Rich Rebuilds Electrified Garage repairs Model 3 at $15K+ discount

[stopcrazypp]

NO THEY CAN'T. If you use an incorrect part, like the wrong weight motor oil AND they have proof that it causes the damage in question, then they can void the part of the warranty caused by that improper part. THEY CANNOT BLANKET CLAIM YOUR NON-TELSA PARTS OR REPAIR VOIDS YOUR WARRANTY.

Not sure why the all caps. I agree they can't blanket void the whole car warranty (although manufacturers/dealers might try as per other response).

However, they can certainly void the part the fix affects when if any problem happens with it. If for example that battery pack started having problems, the first thing they will point to is this unauthorized fix. They don't really need to "have proof" that's the problem either. They will just say that's the problem and you will have to fight them in court about it (which many people don't take to that step).

 

[Young_0z]

There's been some attention from the media (and RR) being dedicated to this story of a guy getting a $16,000 repair bill to do $700 job:

Tesla Quotes $16,000 To Repair Model 3, Independent Shop Did It For $700

A minor bit of damage can have wildly expensive consequences if parts aren't designed with repair in mind

jalopnik.com

Well, that's just outright BS. Maybe a tech a Tesla messed up?

The only reason I know is because I recently had this exact issue occur on my car. Front coolant hose (return line) was broken on a peice of debris as I was parking in a dirt parking lot. My quote to drop the battery? $1000. Hose? $15. I can supply my invoice as proof, along with the pictures that the tech took that showcase how identical my issue was to this YouTube guy.

I'm just saying that take this story with a big old grain of salt. I think RR is using it as a marketing opportunity, and that the media is running away with it because the love to showcase how Tesla isn't "that good".

I'll try to upload my picture when I get home (at work right now but can't not let the community know about this story being fishy).

Can't wait. Your situation might remedy this whole thing.

 

[bjrosen]

1. If you have a modification that Tesla claims is causing a problem they can't void your warranty. The smart thing would be to reverse the modification so Telsa can't claim that modification is causing the problem. It's definitely cheaper than going to court.
2. Yes, it doesn't matter if you're right. It depends on who a jury believes. Just like everything else that goes to court. A lawyer is not going to take some absurd case where a person did something that obviously caused damage. This particular case? Yeah, an attorney would LOVE to shame Telsa over screwing this guy over if they tried to claim his car's warranty is now void because a MECHANIC fixed the cooling system.

There is no jury in these cases, it's handled by arbitration. Every car manufacturer has an arbitration clause in the contract that precludes taking them to court. You will still have to hire a lawyer and I doubt that any lawyer would take this case on a contingency fee basis because the chances of winning are so low and there isn't any upside in a warranty case. Unless Tesla decides to be nice to the guy when he returns the car he's going to be out the $16K.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

I have a feeling Tesla won't have any problem figuring out who Donald is.

YouTuber Fixes Tesla for $700 After $16,000 Repair Quote From Company

The video on Rich Rebuilds showed the seemingly simple job, which was completed for a fraction of the amount quoted by Elon Musk's electric car company.

www.newsweek.com

 

[jjrandorin]

I have a feeling Tesla won't have any problem figuring out who Donald is.

YouTuber Fixes Tesla for $700 After $16,000 Repair Quote From Company

The video on Rich Rebuilds showed the seemingly simple job, which was completed for a fraction of the amount quoted by Elon Musk's electric car company.

www.newsweek.com

I said near the beginning of this thread that I thought it was stupid for the creator of the video to do so, given the "supposed" circumstances around this (leased car). I still can not understand how in the world anyone who ever leased a car would ever "make a mistake" and omit comprehensive coverage from a leased vehicle.

People are burying the leade on that portion of it. "making a mistake" on proper insurance on a leased vehicle seems very difficult to do, so this makes this feel staged to me.

 

[zhu-]

There's really no reason to not have comprehensive coverage. I think mine is a $200 deductible and the cost increase to each 6 month cycle isn't even $100.

