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HillCountryFun
Member
Lajolla, I recommend you describe your situation to:
JEROME GUILLEN
Please forgive me if you did this already and I missed it in this thread.
Jerome is outstanding and he will get to the root cause of the issue as well as making sure you receive satisfaction. I'm sorry I don't have his email/written address.
Good luck!!
JEROME GUILLEN
VICE PRESIDENT, WORLD WIDE SALES AND SERVICE
Please forgive me if you did this already and I missed it in this thread. Jerome is outstanding and he will get to the root cause of the issue as well as making sure you receive satisfaction. I'm sorry I don't have his email/written address.
Good luck!!
I would not think they need to be in there either. Hopefully 6.0 will include valet mode which should prevent access to the frunk and glove box, as well as lock out setting changes and limit speed.
I really just don't trust Valets. I use them as little as possible.
dsm363, in answer to your question about why a valet would open the frunk, I will repeat to you what the Tesla-authorized body shop expert told me yesterday: He has seen a large number of Tesla frunk creases in his market area, and many were caused by a valet mistakenly pressing the front of the fob rather than the roof of the fob when opening or locking the car -- resulting in the inadvertent opening of the frunk.
The Tesla body shop expert told me that, unless I was prepared to ensure that no one else ever closed the frunk in the future, my $2,000-plus repair to the frunk this time is likely to be wasted since, chances are, the crease will recur in the future when someone without knowledge of the Tesla specialized frunk-closing training closes the frunk.
Again, not to belabor the point, but this is a $120,000 vehicle with a fundamental design flaw that has apparently existed from Day One and that no one has bothered to address -- despite the fact that the flaw has marred the vehicles of hundreds and hundreds of owners.
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Thanks so much, HillCountryFun. I really appreciate your thoughtful suggestion. I will track down Mr. Guillen's contact information and respectfully present the situation to him. Thank you again for the suggestion.
The Tesla body shop expert told me that, unless I was prepared to ensure that no one else ever closed the frunk in the future, my $2,000-plus repair to the frunk this time is likely to be wasted since, chances are, the crease will recur in the future when someone without knowledge of the Tesla specialized frunk-closing training closes the frunk.
Again, not to belabor the point, but this is a $120,000 vehicle with a fundamental design flaw that has apparently existed from Day One and that no one has bothered to address -- despite the fact that the flaw has marred the vehicles of hundreds and hundreds of owners.
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Thanks so much, HillCountryFun. I really appreciate your thoughtful suggestion. I will track down Mr. Guillen's contact information and respectfully present the situation to him. Thank you again for the suggestion.
Gizmotoy
Active Member
Presumably any real fix will require stamping changes involving what is likely to be substantial retooling cost, especially for a part of this size.
It should be fixed, but it's certainly not a cheap/easy fix.
To be fair, though, how many "relatively minor issues" are owners going to have to tolerate before becoming disillusioned with such a major purchase? Every time someone discusses an issue with the car, others quickly point out how minor it is. Death by a thousand cuts is still no fun. A frunk hood is basic. Engine hoods have been manufactured for 100 years. Yet somehow Tesla managed to screw theirs up. The fact that Tesla hasn't stepped up to address this issue - which is all over the place, so not isolated - tells me that it would be cost prohibitive for Tesla to do so. In other words, count on requiring a full hood replacement.
Should closing the front hood require a replacement after every X number of closings? That's a pretty obvious (and lame) design issue that Tesla should address. While I have not experienced this issue, knock wood, I am sympathetic to those who have. I find Tesla's response to this issue sorely lacking.
LaJolla, you should send your thoughts up the chain to Jerome Guillen and see if you can find some resolution - not just for yourself, but everyone else. You can also tweet Elon Musk on Twitter, which I hope Elon would find an embarrassment to see in his Twitter feed. So far, however, I have not heard of anyone taking the proper steps to escalate the issue to a level where it will get executive attention.
Gizmotoy
Active Member
I agree on pretty much all points. However, as noted, while my frunk is damaged, but I don't think I've been "suckered into" the purchase. That implies some amount of deception, which is all I was disagreeing with.
I'm about as pro "fix this stupid issue" as you can get, and it's absolutely embarrassing to insist on closing the frunk myself with other people around because they'll likely damage it without frunk closing training. And then despite that care, find myself likely damaging it anyway. Not acceptable, and I've formally written Tesla as such myself.
I was pretty much told the exact same thing. I have chosen not to do mine at this time for this reason. If we get the ability to "lock" the frunk or a fix actually becomes available, I would get this repair done right away.
It would only make me more mad to pay to have it fixed and it happen again.
William13
Active Member
I will admit that I have caused a crease that is barely noticeable in my frunk by waxing too vigorously. 
