Suspension Problem on Model S

[gpcordaro]

I would certainly like to know if it is true that OP lives at the end of a long dirt road down which he was driving his Tesla. As someone who has defended him I'd really appreciate an honest answer..

They have my address and should of googled earth my address before making such an outrageous statement. Tesla has lost all credibility.
The above statement is an out and out lie. I live on a paved road in the city of Connellsville pa. The car was towed from a dirt road as I stated earlier because I was out morel mushroom hunting that day with my wife. We were traveling about 2 miles an hour on a bumpy back road. Most of my 70k miles are on the highway. Telsa shame on you.

 

[NOLA_Mike]

You were "off roading" in your Model S and you tore up the suspension. Tesla, through good will and no other obligation, agreed to fix your car and pay for part or all of the repair. Now you disparage them. gpcordaro shame on you.

 

[lklundin]

Dr. V is the same individual who has published 10 anti-Tesla articles on Seeking Alpha under the name Valueseeker, most recently in Dec. 2015. In these articles and elsewhere he has disclosed his short position.

He has also been encouraged to disclose his short position when posting on TMC in the interest of full disclosure so that TMC members could take that into account in viewing his posts.

He has refused to do so, and instead misleadingly proclaims himself to "speak[] the unfettered truth."

I wish TMC would step up and do something about this.

A solution could be for the forum software to display directly in thread not only the user's number of posts but also the post ratings summary, or maybe a single number with a weighted average of the ratings. That will identify the trolls right there.

It's not really necessary in the case of users that try to bolster their statements with assertions such as "I speak the truth, so you have to believe me", which is kind self-disqualifying. In my mind.

 

[Vitold]

Later, when I have the time, I will report them to the SEC for attempted stock manipulation.

Daily Kanban, about us page:

"Edward Niedermeyer and Bertel Schmitt are available to work for hire, but not for $25 a post"

That pretty much speaks for itself.

 

[jbcarioca]

I recall a Porsche 996 that I owned that had a similar failure. In that case Porsche attributed the problem to shipping damage and refused to pay because it was not Porsche failure, while the shipper refused because it was Porsche. Luckily the car was in my driveway when this happened. I ended out paying, but the dealer (for once) actually fought for me and got partial compensation.

Whenever I hear of such failures I keep thinking in terms of damage from hazards of various types. They do happen. I have never heard of such an issue from pure wear and tear, although I do not doubt that such could happen also.

 

[Chris TX]

They have my address and should of googled earth my address before making such an outrageous statement. Tesla has lost all credibility.
The above statement is an out and out lie. I live on a paved road in the city of Connellsville pa. The car was towed from a dirt road as I stated earlier because I was out morel mushroom hunting that day with my wife. We were traveling about 2 miles an hour on a bumpy back road. Most of my 70k miles are on the highway. Tesla shame on you.

If you were hunting mushrooms for your catering business, then you were using it for commercial purposes, which voids all the warranties anyway. Is this the first time you've done this? I wonder if Tesla can pull the data to show just how many times you've been off-roading with your car.

 

[techmaven]

The car was towed from a dirt road as I stated earlier because I was out morel mushroom hunting that day with my wife. We were traveling about 2 miles an hour on a bumpy back road. Most of my 70k miles are on the highway.

Terrific. So, how often do you drive on dirt roads going morel mushroom hunting?

Your control arms look like they've been sandblasted and then drenched in salt water. Once the seal on that rubber boot is compromised, then it will go south pretty quick. Most reports I've read/seen/heard of/experienced with such control arm corrosion has noises, and with the corrosion level of your parts, there should have been issues that the driver can feel and hear. You still didn't say when the last time the vehicle was inspected. As for the service center, there's a difference between asking for an alignment for tire wear and asking for someone to diagnose slop and tire wear. What did Tesla say about the service visit right before the final incident?

Again, if you stuck to just the facts of your incident, you would have been above reproach. When you insinuate that others have this problem due to a design defect, exaggerate the NHSTA investigator's communications, and then promote well known anti-Tesla trolls with clearly fabricated stories, you did not do yourself any favors.

You stated that NHTSA said of your ball joints "that the were of poor quality and failed prematurely," however NHTSA did not state they were of poor quality. Further, given your driving habits, they might not have failed prematurely.

 

[Kiyiko]

You were "off roading" in your Model S and you tore up the suspension. Tesla, through good will and no other obligation, agreed to fix your car and pay for part or all of the repair. Now you disparage them. gpcordaro shame on you.

