Power trunk retrofit Causes trunk height to be lower

[shahryaran]

to the moderator:
Please do not move to other post.

the car: 2020 M3LRAB
The mistake: buying the power trunk retrofit.

The story:
Bought it online, went to service center and they did a great job installing it. Opened the trunk for the first time and bamm! I hit my head to the latch. The trunk lid doesn't go as high up as the manual.

Here is before:

And here is after:

Fine. Let's deal with it.
First day of driving and bammm! HVAC stopped working. Took to SC and they fixed it in a very professional way.
Second they of driving and bamm! Hit by a bus? No. HVAC stopped working again. Took it to SC and they fixed it again. But! Well, here is the Note from the technician:

I asked the SC to remove the retrofit and they did with no charge (thank you). But they couldn't refund me because they don't have access to online purchase and legally they had to give me the kit. So here it is:

Now you tell me if this worth $800?
Couldn't connect to a person over the phone so I left an Email with a 7 days wait time to get a reply.

I missed 3 hours of work, short $800, no power trunk, and now the trunk lid is misaligned and clunks every time I open it and close it.

DO NOT BUY THE POWER TRUNK RETROFIT.

rant is over.
let's move on with life now.

 

[Shelburne]

Over the years, I've learned to never retrofit a car, any car, with devices not made by the original manufacturer. I've never had a problem myself (because I've never done it) but I know quite a few people who have lived to regret it.

 

[Electrph]

Over the years, I've learned to never retrofit a car, any car, with devices not made by the original manufacturer. I've never had a problem myself (because I've never done it) but I know quite a few people who have lived to regret it.

Here in lies the biggest frustration for me and likely others this IS from Tesla … purchased thru Tesla app sold and installed by Tesla so by most ppls judgement falls under OEM. Issues described by OP are same seen by some of those who purchased from Tesla and had installed by Tesla at a Tesla SC
I am same as you I don’t much go for electrical after market parts on a newer car but I assumed this would not be a problem since sold and installed by Tesla the OEM … silly me
I do find it amusing (maybe amusing is too kind of a word) that SC is doing same as others are doing on here … disconnecting can bus losing some functionality in exchange for trunk retrofit no longer throwing errors / no longer preventing car sleeping etc

 

[BigNick]

The replacement powered struts are too short for one thing.

IMO it looks like Tesla purchased a poorly-engineered aftermarket kit and is selling them as though it is of their own design.

 

[unicus76]

Got the same retrofit feeling reassured that it’s a “Tesla backed upgrade”
I would have accepted the lowered trunk lid height but I couldn’t deal with the fact that scheduled charging simply won’t work and that there’s a “firmware fix under investigation”. The techs told me this AFTER I got it installed and submitted a new service complaint. Unbelievable! They had me racking my brains to figure out what was wrong on my end (wall charger, adapter, app, cable) but it all is stemming from the power trunk retrofit and they are now acknowledging it!
Still waiting for a fix.

 

[shahryaran]

Got the same retrofit feeling reassured that it’s a “Tesla backed upgrade”
I would have accepted the lowered trunk lid height but I couldn’t deal with the fact that scheduled charging simply won’t work and that there’s a “firmware fix under investigation”. The techs told me this AFTER I got it installed and submitted a new service complaint. Unbelievable! They had me racking my brains to figure out what was wrong on my end (wall charger, adapter, app, cable) but it all is stemming from the power trunk retrofit and they are now acknowledging it!
Still waiting for a fix.

I had them remove mine

 

[KeithM]

I have a 2019 M3P. In November 2023 a Tesla powered trunk retrofit kit was installed by Tesla Eatonville. The modification worked intermittently. After 2 mobile service visits and 3 trips to both Eatonville and Clermont the problem was still not resolved.

In researching the issue I found a post in one of the Tesla forums by someone who had the same year and model car as I, who had the same problem with the trunk lid. He further noted that after the new autopilot software was installed, he had two additional problems .

1. The A/C sometimes would not come on and give a warning message that the system required service. This problem was also intermittent and cleared by itself.
2. The car, left overnight with the Sentry system Off, it would lose an excessive number miles each day. Tesla linked the problems.

Since I had the same seemingly unrelated problems, I presented the forum article to the Clermont team who discovered the following:

"Repair Notes: Used logs to confirm that per article 7731400, rear trunk module (retrofit) is causing noise on the can network that is keeping vehicle from sleeping and intermittently causing a Blower General fault (MIA Condition) resulting in intermittent operation.

Disconnect the VEHICLE CAN breakout from the retrofit. The vehicle will lose the following functionality:
Closing the trunk using the vehicle UI (the trunk can still be opened using the UI),
Opening or closing the trunk using the Mobile App

This was accomplished by the Clermont team who advised "An appointment will need to be created for reconnecting when the issue is resolved in firmware.”

My Problems are Tesla sold me a product for $800 plus tax that has, for over 6 months, never worked properly. I have lost more that 5 days and many miles of driving to fix a problem the solution to which was known to Tesla and never conveyed to purchasers or the service centers.

If Tesla did not notify me, a purchaser, of a known defect in this product, how can I rely on them to notify me if or when the issue is resolved in firmware so that the system can be reconnected?

Since 6 months have passed since the non-functional product was sold, how will I be compensated?

 

[Avid]

I wondered if the person(s) who green lighted this product got a pink slip in the recent layoffs.

 

[Unclepaul]

Better is often the enemy of good.
Nothing is perfect.
This is the Way.

 

[jjrandorin]

to the moderator:
Please do not move to other post.

Thats actually where it goes. You just want a separate thread (with a clickbait title) for "more visibility to my own complaint", or something.

In any case, since I missed it when you originally posted it I will leave it here, but I am not leaving the thread title as you posted it. I changed it to the actual complaint vs the clickbait title.

 

[cmftblynu]

I can completely verify... this is super annoying, they are STILL selling it... no heads up or warning, they take your $800 bucks, break your car and then give you the CHOICE to unplug it and trunk stops working but you have AC again or wait for an unknown amount of time for them to get their crap together to figure it out... the worst part is they keep on selling it...

 

[cmftblynu]

Over the years, I've learned to never retrofit a car, any car, with devices not made by the original manufacturer. I've never had a problem myself (because I've never done it) but I know quite a few people who have lived to regret it.

This is by Tesla... so while I agree with you, when the company that makes the car offers it, usually you should feel comfortable with them...