Model S Nose Cone Mod by accident

roblab · Jan 4, 2016

Well, Happy New Year to me... for about one day.

Saturday, parked in front of a restaurant in St. Helena, on the main drag thru town (Hwy 29). Inside eating breakfast with friends. Came out to find that a truck, trying to veer into an empty parking space in front of me, pulled too close. Scrubbed front tire, hooked front wheel well, and pulled the front end off my car.

Saturday, no one is at work. Took 5 hours to get everything taken care of. St Helena has Carl's Body Shop, with a newly acquired Tesla body man. We'll see how this plays out. Otherwise, I have to tow it 50 miles away or more to get it fixed.

DFibRL8R · Jan 4, 2016

Ouch!
Any hood or fender damage?
My gray S went into the shop today for 4k worth of front bumper cover/nose cone damage after someone backed into me at a light (thankyou dash cam!). I'm trying to figure out how to make the nosecone into wall art to honor 67K miles of faithful service.

MichaelS · Jan 4, 2016

Oh no Rob! How awful! You got the person responsible, right?

efusco · Jan 4, 2016

Every damn time...I feel just a little nauseous... At least the nose cone is in good shape! :tongue:

SabrToothSqrl · Jan 4, 2016

it's currently part way through transformers mode.

what's the red thing?

efusco · Jan 4, 2016

SabrToothSqrl said:
what's the red thing?

Good question, it's right where the jumper stub is on my car, so maybe that's the new and improved version of that?

HankLloydRight · Jan 4, 2016

Looks like the positive battery jumper terminal.

FlasherZ · Jan 4, 2016

efusco said:
Good question, it's right where the jumper stub is on my car, so maybe that's the new and improved version of that?

Yes, that's the cap on the +12V jump post that we don't have.

Electricfan · Jan 4, 2016

Sorry to see that picture!

Yes the red thing is the cap on the positive terminal. I just recently worked up the nerve to take my nosecone off - wanting to see the battery terminals in case I need them. And also since I had it off I mounted the front license plate with magnets (which I've had sitting around for a year after buying them when I saw a post on the forum). My battery was reading 14V !

Hoping for painless, quick and quality repair of your S.

taurusking · Jan 4, 2016

@roblab::: Sorry to see this and you go through.....I have been in your shoes and in my case that person who hit my car did not leave a note.

Hope your car is fixed soon.

AudubonB · Jan 4, 2016

Oh, Rob. So sorry for you and Millie.

Jenny and I are trying to look at this in a positive light. And other than that red cap, we're not seeing any. We hope you can get it and yourselves back on the road shortly, and that this represents the bottom of 2016 for you.

fwgmills · Jan 4, 2016

roblab said:
Saturday, parked in front of a restaurant in St. Helena, on the main drag thru town (Hwy 29). Inside eating breakfast with friends. Came out to find that a truck, trying to veer into an empty parking space in front of me, pulled too close. Scrubbed front tire, hooked front wheel well, and pulled the front end off my car.

Its a good thing Tesla is leading the way in automated driving and parking because they apparently don't teach those skills anymore. Geez....

Gizmotoy · Jan 4, 2016

Electricfan said:
My battery was reading 14V !

In case you're worried, that's normal for a 12V Lead-Acid car (or in this case, motorcycle) battery. It actually takes about 24h after charging and sitting idle for those batteries to settle at 12V (usually 12.7V). Given our 12V is under constant daily loading/charging, it seems likely to me you'd never actually see a 12V reading from it.

FlasherZ · Jan 4, 2016

Gizmotoy said:
In case you're worried, that's normal for a 12V Lead-Acid car (or in this case, motorcycle) battery. It actually takes about 24h after charging and sitting idle for those batteries to settle at 12V (usually 12.7V). Given our 12V is under constant daily loading/charging, it seems likely to me you'd never actually see a 12V reading from it.

Yup... 12V car systems were designed to operate at around 14V or so. I just replaced the voltage regulator in my '65 GTO and at 1200 RPM, you'll see about 14.2V or so. Spec was 13.5V < x < 16.0V in 1965 with engine running at anything more than idle.

roblab · Jan 4, 2016

AudubonB said:
Oh, Rob. So sorry for you and Millie.

Jenny and I are trying to look at this in a positive light. And other than that red cap, we're not seeing any. We hope you can get it and yourselves back on the road shortly, and that this represents the bottom of 2016 for you.

Just having a bunch of (e-)friends commiserate makes it a lot better.

The positives, well, you're right. Just the one connector. Car will always and hereafter have been wrecked in my mind. Major Bummer. But the guy is a St Helena businessman and many people saw him do his deed. He promptly got out (sounds like his ex wife and daughter were who he was picking up) and left phone no, and insurance info. When I called him, he was at the police station filling out his report.

The truly bad part is having to drive a car that you must actually put a key into a hole, and turn it. Then it makes noises, stinks, vibrates, but has no power to actually do anything exciting. And it has a "transmission" with four or five speeds, and constantly keeps "shifting" to go up hill, but when it goes down hill, there is NO REGEN!! When you want to stop, you have to actually turn it off, and put the "key" in your pocket. I told the repair shop that I really, really want this fixed ASAP.

I knew you wouldn't believe all this, but I had to tell someone. (Yes, I know you have diesel pickups. But imagine someone who doesn't!)

PeterK · Jan 4, 2016

Sorry to see this happen to you, Rob. Unfortunately I'd guess your left headlight module's mounting clips are snapped - an $1800 part right there. I wish I'd salvaged mine when I had an accident two years ago - but I did keep the nosecone with a hole through it made by the hitch of the pickup I rear ended.

If it's any consolation they fixed my car up good as new - perhaps better because they improved the frunk hood.

bonnie · Jan 4, 2016

Oh Rob. Just makes me sick to see this. I'm so sorry you're dealing with this hassle.

gg_got_a_tesla · Jan 4, 2016

So sorry, Rob; this is rotten luck indeed. Very sad to see this. Hope it'll be as good as new soon.

andrewket · Jan 4, 2016

Man that sucks. At least the person who did it was a standup guy.

Super_Popular · Jan 4, 2016

andrewket said:
Man that sucks. At least the person who did it was a standup guy.

And at least it wasn't Rob's fault.

Model S Nose Cone Mod by accident

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