Suspension Problem on Model S

[JRP3]

I don't expect the wheels to fall apart on a 25 year old 350,000 mile mail jeep,

You should.

and I certainly don't expect the wheels to fall off a 3 year old, 70,000 mile luxury vehicle.

They didn't. A ball joint broke.

It doesn't matter if you're driving on gravel or tarmac,

Usage does matter.

this should not be an issue.

It's not an issue, it's an unusual part failure, not the norm.

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.

It's not, since it failed on ONE vehicle with over 70K miles. To be quite clear, parts break sometimes, the world is not perfect, but that does not mean this is anything more than an isolated incident. A part broke, out of warranty, and Tesla agreed to repair it at a discount, even though they felt, because of the general condition of the vehicle, and it's location at the time of failure, that the car had been somewhat abused beyond normal use.

 

[techmaven]

It's not, since it failed on ONE vehicle with over 70K miles. To be quite clear, parts break sometimes, the world is not perfect, but that does not mean this is anything more than an isolated incident. A part broke, out of warranty, and Tesla agreed to repair it at a discount, even though they felt, because of the general condition of the vehicle, and it's location at the time of failure, that the car had been somewhat abused beyond normal use.

To be fair, others have had to replace ball joints too. Sometimes, that just happens. It's manufactured part and sometimes there are problems. Out of 135,000 vehicles, we're talking about 5? 10? What is the normal rate of incident? Tesla apparently provided information to NHTSA, and if the rate of incident is high, we should hear about it.

 

[gpcordaro]

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.

AMEN.

 

[techmaven]

AMEN.

Wow you really insist on doing yourself no favors.

 

[hockeythug]

@James Anders

Also, there is no "investigation"

NHTSA has not opened any investigation nor has it even started a “preliminary evaluation,” which is the lowest form of formal investigatory work that it does.

 

[brantse]

This is all getting a little out of control (on both sides of the fence). If Tesla or anyone else is saying that driving on a gravel road is prohibited, then I'd like to trade my car back in and get one that can handle that. I happen to live in the same general area as the OP and have a gravel driveway.

Isolated part failures are going to happen, regardless of the vehicle manufacturer. I just don't think Tesla did themselves any favors by trying to point out specific usage conditions.

The other day I just listened to Elon again reiterating that the only maintenance required on a Tesla should just be to replace tires. Unfortunately, that hasn't been my experience.

 

[Stephen Delman]

My son has a 2014 Model S and has never had a problem with his. I'm buying a Model 3 for my wife. We already ordered one.I think Tesla is a good company. According to what I see you live down a dirt road, hardly the place for a luxury car.

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[JRP3]

If Tesla or anyone else is saying that driving on a gravel road is prohibited,

I don't believe anyone is. However, if your vehicle sees regular duty on less than ideal roads you should inspect components more often.

 

[JRP3]

According to what I see you live down a dirt road, hardly the place for a luxury car.

Apparently that is not the case. His car broke down on a dirt road, but it was not the road he lives on.

 

[Vitold]

This is all getting a little out of control (on both sides of the fence). If Tesla or anyone else is saying that driving on a gravel road is prohibited, then I'd like to trade my car back in and get one that can handle that. I happen to live in the same general area as the OP and have a gravel driveway.

Isolated part failures are going to happen, regardless of the vehicle manufacturer. I just don't think Tesla did themselves any favors by trying to point out specific usage conditions.

The other day I just listened to Elon again reiterating that the only maintenance required on a Tesla should just be to replace tires. Unfortunately, that hasn't been my experience.

If you're driving in conditions that may cause parts to wear out prematurely - you may experience issue similar to OP. However, if you have multipoint inspections done at intervals recommended by Tesla such problem would be fixed before it gets bad.

 

[Yggdrasill]

This is all getting a little out of control (on both sides of the fence). If Tesla or anyone else is saying that driving on a gravel road is prohibited, then I'd like to trade my car back in and get one that can handle that.

It certainly isn't. But regularly driving on rough roads may for instance reduce the life of some components designed for 150k miles to only 75k miles.

It's very unfortunate that both the owner and the service center missed the fact that the part was in such bad shape (I'm sure that's part of the reason why Tesla offered to cover some of the costs), but it happens from time to time. Owning a car means that sometimes you need to deal with stuff breaking.

