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Service Center won't/can't fix car [suspension - aftermarket suspension installed]

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So I noticed my front right lateral link was loose, which is a relatively common issue on Model 3 (tow truck driver even said "i had the same yesterday") and there was even a recall for it previously, and reached out to Tesla to get some help. I initially asked if they could send someone to quickly tighten it since it was a pretty simple problem, but they said that it required a shop visit since it was on the suspension and thus a tow. They told me to call roadside and they would be able to help me out, so i did.

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After towing the car to the service center, they noticed that i have aftermarket coilovers installed which is true and i offered to pay for these repairs since i understand my coilovers impact the warranty - even though this problem is seemingly common on M3. They then said they needed to keep the car for a while and after a few days told me they were waiting on a replacement part, sounds good.

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Well 2 weeks after initially calling them they finally call me and say "we can't fix this" which was fairly surprising. I even asked if they could install the stock components (coilovers, sway bar etc) while doing the work so NOTHING was aftermarket and they said no.

They suggested I call a collision center or other shop to work on the car and said they wouldn't work on it further. I'm now working with Unplugged Performance who is located a bit further away from me, but can hopefully address this problem since they are fairly capable and this should be fairly straightforward.

Morale of the story: Be very careful if you have aftermarket items installed on the car and do NOT expect Tesla service to bail you out in a jam. This is particularly scary for me since I am wondering what i would do if on a road trip and not near LA with a second vehicle available to drive. Previously i assumed i would just pay more and be OK, but it seems a flat out refusal to perform service is quite possible. I am heavily considering selling my car since my warranty period is almost up and I'm getting concerned with both reliability of the car and service's ability to be at all useful.
 
This is common practice with all cars. even if you offered to pay for the repair they will refuse it if it is complicated job, sad to say it but most technicians are trained to work on the cars via following steps (A to Z) and if you changed something they won't.

Just take the car to your local shop and let them fix what you want, if the issue is Tesla parts, you can contact Tesla and see if they can offer you a discounted price on that Tesla Part (80-20 they will say no as they can easily say the aftermarket part caused the issue but worth the try).
 
This is common practice with all cars. even if you offered to pay for the repair they will refuse it if it is complicated job, sad to say it but most technicians are trained to work on the cars via following steps (A to Z) and if you changed something they won't.

Well sure, but they did not need to touch any aftermarket parts to complete this repair - it was all tesla original items.

Anyway my car is now at a 3rd party shop and this should hopefully be resolved fairly easily.
 
It should always be a concern when putting in non factory parts during warranty period.

Might not be an issue. Could be. Never know until something comes up. Up to you if it’s worth the possible headache.
Had a bunch of mods on my Mustang and the dealer pretty much flagged me for any drivetrain warranty work for the rest of the warranty period. They also said as long as what I installed didn't cause the failure they will cover it.
 
Had a bunch of mods on my Mustang and the dealer pretty much flagged me for any drivetrain warranty work for the rest of the warranty period. They also said as long as what I installed didn't cause the failure they will cover it.

That's where it sounds like they're being very reasonable. But that last part gives them a potential out if it's questionable one way or the other.
 
Whoa, is this a common problem? Should I be checking these bolts or even retorquing them?

It seems relatively common, look on this forum for example. There was also a recall for these not being tightened properly at the factory and my tow truck driver said he had another person with the same thing the day before picking mine up, so take that how you will.

I am about to install aftermarket coilovers should I be worried about being flagged for suspension warranty or the SC decline to work on my car?

They used to be fairly reasonable, but it seems with how busy the SC's have become they are using any excuse to deny doing work and cut their backlog.
 
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Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have reached out to offer a hand. :rolleyes:

That really didn't seem like a genuine offer of support and instead seemed like an insinuation that the problem wasn't very severe - or was i reading that wrong? Also do you feel comfortable getting underneath the car to tighten such a bolt with only a jack? Personally I dont, but love to hear your answers to these thoughts.

