Questionable Bodyshop treatment of battery!!??

[Durzel]

I've had several more calls from the Insurance company over the last few days - interesting each of which repeats a new and mostly contradictory set of information from the previous one.
Latest on Friday was that the parts that were on an unknown delivery date (and I received an email from the bodyshop saying so on Thursday) had arrived, but the ANC was still convinced that the garage had done nothing wrong. ANC claims they are the biggest Tesla repair bodyshop in the UK, and couldn't explain it when I asked why they weren't listed on the Tesla website or why Tesla staff in a reasonably close SC didn't know anything about them.
Checked with Tesla Saturday, and all faults had been removed by 1130am Friday morning, the car sat locked up and with an extrapolated range that would suggest at least some level of degradation.
I got a text from Tesla yesterday to say that the car had been booked in to an SC - doesn't say what for on the app, but seems that the garage is starting to listen to what I've been saying (directly and/or through the insurance company)
Cue the latest BS from the garage this afternoon - repairs are 'nearly finished, and when they are we'll take it to an SC, but it will be a delay before you get the car back due to the distance involved'
Funny how on Saturday morning Tesla could see that they'd been for a 10 mile drive in the car on Friday afternoon - which, if repairs hadn't been completed would mean that they drove the car on the public highway without a front bumper or numberplate.

So positives - the car is being inspected by Tesla tomorrow morning - hopefully I'll be able to see on the app what if anything they find. Insurance company is now starting to switch on to the fact that something is not quite right.
Negatives, the bodyshop is still lying through their teeth, trying to cover their backsides.

Will be interesting to see what they've done since Monday 1125 when they switched Service Mode on, when I get the data from Tesla!

Is it worth speaking to the service centre and telling them the state of affairs and basically ask them if they would communicate to you directly of any issues they find? You might get lucky and get a tech who is willing to go the extra mile and provide a report of observations, etc.

Not gonna lie, I would be losing sleep with this stuff if it were me. I don't mind delays, or companies honestly telling me about them, but knowing that they're lying due to other information I have would drive me up the wall.

 

[Rustybkts]

What a story! Really disappointed with your insurance provider although I bet that every insurance company would do the same (ie find the cheapest place to get the repairs done).

That is a laugh! So they use the most expensive hire costs for a replacement car then cut to the bone when repairing the car as noted on another thread here.

 

[Jason71]

While I have every sympathy with the op and agree with all of his actions but can letting a car run down to zero for a few hours once really be that bad?
I know it is not recommended but then neither is charging to 100%. The batteries have a buffer at each end so zero isn't actually zero.
There are lots of reasons why this could happen on occasion. Surely the car is designed to handle it once in a while without long term ramifications?

Maybe we need a battery protection mode for when leaving with untrusted users that limits the charge level to say 80% and shuts down the car at 20% to limit the ability to abuse the battery

 

[Adopado]

While I have every sympathy with the op and agree with all of his actions but can letting a car run down to zero for a few hours once really be that bad?
I know it is not recommended but then neither is charging to 100%. The batteries have a buffer at each end so zero isn't actually zero.
There are lots of reasons why this could happen on occasion. Surely the car is designed to handle it once in a while without long term ramifications?

Maybe we need a battery protection mode for when leaving with untrusted users that limits the charge level to say 80% and shuts down the car at 20% to limit the ability to abuse the battery

I think you are right. Otherwise Bjorn Nyland would be knackering the battery of every EV he borrows!

 

[ginger biker]

While I have every sympathy with the op and agree with all of his actions but can letting a car run down to zero for a few hours once really be that bad?
I know it is not recommended but then neither is charging to 100%. The batteries have a buffer at each end so zero isn't actually zero.
There are lots of reasons why this could happen on occasion. Surely the car is designed to handle it once in a while without long term ramifications?

Maybe we need a battery protection mode for when leaving with untrusted users that limits the charge level to say 80% and shuts down the car at 20% to limit the ability to abuse the battery

The issue isn't so much with the letting the car run to 0% - as you rightly say there is a buffer protection to at least try and prevent any damage - the issue was more the way they have treated the car - it hasn't been offline once since 16th Feb as the bodyshop has a culture of not locking cars, even at weekend, whilst parked outside and unattended. Couple with the fact that before they let the battery run down, they parked it up with the battery at 9% - next to a charger, knowing that they were having to wait a number of days to receive parts and before they went back to the car again. I could have accepted a "oh, bloody hell, Joe Bloggs must have forgotten to plug it in when he'd finished with it" but I was met with aggression, denial, lies and arse-covering rather than an apology.

So had I not called them up, the car could have been sat for an unknown number of days before they went back to it, and the RISK of damage was therefore very real if they hadn't plugged it in on the day I did call them - plus when they did plug it in, it was over an hour before the battery registered above 0%, my interpretation would be that it was significantly into the buffer.

