Vehicle Damage after Tesla Service

[kps8]

I had my front right repeater camera replaced today. It was intermittent for a few months with the "AutoPilot unavailable" notification showing off and on. Noticed some condensation in a portion of the camera a few times as well. Few weeks later, noticed it not showing in video in the USB drive footage, and error message about no autopilot stayed on all the time.

Good news, they replaced it.
Bad news, they caused about 4-5 small (looks like knuckles) dents all around the camera area. In my invoice it notated that there were "several dents around camera area", and when I read that.. I was really confused.....as I am very meticulous about knowing where every little imperfection is on my Model 3. (I bet most of you can say the same). When they pulled the car around, sure enough there were all these small weird dents in that area. These were NOT there before. The service tech. continued to tell me that these were documented prior to service (I suppose that taking there word for it, and have no way of knowing) and that the techs. are very good about being forthcoming when they cause damage/mistakes. I have tried to find a good email to file a complaint with no luck.Suggestions? If someone can help, I can send more pics. This pic is just a quick perspective. Thanks for your thoughts/suggestions. Paintless dent removal tool may do the trick, but still......This was not there prior to service. I was in and around that camera for weeks looking at it/cleaning it trying to figure out why it was not working in the first place, I definitely would have noticed, they are EASY to see. Come on Tesla.

 

[kps8]

This was at the TYCO road Tesla SC in Vienna, VA./Tysons Corner

 

[cgiGuy]

Geeze.. sorry this happened to you.

Did they provide you with a walk-around form with any indicated damage prior to the repair? That should be where they should have noted prior damage, not on the invoice. I would push to see the documentation and escalate it. I'd also be very skeptical about damage already being there, so close to where they performed the repair.

Hindsight is 20/20, but always take detailed pics of your car before service.

 

[kps8]

20/20 indeed... that’s sad though really, and disappointing I would have to do that to hold them accountable. No walk around prior, I did talk to the tech and look at car briefly. The SC now with this virus going around are actually encouraging “quick drop” , where you just drop it off inside and leave, not needing to see/speak with anyone.
I wrote to Tesla, but honestly don’t know what to expect. Very disappointed in this.

 

[cgiGuy]

It is disappointing, but give them a chance to make it right. My brother had similar experience when they replaced a headlight and damaged a fender. They repaired/repainted it after he bought it to their attention.

Seems like a "quick drop" is asking for problems and only helps your case, as they can't prove that it wasn't there prior.

 

[kps8]

Bigger problem is I tried several ways of contacting them via email, half of them kicked back to me that mail was not being accepted anymore from that address. We'll see I suppose. Any suggestions of specific address to contact are appreciated. Calling the Service Center on the phone seems moot, as they were very unhelpful and dismissive today about it.

 

[jkoya]

OP - I feel your pain. The SC curbed one of my wheels when my car went in for an alignment appointment. Couldn't prove to them it wasn't there before, so they wouldn't cover the cost to fix it....

 

[Msjulie]

I have an appointment coming up, Mobile Service, to fix seat belt sensor issue of some kind (if it isn't cancelled) - posts like this make me think I need to photograph the car before the visit just in case <- I hate that I'm thinking this...

To OP - sorry this happened, sigh

 

[LanEvo]

Given the amount of volume for that service center gets, if you ever have reasons to go to Richmond, I'd recommend making future appointments at the Glen Allen service center. I haven't been back to Tyco Rd since I had my P3D+ delivered there in December, it was an hour before closing but assholes still made me inspect it outside in the freezing cold in the dark.

 

[kps8]

#Msjulie
No question whatsoever, photograph your car prior.
Especially if it’s for a specific location problem, like a front side camera. They never did a walk around with me prior to service, and the surprising all of a sudden comment of “Several dents around auto pilot camera” that showed up on the final invoice just seems wrong and backwards to me for several reasons.

 

[Chris88]

I had my front right repeater camera replaced today. It was intermittent for a few months with the "AutoPilot unavailable" notification showing off and on. Noticed some condensation in a portion of the camera a few times as well. Few weeks later, noticed it not showing in video in the USB drive footage, and error message about no autopilot stayed on all the time.

Good news, they replaced it.
Bad news, they caused about 4-5 small (looks like knuckles) dents all around the camera area. In my invoice it notated that there were "several dents around camera area", and when I read that.. I was really confused.....as I am very meticulous about knowing where every little imperfection is on my Model 3. (I bet most of you can say the same). When they pulled the car around, sure enough there were all these small weird dents in that area. These were NOT there before. The service tech. continued to tell me that these were documented prior to service (I suppose that taking there word for it, and have no way of knowing) and that the techs. are very good about being forthcoming when they cause damage/mistakes. I have tried to find a good email to file a complaint with no luck.Suggestions? If someone can help, I can send more pics. This pic is just a quick perspective. Thanks for your thoughts/suggestions. Paintless dent removal tool may do the trick, but still......This was not there prior to service. I was in and around that camera for weeks looking at it/cleaning it trying to figure out why it was not working in the first place, I definitely would have noticed, they are EASY to see. Come on Tesla.

Dang, sorry to hear! Looking at the dents they are in an odd location to be from the repeater removal. I wouldn't say it's from them trying to pry the camera out as they would have dented the top body line in trying to do so. But who knows what could have happened while it's in for service.

Now one thing that I can see that is definitely from this service is the damage directly above the repeater. If you look on the underside of the body line above the repeater in the middle there are 2 high spots. These repeaters have a couple of tabs there that can be really tight. This damage looks like it was caused from those tabs pulling the metal out while attempting to remove the repeater.

If nothing else they should be fixing that tiny bit if damage, but I'd push them for proof that the other dents were there before. If they can't provide it I'd pressure them to fix it as they obviously had a bit of difficulty removing it if they pulled the metal out at the top and didn't notice it to fix it.

 

[Jae001]

I would be so pissed off if that happened to me. I hate dings more than anything on my car. I would suggest escalating this to Tesla's executive support team. I have had great success with them doing the right thing and taking care of me when things go wrong.

 

[Cnixon]

Terrible. They are not hard cameras to get out but it looks like they tried to do it from the front rather than from the back. Good news is that I am sure a dent removal specialist will get them out without a sign - but Tesla should pay for the best.