Driving on Sanded/Dirt Road Voids HV Battery Warranty

[KenC]

Car is not garaged. Washing it in the winter seems essential, but is hard to do when it's below freezing almost the whole winter. Again, seems like a serious flaw that the Tesla collects so much dirt. I have a 15 yo Prius that I drive in all sorts of conditions and never wash that is basically rust free.

@KenC , Thanks for tweeting. I'm not optimistic about any warranty coverage at this point, but you never know.

One other thought, what is your car washing routine? Do you use a high-pressure washer for your wheels and wheel well? Just trying to figure out why there's so much muck caked up.

I used to handwash in the winter, whenever it got above freezing, for the first 2 winters. After, I got lazy. I pretty much don't wash it, during winter, the last 3 winters!

 

[stopcrazypp]

I'm trying to understand what else could be different between our two cars, since I think they're quite similar:

2018s, check.
In neighboring states with lots of salt and sand in winter, check.
Live on dirt road, check. How long is your dirt road? Mine's 1/4mile.
Ski a lot in winter, check.
Do you garage your car? Mine lives outside, so snow and ice just builds up in the wheel wells pretty much all winter long.
Did you ever get a tear in the undertray?

Actually, I only cleaned the front undertray twice: when I tightened the inverter lug nut to eliminate motor whine, and then to change the fabric tray to a metal one. Either time, there was very little dirt. Once in the back, after seeing a video on how much dirt collects there. Now, when I rotate my tires, I always peer into the back, to see how much is there, and usually it's not enough to get me to clean it, because it'll just start collecting again.

Your level of corrosion is literally off-the-charts. I @ed the pics to Tesla on X. Hope you get it taken care of under warranty, as it has to be some sort of outlier.

Yeah, I can see why Tesla assumed the OP's car was driven off road if the differences in conditions are so major even with the "same" type of driving and with even less cleaning your car. I presume Tesla's SC has seen plenty of cars from the same area and probably did not observe anywhere near the same level of corrosion. So they may suspect the usage is difference. It'll be interesting to see what is the "cause". Maybe a tear in the aeroshield as you say?

 

[kpanda17]

Out of curiosity, what service center are you going to? Peabody MA? I had two appointments within a month of picking up my car and they were both uphill battles of trying to get things fixed. I gave up and went to Dedham and have had a much better experience.

guys, Ive said it many times, get the email and face to face time with the SC top manager, work the system in your favor
dont sit behind texts and group messaging, one throat to choke

 

[Chewy13]

guys, Ive said it many times, get the email and face to face time with the SC top manager, work the system in your favor
dont sit behind texts and group messaging, one throat to choke

Oh I got the face to face talk with the manager at Peabody. When he walked away, the tech was still outside and said he agreed with me, but his hands were tied.
Peabody SC is dead to me.

 

[father_of_6]

I guess I've touched a nerve in criticizing Tesla.

Nope, I've criticized Tesla for many things, as have a lot of other long-standing members of these forums... likely many people in this thread.

But you didn't post the screenshots of your correspondence with the service center... so I'm starting to question the validity of this story.

 

[kpanda17]

Oh I got the face to face talk with the manager at Peabody. When he walked away, the tech was still outside and said he agreed with me, but his hands were tied.
Peabody SC is dead to me.

If you hit a dead end with the SC manager, go through LinkedIn and look for the person above
Escalate to them

 

[dusty22]

Car looks like some of the flood damaged car videos and photos I have seen; mud and corrosion.

 

[GregD60]

Wow! That's a lot of dirt compacted into the front of the battery. Was your front undertray removed for a period of time?

 

[KenC]

Last thought, how often do you rotate your tires, do you do it yourself or do you have Tesla or someone rotate them for you? I ask because, the brake lines are visible when you remove your wheels. I specifically do the rotations myself, so I can inspect my tread, look at my pads and rotors, and grease the pins, and look at the brake lines and suspension. Not to mention, I can also tighten the rear inverter lug nut ground, if necessary.

Also, does NH have a state inspection? In Maine, I have to take it in once a year for an inspection, and they remove the wheels and measure brake pad thickness, etc., etc., etc. Of course, the shops around here are happy to do it, because they can then tell you your pads need replacing, etc.

 

[David Webb]

I swap out snow/all-season tires in the fall and spring, but I guess I haven't been looking closely at anything else. NH does do state inspections, but no one has said anything the previous year. The brake lines failed on the way to the inspection appointment, believe it or not. Car was at the SC this past spring for some other repairs (clicking noise on the driver's door and a leak that was getting the trunk wet), and nothing was noted about the corrosion issues, presumably because they didn't take the wheels off.

