You notice an out daytime "eyebrow" light in a fellow Model 3. Do you...

[woodisgood]

Here in the SF Bay Model 3s are very very common. It's also fairly common to see one with an out daytime "eyebrow," which was a known problem that afflicted many vehicles in earlier VIN ranges. Having experienced it, it's also something that can take a while for an owner to notice.

So what would you do?

 

[AdamVIP]

No harm in letting them know if you can do it without being a hazard.

 

[ecarfan]

Here in the SF Bay Model 3s are very very common. It's also fairly common to see one with an out daytime "eyebrow," which was a known problem that afflicted many vehicles in earlier VIN ranges.

I’m a Bay Area resident and see multiple Model 3s every 10 minutes I spend on the road. I have never noticed what you describe. I’ll have to look more carefully.

I would have thought that if a headlight, taillight, DRL, etc had failed that there would be an alert displayed. No?

 

[Bill Foster]

None of my business

 

[0ptions]

I’m a Bay Area resident and see multiple Model 3s every 10 minutes I spend on the road. I have never noticed what you describe. I’ll have to look more carefully.

I would have thought that if a headlight, taillight, DRL, etc had failed that there would be an alert displayed. No?

I've had this issue happen to me with my PS DRL and it does not throw any alert or message. The only way I noticed was seeing my cars reflection in the back of other cars (if they were clean enough).

 

[Dan203]

If the opportunity arose, like we both stopped at the same store or something, I'd mention it. Otherwise I'm not going to bother. Don't see how it'd be possible to even notice this when you're next to them, since it's the front of the car, so a stop light thing doesn't seem likely. And even if I did getting them to roll down their window to talk to me would be a challenge. (does anyone even recognize the roll down hand gesture any more?)

 

[SDKoala]

Mine was affected by this and I've seen a few others with it. Reality is that most of the time the other car is going in the exact opposite direction and there's no way to let them know. They'll figure it out eventually.

 

[Puddles]

Knowing Tesla it probably costs seventeen MILLION dollars to replace so I would let them go. No need to rush that information into their life.

 

[woodisgood]

Knowing Tesla it probably costs seventeen MILLION dollars to replace so I would let them go. No need to rush that information into their life.

It requires the entire headlamp assembly on the affected side to be replaced, which is done under warranty. Quite an involved process actually. I believe the headlamp is around $400, not sure about labor. Took mobile service an hour. This is 8+ months ago for me so things may have changed.

 

[Puddles]

Aw, shucks, if it’s a warranty item, then send up the smoke flares.

 

[Runt8]

It's pretty obvious whenever you pull up behind a pickup or SUV with a shiny finish. Or am I the only one admiring my Tesla's reflection?

 

[SigNC]

what does this look like? I must be out of the loop.

 

[tracksyde]

I would have thought that if a headlight, taillight, DRL, etc had failed that there would be an alert displayed. No?

The issue isnt an electrical one (at least not in my case and others I've read about). The DRL LED strip becomes physically "unseated" and shifts backwards (towards the cabin). When you look into the headlight, the DRL LED strip is still lit and seems fine from a close distance. But if you move back like 5 feet, you'll see the DRL appears dim because the direction of the light has shifted or has become blocked.

If I recall, someone said a tech at a Tesla SC said its a problem with the glue used to hold the LED strip in place.

 

[woodisgood]

what does this look like? I must be out of the loop.

It’s pretty obvious if you see it in a Model 3 headed the other way or in your rear view. The daytime headlights will appear asymmetric. They are composed of a dim diffuse light and a bright strip under it. This bright strip is called the “signature” or “eyebrow/eyeliner/eyelash” and some headlamp assemblies were defective, resulting in that strip failing.

Harder to assess in your own vehicle unless you see it in a reflection or get down level with the strip. Photos are notoriously poor at illustrating the problem but I’m sure there are some out there...

 

[tofenbeck]

I checked out this thread because I noticed the problem on my 16XXX VIN Model 3. I thought I would share the pics I took for Tesla Service for more clarification in case others are wondering what exactly the problem is.
I have a mobile appointment coming up...they've quoted me $970 for the replacement assembly and just under $200 labor. I will not approve this estimate and fight for warranty replacement.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I checked out this thread because I noticed the problem on my 16XXX VIN Model 3. I thought I would share the pics I took for Tesla Service for more clarification in case others are wondering what exactly the problem is.
I have a mobile appointment coming up...they've quoted me $970 for the replacement assembly and just under $200 labor. I will not approve this estimate and fight for warranty replacement.


View attachment 574290 View attachment 574291

Note that the quote you get is what it would cost, not what you'll be charged.

 

[EVNation]

I checked out this thread because I noticed the problem on my 16XXX VIN Model 3. I thought I would share the pics I took for Tesla Service for more clarification in case others are wondering what exactly the problem is.
I have a mobile appointment coming up...they've quoted me $970 for the replacement assembly and just under $200 labor. I will not approve this estimate and fight for warranty replacement.


View attachment 574290 View attachment 574291

I’ve had both my headlights separately replaced under warranty. Both done by mobile service. It required removing the bumper! And a software calibration to get the headlights communicating with each other again. Finally they pushed a software update that failed to complete so I actually drove around with no headlight on one side for a couple days until they repeated the calibration and update. The first headlight (VIN 19xxx) was replaced by a Revision H. I didn’t get the revision letter of the 2nd headlight.

 

[woodisgood]

I checked out this thread because I noticed the problem on my 16XXX VIN Model 3. I thought I would share the pics I took for Tesla Service for more clarification in case others are wondering what exactly the problem is.
I have a mobile appointment coming up...they've quoted me $970 for the replacement assembly and just under $200 labor. I will not approve this estimate and fight for warranty replacement.


View attachment 574290 View attachment 574291

It will/should be under warranty (unless you’re over 50k miles). They just send you the estimate of how much it costs.

 

[SDKoala]

I checked out this thread because I noticed the problem on my 16XXX VIN Model 3. I thought I would share the pics I took for Tesla Service for more clarification in case others are wondering what exactly the problem is.
I have a mobile appointment coming up...they've quoted me $970 for the replacement assembly and just under $200 labor. I will not approve this estimate and fight for warranty replacement.

It will be covered under warranty. You don't have to approve the estimate for the work to be done. I had both sides go out within 1.5 years of ownership. It takes mobile about an hour to replace the headlight assembly. Don't be surprised to see a bunch of road debris get released when they take the bumper off. Make sure everything is working before mobile leaves. I had some kind of firmware issue when they replaced the first one which caused a constant mechanical whirring sound to come from the assembly. It went away when they pushed the firmware again.

 

[SDKoala]

I’ve had both my headlights separately replaced under warranty. Both done by mobile service. It required removing the bumper! And a software calibration to get the headlights communicating with each other again. Finally they pushed a software update that failed to complete so I actually drove around with no headlight on one side for a couple days until they repeated the calibration and update. The first headlight (VIN 19xxx) was replaced by a Revision H. I didn’t get the revision letter of the 2nd headlight.

My first one was Revision I (September 2018), the second one was Revision K (December 2019). Seems like issues with the firmware push afterward aren't usual (see my above post).