Let's not forget Tesla advocating driving 80 miles of dirt roads every day in one of their advertisements.
It doesn't even say "Professional driver, Do not attempt, Dirt roads void warranty"

 

[techmaven]

Let's not forget Tesla advocating driving 80 miles of dirt roads every day in one of their advertisements.
It doesn't even say "Professional driver, Do not attempt, Dirt roads void warranty"

What warranty? Mr. Cordaro's vehicle was 23,000 miles out of warranty. If one drives on dirt roads, one needs to check the suspension far more regularly and take more maintenance action. Also one can expect lower service life. If the issue was properly addressed, then we'd be talking likely talking about $350-500 repair and no need for a tow truck. And then the other side would have to be watched and repaired at some point, or maybe the owner would elect to do both sides at the same time.

As for the warranty terms, well, that's up the customer to choose what to do with their vehicles.

 

[Chickenlittle]

"The car had over 70,000 miles on it and its owner lives down such a long dirt road that it required two tow trucks to retrieve the car. (One to get the car to the highway and one to get it from the highway to the service center.) When we got the car, it was caked in dirt."


They have my address and should of googled earth my address before making such an outrageous statement. Tesla has lost all credibility.
The above statement is an out and out lie. I live on a paved road in the city of Connellsville pa. The car was towed from a dirt road as I stated earlier because I was out morel mushroom hunting that day with my wife. We were traveling about 2 miles an hour on a bumpy back road. Most of my 70k miles are on the highway. Telsa shame on you.

I guess these are the only part of blog you dispute

 

[Bgarret]

What warranty? Mr. Cordaro's vehicle was 23,000 miles out of warranty. If one drives on dirt roads, one needs to check the suspension far more regularly and take more maintenance action. Also one can expect lower service life.

Only if "one" we're to take any personal responsibility for their actions. OP can be judged somewhat by the company he chooses to keep - Dr. Value Seeker, Mr. Neidermeier, individuals determined to see Tesla fail. When you join the mob and shout, "Kill the beast" you are complicit in the mob's actions. Laying Tesla's actions next to the OP's, I would have a different judgement about "credibility" and "shame".

 

[Kiyiko]

I don't expect the wheels to fall apart on a 25 year old 350,000 mile mail jeep, and I certainly don't expect the wheels to fall off a 3 year old, 70,000 mile luxury vehicle.

It doesn't matter if you're driving on gravel or tarmac, this should not be an issue.

Tesla simply needs to figure out why the unit failed, and figure out what to do to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Replacing core suspension parts shouldn't be a 50k mile scheduled maintenance.

 

[JRP3]

But I felt compelled to register to advise y'all that "Dr ValueSeeker" has been regularly making Tesla bashing posts on InsideEVs, where I am one of the more active post-ers. "Dr. V" appears to be one of the crop of TSLA short-sellers from the Seeking Alpha investor's forum who have lately been posting their brand of repetitive FUD on InsideEVs.

He's also been previously banned from this forum under a different name, ("valuation matters" I believe, he's very creative), but is so intent on spreading his FUD he had to sign up again. He's not fooling anyone here.

 

[182RG]

Terrific. So, how often do you drive on dirt roads going morel mushroom hunting?

Reminds me of this:

 

[ecarfan]

The problem here is that Tesla tries to cover up the defects (some potentially big safety issues) through their NDAs

Apparently Mr. Musk didn't bother to read the original article before accusing the author. The author's main point still stands. Tesla has no right to cover up issues with NDAs.

So you read Tesla's blog post and you still insist on completely distorting the intent of the NDA. It is amazing to me how facts don't matter to some people when they are trying to take down a company for financial gain.

A Grain of Salt

Quote: "When our customers tell us something went wrong with their car, we often cover it even if we find that the problem was not caused by the car and that we therefore have no obligations under the warranty. In these situations, we discount or conduct the repair for free, because we believe in putting our customers’ happiness ahead of our own bottom line. When this happens, we sometimes ask our customers to sign a “Goodwill Agreement.” The basic point is to ensure that Tesla doesn’t do a good deed, only to have that used against us in court for further gain."

"Finally, it is worth noting that the blogger who fabricated this issue, which then caused negative and incorrect news to be written about Tesla by reputable institutions, is Edward Niedermayer. This is the same gentle soul who previously wrote a blog titled “Tesla Death Watch,” which starting on May 19, 2008 was counting the days until Tesla’s death. It has now been 2,944 days. We just checked our pulse and, much to his chagrin, appear to be alive. It is probably wise to take Mr. Niedermayer’s words with at least a small grain of salt.

