Suspension Problem on Model S # ? - my story

[RamboobmaR]

Hi I'm the proud owner of a P85D. 88k miles. Without any provocation, I suffered the very frightening rear control arm snap and had the car flat-bedded to the local service center where they drew up an estimate for $5500. I was going to sell it for a MX, but now I can't even do that as my car is effectively quarantined because...

Apparently when the Control Arm snapped it took out a bunch of other stuff like air shocks and other suspension things. Of course my Vin number was outside of the service bulletin so they are doing Nothing to help me out.

The car has been at the service center since to March 27 flat-bed dropped it off. As of today, it's still sitting in the parking lot Still untouched and unmoved. I had asked the service advisor to at least put a charge on it "while we wait for parts" because I had read in the manual in several locations that allowing the battery to fully discharge is very bad for it and could even potentially brick it. As a watch my battery slowly die on the Tesla app I called to insist that they charge it. They said that the car was dropped off in a spot where they can't charge it… So I said move it to a spot where it can be charged and they said oh don't worry about the HV battery (on your almost 8 year car car) nothing bad will happen…. It wasn't moved to a charge location (they don"t have a portable charger or a long cord?) and has been at 0% for about Seven weeks per the Tesla app.

My Warranty runs out on the HV Battery and the Drive Units on Christmas Eve.

They did give me a 75D to drive while they have relied upon the excuse of supply chain issues… Which I believe to a certain extent… they then told me that my car was scheduled next for repair (18 hours by there calculation) but that they had a bunch of new MYs coming in and they had to prep them before getting to my car so I had to wait… I guess that's what happens when they've already made their profit off of you :-(

I told them to add to the ticket that I want a full battery analysis done after the repair as it has sat uncharged for two months... Beyond that could anyone recommend a strategy to convince them to provide good will of some sort? Do you think that there's some rationale for making a case for them discounting the repair? Initially I said I'll pay for the parts or I'll pay for the labor but this is clearly a Manufacturers Defect (anyone reading this with interest has probably seen the other giant thread of another MS that experienced the exact same thing)… Now I've read this pic.twitter.com/Ns9jGykUAb (read all the comments, gets very interesting). It gives me the shivers to think of what could have happened if I was on the highway doing 70 with my wife and three children in the car... I've had over 30 cars in my life and never once have I experience this type of casting defect… no matter how many miles or the make the car.

Their response was, well, nothing. Crickets. I've been super polite and not pushy nor have I done anything to put me "in the penalty box" but now they won't even respond to my texts to them through the Tesla app.

If anyone is going / has gone through something like this and has any tips to share with me I'd really super appreciate it. I'm not a super litigious guy but I'm not against looking at that possibility if this continues. I do't even know how to escalate my concerns as my only means of communication appears to be the Tesla app. At this point, I believe the right thing to do would be to make the repairs and goodwill a new HV battery. Oh, also give me a courtesy check of my tire's air pressure ...

I love my car and I love Tesla I just don't love the way that I'm being treated and I want my car back out of the graveyard and back on the road!

Thanks so much, Ed

 

[ucmndd]

At this point, I believe the right thing to do would be to make the repairs and goodwill a new HV battery.

First, sorry you’re dealing with all this. Tesla service is a mess.

That said, I believe your expectations of what a reasonable outcome might be are not realistic. Your battery is quite likely perfectly fine. If you could demonstrate damage somehow, that might be a different story - but they’re not going to give you a new battery proactively.

 

[RamboobmaR]

Thank you for your reply and I hope you're right they are going to do a battery analysis before I pick it up sometime in the fall I know getting a new battery proactively is a pipe dream but one must aim high and go from there. I'm not trying to get a free battery I'm trying to make sure that my battery wasn't toasted because they neglected to charge it. Thanks, Ed

 

[Gixx1300R]

I thought there was a TSB on the lower control arm. You can search here https://www.tsbsearch.com/Tesla

 

[Gixx1300R]

I found it https://www.tsbsearch.com/Tesla/SB-19-31-001

 

[RamboobmaR]

Also I encourage anyone who has made it this far to read the Twitter link in my original post I'm not saying it's the Bible but it sure does sound like the why behind these poor castings… God forbid something happens to somebody as a result of this and is hurt or worse. Us Tesla shareholders already have enough macro concerns.

