My baby got hurt :(

zax123 · Feb 12, 2014

We all know it's always a possibility, and we cringe when we hear that it happened to others, but my baby got backed into this weekend.

She was parked calmly on a residential street and my friend's mom backed into her. Damage is the driver's door and the mirror got broken off. I have it duct taped to the car while I wait for the local body shop to order the parts.

I noticed, while taping on the mirror that the support frame underneath is likely made of aluminum and is corroding bigtime. Here's a picture. I don't know how bad this is, but should Tesla be looking into this?

I'm getting it fixed at the only Montreal body shop that does Tesla called "Auto Bugatti". So far the service is amazing. They had two Teslas at the shop while I was there. One is having the entire left-hand side of the car replaced. HUGE job.

- Rob

andrewket · Feb 12, 2014

I'm having a difficult time understanding what I'm looking at in the second pic. Perhaps a few more pics from further away for context would help?

zax123 · Feb 12, 2014

andrewket said:
I'm having a difficult time understanding what I'm looking at in the second pic. Perhaps a few more pics from further away for context would help?

Sorry about that. This is what the second pic is of:

mknox · Feb 12, 2014

zax123 said:
We all know it's always a possibility, and we cringe when we hear that it happened to others, but my baby got backed into this weekend.

Yikes! Really sorry to hear about that!

I noticed, while taping on the mirror that the support frame underneath is likely made of aluminum and is corroding bigtime. Here's a picture. I don't know how bad this is, but should Tesla be looking into this?

That is troublesome, and interesting to me.

I have the same white sand like substance actually creeping inside of my car from under the rubber at the bottom of the small triangle window. I figured it was either road salt getting into the door panel somehow or (more likely) aluminum corrosion. I can wipe it off with my finger, but it returns.

I am getting quite concerned about how a lot of the "hidden" aluminum parts are going to hold up over time. They have, I believe, already replaced some front frame component on my car for corrosion.

dflye · Feb 12, 2014

Hmm, sounds like a good reason to take the car in for the now optional annual inspection: have them inspect and replace all the potentially corroded aluminum bits of the vehicle!

The nature of the accident also points out why the requirement of new cars having backup cameras is legit.

mknox · Feb 12, 2014

dflye said:
Hmm, sounds like a good reason to take the car in for the now optional annual inspection: have them inspect and replace all the potentially corroded aluminum bits of the vehicle!.

Yeah, but unless they do a pretty extensive tear down, how are they going to find all these hidden bits? I suppose as they're discovered/reported, Tesla could keep a list for such purposes. I wonder what's going on between my battery and the car's frame, and with suspension components if things like the mirror bracket are failing already.

- - - Updated - - -

dflye said:
The nature of the accident also points out why the requirement of new cars having backup cameras is legit.

Except that they get covered in crud and are basically useless this time of year

dflye · Feb 12, 2014

mknox said:
Except that they get covered in crud and are basically useless this time of year

Now if only Tesla would design nanobots to keep the lens grime-free year round! Or just a nearby nozzle to shoot out washer fluid. Although not sure at what temp even the winter version of washer fluid turns to ice, the nozzles on my car froze up when it was barely below 10F!

NEWDL · Feb 12, 2014

This is inherent to any untreated aluminum when exposed to the elements. It is surface corrosion only and will not degrade the strength or use of the piece. I would not be worried about it if it is hidden.

Also, it does not travel beyond the metal so what you are seeing on the interior of the car is most likely road salt.

Duckjybe · Feb 12, 2014

Based on my pics of the inside of the door where the mirror attaches to, the door frame is all painted, and has no corrosion/oxidation. It is only the mirror that is unpainted aluminum so I don't think it anything to worry about either

zax123 · Feb 12, 2014

When a ranger was at my place a few months ago, I know he did change some bolts in the frunk area which were made of aluminum and were corroding. There was a service bulletin concerning those bolts. I'm not sure why those were essential to be changed whereas other aluminum corrosion on the vehicle is not as important.

brianman · Feb 12, 2014

mknox said:
Yeah, but unless they do a pretty extensive tear down, how are they going to find all these hidden bits?

Is there a non-crazy-expensive way that they could capture something like an x-ray?

SeminoleFSU · Feb 12, 2014

I thought having an aluminum body was an advantage over steel for corrosion?

mknox · Feb 12, 2014

SeminoleFSU said:
I thought having an aluminum body was an advantage over steel for corrosion?

Under the right conditions (i.e. attached to a dissimilar metal) aluminum corrodes nicely. Years ago, I had a car with a chrome plated aluminum bumper which I think the manufacturer did as some sort of weight saving measure. After a few years, the aluminum turned to a white powder and the bumper looked like leftovers wrapped in tin foil!

- - - Updated - - -

Duckjybe said:
Based on my pics of the inside of the door where the mirror attaches to, the door frame is all painted, and has no corrosion/oxidation. It is only the mirror that is unpainted aluminum so I don't think it anything to worry about either
View attachment 43080

Yeah, but see that bit of white stuff just to the left of your left arrow? I have that all along the bottom of the triangle window coming up, it appears, from under the rubber where it meets the glass. If I wipe it off with my thumb, it's back again in a few days.

VolkerP · Feb 12, 2014

That is... creepy...

Jeeps17 · Feb 12, 2014

Man, that really sucks! :crying: Hope you get her back soon.

I noticed the same thing over the last month or so. I only take my car to touchless car washes, and often will get the "rainbow" soap treatment (for the kids, obviously!).

This is what my driver's side triangle window looks like today:

Note the (cool!) blue soap residue. Apologies for the iphone picture.

I am sure my mirror mount looks just like yours Zax.

zax123 · Feb 12, 2014

I'll mention it to the Laval service center to see if they think it's a problem. My guess is it's normal as someone mentioned and doesn't compromise the structural integrity of the aluminum, but I'm not a metallurgical engineer, so I have no idea.

SeminoleFSU · Feb 12, 2014

That's a pretty car Zax. I hate that for you... ughh

Mayhemm · Feb 12, 2014

Does Tesla even have a corrosion warranty?

mknox · Feb 12, 2014

Mayhemm said:
Does Tesla even have a corrosion warranty?

No. None.

bareyb · Feb 12, 2014

How long did they say you'd be without your Tesla? That would be the hardest part for me. Having to drive an ICE car for a while…

My baby got hurt :(

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