 

[lklundin]

The other day I just listened to Elon again reiterating that the only maintenance required on a Tesla should just be to replace tires. Unfortunately, that hasn't been my experience.

Well, you don't have to take Elon Musk's word for that, you can just check your Tesla Model S manual. My copy has:

Brake fluid and battery coolant as specifics, in addition to the regularly scheduled service intervals (12 months or 20k km whichever comes first). Then it talks about some daily and monthly checks that you are advised to do yourself, like noticing leaks and if A/C, lights and brakes are working and the tire wear.

It is really quite limited compared to an ICE. So how is your specific experience compared to what your manual states?

 

[JRP3]

However, if you perform multipoint inspection every year as recommended by Tesla such problem would be fixed before it gets bad.

It's very unfortunate that both the owner and the service center missed the fact that the part was in such bad shape

This is the only concern I have, that the car was claimed to have been inspected by Tesla 2 weeks prior to this. If the professionals didn't catch this it's hard to blame the OP for missing it as well. Tesla probably should have just covered the entire repair from the beginning since they missed seeing the issue that caused the incident during the previous inspection.

 

[hockeythug]

This is the only concern I have, that the car was inspected by Tesla 2 weeks prior to this. If the professionals didn't catch this it's hard to blame the OP for missing it as well. Tesla probably should have just covered the entire repair from the beginning since they missed seeing the issue that caused the incident during the previous inspection.

If he even actually brought it in for inspection over the course of his ownership. I'm not going through 25 pages to see if he did or didn't though.

 

[lklundin]

This is the only concern I have, that the car was inspected by Tesla 2 weeks prior to this.

Good point. After my check-up at Audi I get a copy of the actual check list as it was done with all the check-marks (and tire profile measurement).

How it is actually done at Tesla?

PS. Contrary to others I would accept to get paid 25$/post. It's not that hard once you get into it.

 

[X Yes?]

If the OP's warranty was still in effect, Tesla would have fixed under warranty and no NDA would have been signed.

This is true , but the NTSHA was not amused by Tesla's attempt to bribe customers by offering free or reduced cost repairs after warranty. This NDA required owners to keep repairs confidential.
They have admonished Tesla on this point.

 

[techmaven]

This is the only concern I have, that the car was inspected by Tesla 2 weeks prior to this. If the professionals didn't catch this it's hard to blame the OP for missing it as well. Tesla probably should have just covered the entire repair from the beginning since they missed seeing the issue that caused the incident during the previous inspection.

Hence my question to him that he's thus far refused to answer. What exactly did he ask the Service Center to do? If you go into a mechanic and say, my car is wandering a bit, please do an alignment. They will do an alignment. Maybe they might catch something else, but they will do as you ask. If you go in and ask, hey, my car is wandering, I've been driving off road some, can you please check that the suspension is ok, then they should catch it.

Also, he hasn't answered when his last actual inspection was done and by whom.

 

[JRP3]

If he even actually brought it in for inspection over the course of his ownership. I'm not going through 25 pages to see if he did or didn't though.

He did claim it had been inspected, but offered no proof of such. Tesla would have the records if it happened.

 

[techmaven]

This is true , but the NTSHA was not amused by Tesla's attempt to bribe customers by offering free or reduced cost repairs after warranty. This NDA required owners to keep repairs confidential.
They have admonished Tesla on this point.

Do you even see what you wrote? It doesn't hang together logically.

If Mr. Cordaro was paying for this repair completely, there would be no NDA. He can blab all he wants. If Tesla is comp'ing him in some way, they don't want him talking. Maybe because they don't want to have to comp everyone in every case, which is what would happen. Tesla is under zero obligation to offer free or reduced cost repairs after warranty. Zero obligation.

 

[JRP3]

If you go into a mechanic and say, my car is wandering a bit, please do an alignment. They will do an alignment. Maybe they might catch something else, but they will do as you ask.

I can't imagine a competent shop not checking suspension parts before doing an alignment, as any out of spec part will make alignment difficult, if not impossible. I've had shops tell me parts had to be replaced before an alignment could be done. I took the vehicles home and checked and replaced the parts myself and brought the car back so I know they weren't scamming me.