 

[DrLOAC]

So I see a number of issues here:

• Guy managed to accidentally drop comprehensive coverage - large portion of the responsibility is on the leasee here.
• Tesla didin't know the guy managed to drop coverage on their car - that's on Tesla - they have a hole somewhere in their process that opens them up to financial risk - if they had caught it everyone would have been happier
• A piece of road debris was able to punch a hole in the undercarriage and damage the battery. Does the model 3 not have the undercarriage metal plate they added to the S? The video shows no front motor so this was probably an SR+ - a motor would have deflected the debris - either way a more substantial skid plate would have protected the battery pack - this is a risk all of us with Model 3's are apparently living with
• Damage to a small plastic part requires an official fix of $16,000. - another risk we are all living with (or our insurance companies)

This video does bring home one thing, Tesla needs to develop a set of in house procedures on how to fix problems like this that don't require full battery replacement. Batteries are in short supply anyway and as the video shows a simple and inexpensive fix can make the car functional again. Yes there would need to be some verifications done to prove the fix is compatible with remaining lifetime of the battery.

Quite frankly most other car manufacturers put together service bulletins and procedures to fix issues like this that don't require replacing or rebuilding substantial parts of the car unless absolutely required.

I suspect some of this just growing pains on Tesla's part but I hope they start trying to bring down the costs of repairs on these cars. It'll save us money and time, it'll save their service centers time and money, and it'll take away one of the remaining negative talking points about EV's.

 

[zhu-]

So I see a number of issues here:

• Guy managed to accidentally drop comprehensive coverage - large portion of the responsibility is on the leasee here.
• Tesla didin't know the guy managed to drop coverage on their car - that's on Tesla - they have a hole somewhere in their process that opens them up to financial risk - if they had caught it everyone would have been happier
• A piece of road debris was able to punch a hole in the undercarriage and damage the battery. Does the model 3 not have the undercarriage metal plate they added to the S? The video shows no front motor so this was probably an SR+ - a motor would have deflected the debris - either way a more substantial skid plate would have protected the battery pack - this is a risk all of us with Model 3's are apparently living with
• Damage to a small plastic part requires an official fix of $16,000. - another risk we are all living with (or our insurance companies)

Coverage risk is common for all types of car or apartment leases. If you cancel or change the policy right after they check they usually won't have any idea.

The metal plate undercarriage is only for the battery, this was just in front of that which only had a soft cover.

Another insurance risk is if more people make these $16k claims the premiums may go up for everyone else.

 

[DrLOAC]

Coverage risk is common for all types of car or apartment leases. If you cancel or change the policy right after they check they usually won't have any idea.

The metal plate undercarriage is only for the battery, this was just in front of that which only had a soft cover.

Another insurance risk is if more people make these $16k claims the premiums may go up for everyone else.

Good points.

On the first point, I live on the Gulf Coast and somehow or another my mortgage lender gets notified everytime my windstorm insurance comes up for renewal at which point they threaten me with buying their own coverage and charging me. I may have erroneously assumed there was a method to inform the lease holder when the insurance changes.

I think the fact the front of the battery isn't (as) protected is room for a design improvement.

Agreed on the third point.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Good points.

On the first point, I live on the Gulf Coast and somehow or another my mortgage lender gets notified everytime my windstorm insurance comes up for renewal at which point they threaten me with buying their own coverage and charging me. I may have erroneously assumed there was a method to inform the lease holder when the insurance changes.

I think the fact the front of the battery isn't (as) protected is room for a design improvement.

Agreed on the third point.

There is, usually they are set as a party to notify also if there is any change to coverage (usually for cancellations). However, that is usually in a form of a letter that may not necessarily come immediately (or be received/processed immediately), so it's very easy for things to slip during that period. Also for something like this (where only a subset of the policy was changed), there might not be a special notification, or it may seem very much like a normal renewal (which whoever received may not necessarily look over in detail; the removal may not be highlighted).

 

[TLLMRRJ]

I still can not understand how in the world anyone who ever leased a car would ever "make a mistake" and omit comprehensive coverage from a leased vehicle.

I am going to go ahead and do the currently very unpopular thing to do and profile the guy based on where he lives, what he does for a living, and the things he said in the video (ex, I thought about leaving the car at Tesla and walking away from the lease) to claim that he very intentionally dropped full coverage on his car to save some money and got burned. And then lied about it.

