Undertray Hanging off

[navt]

Found this on Reddit. Bit of a bummer with all this wet weather we are having and Tesla just sticking their heads in the ground.

Model 3 - Hard Plastic Version of Undercarriage Composite Tray Coming Soon : teslamotors

 

[Glan gluaisne]

This seems ludicrous. Tesla seem to have known that the under tray was not fit for purpose since early April this year, if that Reddit thread is correct. They've reputedly also said back then that a re-designed under tray is in the pipeline and will be made available as soon as it's ready.

However, we still seem to be having instances of the under tray being damaged by what may well be normal road standing water spray, yet Tesla want to charge for the replacement?

I wonder if this is just an issue related to poor communications, again. Maybe the UK service people are unaware that the under tray problem has both been reported in the US and is the subject of a redesign, to overcome the failings. This seems probable, as I had something near-identical with Toyota, when part of the front under tray (a fairly tough, rigid, plastic moulding) broke free and made a loud noise under the car before it finally broke away completely.

Toyota GB knew nothing about this, and although the car was well within the warranty period, they wanted to charge me a lot of money to fit a new tray. I found a US service bulletin referring to the new tray design, stating that any damaged tray of the original design should be replaced FOC with the new part, and sure enough Toyota GB rolled over and fitted the new p[art. It was clear that there hadn't been proper communication about this within the company.

We know that Tesla are not exactly great at communications, so maybe the UK service people just need to be made aware of the resolution of this problem in the US.

 

[Bernard_S]

That fibrous material it's made from looks unsuitable for use in countries where it's likely to encounter heavy rain. It's bound to soften up over time.

 

[Jonslatt]

I had exactly the same problem driving through about 2" standing water at just over 30mph. Only had my M3P+ for two weeks at the time. Managed to get an appointment to get it replaced 2m later. Turned up to the B'ham service centre to be told "it's water damage" and therefore not covered by warranty. £180 + VAT please.
I refused and wrote the service manager an email text of which is below. I have had a confirmation of receipt and that it has been bounced higher up the management structure and I should hear something back in Jan. As soon as I hear anything I will post it.

Jon

Dear xxxxx

Following on from yesterday afternoon. Firstly I must apologise for my brusque tone. It had not been mentioned to me that the repair to the undercarriage protective trim would be chargeable and as you will see, I didn’t think for a second that it wouldn’t be covered under warranty.

As I advised yesterday the design of the front and rear composite protective covers are a well known issue dating back to when the Model 3 was first released. Please look at Ripped Undercarriage Composite from the rain? and https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/weird-rain-damage.131679/ for numerous other Model 3 owners that have had a similar issue to me. Contrary to your assertion that I must have driven through deep water at speed you will see that the vast majority of these drivers went through puddles under normal driving conditions as was my case. In the vast majority of cases the damage is identical to mine with the central section between the two fastenings tearing.

You may not be aware but the NHTSA in the US actually issued a bulletin in January of this year advising remedial action for Model 3 owners.
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10153430-9999.pdf

I also believe that a more resilient hard plastic cover is shortly to be released to replace the composite one.

In view of the above I would politely request that you reassess my request to have the repair carried out under warranty even if it as a goodwill gesture with no admission of liability.

Kind regards

Jon
​

 

[Glan gluaisne]

I had exactly the same problem driving through about 2" standing water at just over 30mph. Only had my M3P+ for two weeks at the time. Managed to get an appointment to get it replaced 2m later. Turned up to the B'ham service centre to be told "it's water damage" and therefore not covered by warranty. £180 + VAT please.
I refused and wrote the service manager an email text of which is below. I have had a confirmation of receipt and that it has been bounced higher up the management structure and I should hear something back in Jan. As soon as I hear anything I will post it.

Jon

Dear xxxxx

Following on from yesterday afternoon. Firstly I must apologise for my brusque tone. It had not been mentioned to me that the repair to the undercarriage protective trim would be chargeable and as you will see, I didn’t think for a second that it wouldn’t be covered under warranty.

