$6220 brake line?

[ViperDoc]

2018 Model 3 suddenly had brake pedal going to the floor and throwing "low brake fluid" error. Inspection of the garage floor revealed a pool of brake fluid. I set up a repair with Tesla. The estimate? $6220.70 to repair a brake line!! They said they need to drop the battery to get at it. This sounds like a pretty big design flaw to me if so. When purchased new (long range and AWD, including "full self-driving" and "enhanced autopilot," the total price was $66,000 (before federal tax credit), so basically replacing a brake line is going to cost > 10% of the original cost for me to get the car!!

Has anyone else been charged such a high price? I saw another post by Essar B who needed a repair on a Model Y who was originally quoted about $1350 to replace ALL the brake lines!! And I think another 2018 Model 3 owner said he had a similar problem and the Peabody MA SC quoted $3500 to do his repair. I have heard of inflation, but $6200+??

 

[TomT]

2018 Model 3 suddenly had brake pedal going to the floor and throwing "low brake fluid" error. Inspection of the garage floor revealed a pool of brake fluid. I set up a repair with Tesla. The estimate? $6220.70 to repair a brake line!!

Things like this are what may ultimately sink Telsa. The first time I got hit with something like that would be the last I ever again bought a Tesla... Tesla thinks CS stands for Customer Sucker!

 

[ViperDoc]

Today, Tesla did the right thing and said they could repair without cost. They said they started offering a rust warranty in 2019, some months after I purchased mine. Good news!

 

[Gtech]

Today, Tesla did the right thing and said they could repair without cost. They said they started offering a rust warranty in 2019, some months after I purchased mine. Good news!

Did they show you where the the brake line went bad? Could you see under the car where the brake fluid came from?

 

[ViperDoc]

The quote was based on the leaking brake fluid. They hadn't seen the car yet. I just dropped it off tonight for them to start work Monday.

 

[ODWms]

That’s awesome! So happy to hear Tesla is stepping up and doing the right thing.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

Weird. Usually brake fluid leaks come from a caliper hose being damaged by a road hazard, or a caliper nipple being left open after a fluid bleed. What made them conclude that a hard line running to the rear axle had failed solely from your description of fluid on the ground?

 

[MP3Mike]

Weird. Usually brake fluid leaks come from a caliper hose being damaged by a road hazard, or a caliper nipple being left open after a fluid bleed. What made them conclude that a hard line running to the rear axle had failed solely from your description of fluid on the ground?

You must have no experience with the east coast and rust belt. Where cars literally fall apart after 5-10 years from all of the salt they put down on the roads. (Teslas being mostly aluminum don't suffer as much.) Brake and fuel hard lines rust through all the time. It is a completely different world from how cars age in California.

 

[ViperDoc]

Weird. Usually brake fluid leaks come from a caliper hose being damaged by a road hazard, or a caliper nipple being left open after a fluid bleed. What made them conclude that a hard line running to the rear axle had failed solely from your description of fluid on the ground?

I don't know, but they did imply that rust was doing in many Model 3's of a certain age due to all the road salt used in the northeast, and they were evaluating how to deal with it. While road salt could clearly be the etiology, and different designs might lessen the impact, the real issue in my mind was a design that required HOURS of labor to drop the battery to access the line, given this would be a not uncommon repair.

 

[Flybyglass]

Great that Tesla took care of it but if not I would want Electrified Garage in Amesbury MA for a second opinion.

 

[ViperDoc]

Great that Tesla took care of it but if not I would want Electrified Garage in Amesbury MA for a second opinion.

They have done work on both the Roadster & my Model 3 in the past, and I was already communicating with them when Tesla came through!

 

[afadeev]

2018 Model 3 suddenly had brake pedal going to the floor and throwing "low brake fluid" error. Inspection of the garage floor revealed a pool of brake fluid. I set up a repair with Tesla. The estimate? $6220.70 to repair a brake line!!
[...]
The quote was based on the leaking brake fluid. They hadn't seen the car yet.

There is a LOT of fishy stuff going on with the original (sight unseen) obscene estimate!

Today, Tesla did the right thing and said they could repair without cost. They said they started offering a rust warranty in 2019, some months after I purchased mine. Good news!

Good news, indeed, but is there any evidence that ANYTHING rusted to cause the brake fluid leak in the first place?
Or are they still guessing?

