Salvage Car Owners Support Group.

[goodbadboys9]

Yes, you enable "tow mode" in the menu. If the car doesn't have power, you can "jump start" it. What do they mean by "disabling" it? Are they deactivating the pyrofuse? It can be reset, if not fired.

Thanks for your response & body shop isn't forthcoming on the response. They are saying they will disable it through software(I dont think it is even possible to disable complete car through software).

If they disable it through pyrofuse .How can I reset it?

 

[M0rpH3x]

In theory, there is small blue tab that pops out. You push that in and you're good. Said that, I've never seen a pyro that could be reset that way, but all of them were disables in a crash.

 

[M0rpH3x]

I don't think they can disable the car via software (at least legally). But if this is an official body shop, they will disable supercharging. Time to root.

 

[goodbadboys9]

In theory, there is small blue tab that pops out. You push that in and you're good. Said that, I've never seen a pyro that could be reset that way, but all of them were disables in a crash.

Thank you.This car was running & driving when went to bodyshop & previous owner drove it to the shop(he used it couple of days before bringing it to the shop) but when he wants to get the car back Tesla body shop told him they will disable the car & they need to do it as part of Tesla's instructions. I am not sure if they will disable supercharging for the car yet.

 

[ArizonaP85]

Thank you.This car was running & driving when went to bodyshop & previous owner drove it to the shop(he used it couple of days before bringing it to the shop) but when he wants to get the car back Tesla body shop told him they will disable the car & they need to do it as part of Tesla's instructions. I am not sure if they will disable supercharging for the car yet.

Are you intending to buy the car from the owner or the insurance company? If you buy it from the owner then it should not have a salvage title. Also, you should get the owner to insist that the body shop return it to him (you) as they found it.
The current owner has a contract with the body shop; Tesla is not part of that contract so it should not be able to tell the body shop to do anything and certainly not to “disable” anything. Current owner could ask the body shop, “who is paying you? Me or Tesla? Who is your contract with, me or Tesla? Who will have the right to sue you if you damage their property, me or Tesla?” That might help them understand their problem if they follow Tesla’s supposed instructions.
That said, I’ve never heard of anything like this so I wonder if this body shop is just trying to scare you off/drive down the sale price so they can buy it on the cheap.
Typically salvage cars are paid off by the insurance company and sold through a salvage auction like Copart or IAA. If the owner was at fault and didn’t have collision insurance then he can sell it however he likes, even as is, where is at a body shop.

 

[goodbadboys9]

Are you intending to buy the car from the owner or the insurance company? If you buy it from the owner then it should not have a salvage title. Also, you should get the owner to insist that the body shop return it to him (you) as they found it.
The current owner has a contract with the body shop; Tesla is not part of that contract so it should not be able to tell the body shop to do anything and certainly not to “disable” anything. Current owner could ask the body shop, “who is paying you? Me or Tesla? Who is your contract with, me or Tesla? Who will have the right to sue you if you damage their property, me or Tesla?” That might help them understand their problem if they follow Tesla’s supposed instructions.
That said, I’ve never heard of anything like this so I wonder if this body shop is just trying to scare you off/drive down the sale price so they can buy it on the cheap.
Typically salvage cars are paid off by the insurance company and sold through a salvage auction like Copart or IAA. If the owner was at fault and didn’t have collision insurance then he can sell it however he likes, even as is, where is at a body shop.

Thanks for your response.

I am trying to buy the car from owner so it wont be salvage car(Insurance declared it total loss).Crappy thing is they don't even want to put it in tow mode & It is getting hard to find transporter to move the car.
Previous owner tried very hard to convince the body shop to let the car run but the body shop isn't budging at all & they are saying if they let the car drive out of facility they might lose there accreditation with Tesla(It sounds stupid & baloney)
Car was paid off by the insurance company & I am buying the car from him for little more than his buyback price

 

[MP3Mike]

I am trying to buy the car from owner so it wont be salvage car(Insurance declared it total loss).

Car was paid off by the insurance company & I am buying the car from him for little more than his buyback price

There is nothing the owner can do to prevent it from being flagged as salvage if the insurance company declared it a loss and paid it off. The original owner is buying it back from the insurance company as a salvage vehicle.

