Door handle replacement - 2013 MS

[PhilBa]

So, my 2013 MS driver's side door handle finally gave up the ghost. As you can see in the photo, it is misaligned and hanging up on the rear part of the opening. I guess my options are replace it myself or pay Tesla to do it.

How hard is it to replace? Do I want to (can I?) use Gen 3 handles? I looked at repair kits but not sure it will solve it my problem. The videos I've looked at don't have the same failure mode.

 

[KalJoMoS]

Well you have been quite lucky if this is the first failure of your 2013 car. A whole decade on a handle?! If you have done some maintenance on your car’s before then this change is nothing much different. According to the photo it seems that the whole unit is broken, this repair kit is only for internal microswitches that can fail. You can find substitute handle on ebay, these will fit even if they are v.2.0 or v.2.5. That Gen3 hadle comes with extra control module and this needs some tweaking.
Tesla will replace it with Gen3 handle and it’s not that much as it has been in the past. If you can access the “service menu” then you might be able to install that handle yourself as well. Can’t say it for sure as your car is 2013 release.