You must have no experience with the east coast and rust belt. Where cars literally fall apart after 5-10 years from all of the salt they put down on the roads. (Teslas being mostly aluminum don't suffer as much.) Brake and fuel hard lines rust through all the time. It is a completely different world from how cars age in California.

The above is a package of comically false assertions.

• No, quality cars don't rust away in NE after 5-10 years.
• No, hard brake and fuel lines do NOT rust through because they are made from either aluminum or stainless steel. Literarily - not an issue.
• No, Model 3's are not mostly aluminum. The ONLY car I've EVER had rust issues with in the past few decades in NE was on Model 3's rocket panels. Due to poor Tesla engineering and manufacturing of those parts with metal being exposed to road debris kicked up by the front tires.

I don't know, but they did imply that rust was doing in many Model 3's of a certain age due to all the road salt used in the northeast, and they were evaluating how to deal with it.

The way local Tesla SC "dealt" with my rocket panel rust was ... to flat-out deny warranty coverage!
It turned out to be a relatively quick and easy DIY repair, which was cheaper than engaging the legal system to keep Tesla honest. Which is the ONLY recourse us, owners, have, since the sleazy automotive OEM owns all the Service Centers.

Good luck with your experience!

 

[KenC]

Not sure if people saw that thread late last year, where someone from NH posted pics of his brake lines and the area around the front of his battery. Extremely gunked up and corroded!

I was so concerned I propped up my vehicle and dropped the plate to look to see how my 5yr old 3 was doing. So here's a comparison image I made back then, top is the NH car, and bottom is my Maine-based car. Mine shows minimal change after 5 winters. I don't know what happened to that car that it looked so bad.

I'm not fond of the salt mix the towns put on the roads. Often, it's right at 30°f so that the snow turns into slush. I'd rather drive on snow-plowed roads, than thru slush, which requires you follow the tracks.

 

[ViperDoc]

There is a LOT of fishy stuff going on with the original (sight unseen) obscene estimate!



Good news, indeed, but is there any evidence that ANYTHING rusted to cause the brake fluid leak in the first place?
Or are they still guessing?



The above is a package of comically false assertions.

• No, quality cars don't rust away in NE after 5-10 years.
• No, hard brake and fuel lines do NOT rust through because they are made from either aluminum or stainless steel. Literarily - not an issue.
• No, Model 3's are not mostly aluminum. The ONLY car I've EVER had rust issues with in the past few decades in NE was on Model 3's rocket panels. Due to poor Tesla engineering and manufacturing of those parts with metal being exposed to road debris kicked up by the front tires.

The way local Tesla SC "dealt" with my rocket panel rust was ... to flat-out deny warranty coverage!
It turned out to be a relatively quick and easy DIY repair, which was cheaper than engaging the legal system to keep Tesla honest. Which is the ONLY recourse us, owners, have, since the sleazy automotive OEM owns all the Service Centers.

Good luck with your experience!

thanks. I didn't bother to look at it myself. They finally got the car in their hands to start work today, so we will see what they ultimately decide...

 

[Unclepaul]

When giving a written estimate, most auto shops will usually estimate on the high side. The actual charges might be far less, but often they do not know the full extent of the damage until they get into the repair.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

...someone from NH posted pics of his brake lines and the area around the front of his battery. Extremely gunked up and corroded!

I don't see brake lines in either of those images, nor would I expect to. I think they would go straight from the master cylinder into the driver's side rocker panel and would only be visible after removing the front fender liner. Also, that "gunk" is not normal. They probably just drove thru a lot of deep swamps and that's just a buildup of dried out turtles and lilly pads.

 

[KenC]

NH guy's rusty brake lines. What a mess!

 

[jannicknoah]

NH guy's rusty brake lines. What a mess!View attachment 1029800

It looks like a *sugar*

 

[outdoors]

My NHSTA comment goes into tomorrow for this. We had a complete failure while son driving.

 

[outdoors]

I don't see brake lines in either of those images, nor would I expect to. I think they would go straight from the master cylinder into the driver's side rocker panel and would only be visible after removing the front fender liner. Also, that "gunk" is not normal. They probably just drove thru a lot of deep swamps and that's just a buildup of dried out turtles and lilly pads.

You must not know the brake line runs. Live in CA. Enough said.