As I advised yesterday the design of the front and rear composite protective covers are a well known issue dating back to when the Model 3 was first released. Please look at Ripped Undercarriage Composite from the rain? and https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/weird-rain-damage.131679/ for numerous other Model 3 owners that have had a similar issue to me. Contrary to your assertion that I must have driven through deep water at speed you will see that the vast majority of these drivers went through puddles under normal driving conditions as was my case. In the vast majority of cases the damage is identical to mine with the central section between the two fastenings tearing.

You may not be aware but the NHTSA in the US actually issued a bulletin in January of this year advising remedial action for Model 3 owners.
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10153430-9999.pdf

I also believe that a more resilient hard plastic cover is shortly to be released to replace the composite one.

In view of the above I would politely request that you reassess my request to have the repair carried out under warranty even if it as a goodwill gesture with no admission of liability.

Kind regards

Jon
​

Well done you!

Let's hope that this gets the attention it deserves. I still suspect that the seemingly poor communications within Tesla are primarily to blame for the view that such under tray repairs are chargeable work, and not covered by warranty.

 

[Ch0pper]

I had exactly the same problem driving through about 2" standing water at just over 30mph. Only had my M3P+ for two weeks at the time. Managed to get an appointment to get it replaced 2m later. Turned up to the B'ham service centre to be told "it's water damage" and therefore not covered by warranty. £180 + VAT please.
I refused and wrote the service manager an email text of which is below. I have had a confirmation of receipt and that it has been bounced higher up the management structure and I should hear something back in Jan. As soon as I hear anything I will post it.

Jon

Dear xxxxx

Following on from yesterday afternoon. Firstly I must apologise for my brusque tone. It had not been mentioned to me that the repair to the undercarriage protective trim would be chargeable and as you will see, I didn’t think for a second that it wouldn’t be covered under warranty.

As I advised yesterday the design of the front and rear composite protective covers are a well known issue dating back to when the Model 3 was first released. Please look at Ripped Undercarriage Composite from the rain? and https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/weird-rain-damage.131679/ for numerous other Model 3 owners that have had a similar issue to me. Contrary to your assertion that I must have driven through deep water at speed you will see that the vast majority of these drivers went through puddles under normal driving conditions as was my case. In the vast majority of cases the damage is identical to mine with the central section between the two fastenings tearing.

You may not be aware but the NHTSA in the US actually issued a bulletin in January of this year advising remedial action for Model 3 owners.
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10153430-9999.pdf

I also believe that a more resilient hard plastic cover is shortly to be released to replace the composite one.

In view of the above I would politely request that you reassess my request to have the repair carried out under warranty even if it as a goodwill gesture with no admission of liability.

Kind regards

Jon
​

That Tesla document says only model 3’s built before 29 nov 2018, do we assume any car after this date has an updated panel?

 

[Jonslatt]

I saw that as well but to be honest the replacement is hardly fit for purpose either.

 

[Cogarch]

That whole area can act like a scoop for detritus, as the YouTuber Dirty Tesla reported a few weeks back. He lives up a dirt track and found his undertray was carting around large quantities of accumulated rubble.

I too hit a minor flood at about 40 mph a coupe of days ago and feared the worst, but so far can't see any damage (touch wood) after a cursory inspection.

 

[Rooster6655]

Well done you!

Let's hope that this gets the attention it deserves. I still suspect that the seemingly poor communications within Tesla are primarily to blame for the view that such under tray repairs are chargeable work, and not covered by warranty.

Well they either sort it or they will find themselves with a bunch of law suits eventually and they will end up paying for it anyway, their current support setup is really amateur, can't get anywhere with service issues.

 

[Jason71]

For info I contacted parts and got a quick reply:

"
The Aero shields for your Model 3 are available to order from our Distribution centre in the Netherlands and should take approx. 5-7 working days to arrive here.
Cost is £145.00 each including VAT.
Delivery is available for next working day at a cost of £8.70.
"

a service center appointment is 6 weeks away and would probably end up costing me more in lost earnings since weekend appointments don't seem to be a thing. So annoying as it is I may have to just buy one and fit it myself.
I would complain to someone and try to at least get the part for free/reduced but who is there even to complain to ?

