Was driving home today and only going about 10 mph and the right front door popped open, anybody ever have this happen?
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Once, shortly later that door handle quit working and that handle was replaced. No problem since.
For people who are experiencing this or other legitimate safety defects (not user error), I would seriously file a safety complaint at Home | Safercar -- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Might be better to do it after the fix is, so that you know what they fixed.
kevincwelch
Active Member
It happened once to me about 1 month after ownership. It never happened again, but I did have another incident in which that same door handle extended, but the door couldn't be opened. The handle was replaced a few weeks ago. So, two problems in 4 months.
Since it was the passenger door I can't say for sure that it was closed properly. It popped open at about 5 mph. Stopped, closed it and did not think anything else about it.
Report this to Tesla service. They will pull the logs to check what happened, and in all likelihood will replace the door handle.
mknox
Well-Known Member
That's why I generally leave "Auto Present" off. I haven't (yet) had a door pop in that scenario, but I just don't like the wear-and-tear of the car coming to life and presenting the handles every time I go near it.
Interesting that I received two negative reputation points for this.
Please see NHTSA Safety Complaint - Page 3 and NHTSA Safety Complaint - Page 4 for more context.
FWIW, I am a Prius and Nissan fan (am interested in the Leaf, previously owned two Nissans) and I follow both Toyota and Nissan. Even I will tell folks on Priuschat and Mynissanleaf (active on both) that if they encounter a legitimate safety defect, they should report it to NHTSA.
Think about it. If enough people report legitimate safety defects, if there's found to be a defective part, manufacturing process issue, systematic issue, design flaw, etc. that could eventually cause a recall that could prevent accidents, injuries or deaths. Wouldn't that be worth it? It would HELP ALL of you Tesla owners. It might help YOU from getting into an accident, being injured or dying.
I understand that some folks perhaps don't want there to be a recall because of the potential bad PR, but seriously, recalls happen all that time affecting all automakers. I'm not rooting for Tesla to fail. I want them to succeed. For the two who "disapproved", please look past your myopic views and think about the bigger picture. Maybe look over Motor Vehicle Defects and Safety Recalls: What Every Vehicle Owner Should Know | Safercar.gov | NHTSA .
If you've seen enough documentation related to recalls (exchanged between the automaker and NHTSA), you'll see the field reports are important and sometimes the fact that safety defects were reported to NHTSA are sometimes important too.
I've attached an example of a Prius recall (that affected me) which began w/a field report of a failure. I attached another for a fuel hose recall that also affected me and my former car (a 350Z). I don't know the channel, but they did say Nissan received reports of the malfunction indicator light (MIL) coming on due to cracks in the fuel filler hose.
If NOBODY reported legitimate safety defects to NHTSA, think about the car world we would live in.
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So you are saying that car makers only do the right thing because the government tells them to?
What about the times when the government forces a recall and its not needed (ie Toyota stuck accelerator)?
I believe you tell the automaker first. Not the government. It's in Teslas best interest do address problems. Getting a stupid bureaucrat involved will only increase the costs for all of us.
I put my trust in the free market any day before I trust the government.
What about the times when the government forces a recall and its not needed (ie Toyota stuck accelerator)?
I believe you tell the automaker first. Not the government. It's in Teslas best interest do address problems. Getting a stupid bureaucrat involved will only increase the costs for all of us.
I put my trust in the free market any day before I trust the government.
Per Toyota Motor Corp. Will Pay $32.425 Million in Civil Penalties as Result of Two Department of Transportation Investigations | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
If Tesla doesn't do what I quoted, they are breaking the law.
If they or any other automaker doesn't think it's "serious" or whatever (so that it's never reported by the automaker to NHTSA nor is a thorough internal investigation conducted), then what? I'm not saying they'd do this to hide things but people sometimes just don't put two and two together.
Toyota apparently made multiple mistakes originally in the handling of the sticky accelerators, which were eventually recalled and deemed to be a safety issue.
There were cases of accelerator pedal entrapment caused by floor mats, in some cases, the wrong ones in a vehicle, that supposedly caused the death of Officer Saylor and his family when he received a loaner Lexus (http://www.safetyresearch.net/Library/NHTSA_Santee_Inspect.pdf).
