Questionable Bodyshop treatment of battery!!??

[Sixer]

I really empathise for your situation. However, as someone has said, I would go down the route of getting your car back. Otherwise I suspect you will have a bumpy ride with them. Remember it’s YOUR car and your right to get it repaired correctly. I have got my car back today after it being repaired and can reflect on another Northern based poor so called Tesla Authorised repairer!

 

[UrbanSplash]

Name and shame haha

 

[s88ats]

In fairness, I wouldn't expect a car repairer to have any understanding of how car to manufacturer communication works, nor how APIs are used to access that information. They will be under the impression that car sends data directly to the app and vice-versa, and have no idea that the car is always sending data direct to Tesla, where it sits until retrieved by an application via an API.

They'll ask people to log out of apps, because they've probably had incidents in the past with people remotely locking cars they're working on and the like. Rightly or wrongly. Repairers need to come up with new ways of working with modern cars that are permanently connected.

None of this excuses their treatment of the car, but other than flooring it, I'd put most of it into ignorance rather than malice.

I completely agree with you, I had no idea about how the car communicated either but for the car to be transported nearly 300 odd miles to a 'Tesla authorized' repairer you'd expect the basics done correctly. Surely this is the only reason why it wasn't sent to a local garage.

Repairers should put the car in service mode which would make more logical sense than requesting customers to log out. What's stopping someone from logging back in again? By putting it in SM it would safeguard them from any incidents of remote locking etc. I know it was possible with holding the 'T' down but not sure if that has moved elsewhere with the new UI release/s. If I was asked to log out of my app, alarm bells would be ringing and I'd question if they've worked on a Tesla before and advise them of Service mode if they weren't aware of it.

Joyriding a customer's car and leaving the battery depleted isn't acceptable, and when OP raised this to them, they tried to swift the blame on them for logging into the app and coming up with b/s to not take liability. I'd like to give people the benefit of the doubt and hope it genuinely was ignorance but from what I've read up until now I'm gobsmacked.

IMO all they had to do was acknowledge they made a mistake and get the car out of there as swiftly as possible, not pis*ing OP of even further. I hope there isn't any further damage done to OP's car due to the neglect on the garages part.

 

[ginger biker]

Thanks for all the responses everyone - I won't name and shame either the Insurance company or the Garage publicly, on the off chance something comes back to bite me, but given there are relatively few insurers in the UK who claim to have specialist Tesla policies, and most of them are rebrands of the same company, I'll let you guys try and figure it out.

The latest is that they called me today to close down my complaint after I sent them the full email trail of communication between me and the garage. I promptly refused to let them close the complaint, as there has been no resolution, reminded them that they are MY insurance company, supposed to act on MY behalf, and not protecting the garage.

I have now requested that the insurance company a) escalate the complaint b) remove the car from the garage by Friday this week c) move the car to a more local garage d) return the car to me, fully repaired and inspected by Tesla by Friday next week. I've also suggested that, since they chose this garage over one that would have been closer to my home, (most likely due to kickbacks in a contractual arrangement), and against my wishes, that I will hold not only the garage but the Insurance company liable for any battery damage that has occurred.

I also spoke to Tesla today again, to see what their view was on lead times for the parking sensor and wiring loom that are supposedly delivery date tbd, and they said there were no supply issues for parts in the UK that they were aware of, most things were being supplied from stock at the moment.

Needless to say, the car will be inspected with a fine tooth comb as and when it is returned to me, and any inkling of a blemish/imperfection/anything out of place, it will be returned to the insurance company to rectify.

 

[ginger biker]

I completely agree with you, I had no idea about how the car communicated either but for the car to be transported nearly 300 odd miles to a 'Tesla authorized' repairer you'd expect the basics done correctly. Surely this is the only reason why it wasn't sent to a local garage.