At least it is available which is something.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Is there any guarantee that these new aero shields are any different to the ones that are fitted to UK cars as delivered, though?

It wouldn't be great to shell out to replace a part that seems defective by design with another similar part that's just as defective.

I'm struggling to understand Tesla's logic here. Under UK/EU consumer law, then anything sold has to be fit for purpose. An inch or two of standing water on roads is completely normal here, so the car, just like every other car sold here, should be able to deal with this without damage, and certainly without ripping of large areas of the underbody shielding.

 

[*Adam]

Is there any guarantee that these new aero shields are any different to the ones that are fitted to UK cars as delivered, though?

It wouldn't be great to shell out to replace a part that seems defective by design with another similar part that's just as defective.

I'm struggling to understand Tesla's logic here. Under UK/EU consumer law, then anything sold has to be fit for purpose. An inch or two of standing water on roads is completely normal here, so the car, just like every other car sold here, should be able to deal with this without damage, and certainly without ripping of large areas of the underbody shielding.

Wholeheartedly agree with you Jeremy. I’m sure if enough of us have the issue, and keep communication there could be a case brought against Tesla for replacements.

 

[MrBadger]

It also doesn't help that some cars (like ours, and quite a few others that I have seen in videos) have some underbody bolts missing, so the underbody has dropped down due to not being properly supported in the first place.

 

[Adopado]

An inch or two of standing water on roads is completely normal here, so the car, just like every other car sold here, should be able to deal with this without damage, and certainly without ripping of large areas of the underbody shielding.

To be fair, all the M3s in the UK will have been driving through "an inch or two of standing water". I certainly have ... in fact I've driven through a depth that was at the limit of what I would risk in any car. Fortunately I haven't had an issue with an aero panel being damaged and this damage would only appear to be the case with a handful of cars.

This is a really important issue that needs to be recognised and resolved by Tesla as soon as possible but the problem doesn't appear to be universal. We need to know to what extent it is the material that the panels are made of, and to what extent it is the fitting of those panels. If some cars had a lip exposed or retaining bolts missing then this would hugely increase the likelihood of damage occurring.

The comparison with other cars is complicated by the fact that in many ICE cars some of those underbody areas are not normally covered in the first place. Tesla is aiming for some aero improvement by giving more complete coverage but could do with revising their design and implementation. However, whatever they end up doing in the future, it's important for Tesla to promptly sort out the damage on existing vehicles ASAP!

 

[Rooster6655]

It also doesn't help that some cars (like ours, and quite a few others that I have seen in videos) have some underbody bolts missing, so the underbody has dropped down due to not being properly supported in the first place.

If a bolt is missing then they can say good bye to any of their excuses that its not covered

 

[Dangerous Fish]

If a bolt is missing then they can say good bye to any of their excuses that its not covered

Exactly and as said, the missing bolts have been the cause in the vast majority of cases. If all bolts are in place and tight then this is very unlikely to happen.

 

[rotor2k]

Note to self to check if my bolts are all there.

 

[Jonslatt]

So after a three weeks of raising it I have now been invited back to the BHam service centre for a technician to inspect my M3P to see which version of the under tray I have. No comment about what will happen next. From my point of view I don’t care if it is the twenty-seventh evolution in under tray technology - it still isn’t fit for purpose!

 

[rotor2k]

So after a three weeks of raising it I have now been invited back to the BHam service centre for a technician to inspect my M3P to see which version of the under tray I have. No comment about what will happen next. From my point of view I don’t care if it is the twenty-seventh evolution in under tray technology - it still isn’t fit for purpose!

Ooh do let us know the outcome!

 

[discoM3]

Any update on this? Happened to me too driving in heavy rain. Just fell off, dragging on the ground.