Training Needed for Reversing into Supercharger spots

[SCTata]

I’ve babied my Tesla for two years and have felt the camaraderie of Tesla owners until this past weekend.

I reversed into charging space and started charging like normal. We went inside hotel for restroom and came back to find that a white Tesla had reversed into my right front blue fender and left their damage without a note or anything. I felt and feel deflated that another Tesla owner could do this at a supercharger.

This was on Sunday, 26 July around 2pm at Columbia SC supercharger. If you are reading this, I hope that you feel ashamed of yourself and do the right thing. Best that you learn basic driving and reversing skills before you try to charge in public again.

 

[croman]

That's horrible. No alert from the car? Car alarm or sentry?

Looks like it mostly should come out though.

 

[KyleDay]

Please tell me you got Sentry mode clips of this. That's what Sentry is made for

 

[jmaddr]

Absolutely terrible. Hopefully sentry was able to get a good plate reading (and it should if they backed in).

 

[whitex]

Sorry to hear this, but Tesla is mainstream now and no longer only only on the higher end of price range (you can pick up a used MS in low $20K's today), so no more exclusive "early adopters with money" breed of drivers. You get the same mix of drivers as with other cars, be it Toyota, VW, Honda, BWM, Dodge, or Ford. Sadly there will always be inconsiderate people in this world. That's why you need a dashcam (or use Tesla sentry + dashcam feature if you have the discipline to check every update that it still works, as it is a Beta feature) - I treat dashcams like airbags, install them on day one in all of our family cars, hope to never use them. The one time I did use it for insurance purposes was when one of our Model S was totaled by a DUI driver who left the scene - saved me a $1,000 in deductible and a bundle on not having my insurance go up. Without the dashcam footage there was no way to prove who hit whom, with the dashcam it was case closed.

PS> I recently helped out my neighbor who had his car smashed while parked on the street. It turned out it was another neighbor's visitor who crashed into the parked car with his work van, didn't even bother getting out of the car to check what he crashed into, just drove off like nothing happen (and no, he couldn't miss it, since he hit hard enough he moved the other car and had to reverse his direction of travel to untangle his bumper, then keep on going). Unlucky for the offender my home security cameras caught the whole thing including his license plate. Unfortunately the video was from a bit of distance (next house over) so not clear enough to identify the face of the driver, but the insurance of his work paid out the claim.

 

[KerryOH]

Please tell me you got Sentry mode clips of this. That's what Sentry is made for

FYI, be careful with your settings for Navigation Favorites and Sentry. If the SC is a favorite and you select Exclude Favorites from Sentry you would miss something like this. You would have to manually turn on Sentry Mode from the touchscreen if you leave the car at a favorited location.

 

[SCTata]

FYI, be careful with your settings for Navigation Favorites and Sentry. If the SC is a favorite and you select Exclude Favorites from Sentry you would miss something like this. You would have to manually turn on Sentry Mode from the touchscreen if you leave the car at a favorited location.

Thanks so much for info about Sentry mode. Unfortunately, I didn’t turn on while charging. I’ve learned my lesson.

 

[SCTata]

Sorry to hear this, but Tesla is mainstream now and no longer only only on the higher end of price range (you can pick up a used MS in low $20K's today), so no more exclusive "early adopters with money" breed of drivers. You get the same mix of drivers as with other cars, be it Toyota, VW, Honda, BWM, Dodge, or Ford. Sadly there will always be inconsiderate people in this world. That's why you need a dashcam (or use Tesla sentry + dashcam feature if you have the discipline to check every update that it still works, as it is a Beta feature) - I treat dashcams like airbags, install them on day one in all of our family cars, hope to never use them. The one time I did use it for insurance purposes was when one of our Model S was totaled by a DUI driver who left the scene - saved me a $1,000 in deductible and a bundle on not having my insurance go up. Without the dashcam footage there was no way to prove who hit whom, with the dashcam it was case closed.

PS> I recently helped out my neighbor who had his car smashed while parked on the street. It turned out it was another neighbor's visitor who crashed into the parked car with his work van, didn't even bother getting out of the car to check what he crashed into, just drove off like nothing happen (and no, he couldn't miss it, since he hit hard enough he moved the other car and had to reverse his direction of travel to untangle his bumper, then keep on going). Unlucky for the offender my home security cameras caught the whole thing including his license plate. Unfortunately the video was from a bit of distance (next house over) so not clear enough to identify the face of the driver, but the insurance of his work paid out the claim.

I believe you are spot on that the Tesla ownership is more of a commodity now with the release of the 3. Inconsiderate drivers are present in any type of car. Just so disappointing. Thanks for sharing.

 

[SCTata]

That's horrible. No alert from the car? Car alarm or sentry?

Looks like it mostly should come out though.

I sure hope so. Didn’t have alarm on and sentry not activated for charging. I’ll be more careful next time. Appreciate the support!

 

[BigNick]

You could stake out the SC location looking for another car with corresponding damage stopping there to charge, but there's no guarantee it was even a Tesla. It could have been an ICEr backing into the space, seeing that it was marked for Tesla charging only, and leaving.

If the aluminum isn't mangled in any way, the white paint should buff off. If there's slight deformation, it's probably $400 or so at a paintless dent repair.

Maybe a polite request and the hotel manager would allow you to view any surveillance footage? If that doesn't work, you'd probably have to legally request it and by that point it's probably been wiped/recorded over.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

I’ve babied my Tesla for two years and have felt the camaraderie of Tesla owners until this past weekend.

I reversed into charging space and started charging like normal. We went inside hotel for restroom and came back to find that a white Tesla had reversed into my right front blue fender and left their damage without a note or anything. I felt and feel deflated that another Tesla owner could do this at a supercharger.

This was on Sunday, 26 July around 2pm at Columbia SC supercharger. If you are reading this, I hope that you feel ashamed of yourself and do the right thing. Best that you learn basic driving and reversing skills before you try to charge in public again.

If Sentry wasn't enabled, how do you know it was a white Tesla that caused the damage?

 

[FatherTo1]

Sorry to read about this, OP.

I don't Supercharge very often, does Sentry mode disable while we're plugged in? Just want to make sure since I always have Sentry Mode on, except for when at home.

 

[ucmndd]

I’m not defending the sorry state of manners, bad drivers, or crappy Americans in general - but that’s such a light brush I think it’s quite possible they have no idea they even made contact with your car.

98% of that will buff out to good as new.

 

[BulldogsRus]

If Sentry wasn't enabled, how do you know it was a white Tesla that caused the damage?

 

[KerryOH]

Sorry to read about this, OP.

I don't Supercharge very often, does Sentry mode disable while we're plugged in? Just want to make sure since I always have Sentry Mode on, except for when at home.

AFAIK it will be on as long as it's not a favorite and you don't exclude favorites in settings. Just check for the red light at top of touch screen, if it's not on just press to turn it on.

 

[2101Guy]

Good news is it appears to be mostly paint transfer. if you have no buffing machine, you can try mild abrasives for cars. A Cleaner wax (including Nu Finish) on a micro fiber and some elbow grease is the basic way to test.

If you have a random orbital buffer, orange pad, and cleaner wax, that's next step up.

If that doesnt get it, might need to go a route of light wet sanding process. That level, is above what Ive ever tried. More aggressive in steps you go, higher risk of causing more damage than was there.

Good Luck