 

[Dolemite]

Another insurance risk is if more people make these $16k claims the premiums may go up for everyone else.

Yes. Pointless PITA.

There is, usually they are set as a party to notify also if there is any change to coverage (usually for cancellations). However, that is usually in a form of a letter that may not necessarily come immediately (or be received/processed immediately), so it's very easy for things to slip during that period. Also for something like this (where only a subset of the policy was changed), there might not be a special notification, or it may seem very much like a normal renewal (which whoever received may not necessarily look over in detail; the removal may not be highlighted).

When I was buying my car, they didn't even know their own financing terms. It took me 25+ mins to convince the "management" that yes, this is indeed what Tesla is offering.

I am going to go ahead and do the currently very unpopular thing to do and profile the guy based on where he lives, what he does for a living, and the things he said in the video (ex, I thought about leaving the car at Tesla and walking away from the lease) to claim that he very intentionally dropped full coverage on his car to save some money and got burned. And then lied about it.

I got a whiff of that, also... Although, in a situation like that, I think we'd all be tempted to drive the car off a bridge.

I do think this highlights the importance of right to repair - I didn't intend for the guy to become the main focus. It's ridiculous that if this happens to any of us, the only "legitimate" recourse is to shell out $16K to replace the entire pack (insurance or not) or void the warranty.

 

[wooter]

I do think this highlights the importance of right to repair

I think it doesn't.

If the car is yours, and out of warranty, you can do whatever you want with it.

But if the bank owns it, and you're planning on claiming warranty in the future, you as a client would need to understand the difference between a hack, and supported service instructions.

So, in that sense, I understand not all Tesla techs at service centers are authorised to disassemble a battery pack for obvious reasons.

Without a core charge, Tesla should have given the faulty battery pack to the owner, but who's the owner if the guy is leasing?

In the end the solution is a hack. It's a decent hack, but it's a hack, and although its a low pressure connection there's still a point to be made that the connection is now smaller and therefore allows for less coolant than before.

 

[Dolemite]

I think it doesn't.

If the car is yours, and out of warranty, you can do whatever you want with it.

But if the bank owns it, and you're planning on claiming warranty in the future, you as a client would need to understand the difference between a hack, and supported service instructions.

So, in that sense, I understand not all Tesla techs at service centers are authorised to disassemble a battery pack for obvious reasons.

Without a core charge, Tesla should have given the faulty battery pack to the owner, but who's the owner if the guy is leasing?

In the end the solution is a hack. It's a decent hack, but it's a hack, and although its a low pressure connection there's still a point to be made that the connection is now smaller and therefore allows for less coolant than before.

Don't you think that if Tesla allowed more third party service into the fold, it would be better for the owner community overall? And prices would come down and service quality would improve?

 

[CertLive]

So you pay $16000 for the fix and you are not allowed to keep the old battery….. that is insane. I couldn't own one of these out of warranty.

 

[RobDickinson]

So you pay $16000 for the fix and you are not allowed to keep the old battery….. that is insane. I couldn't own one of these out of warranty.

You could likely pay more and keep the battery, it might even be worth it depending on the cost and resale of battery modules etc.

In reality out of warranty you will replace with a salvaged battery or something rather than a 1str party replacement.

 

[CertLive]

You could likely pay more and keep the battery, it might even be worth it depending on the cost and resale of battery modules etc.

In reality out of warranty you will replace with a salvaged battery or something rather than a 1str party replacement.

But is that regulated in a way I could tell the condition of the part? If not expensive shot in the dark.

 

[RobDickinson]

You should be able to get the SOH from the pack BMS

Like replacing an engine with a salvaged one it has less provenance than a brand new factory replacement part.

 

[DaveRZ]

On the topic of insurance, isn't hitting something on the road (pothole, debris, etc...) covered under COLLISION, not comprehensive? Isn't comprehensive for all the "other stuff", like fire, burglary, theft, or a tree branch falling and hitting your car, lighting strikes, hail, etc...

 

[wooter]

Don't you think that if Tesla allowed more third party service into the fold, it would be better for the owner community overall?

But they did, no? The problem was fixed by a 3rd party.

The issue here is that the unauthorised fix was done on a car that's not owned by the driver.