Given that a torque wrench is the cheapest and most easily obtainable tool (of many required for this job) plus I've already stated that the car is being repaired, your comment really seemed like a backhanded offer of support which isn't very useful at this stage and doesn't add anything to the thread.
 
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That really didn't seem like a genuine offer of support and instead seemed like an insinuation that the problem wasn't very severe - or was i reading that wrong? Also do you feel comfortable getting underneath the car to tighten such a bolt with only a jack? Personally I dont, but love to hear your answers to these thoughts.

Given that a torque wrench is the cheapest and most easily obtainable tool (of many required for this job) plus I've already stated that the car is being repaired, your comment really seemed like a backhanded offer of support which isn't very useful at this stage and doesn't add anything to the thread.
Wow... I'm not going down this rabbit hole with you. Still it's amazing the negativity you ooze and all that you inferred from my offer to help you.
 
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Wow... I'm not going down this rabbit hole with you. Still it's amazing the negativity you ooze and all that you inferred from my offer to help you.
The negativity comes from others saying things like "torque it and move on" similar to your mention of borrowing a torque wrench.

If you genuinely were offering to help, my bad - but this job requires a bit more than a torque wrench, of which i have a few. Appreciate it though!
 
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Morale of the story: Be very careful if you have aftermarket items installed on the car and do NOT expect Tesla service to bail you out in a jam. This is particularly scary for me since I am wondering what i would do if on a road trip and not near LA with a second vehicle available to drive. Previously i assumed i would just pay more and be OK, but it seems a flat out refusal to perform service is quite possible. I am heavily considering selling my car since my warranty period is almost up and I'm getting concerned with both reliability of the car and service's ability to be at all useful.


This is my biggest problem with Tesla. There are a TON of modifications people would love to have on their cars from better suspension to Huds but they offer nothing. If you add something and something unreleated goes wrong then your modifications are going to be blamed and your warranty is gone . I have resigned myself to not touch the car unless I keep it beyond warranty or Tesla one day realizes that there is a goldmine in offering after factory upgrades.
 
I don't want to get in the middle of this, but what exactly was damaged? It the hole wallowed out? Did the sway bars or the coilovers more likely causing the problem (I have MPP Sports)?

Lol no worries and my bad for the extra drama, but essentially the bolt came loose and i've recently learned that turned into a bigger problem and may be why Tesla didn't want to repair the vehicle (it would have taken a while).

Quick background - these lateral links attach to the front subframe with 2x bolts on each side. The bolts are captured by nuts that are spot welded onto the upper surface of the sub-frame, so the sub-frame itself is just a basic weldment without a threaded hole. Somehow, one of these nuts on the sub-frame broke loose and now the bolt cannot be reinstalled.

Tesla claimed that since I had aftermarket coilovers (and other things like sway bars, links etc. - but NOT these lateral links) they would not be able to work on the car, even after i offered to pay and provide all OEM parts such that they could restore the car to original condition and not have to mess with aftermarket parts, but they declined.

It is definitely possible that the coilovers exacerbated this issue since the stiffer suspension would put more load into the lateral link bolts, so the main intent of this thread is to make people aware that even if you offer to pay and/or 'go back to stock' you could still be left up the creek without a paddle if relying on Tesla service center.

Car is currently at Unplugged Performance waiting for a replacement sub-frame and some surgery to fix, fun times.

TL;DR - If you have mods, probably get your suspension torqued every year, even if you aren't actively tracking it and be careful relying on Tesla for service (especially if on roadtrips)
 
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I was wondering about the sways, which I don't have, may have made it more likely. I know on my past car (ND MX-5 Club) there was lots of reports of suspension/subframe damage from them. Coilovers didn't seem to be an issue. Will add torquing them to my maintenance routine when I do wheel change over Spring and Fall. Hope they get you back on the road soon without too much damage to your wallet