We don’t know if Mr. Niedermayer’s motivation is simply to set a world record for axe-grinding or whether he or his associates have something financial to gain by negatively affecting Tesla’s stock price, but it is important to highlight that there are several billion dollars in short sale bets against Tesla. This means that there is a strong financial incentive to greatly amplify minor issues and to create false issues from whole cloth".

 

[NOLA_Mike]

If I'm not mistaken, the rubber boot's purpose is to keep dust & debris out of the ball joint. In the old days, a regularly scheduled insertion of grease with a grease gun on a zerk fitting would push out the water and contaminants from the ball joint. In an effort to reduce the amount of maintenance on vehicles (i.e., regular greasing of the ball joints) manufacturers have gone to permanently lubricated, non grease-able ball joints. I believe the life of these joints to be highly dependent on the protective rubber boot. If you tear up the soft rubber boot (like road, or off road, debris cuts it open) and allow contaminents in to contact with the ball joint its life will be dramatically reduced.

One possibility of what happened....

 

[efusco]

They have my address and should of googled earth my address before making such an outrageous statement. Tesla has lost all credibility.
The above statement is an out and out lie. I live on a paved road in the city of Connellsville pa. The car was towed from a dirt road as I stated earlier because I was out morel mushroom hunting that day with my wife. We were traveling about 2 miles an hour on a bumpy back road. Most of my 70k miles are on the highway. Telsa shame on you.

Your shaming is very misplaced. You've chosen to take a one-off issue advertise it in a blog of highly doubtful background, turn it into a massive bashing of Tesla without one iota of evidence that this is an issue that extends beyond one vehicle. So you don't "live" down that long rough dirt road, but your judgement driving a $100+/- luxury car down such a road should be called into question and others have already wondered at how often that might have happened. There's plenty of shame to be handed out, but it isn't to Tesla. You're the bully who picked the fight, just turns out that the kid you picked on is an MMA fighter in his free time....

Feel free to run away with your tail between your legs if you wish...or continue the farce if you must.

 

[Chargedmr2]

I don't expect the wheels to fall apart on a 25 year old 350,000 mile mail jeep, and I certainly don't expect the wheels to fall off a 3 year old, 70,000 mile luxury vehicle.

It doesn't matter if you're driving on gravel or tarmac, this should not be an issue.

Tesla simply needs to figure out why the unit failed, and figure out what to do to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Replacing core suspension parts shouldn't be a 50k mile scheduled maintenance.

 

[Chris TX]

Let's not forget Tesla advocating driving 80 miles of dirt roads every day in one of their advertisements.
It doesn't even say "Professional driver, Do not attempt, Dirt roads void warranty"

You do realize that video is showing it to be used for commercial purposes, which voids the warranty. I bet that postal worker understands the extra maintenance needed for vehicles that travel on dirt roads, every day.

 

[techmaven]

I don't expect the wheels to fall apart on a 25 year old 350,000 mile mail jeep, and I certainly don't expect the wheels to fall off a 3 year old, 70,000 mile luxury vehicle.

It doesn't matter if you're driving on gravel or tarmac, this should not be an issue.

Tesla simply needs to figure out why the unit failed, and figure out what to do to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Replacing core suspension parts shouldn't be a 50k mile scheduled maintenance.

You can have whatever expectations you want, but that doesn't change reality. The ball joints on a 350,000 mile mail jeep would have to be replaced well before 350,000 miles. And certainly, Jeep isn't a stranger to ball joint recalls:

Google
Bad Ball Joints at 21,679 miles(please all read) - Page 4 - Jeep Patriot Forums

Apparently your expectations does not match reality. And of course it matters where you drive. If you drive your vehicle in the ocean like they do sometimes in commercials, expect that vehicle to have a very, very short life, or have to do a slew of repairs.

Just to be clear, the subsequent issue here isn't that Mr. Cordaro went off-roading with his Model S. It's that he left that out when describing that lasting 73,000 miles was premature for his ball joints. And then the rest of what he did by falling in with anti-Tesla trolls. Mr. Cordaro was certainly not quite forthcoming in his portrayal, after all, what would the reaction have been if he wrote about his morel mushroom hunting on the first post of this thread? He left that off for a reason.

He still has a potentially legitimate complaint against the Tesla Service Center, depending on exactly what he asked for... if he asked for an alignment and got that, then he has no real case. If he complained about creaking noises while turning, wandering on the road while trying to drive straight, slop when turning, and asked them to diagnose the issue, then they should have found the ball joint issue before his wheel fell off. His air shock would likely then not have to be replaced and the repair would have been far less. That's the reason for regular inspections - to help make sure that issues with the vehicle don't become safety problems.