Weather panic

MileHighMotoring · May 30, 2015

Living in Colorado, when it rains it could hail. Last month I was taking a casual drive to a homebrew supply shop when it started out of nowhere. I high-tailed it to the only place I could find that offered protection - a gas station! Thankfully it was mostly empty and I wasn't hurting business or blocking anyone as I watched the tiny white pellets pummeling the ground all around me. Every few minutes the wind would change slightly and I had to adjust my position fore or aft to keep the car safe. It finally ended and I drove away, only to have it kick back up before I was even out of the parking lot! Back under the cover for another 10 minutes. It ended and I ran into the building to buy a soda as I felt my conscience nudging me to patronize them.

I've taken to always checking the weather report before driving! It's a bit over the top obsessive but I'm paranoid about hail damage on the Tesla!

AudubonB · May 30, 2015

There's no such thing as a 'casual' drive to a home-brew supply shop. Therefore, this entire story seems a gross fabrication.......

EarlyAdopter · May 30, 2015

Interestingly enough, no one has ever posted examples of hail damage on a Model S here, so it would seem it's no worse than other cars.

If you have a pano roof then 2/3 of the surface presented to the sky is laminated safety glass (front windshield, pano roof, and rear hatch glass), which would need baseball sized hail or larger to damage.

Someone posted here that they've had an aluminum bodied car for 6 years prior to the Model S and it never suffered any hail damage.

bonnie · May 30, 2015

Having lived in Colorado for 20 years, I've seen plenty of hail 'after math' photos published the next morning in the local paper, with parking lots of cars dimpled like golf balls. Somehow I always avoided that.

But after getting my Roadster, there was a freak hailstorm here in Northern California where I now live. God bless carbon fiber bodies. After I got over my initial panic, I realized that carbon fiber is amused by hail & all was fine.

Other cars, not so fine.

MileHighMotoring · May 30, 2015

bonnie said:
... lived in Colorado ... here in Northern California where I now live

Where in Colorado did you live? I'm down in Parker, southeast of Denver.

We always joked in the 80s and 90s about how everyone was sick of all the people moving here from California. Looks like you've reversed that trend! I don't blame you. Having traveled most of these states, California is the only other place I've considered living.

Yggdrasill · May 30, 2015

bonnie said:
Having lived in Colorado for 20 years, I've seen plenty of hail 'after math' photos published the next morning in the local paper, with parking lots of cars dimpled like golf balls.

I wonder if golf ball dimples would be good for the range.

MileHighMotoring · May 30, 2015

Yggdrasill said:
I wonder if golf ball dimples would be good for the range.

Mythbusters (A TV show here in America) confirmed that it improved fuel economy in a silly test!
Dimpled Car MiniMyth | MythBusters | Discovery

bonnie · May 30, 2015

MileHighMotoring said:
Where in Colorado did you live? I'm down in Parker, southeast of Denver.

We always joked in the 80s and 90s about how everyone was sick of all the people moving here from California. Looks like you've reversed that trend! I don't blame you. Having traveled most of these states, California is the only other place I've considered living.

I was in Littleton for a couple of years and then moved to Boulder, where I raised my son. Northern California, especially where I live, reminds me a lot of Boulder. But nothing replaces the Flatirons.

thecloud · May 30, 2015

Yggdrasill said:
I wonder if golf ball dimples would be good for the range.

It requires a good driver.

TEG · May 30, 2015

thecloud said:
It requires a good driver.

Good enough to make the rim shot!

- - - Updated - - -

----

Some related links:

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/9177-Door-dings-and-hail-dents

http://my.teslamotors.com/forum/forums/hail-damage-model-s

http://my.teslamotors.com/forum/forums/hail-damage-repair-brand-new-p85-advice

http://my.teslamotors.com/forum/forums/hail-damage-what-do

http://my.teslamotors.com/forum/forums/aluminum-body-damage

thecloud · May 30, 2015

TEG said:
Good enough to make the rim shot!

Rim shot? Naaah... it'll buff right out with some steel wool.

Thanks. You're a good crowd.

Johan · May 30, 2015

I googled for pics. Hmm... "This is not the damage you are looking for".

spottyq · May 30, 2015

Johan said:
I googled for pics. Hmm... "This is not the damage you are looking for".

View attachment 82580

Ouch, look at the damaged rims of the bottom-right one !

green1 · May 30, 2015

Johan said:
I googled for pics. Hmm... "This is not the damage you are looking for".

View attachment 82580

I do NOT want to meet the hail stone that did that damage!!

musicious · May 31, 2015

When I had my trade-in car inspected while waiting for my Tesla, they pointed out some hail damage on the front hood and roof that i never even noticed before! Luckily the comprehensive insurance completely pays for weather damage with no deductible. They also paid for my old car getting key scratched which is vandalism, and also paid for my Tesla damage due to road debris denting and scratching my hood and fender, even rewrapping it is covered

caddieo · May 31, 2015

thecloud said:
It requires a good driver.

Otherwise you'll just putter around.

MileHighMotoring · May 31, 2015

caddieo said:
Otherwise you'll just putter around.

Okay let's get back on topic, fore jokes is enough.

dhrivnak · May 31, 2015

bonnie said:
Having lived in Colorado for 20 years, I've seen plenty of hail 'after math' photos published the next morning in the local paper, with parking lots of cars dimpled like golf balls. Somehow I always avoided that.

But after getting my Roadster, there was a freak hailstorm here in Northern California where I now live. God bless carbon fiber bodies. After I got over my initial panic, I realized that carbon fiber is amused by hail & all was fine.

Other cars, not so fine.

Same here. 3 weeks into my new to me Roadster was caught in a terrible hail storm. To my extreme surprise the ice is no match for carbon fiber. Al may be another story however.

Barry · May 31, 2015

There's a local Tesla owner (lives in Stapleton) who had extensive hail damage to his P85+ about a year ago. I haven't seen him post here for quite a while, but maybe he'll chime in and post some pics.

Kandiru · May 31, 2015

Inside gas station you must have felt like Rudy the German:

[video]https://youtu.be/Wc6keIjI06I[/video]

Weather panic

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