True Story or Not?: "Frunk opened at 115mph and caused $20k damage on brand new P85"

[efusco]

Certainly the upside down "T" in the top right would indicate that.

True, I wasn't sure what that was, but the Tesla font "E" on the left side was very convincing.

 

[NigelM]

True, I wasn't sure what that was, but the Tesla font "E" on the left side was very convincing.

It's a reflection of the Tesla sign at the Fremont factory. The delivery and test drive area is right below that sign:

 

[Lerxt]

Serves him bloody well right for driving in such a ridiculously dangerous and unsociable manner! He is giving Tesla and Tesla owners a bad name with his moronic behaviour.

Where is the evidence he did this? He just a stupid kids telling stories.

 

[NorCalSJ]

All hell is raining down on that driver today. I reported him to the Hayward office of the CHP this morning when I first read this thread. I provided an officer on duty with a link to the thread, who said he would contact the poster regarding his behavior. Unfortunately, CHP can only cite someone based upon observed behavior, but he said there is sufficient information here to have a conversation with that driver. I don't know if CHP ever did contact him, but if they did that might explain why he started editing his thread.

You live in AZ and called the CHP to report an incident you read in a thread....I guarantee you that you were the laughing stock of that CHP office after your call.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Just cruising around priuschat for other gems of wisdom from this d-waffle

It saddens me that people like this really exist. And vote and procreate.

http://priuschat.com/threads/tesla-evse-on-a-prius.147085/page-2#ixzz3Hk2re8pp

Do we have to resort to childish name calling. There is soooooo much that can a lawyer can do and say. My lawyer could easily dismiss soo much. My lawyer got me out of soooooooo many citations, instance fraud, vehicular assault, all of these time I was actually not guilty for any of those, but the way the DA presented me and my cases I would've believed that I was guilty

http://priuschat.com/threads/tesla-burnouts.138032/#ixzz3Hk3AmsuL

tesla burnout are the best. I did one while driving off of the plant.

http://priuschat.com/threads/tesla-evse-on-a-prius.147085/#ixzz3Hk3LE7eQ

Some may consider this a First world problem, I have to sell one of my cars because honestly i can't drive them enough and i have started to neglect my cars. So I have 4 cars not including the tesla or the prius. I live with my parents and I'm going to college and they have cars of their own and can't park all of them at home. I have a '07 RX400h (84k miles), '14 ESh (4K miles), 14' Gs (3K miles), 10' E350 (55kmiles ). Anyone want to buy any of them

http://priuschat.com/threads/apple-pay-works-at-chargepoint-charging-machines.147004/#ixzz3Hk46OEoS

Yes it doesAll of my apple pay cards work at charge point except my Amex centurion and chase sapphire preferred.

There are many others, but unlike some of us, I have work to do today.

 

[murphyS85]

There's a lockout feature in the software that requires that the car be in Park to open the frunk. When using the cable-operated backup release from inside the car, there is a dual latch like on a conventional car.

Sitting in my garage with the car in Drive the frunk button on the control screen opens the frunk. Try it. There may be a lockout when in excess of some set speed but sitting still the unlock happens.

 

[markb1]

It's a reflection of the Tesla sign at the Fremont factory. The delivery and test drive area is right below that sign:

This is actually pretty consistent with his story. He said he picked up the car from the factory. He said the reflection of his Prius could be seen in the photo. So presumably he drove his Prius to the factory, left it there while he took the Tesla for a test drive, and returned to the factory and took the photos.

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Just cruising around priuschat for other gems of wisdom from this d-waffle

It saddens me that people like this really exist. And vote and procreate.

http://priuschat.com/threads/tesla-evse-on-a-prius.147085/page-2#ixzz3Hk2re8pp

Do we have to resort to childish name calling. There is soooooo much that can a lawyer can do and say. My lawyer could easily dismiss soo much. My lawyer got me out of soooooooo many citations, instance fraud, vehicular assault, all of these time I was actually not guilty for any of those, but the way the DA presented me and my cases I would've believed that I was guilty

Aww, the DA has it out for him. Poor kid!

 

[yobigd20]

This is actually pretty consistent with his story. He said he picked up the car from the factory. He said the reflection of his Prius could be seen in the photo. So presumably he drove his Prius to the factory, left it there while he took the Tesla for a test drive, and returned to the factory and took the photos.

I wonder what actually happened then. I do believe 1) he's a 17yr old kid that Tesla let him take out a test drive and 2) damage occurred to the test drive car. So far they seem to be the only facts. Now the big questions are did the frunk really open? or did he hit something instead? and how fast was he actually going? (he probably did hit 115mph or so, the two loaner cars I've had were not speed limited, so presumably neither was his). questions, questions!!

personally, I don't know if a frunk flying open would make a dent like that. I suspect he was driving recklessly and hit something OR he was too busy playing with the center console while driving and rammed into something and then tried to cover it up by saying that "the frunk flew open".

 

[HankLloydRight]

the two loaner cars I've had were not speed limited, so presumably neither was his).

I think there might be a little confusion here. The service loaners are usually speed limited (I had one that was), but the demo cars are not... but a Sales Specialist usually goes on test drives, so perhaps in this case they just sent him out with a demo car that was not speed limited.