Three points: 1) Tesla has already changed the design from Signiture days where paint less dent repair won't work to a design that restricts access to one which is hard but possible. 2) The hood was designed soft for pedestrian safety. Obviously too soft. 3) Tesla can make a minor change in the latch spreading forces out which could prevent this. Similarly they could move the break pedal slightly, but these things cost money and even Tesla is afraid of lawyers saying "obviously defective product since they changed x".
Three points: 1) Tesla has already changed the design from Signiture days where paint less dent repair won't work to a design that restricts access to one which is hard but possible. 2) The hood was designed soft for pedestrian safety. Obviously too soft. 3) Tesla can make a minor change in the latch spreading forces out which could prevent this. Similarly they could move the break pedal slightly, but these things cost money and even Tesla is afraid of lawyers saying "obviously defective product since they changed x".
William13, thanks for your information...very helpful. Despite Tesla's efforts to make paint-less dent repair possible, I've now been told by four separate dent repair guys, including ones recommended by Tesla, that they have all seen many, many of these creases and that paint-less repairs are seldom possible. In fact, some say that attempts at such paint-less repairs will make the damage worse.
Hence my visit to the Tesla-recommended body shop, where I received both a hefty hood repair estimate and the advice that it didn't make much sense to do the repair unless I could ensure that for as long as I own the car that no one else would close the frunk -- because, if I wasn't able to ensure that, then the likelihood of the damage recurring was very high. Not the greatest answer, but at least the body shop expert was straightforward about this issue.
Hence my visit to the Tesla-recommended body shop, where I received both a hefty hood repair estimate and the advice that it didn't make much sense to do the repair unless I could ensure that for as long as I own the car that no one else would close the frunk -- because, if I wasn't able to ensure that, then the likelihood of the damage recurring was very high. Not the greatest answer, but at least the body shop expert was straightforward about this issue.
Vger
Active Member
I must be really lucky! After reading all these horror stories, I had to go out and check my 18-month old Signature for frunk damage. Nothing!
Whew, now I can sleep another night!
Whew, now I can sleep another night!
I have not yet experienced the issue, but am now very hesitant to use the Frunk because of all of the reported issues. For a moment let's set aside Tesla fixing this in some way (which they should do). In anyone's discussion with body shops or paintless dent repair, have any of them indicated, or anyone on the forum self investigated, what a DIY preventative fix might look like? A small wedge of solder, a wood shim, or a firm caulking compound inserted into the gap under where the crease is likely to occur? This may give the thin skin some additional structural rigidity. It may not solve the problem completely, but may lessen the likelihood of occurrence? If the fix was that simple I'm sure Tesla would have implemented it, but trying to come up with some creative solution to reduce the occurrence ahead of time.
I have yet to see a good picture of where the creases occur. I don't need a picture of the crease, but if someone takes a hood shot top and from underneath and circles the at risk areas I can take a look this weekend on what options might exist to improve the structural integrity of the area.
I have yet to see a good picture of where the creases occur. I don't need a picture of the crease, but if someone takes a hood shot top and from underneath and circles the at risk areas I can take a look this weekend on what options might exist to improve the structural integrity of the area.
As others have stated, many repair shops have openly admitted there is no "fix". If someone untrained in the delicate nature of closing the hood works on your car, there will be a very high likely hood of it happening again. That means car detailers, valets, even Tesla technicians themselves.
I have put off the repair until an alternate closing method becomes available....or it gets much worse. Barring a hood redesign, a self closing latch assembly would be a good compromise.
Clarification on my question. I was looking for a preventative fix. Something one can do before the crease appears by strengthening the area ourselves and making it less susceptible to the issue.
See my first post here to see where the crease is in relation to the front "T"
Frunk Dent (Frustrating...)
William13
Active Member
@vger, you may have a crease and not know it. I seldom see my crease. I look long and hard and then only in special lighting conditions see my crease.
Greetings. I am the originator of this thread, and several of you have been kind enough and concerned enough to email me to ask me if I received any help from Tesla. The answer, unfortunately, is no. It appears that all of us frunk creasers -- and, from all of the forum threads and anecdotal evidence -- there are many, many of us, are on our own. We have apparently purchased a car where simply closing the hood in anything less than an exactly precise way can create $2,000 worth of body repair work. I have warned several of my friends about this, who were on the brink of Tesla Model S purchase and Model X owner, and they've moved on to more crease-resistent options. I wish someone had warned me! Live and learn!
philgrocks
Member
It is too bad that Tesla didn't do the right thing. Based on your post:
1) I don't use the frunk
2) I ensure that after service there is no damage
1) I don't use the frunk
2) I ensure that after service there is no damage