So be prepared to have no warranty or Supercharging. (Very few Model 3s have reported having Supercharger access turned off, but it has happened.)

 

[goodbadboys9]

There is nothing the owner can do to prevent it from being flagged as salvage if the insurance company declared it a loss and paid it off. The original owner is buying it back from the insurance company as a salvage vehicle.

So be prepared to have no warranty or Supercharging. (Very few Model 3s have reported having Supercharger access turned off, but it has happened.)

I am not concerned much about it being salvage as this is 2013 car & it has no warranty. Only thing surprised me is body shop disabling perfectly running car & wont even leave it in tow mode.

I might occasionally need supercharging will root it based on usage.

 

[ArizonaP85]

I am not concerned much about it being salvage as this is 2013 car & it has no warranty. Only thing surprised me is body shop disabling perfectly running car & wont even leave it in tow mode.

I might occasionally need supercharging will root it based on usage.

I retract most everything I wrote before. Short version is you’re SOL. You may be buying from owner but only AFTER he sold to insurance company and then he bought back from insurance company. So he, and you, have no real leverage. Insurance company won’t care or help you. Any extra effort on their part and it’s just easier to have Copart or IAA pick it up and auction it.
Hopefully things have changed but last I heard was that Tesla will disable all DC fast charging, not just Supercharging, when they learn it has a salvage title. Read up & think carefully before you buy this car. Good luck!

 

[M0rpH3x]

but when he wants to get the car back Tesla body shop told him they will disable the car & they need to do it as part of Tesla's instructions.

My bullshit detector is going of scale. Why on earth they have to do that. Anyway, I'm 99% sure it won't be anything irreversible. But bring 12V power, just in case.

 

[M0rpH3x]

Update on suspension: I removed rear wheel and found the sensor bracket bent. After straightening it, the car leveled like a champ! But there was no way I could adjust the screw (there was no need anyway). Thanks to @rooter for the insight.

Curiously, the sensor on the other side was ok. So what was the car doing, calculating an average of both rear sensors? Because the rear was level, but was lower than the front.

 

[M0rpH3x]

By the way, after fixing the bracket, found a black MCU. First warning. Time to replace the eMMC...

 

[goodbadboys9]

My bullshit detector is going of scale. Why on earth they have to do that. Anyway, I'm 99% sure it won't be anything irreversible. But bring 12V power, just in case.

Exactly. It is causing lot of headache to move the car & they don't even want to leave it in tow mode .They are suggesting to drag the car on to the car haulers which is as stupid as it sounds.

 

[Cyp896]

Hi All. I am trying to upgrade firmware of my car as I am still running 18.1 and I would like to refresh the soft a little bit. As my car has salvage title, Tesla Service is not very helpful.

Therefore, I planned to play it by myself.
As I understood, I have to go through sequential update through 18.26, later 18.50 (18.28.5?) and finally 20.4.
Am I correct?

 

[M0rpH3x]

Hi All. I am trying to upgrade firmware of my car as I am still running 18.1 and I would like to refresh the soft a little bit. As my car has salvage title, Tesla Service is not very helpful.

Therefore, I planned to play it by myself.
As I understood, I have to go through sequential update through 18.26, later 18.50 (18.28.5?) and finally 20.4.
Am I correct?

I have a salvage title, but receive OTA updates. Don't you get those? Might it be that your firmware is too old, before the transition to Hermes?

 

[gwxfer]

Hi All. I am trying to upgrade firmware of my car as I am still running 18.1 and I would like to refresh the soft a little bit. As my car has salvage title, Tesla Service is not very helpful.

Therefore, I planned to play it by myself.
As I understood, I have to go through sequential update through 18.26, later 18.50 (18.28.5?) and finally 20.4.
Am I correct?

What version you have now? If you have at least 2018.24-36 you can install 2020.4 straight

 

[M0rpH3x]

@gwxfer Suggesting name. Do you have some tricks for gw access?

 

[gwxfer]

@gwxfer Suggesting name. Do you have some tricks for gw access?

Yes

 

[rooter]

Yup, it's a secret.

 

[Cyp896]

What version you have now? If you have at least 2018.24-36 you can install 2020.4 straight

Hi. Unfortunaly I have 2017.32.6 :-(
Not connecting to Tesla servers at all (host unknown message display on watch on cid-upd).