Torn passenger door seal

[idealsol]

Anyone ever seen something like this?

It’s the front passenger door seal. At first glance it looks like some malicious damage, but we seldom use the window and only my wife and I ever drive the car. In testing now when I raise the window to close it tends to grab and expose the seal now where it’s cut. I called and got a service appt and hoping they will cover it. The car was in for service a few weeks ago and I am now wondering if there’s any chance it was damaged then

 

[bktiger86]

WOW! How did that happen? Looks like it was torn.

 

[Jason S]

Can't see how that's normal wear and tear. Odd for malicious damage, unless somebody was trying to break in.

 

[idealsol]

Can't see how that's normal wear and tear. Odd for malicious damage, unless somebody was trying to break in.

Yeah, it sure looks suspect. But we have no idea how it happened or when. No evidence of a break in etc. if they don’t cover it I’m hoping the cost isn’t too bad

 

[Drewflux]

Seems to high up to be a seat belt/door closings issue.

 

[Don85D]

Perhaps a flaw in the window glass? Something sharp punctured the rubber then tore it. Vandals still come to mind first as I once picked up a screwdriver by the curb thinking that it was lost from a parked vehicle. It was used to pierce the sheet metal of car doors near the lock assembly for easy break in. They hit as many cars as they could on that street testing for easy entry.

Once the rubber seal is replaced consider applying silicone to keep it pliable. Repair may require an insurance claim if vandals were the cause.

 

[idealsol]

Update: Tesla service took care of the door seal under warranty. While I have no idea how the damage happened, I have to say it looked suspicious. I was ready to pay to fix it but they didn’t hesitate to cover it. My thanks to Tesla service in Costa Mesa

 

[Emcsquared]

Exact same thing happened with mine. Not malicious afaik. Started out as a small crack, Arizona sun and window up/down made it huge and would catch on the window. Service center replaced under "Goodwill".

 

[idealsol]

Exact same thing happened with mine. Not malicious afaik. Started out as a small crack, Arizona sun and window up/down made it huge and would catch on the window. Service center replaced under "Goodwill".

Thanks. You are the 1st one I’ve found who seems to have had a similar issue. As you can see from my pic, it apparently gets pretty bad after a while
We only discovered it by seeing the seal flapping once the window was rolled back up

 

[SA321]

Same thing on the right side of the car. Rips from the glass. The construction quality of this car is worse than cheapest German car. Sad, considering how nice it could be

 

[idealsol]

Wow, that’s similar to what happened to me, see pic In my OP
Hopefully, they fix it under warranty as they did for me

 

[Don85D]

Perhaps a diamond file or sharpening stone can be used to soften/round the top edge of the glass along with a generous application of silicone grease would be my DIY solution.

 

[bkp_duke]

Anyone run into this problem recently?

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I could not find any other reports of this problem.

In the past week, our 2013 Model S has experience this issue.

 

[bkp_duke]

Follow up. Scheduled a mobile service appointment today to get this replaced. Going to be about $280.

 

[idealsol]

Sorry it will cost so much for a door seal. I was lucky as mine happened under warranty. They pretty much indicated to me it was defect and definitely covered

 

[besnova]

I have the same problem and they are quoting me $117 seal and $150 labor. Totaling $290.69 including tax.

I wonder how hard this would be to just replace myself. I'm pretty handy but can't find any guides on it or people who did it before.

I found this link though: Seal - Body - Side - Front - Primary - LH (Remove and Replace)

 

[bkp_duke]

I have the same problem and they are quoting me $117 seal and $150 labor. Totaling $290.69 including tax.

I wonder how hard this would be to just replace myself. I'm pretty handy but can't find any guides on it or people who did it before.

I found this link though: Seal - Body - Side - Front - Primary - LH (Remove and Replace)


View attachment 596897

Difference appears to be in our tax rates, so at least Tesla is consistent.

I've very handy, and I still don't want to tackle this one because it looks like it requires removal of the exterior portion of the B-pillar trim (and possibly interior to get to the exterior).

 

[besnova]

Yeah, I was reading that too. It looks like some adhesive needs removing from behind the B pillar. Although it seems like a straightforward job, I just don't have the required adhesive for the installation. Might be just better to have them take care of it all. According to their hourly rate and charge, it should take them 45-60 minutes to complete the job.

I heard that applying silicon on the rubber around the windows helps a lot with winter and freezing, and I bet it helps with this kind of issue as well. I'm going to check on Amazon for some but any recommendation on that?

 

[besnova]

Yeah, I was reading that too. It looks like some adhesive needs removing from behind the B pillar. Although it seems like a straightforward job, I just don't have the required adhesive for the installation. Might be just better to have them take care of it all. According to their hourly rate and charge, it should take them 45-60 minutes to complete the job.

I heard that applying silicon on the rubber around the windows helps a lot with winter and freezing, and I bet it helps with this kind of issue as well. I'm going to check on Amazon for some but any recommendation on that?

I was looking to get this: https://www.amazon.com/Permatex-811...ealant+pillar+trim&qid=1602255572&sr=8-6&th=1

 

[bkp_duke]

I was looking to get this: https://www.amazon.com/Permatex-81158-Silicone-Adhesive-Sealant/dp/B000AL6WLA/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=sealant+pillar+trim&qid=1602255572&sr=8-6&th=1

Not unless you want to GLUE your window to the rubber seal. That's what that stuff is designed for.

Silicone is silicone, run down to your local autozone and ask one of their guys what they recommend. The products have been around so long that I would bet only 2 companies in the world make them, and everyone just re-brands the same stuff.