Toyota also trimmed accelerator pedals on some cars to prevent entrapment (they did on mine) and replaced floor mats (presumably w/one less likely to entrap). I don't have the latter since I declined Toyota's mats when I bought my car.
Notice that after the whole PR debacle and all the fixes we're not hearing any more of this? Seems like the fixes did something.
Sure, tell the automaker (those here who are experiencing the issue will have to anyway), but if it's a legitimate safety defect, I would also file a safety complaint w/NHTSA. Notice I suggested doing so after the fix, so that the fix is known?
If Tesla doesn't do what I quoted, they are breaking the law.
If they or any other automaker doesn't think it's "serious" or whatever (so that it's never reported by the automaker to NHTSA nor is a thorough internal investigation conducted), then what? I'm not saying they'd do this to hide things but people sometimes just don't put two and two together.
Toyota apparently made multiple mistakes originally in the handling of the sticky accelerators, which were eventually recalled and deemed to be a safety issue.
Really? Not needed? Let's see, CTS made accelerator pedals (Denso And Cts Gas Pedals Compared | The Truth About Cars) were known to stick in certain cases. See http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/04/08/tq10-002.chronology.3.24.10.pdf and http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/jaxrs/download/doc/ACM13367826/RCDNN-10V017-4033.pdf for more details. If you want to see the other documents associated w/these recalls (there are more than 50), look up NHTSA campaign # 10V036000 and 10V017000 via safercar.gov. Article at Design News - News - Poor Plastic Selection Caused Gas Pedal Failures
There were cases of accelerator pedal entrapment caused by floor mats, in some cases, the wrong ones in a vehicle, that supposedly caused the death of Officer Saylor and his family when he received a loaner Lexus (http://www.safetyresearch.net/Library/NHTSA_Santee_Inspect.pdf).
Toyota also trimmed accelerator pedals on some cars to prevent entrapment (they did on mine) and replaced floor mats (presumably w/one less likely to entrap). I don't have the latter since I declined Toyota's mats when I bought my car.
Notice that after the whole PR debacle and all the fixes we're not hearing any more of this? Seems like the fixes did something.
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ToddRLockwood
Active Member
When a Tesla Ranger removed a door handle unit from my car, I took a close look at it. (Sorry, forgot to take photos.) My car, built in Feb 2013, has the original handle design. I believe it uses a hall-effect switch to trigger the door latch. This type of switch has two halves which are brought together to close the switch. It's operates using proximity effect. In the original door handle unit, these two halves are located quite close together while in the rest position. Accordingly, the design requires very accurate manufacturing tolerances to prevent these false trigger events. I presume that the newer version of the handle locates the two halves of the switch farther apart while in the rest position. Apparently, there are other changes to the new version of the door handle which prevent cars with the original version from upgrading to it.
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Thumper
Active Member
My experience is that older cars can be easily upgraded to the new door handle mechanism. My left rear door became inoperable and it was changed out for the new style. I now have three original door handles and one new one. They seem to be happy functioning on the same vehicle.
ToddRLockwood
Active Member
Good to know. It just goes to show that you can't take everything you hear from a Tesla ranger as gospel. When you think about it, this incompatibility story probably came from headquarters. Understandably, Tesla doesn't want to have thousands of owners requesting preemptive door handle upgrades when the problem is relatively rare and is usually fixed with a simple replacement.
Same experience here. My front passenger door was defective so the service center decided to replace all of the door handles with the new style.
ModelS1079
Member
mknox
Well-Known Member
Is it rare, though? I haven't yet talked to anyone with the Gen 1 handles that hasn't had some sort of problem or anomaly.
Had my Passenger Side front door mechanism replaced almost 6 months ago for spontaneous opening. No issues until this past week and my Driver's side Rear door started spontanously opening (2 times this week) each time while the car was in motion at low speed. sent an email to my service guy.
mknox
Well-Known Member
This concerns me more than doors popping open when the handles extend. I think I understand the problem that is happening when the handle extends, but what could cause the door to unlatch when you're just driving along???