 

[RamboobmaR]

Gixx - thank you for your research. I've seen other service bulletins related to this but nothing that included my Vin number. Perhaps if I show the link to this to the service center the road have something to chew on. Thanks again for your help!, Ed

 

[Gixx1300R]

Gixx - thank you for your research. I've seen other service bulletins related to this but nothing that included my Vin number. Perhaps if I show the link to this to the service center the road have something to chew on. Thanks again for your help!, Ed

You are welcome. Do your research on TSB notices also. That way you are familiar with the laws in your state.

 

[Newscutter]

If you search that bulletin number on the NHTSA website you'll see the affected dates are from 2013 to January 2014. OP's pic shows a P85D badge, which puts it a minimum of 9 months outside the range.

You can try to appeal, but I recently had a steering linkage denied because my car was barely outside the TSB range of VINs. I protested, as the part number and iteration were exactly the same-- but one of the problems with company owned service is that there's no appeal process and you can't just go to any dealer. In the end it wasn't worth my time to fight for it as it wasn't that expensive. But in OP's situation, combined with the battery neglect, it's a much bigger deal.

 

[RamboobmaR]

Thank you for your feedback Newscutter. I agree it's not really worth the fight because there's no one to fight.

I never thought about this before I became a Tesla owner and investor but the fact that it can only be repaired at a company owned service center really ties your hands. At this point I feel completely stranded in terms of information and estimated repair date. I mean two months (so far) is just crazy. The $5k repair is an outrage , but it is what it is. YOLO. I just want my car back. Despite how insulted I am by the way I'm being treated, as you mentioned, if it affects the battery then its a different kettle of fish...

As ridiculous as it is to not proactively recall these cars with bad castings, one would think that it would be proactively done just to protect the company's finances and reputation. I mean what's the control arm cost $100? What's the law suit cost when someone gets killed? $100 million? Think about Takata airbags. Toyota, et al. recalled like literally 67 million cars to proactively replace them because it could cause severe injury or worse. Toyota has deep pockets but so does Tesla, sitting on $18 billion of cash. Tesla is acting penny wise and pound foolish.

 

[Newscutter]

Tesla's MO has always been to obfuscate, deny and ignore-- even when the damage to their reputation and customer goodwill is greater than the costs of making things right. You need only consider the debacle of how they handled the MCU eMMC chip failures for proof.

Your best bet might be to get the car moved to a collision center and pursue repairs that way. They might not have better luck getting the parts, but their customer service will be better. Make sure you get the removed/failed parts and maybe that evidence could prove useful in future litigation.

Like you said, if the problem is widespread it's only a matter of time until someone, somewhere holds the company to significant account and your failed part could be desirable.... toss it in a box in the attic just in case.

 

[RamboobmaR]

Good advice and sadly I concur. Yeah the MCU thing was so messed up I was on a waiting list for the new chip for the MCU1 that I just actually tired out and upgraded to MCU2.. Which conveniently they had on hand… Took my MCU1 as a core. The profit of a new plan but they certainly weren't shy about making that $wap right quick.

Still haven't heard anything back from my last text… I might just have to go down there.

 

[Shakeey]

Don’t you love Tesla’s no service!

 

[ngng]

Tesla might replace the other side as a "courtesy". At least they did when mine failed.

 

[RamboobmaR]

ngng, thank you for your thoughts what I find particularly disturbing about the picture of your X is that the blue paint that aligns the nuts with the surface that it's retaining. It's clear to me anyways that the suspension had never been tampered with as all of the blue paint aligns and appears to be untouched . You must have a great service advisor cause they're charging me for both sides…

By the way congratulations on getting the complementary tire check.

BTW, what is your build month/year. ty, Ed

 

[RamboobmaR]

Hi folks any comments positive or negative or anything regarding this service invoice?

 

[Severiner]

Hi folks any comments positive or negative or anything regarding this service invoice?

You should redact it a little better, your full phone number is visible and can be made out fairly easy.

 

[RamboobmaR]

TY Severiner.

Well, just close the chapter on this whole ordeal… I got the car back and it drives perfectly... which is how it drove before the suspension snaped in the first place… I did find out though that my HV battery was replaced "recently" so I got that going for me, which is nice.

 

[SoCal Buzz]

What did you have to pay, and did they replace the other control arm for you?