Repairers should put the car in service mode which would make more logical sense than requesting customers to log out. What's stopping someone from logging back in again? By putting it in SM it would safeguard them from any incidents of remote locking etc. I know it was possible with holding the 'T' down but not sure if that has moved elsewhere with the new UI release/s. If I was asked to log out of my app, alarm bells would be ringing and I'd question if they've worked on a Tesla before and advise them of Service mode if they weren't aware of it.

Joyriding a customer's car and leaving the battery depleted isn't acceptable, and when OP raised this to them, they tried to swift the blame on them for logging into the app and coming up with b/s to not take liability. I'd like to give people the benefit of the doubt and hope it genuinely was ignorance but from what I've read up until now I'm gobsmacked.

IMO all they had to do was acknowledge they made a mistake and get the car out of there as swiftly as possible, not pis*ing OP of even further. I hope there isn't any further damage done to OP's car due to the neglect on the garages part.

It's been a shambles since the start, but absolutely agree with you, and I even said this to the garage - all they had to do was acknowledge that someone parked the car next to the charger, but didn't plug it in, that they have a somewhat bizarre culture of not locking customer's cars which lead to the battery going flat. Instead, it was lies, aggression, misinformation and accusations all the way, not only to me, but to Senior managers from Head Office, and my Insurance company.

 

[Billbrown1982]

Jees this is rapidly turning into my worst nightmare. I will definitely learn from your experience here though should anything similar happen to me.

Is it so hard to get good service from these people? Jees....by contrast I've just dropped my car off to be PPF'd etc which will take 1-2 weeks, was casually chatting with the guy that I only had 90 miles left in the battery and I was a bit concerned as I hadn't had a chance to charge it on the way there.

He told me not to worry about it and they would charge it if and when neccesary.

Got home that evening and started playing with the app to see what its all about and the car was already charging happily at their site.

Would it kill a garage to treat us in the same way? Apparently so...

 

[ACarneiro]

It’s a good lesson for me, sadly at the expense of the OP.
As far as I’m concerned, I am now of the opinion that if a garage asks me to logout and can’t put the car in service mode then they’re not competent in dealing with my car.
I see no reason why I should be forced to logout of my app, I never had to do that when the car was at a Tesla SC.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

I've only once had to get a car extensively repaired after an accident, and my insurance company initially insisted on using their own "authorised repairer". I knew a very good body shop (been friends with the chap that runs it for years) and asked if the car could go there instead. The insurance company tried very hard to get me to use their repairer, claiming that only they would be able to warranty the work (complete rubbish) and the ended up by telling me I couldn't have a hire car if I chose to use my own repair shop. As it happened, the body shop had a car I could have used, but I was too shaken up by the accident to drive, anyway.

The car was repaired to "better than new" condition, and I later heard some horror stories about the quality of work coming out of the insurance company's "authorised repairer". My own view is that "authorised repairers" may often just be those that quote the cheapest prices to insurance companies, not those that do consistently good work.

 

[Zakalwe]

This one made the national news a few years ago when the mechanics at the local main Ford dealer took a customers car for a joyride. If they were a bit smarter they probably (1) wouldn't be mechanics and (2) would have spotted the dash cam recording their antics.

 

[MikeHolliday]

This is exactly why I use Valet Mode anytime my car is out of my complete control. I limit the Speed 45 mph, and put it in Chill Mode.... Once you set these they cannot change it back. I make sure that they know this...

 

[Mm2021]

This one made the national news a few years ago when the mechanics at the local main Ford dealer took a customers car for a joyride. If they were a bit smarter they probably (1) wouldn't be mechanics and (2) would have spotted the dash cam recording their antics.

Wow I’m so naive for never having realised this sort of stuff happens. Thank goodness for being able to monitor Tesla’s via the app to know how it’s being treated.

I really empathise with the OP and want to thank them for sharing their detailed story. Hope it all works out ok and do keep us all updated.

 

[Mm2021]

This is exactly why I use Valet Mode anytime my car is out of my complete control. I limit the Speed 45 mph, and put it in Chill Mode.... Once you set these they cannot change it back. I make sure that they know this...