 

[Pinot.Noir]

Pretty pathetic to see a kid bragging about wealth that he did nothing to create. I'm going to assume he has no real friends, because who would want to be around that sort of attitude?

 

[K9s and Me]

Sheesh.

Unoriginal kid is unoriginal. I wonder where he got this "the hood flew up while I was driving" idea?

Recall: Hoods can fly open on 220K Nissan Altimas

...

October 10, 2014


It's every driver's nightmare: An improperly latched hood flies open on the highway, blocking the driver's vision and causing a serious crash.
Now Nissan is recalling 220,423 Nissan Altimas because the hood can fly open.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/10/10/nissan-altima-recall-hood-open/17035189/

eyeroll.

He's gotta put a little bit more effort into crafting his uh, "narrative" next time.

 

[jkliu47]

I think there might be a little confusion here. The service loaners are usually speed limited (I had one that was), but the demo cars are not... but a Sales Specialist usually goes on test drives, so perhaps in this case they just sent him out with a demo car that was not speed limited.

Did you have that reversed? As far as I recall the demo ride I had was in a speed limited Model S and the 2 service loaners I drove weren't. (Don't ask how I know :smile.

 

[Seesaw]

I have no forensic crash training or experience but the pictures to me are clearly consistent with a hood opening up and hitting the car high speed. The crease around where the A pillar and bonnet meet and the fold damage on the hood all look how I imagine it to look, if there is no windscreen damage though that would be a hole in his story.

if you did something wrong (like run into a fence) I can imagine how some people would like to concoct a story that makes it the cars fault.

shame the Priuschat thread was closed because people didnt like the story, it would of been interesting to get more details.

 

[HankLloydRight]

He did say the pano roof was severely damaged.

 

[dsm363]

6 cars for a 17 year old. Who knows what the truth is here at this point.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Did you have that reversed? As far as I recall the demo ride I had was in a speed limited Model S and the 2 service loaners I drove weren't. (Don't ask how I know :smile.

Yeah, when my g/f and I went for a test drive (with a sales assoc), as soon as my g/f got in the car and hit the highway, she was doing >100mph almost immediately. The SA didn't say anything. I was in the back seat "uh, sarah, you know you're going over 100 right??".

And the S60 service loaner I got was limited to 80mph.

 

[ToddRLockwood]

Sitting in my garage with the car in Drive the frunk button on the control screen opens the frunk. Try it. There may be a lockout when in excess of some set speed but sitting still the unlock happens.

You're right! I assumed that Tesla incorporated an out-of-park lockout on the frunk release, but they didn't. Even the remote will open it while the car is in Drive, but not moving. Perhaps there is a speed threshold lockout, but I'm not going to be the guy who finds out.

This was an oversight on Tesla's part, and an easy thing to fix. I would not be surprised if we see it in the next update.

Of particular concern here is the scenario where a child starts fiddling with the fob while the car is in motion.

 

[markb1]

Every test drive car and loaner that I've driven has been limited to 80 MPH, but all the test drives were before I got my car, early last year. Maybe things have changed.

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You're right! I assumed that Tesla incorporated an out-of-park lockout on the frunk release, but they didn't. Even the remote will open it while the car is in Drive, but not moving. Perhaps there is a speed threshold lockout, but I'm not going to be the guy who finds out.

This is a surprising oversight on Tesla's part, and an easy thing to fix. I would not be surprised if we see it in the next update.

Of particular concern here is the scenario where a child starts fiddling with the fob while the car is in motion.

I can't think of a good reason to allow the frunk to be opened while in drive, but not moving. I think they should disable both the frunk and trunk fob buttons when the car is not in park.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

I don't know why you would do this. Clearly the kids is telling tall tales, I don't see why the police have anything to do with a kid who didn't do pretty well anything he said. It's none of their business really, he's been made to feel stupid, and that's enough.

Why wouldn't I report someone who brags about driving 115 MPH? I reported him before anyone knew who he was or whether his story was true. I'd like to think that the CHP contacting this person helped bring some of the truth to light, but I'm only speculating. I think it is the responsible thing to do when you read a public posting about such irresponsible behavior. I let the authorities sort it out. But I couldn't live with myself by not doing anything on the off chance that this person might kill someone.

Now that we know the truth, it's easy to go back and say you shouldn't have done this or that. But when this thread first popped up, it sure looked like someone needed to speak to the CHP regarding their irresponsible behavior. I stand by it and I'm proud that I did it. And I will again.

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Agreed. And even if he told the truth, so? OK he sped like a maniac on the highway. Unsure the point of calling the police on him after the fact would accomplish.

Because it's irresponsible, dangerous, and having someone in a position of authority contact the person might make them think twice about doing it again. The alternative is that nothing happens and the person repeats the behavior. Not good.

 

[Todd Burch]

This is a surprising oversight on Tesla's part, and an easy thing to fix. I would not be surprised if we see it in the next update.

Of particular concern here is the scenario where a child starts fiddling with the fob while the car is in motion.

But the car may be limited in top speed if the frunk is open, in which case it's not really an oversight. Someone needs to try it by opening the frunk, then seeing if they can exceed 10 mph or so.