Closing door by pushing on window vs door

reddy · Oct 15, 2015

I feel like I need to be calling Click and Clack on Car Talk for this one.

My better half likes to close her car door by pushing on the upper distal corner of the door. Most cars now have metal frames around the window, so for all our other cars this a a metal piece of the door.

But on the Tesla of course we have only glass there. It seems less sturdy to me, and pushing too hard would seem to risk breaking something in the window assembly. I don't live near a service center, so ruining the window assembly will involve significant hassle.

So now I'm in the unfortunate position of being asked what I love more.... my wife, or the integrity of the Tesla passenger door window.

So what are the facts here? Is it OK to close the door this way; am I overreacting here?

Or is there any advice from Tesla or others that the window mechanism can be damaged by closing the door this way?

Cyclone · Oct 15, 2015

On my vehicle, I always push the door somewhere around the handle. But my key reason for this isn't fear the glass will break (which it could), but the avoid the common issue of frameless doors where the glass gets out of alignment with the seals. I haven't read reports of this happening widespread for Teslas, but it is a common problem on other frameless door cars.

muleferg · Oct 15, 2015

reddy said:
I feel like I need to be calling Click and Clack on Car Talk for this one.

My better half likes to close her car door by pushing on the upper distal corner of the door. Most cars now have metal frames around the window, so for all our other cars this a a metal piece of the door.

But on the Tesla of course we have only glass there. It seems less sturdy to me, and pushing too hard would seem to risk breaking something in the window assembly. I don't live near a service center, so ruining the window assembly will involve significant hassle.

So now I'm in the unfortunate position of being asked what I love more.... my wife, or the integrity of the Tesla passenger door window.

So what are the facts here? Is it OK to close the door this way; am I overreacting here?

Or is there any advice from Tesla or others that the window mechanism can be damaged by closing the door this way?

If my wife did this I would not worry about it.

CHG-ON · Oct 15, 2015

I have the same worry (not about the wife), so I push the door. I would think that repeatedly pushing the window would cause problems.

Lawsteve · Oct 15, 2015

reddy said:
I feel like I need to be calling Click and Clack on Car Talk for this one.

Might be a little tough : Tom Magliozzi, Popular Co-Host Of NPR's 'Car Talk,' Dies At 77 : NPR

MsElectric · Oct 15, 2015

reddy said:
I feel like I need to be calling Click and Clack on Car Talk for this one.

My better half likes to close her car door by pushing on the upper distal corner of the door. Most cars now have metal frames around the window, so for all our other cars this a a metal piece of the door.

But on the Tesla of course we have only glass there. It seems less sturdy to me, and pushing too hard would seem to risk breaking something in the window assembly. I don't live near a service center, so ruining the window assembly will involve significant hassle.

So now I'm in the unfortunate position of being asked what I love more.... my wife, or the integrity of the Tesla passenger door window.

So what are the facts here? Is it OK to close the door this way; am I overreacting here?

Or is there any advice from Tesla or others that the window mechanism can be damaged by closing the door this way?

I think it is safer to close the door with the door and with the glass.

I have the perfect solution for you. Roll down the window before she gets in or out of the car. That way she will have to close the door with the door...

RLA12194 · Oct 15, 2015

Keep the fingerprints and smudges off the glass. Close the door with the door handle.

MrJones390 · Oct 16, 2015

MsElectric said:
I think it is safer to close the door with the door then with the glass.

I think it's safer not to tell your wife what to do.

markb1 · Oct 16, 2015

RLA12194 said:
Keep the fingerprints and smudges off the glass. Close the door with the door handle.

I prefer to keep fingerprints off of the paint and chrome, because those are easier to scratch when cleaning. But I try to keep my fingerprints off the glass, too, by only touching the edge of the glass.

doctorwho · Oct 16, 2015

One way to 'retrain' her is to have the passenger window down when she gets out of the car and raise it after the door is closed.

AustinPowers · Oct 16, 2015

I am not sure what to make of this thread.

My wife also likes to close the door of her car (standard doors) by pushing the top of the door frame. But as soon as she drives my car (or in my car as a passenger), she automatically closes the door by pushing it by the handles, as mine has frameless doors as well.

No need to retrain, just normal behaviour (which incidentally I would expect from any "normal" i.e. sensible person, wife or otherwise). But that is just me of course :wink:

Max* · Oct 16, 2015

Why is everyone so afraid of mentioning/asking/telling your wife not to use the glass?

Rockster · Oct 16, 2015

I insist that everyone use the door handle but it's not because I'm primarily concerned about affecting the glass. I believe that always closing a door using the handle will dramatically reduce the possibility of a child crushing a hand or finger in the door. Getting into this habit now results in a lifetime of significantly reduced risk.*

*(Yes, my nickname at home is Papa Bear.)

Cyclone · Oct 16, 2015

MsElectric said:
I think it is safer to close the door with the door and with the glass.

I have the perfect solution for you. Roll down the window before she gets in or out of the car. That way she will have to close the door with the door...

MrJones390 said:
I think it's safer not to tell your wife what to do.

Touche!

SabrToothSqrl · Oct 16, 2015

Push/pull ONLY ever on the handle, or you don't ride in my car. Any car.

brucet999 · Oct 16, 2015

reddy said:
I feel like I need to be calling Click and Clack on Car Talk for this one.

My better half likes to close her car door by pushing on the upper distal corner of the door. But on the Tesla of course we have only glass there. It seems less sturdy to me, and pushing too hard would seem to risk breaking something in the window assembly.

Is it OK to close the door this way; am I overreacting here?

Can you get her to push only on the proximal corner, Doc?

There is no danger of her breaking the tempered glass that way, nor should it be a problem if done gently on level ground.

If she is a door slammer or frequently closes it that way while parked on a slope where she is working against gravity to close it, or when wind wants to resist closing, then she would be putting strain on the window mechanism, and that could cause misalignment after a while resulting in a poor seal against the rubber on the door jamb, causing wind noise and/or water leakage.

Whitmarsh · Oct 17, 2015

muleferg said:
If my wife did this I would not worry about it.

If my wife did this, I would tell her in no uncertain terms not to! Not that she would, in fact; she has a good deal of mechanical sympathy.

taurusking · Oct 17, 2015

Or the other option is for the OP to open wife's door and close it...gentleman's reaction + preventing his wife from touching the glass.

No birds in one stone:biggrin:

stevezzzz · Oct 17, 2015

One data point: 50,000 miles driven in two Model S, and I typically close the driver's door by pushing on the top of the glass with my right elbow as I exit the car. I'm mindful of the force exerted and can't imagine it would be enough to cause any problems.

Please don't judge me...

Ugliest1 · Oct 17, 2015

Max* said:
Why is everyone so afraid of mentioning/asking/telling your wife not to use the glass?

Afraid? Perhaps not. Another possibility: when mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

stevezzzz said:
One data point:

Actually I think that's what I do quite a bit too, paradoxically especially when I'm washing/drying/vacuuming the car. The light pressure doesn't feel like anything will go out of alignment soon. Time will tell.

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