I’m new to Tesla’s... so to be clear if ever leaving a Tesla with a body repair shop etc put it into valet mode, limit speed and put into chill mode. Is there anything else that should or can be done to prevent it being abused?

 

[MikeHolliday]

Set a PIN on the Gove Box opening...

I would be checking the SOC (State of Charge) everyday to make sure that if they are leaving all of the doors open and playing the sound system that they SOC is being kept above 50% . If they were letting it sit below 50% I would be making phone calls for them to plug it in. A low SOC during a long visit to a Body Shop could definitely cause battery damage...

 

[dakaix]

This is exactly why I use Valet Mode anytime my car is out of my complete control. I limit the Speed 45 mph, and put it in Chill Mode.... Once you set these they cannot change it back. I make sure that they know this...

You have missed a very crucial detail - in Valet Mode access to the Frunk is prevented. That means that if your repair involves accessing that area, or removing the bumper, then you would be actively preventing them from working on your car.

 

[MikeHolliday]

You can leave the Truck unlatched, just make sure that they do not close it... If you are concerned about the draw of the battery simply remove the trunk light. I had a total PPL wrap of my Model Y. Can car was in Valet mode the entire time. I actually forgot to take it out of Valet Mode before leaving and found myself pulling off onto the highway shoulder to take it out of Valet Mode.

 

[NorfolkMustard]

Speed limit mode also puts the car in Chill, PIN needed to turn it off. That will leave the frunk able to be opened.

 

[UrbanSplash]

Thanks for all the responses everyone - I won't name and shame either the Insurance company or the Garage publicly, on the off chance something comes back to bite me, but given there are relatively few insurers in the UK who claim to have specialist Tesla policies, and most of them are rebrands of the same company, I'll let you guys try and figure it out.

The latest is that they called me today to close down my complaint after I sent them the full email trail of communication between me and the garage. I promptly refused to let them close the complaint, as there has been no resolution, reminded them that they are MY insurance company, supposed to act on MY behalf, and not protecting the garage.

I have now requested that the insurance company a) escalate the complaint b) remove the car from the garage by Friday this week c) move the car to a more local garage d) return the car to me, fully repaired and inspected by Tesla by Friday next week. I've also suggested that, since they chose this garage over one that would have been closer to my home, (most likely due to kickbacks in a contractual arrangement), and against my wishes, that I will hold not only the garage but the Insurance company liable for any battery damage that has occurred.

I also spoke to Tesla today again, to see what their view was on lead times for the parking sensor and wiring loom that are supposedly delivery date tbd, and they said there were no supply issues for parts in the UK that they were aware of, most things were being supplied from stock at the moment.

Needless to say, the car will be inspected with a fine tooth comb as and when it is returned to me, and any inkling of a blemish/imperfection/anything out of place, it will be returned to the insurance company to rectify.

what you have proposed here sounds spot on. Nice one.

 

[init6]

. I actually forgot to take it out of Valet Mode before leaving and found myself pulling off onto the highway shoulder to take it out of Valet Mode.

I did the same with the speed limiter. Bloody annoying when you just get on the motorway

 

[Sixer]

@ginger biker Have a read of my thread about getting crashed into. I too had the lack of parts excuse. There is a way round this. Essentially all parts come from the Netherlands (Tilberg if I remember correctly).

The garage repairer logs into a website portal and orders the parts directly. If there is no availability of a particular part in Tilberg, most garages accept the ETA TBC status and make you wait for the part. However, when I chatted to the SC about this and enquired if they had the parts they told me immediately which SCs were showing stock. They then advised that all the garage repairer has to do is escalate via email and indicate which SC has stock. Tilberg then inform the SC to supply directly to the garage repairer to fulfill the parts requirement. This may save you some time if you get stuck with parts availability.

 

[GRiLLA]

Repairers should put the car in service mode

I don't think they can, only Tesla get access to use service mode.