As it is, Tesla have inspected the car this morning, although no mention of them being asked to inspect any HV systems, but from a point of view of the repair to quote the invoice (which somehow has been sent to me rather than to the bodyshop) "alignment of bumper is within spec, all gaps are equal and within spec. No concerning alerts present" - no mention of the quality of the paint job they've done, so I dread to think what I'll get back - will have to see what my detailer has to say on that one.

Now begins the long wait to see how long it takes them to pick up the phone to arrange delivery back to me - it took them 4 weeks to arrange the collection, so this next bit could be fun.

 

[Jason71]

The issue isn't so much with the letting the car run to 0% - as you rightly say there is a buffer protection to at least try and prevent any damage - the issue was more the way they have treated the car - it hasn't been offline once since 16th Feb as the bodyshop has a culture of not locking cars, even at weekend, whilst parked outside and unattended. Couple with the fact that before they let the battery run down, they parked it up with the battery at 9% - next to a charger, knowing that they were having to wait a number of days to receive parts and before they went back to the car again. I could have accepted a "oh, bloody hell, Joe Bloggs must have forgotten to plug it in when he'd finished with it" but I was met with aggression, denial, lies and arse-covering rather than an apology.

So had I not called them up, the car could have been sat for an unknown number of days before they went back to it, and the RISK of damage was therefore very real if they hadn't plugged it in on the day I did call them - plus when they did plug it in, it was over an hour before the battery registered above 0%, my interpretation would be that it was significantly into the buffer.

As it is, Tesla have inspected the car this morning, although no mention of them being asked to inspect any HV systems, but from a point of view of the repair to quote the invoice (which somehow has been sent to me rather than to the bodyshop) "alignment of bumper is within spec, all gaps are equal and within spec. No concerning alerts present" - no mention of the quality of the paint job they've done, so I dread to think what I'll get back - will have to see what my detailer has to say on that one.

Now begins the long wait to see how long it takes them to pick up the phone to arrange delivery back to me - it took them 4 weeks to arrange the collection, so this next bit could be fun.

I think its highly unlikely that paint quality will fail to meet Tesla's bar.
Though it is conceivable that the body shop was unable to lower their standards enough to get a good match to the rest of the car.

 

[kriscii]

Now begins the long wait to see how long it takes them to pick up the phone to arrange delivery back to me - it took them 4 weeks to arrange the collection, so this next bit could be fun.

Well this is all very scary, I've just read all of this having been pointed here following some damage to my new Tesla M3. I'm with Churchill so will be taking on board your experiences and ensuring it goes to an approved body shop.

 

[Billbrown1982]

Managed to get your car back yet @ginger biker ?

 

[ginger biker]

Sorry haven't posted for a while - have been mad busy with work and not had a chance to do an update.

So the car came back - a week after I was told the repairs were completed. From a structural perspective the repairs are ok, once I'd reassembled the frunk hinge protection covers properly.

I have had it inspected by my detailer - he'd seen the car when I got it, looking at how much work would be involved to correct the notorious Tesla paint jobs before ceramic coating the car, and found only one patch with swirl marks that needed any correction (rear quarter panel on passenger side) - he was devastated when he saw the repair.

He said he'd never seen so many holograms or swirl marks on a new paint job before, there's overspray in the door jambs, polish on the black trim, the car was actually filthy when it came back (combination of being sat outside the bodyshop for a month and a 280 mile drive on the back of a truck) and they hadn't even bothered to clean the inside of all the boot prints etc. Took 5 hours to get the car back into an acceptable state, just waiting on a slot for the paint correction and ceramic coating now.

The name of the garage, for all those interested, was VeeTec, in particular their Aldershot branch - though I've never had anything further from their 'Customer Services / Head Office' in Enfield either. Total disregard for the experience of the customer, and zero respect for the vehicles they are dealing with.

As for Churchill - they took the complaint pretty seriously. They've compensated me a generous amount (I didn't demand anything other than the car repaired to my satisfaction), and have agreed to have the car inspected locally at their cost if there's anything I'm not happy with. They also agreed that, despite there being a 5-year warranty on the repair from VeeTec, the car would not be sent back there in the event that there are any problems, again, at their cost. I've since been told that the car didn't have to go there - and that I should have been given the choice of where it went to.

As for the dog owner, turns out he did have insurance on the dog at the time of the incident - however, they are now not responding to Churchill so am still out of pocket my excess, though luckily not the full repair bill of over £4750!!

 

[Durzel]

Glad you got it resolved in the end. Quite a dramatic event all things considered. Good to hear Churchill are on your side now, too.

 

[Cnixon]

Sorry haven't posted for a while - have been mad busy with work and not had a chance to do an update.

