have any, or if you aren't going through your insurance

 

[ElectricLove]

Here is one on eBay:

Tesla Roadster Front Bumper Cover | eBay

 

[taurusking]

I was pretty amazed that such a slow bump caused that much damage. The truck had nothing on it, not even a speck of paint on the tow hitch, guess I'm lucky I'm not paying for two cars.

I was thinking the same too...Sorry to hear about the loss....Damage seems to be excessive for the speed you are describing.

 

[Stefan T]

Sorry to see
The parts look like the are plastic and not carbonfiber

 

[ML Auto]

Here is one on eBay:

Tesla Roadster Front Bumper Cover | eBay

He has a 2.5. Not many of those available used.

 

[jasona]

That looks like a really easy repair, to get back to new you will need to either repair or replace your front armature, "front foam", bumper cover and front grill. All in probably 2500 not including labor would be my guess. If I were you I would just do a carbon fiber repair to the front armature and get a new bumper cover and grill.

 

[hcsharp]

All in probably 2500 not including labor would be my guess.

I would guess much more than that.

 

[NigelM]

Nigel, let us know how long it takes Tesla to find a replacement front bumper piece. Hope your car gets back on the road soon.

Parts were ordered on 3/10 and arrived today 3/23 so basically took two weeks, overall not bad seeing as they had to come all the way across the country. Downside is that the Tesla authorized body shop (which I'm not going against as they're the only ones with experience of Roadsters) is in Clearwater about 60 miles (90mins) away from my house. I'll drive up there on Monday and then they'll start work but the nose/bumper is raw material so it'll need to be painted also. I'm guessing my car will be there for at least two weeks.

 

[dhrivnak]

Parts were ordered on 3/10 and arrived today 3/23 so basically took two weeks, overall not bad seeing as they had to come all the way across the country. Downside is that the Tesla authorized body shop (which I'm not going against as they're the only ones with experience of Roadsters) is in Clearwater about 60 miles (90mins) away from my house. I'll drive up there on Monday and then they'll start work but the nose/bumper is raw material so it'll need to be painted also. I'm guessing my car will be there for at least two weeks.

I think any body shop could handle. I had my nose repainted for $500 due to rock chips and they did a great job