So the car came back - a week after I was told the repairs were completed. From a structural perspective the repairs are ok, once I'd reassembled the frunk hinge protection covers properly.

I have had it inspected by my detailer - he'd seen the car when I got it, looking at how much work would be involved to correct the notorious Tesla paint jobs before ceramic coating the car, and found only one patch with swirl marks that needed any correction (rear quarter panel on passenger side) - he was devastated when he saw the repair.

He said he'd never seen so many holograms or swirl marks on a new paint job before, there's overspray in the door jambs, polish on the black trim, the car was actually filthy when it came back (combination of being sat outside the bodyshop for a month and a 280 mile drive on the back of a truck) and they hadn't even bothered to clean the inside of all the boot prints etc. Took 5 hours to get the car back into an acceptable state, just waiting on a slot for the paint correction and ceramic coating now.

The name of the garage, for all those interested, was VeeTec, in particular their Aldershot branch - though I've never had anything further from their 'Customer Services / Head Office' in Enfield either. Total disregard for the experience of the customer, and zero respect for the vehicles they are dealing with.

As for Churchill - they took the complaint pretty seriously. They've compensated me a generous amount (I didn't demand anything other than the car repaired to my satisfaction), and have agreed to have the car inspected locally at their cost if there's anything I'm not happy with. They also agreed that, despite there being a 5-year warranty on the repair from VeeTec, the car would not be sent back there in the event that there are any problems, again, at their cost. I've since been told that the car didn't have to go there - and that I should have been given the choice of where it went to.

As for the dog owner, turns out he did have insurance on the dog at the time of the incident - however, they are now not responding to Churchill so am still out of pocket my excess, though luckily not the full repair bill of over £4750!!

Thanks. Veetech was on my list of repairers.

 

[Durzel]

As a slight aside, presumably your detailer has said that you'd need to wait for the paint to cure (outgas) before applying ceramic coatings, etc?

 

[UrbanSplash]

Many thanks for the update. It’s great to see your insurer is with you etc. Some repair shops are great, some are rubbish. Moral is never accept where it appears your insurer insists it goes to be repaired. Look into the options etc.

 

[opals]

The name of the garage, for all those interested, was VeeTec, in particular their Aldershot branch - though I've never had anything further from their 'Customer Services / Head Office' in Enfield either. Total disregard for the experience of the customer, and zero respect for the vehicles they are dealing with.

I am in no way wanting to minimise the poor way that you were treated, but I thought that I would add my experience. Someone reversed in to my Model 3, but thankfully he accepted full responsibility. His insurers, Admiral, sent it to VeeTec in Aldershot, and I have to say that my experience has been 110% positive. I genuinely couldn't fault them.

When they came to low loader it away I was given strict instructions to disable tracking etc (which I reluctantly did, but forgot to mention I also use TeslaFi ), & the repair and attention to detail has been first class. No idea how much it cost to do, but to a certain extent that is not my problem.

 

[JupiterMan]

I was given strict instructions to disable tracking etc

for me that is red flag. what genuine reason would they have to insist on this? and what legal right have they to request this?

 

[Neilio]

for me that is red flag. what genuine reason would they have to insist on this? and what legal right have they to request this?

Yeah I don't get this either. My car went away yesterday to be fixed after a bus took exception to it. At no point was I asked to disable tracking or mobile access. The guy just took my card key and put it on his low loader. I can think of a reason why they would ask you that.

 

[Jason71]

Yeah I don't get this either. My car went away yesterday to be fixed after a bus took exception to it. At no point was I asked to disable tracking or mobile access. The guy just took my card key and put it on his low loader. I can think of a reason why they would ask you that.

The excuse would be so you cant lock /unlock enable drive sound the horn etc or anything else that could be dangerous or interfere with their work. The REAL reason is probably so you can't catch them doing anything dodgy

 

[Mr H]

The excuse would be so you cant lock /unlock enable drive sound the horn etc or anything else that could be dangerous or interfere with their work. The REAL reason is probably so you can't catch them doing anything dodgy

If the reason wasn’t nefarious they could just enable service mode.

 

[Envchem]

This is so iffy. Twice my car has been at the SC. Never was I asked to disable tracking (I presume this means to log off the app?). When they wanted to work on it they just enabled service mode as Mr H mentioned.

 

[MikeHolliday]

This is so iffy. Twice my car has been at the SC. Never was I asked to disable tracking (I presume this means to log off the app?). When they wanted to work on it they just enabled service mode as Mr H mentioned.

They are not speaking of the Service Center, they are speaking about Body Shops. The Service Center can override and activate Service Mode, but when I have anyone else touch, including wrapping my car, it was in Chill Mode with the speed capped at 45mph.