 

[KenC]

I swap out snow/all-season tires in the fall and spring, but I guess I haven't been looking closely at anything else. NH does do state inspections, but no one has said anything the previous year. The brake lines failed on the way to the inspection appointment, believe it or not. Car was at the SC this past spring for some other repairs (clicking noise on the driver's door and a leak that was getting the trunk wet), and nothing was noted about the corrosion issues, presumably because they didn't take the wheels off.

Ok, so do you think maybe the corrosion is recent? Has NH changed their salt mix recently? Here in Maine, it's rained excessively this Summer, setting records. Did you have a lot of mud? Mud season was pretty bad around here.
That's the only photo I have, but it was much much worse than that! The car was slewing around as I drove thru some areas of deep mud!

 

[father_of_6]

That's the only photo I have, but it was much much worse than that! The car was slewing around as I drove thru some areas of deep mud!

And yet, the underside of your car is vastly cleaner.

 

[David Webb]

Ok, so do you think maybe the corrosion is recent? Has NH changed their salt mix recently? Here in Maine, it's rained excessively this Summer, setting records. Did you have a lot of mud? Mud season was pretty bad around here.View attachment 982863
That's the only photo I have, but it was much much worse than that! The car was slewing around as I drove thru some areas of deep mud!

I think we have essentially the same exact conditions- record wet summer, bad mud every spring, way too much salt all winter. I drive in ME with great frequency. Not sure what the difference is for me. Clearly I have not been cleaning my car off as much as you, so that is probably most of it. But maybe my plastic sheet was poorly installed or dislodged in a way that was shoveling muck up into the car ? I've never been a frequent car washer, and I've also never had a car last less than 200,000 miles before (these were Volvos and Toyotas). Seems like I caught some bad luck on this one.

 

[mcbanan]

Rust under northern vehicles due to road applied salt is a thing in northern U.S.A.
modern road salt is terrible for everything, animals, environment, the actual road, metals
most of us hand wash our Ts, tops only, therefore frequent under body spraying is necessary

how don’t our brothers in Norway and Sweden experience rhe same?
I just read Norway, Sweden, amd Finland don’t use salt for its too cold for it to be effective and they use gravel instead

for us in U.S.A. get this for rhe power washer:

Hi! Just wanted to say that I live in Norway, and they do use road salt here. In Sweden and Finland as well. What you read applies only to the most northern parts of Scandinavia.

I live in the southern part, on the coast, and our climate is similar to the north east coast of the US and Canada.

As for the Model 3 and rust, some have rust where the mud flaps in the front go.Stupid design and very thin paint it seems like. Not a big deal though, just get it painted and put some mudflaps on.

I have also seen some with rust on the brakelines under the frunk and in the rear wheelwells. Thats a bit early.

I usually remove alot of dirt from that little shelf in the front wheelwells that @KenC had a picture of, and put a small coat of Fluid Film on the brake lines and other areas in the wheelwells when i change from summer to winter tires in late october.

 

[Chewy13]

and put a small coat of Fluid Film on the brake lines and other areas in the wheelwells when i change from summer to winter tires in late october.

Hmm that's a good idea. I should give a quick spritz and a wipe of WD40 on the hard brake lines when I swap between All Seasons and Winters twice a year.

To speaker to an earlier point, I was at the Dedham service center - and someone was fighting with the service manager that the plastic skid plate/aero plate/splash guard should be covered under warranty. I didn't catch the whole convo, so I'm not sure if it's a M3 or MY, if it was damaged or completely missing. But the SC Manager basically said that it's not a warranty issue. It could have fallen off from a bad scrape, or water could have dislodged it from travelling at speed; that it wasn't necessarily a manufacturing defect.

So having seen all of this - I guess it's a good inspection item to check regularly to keep things protected.

 

[kpanda17]

Best to do an annual alignment at Tesla and ask to go under the vehicle up on the lift and take photos
Ask them to do an full under inspection, everything

Get to any issues early as possible for either:
Better proactive cleaning by us
Replace any plates that have fallen off
Get Tesla to address a battery issue asap

 

[pnwadventures]

But maybe my plastic sheet was poorly installed or dislodged in a way that was shoveling muck up into the car

I think this is a really good thing to look into.

 

[texas_star_TM3]

Yes- roads are sanded and salted during the winter in New England, and many other northern states, Canada, Scandinavia, etc. You also end up driving on dirt roads from time to time. There is a lot of sand and silt that gets kicked up and trapped by the plastic sheet that covers the underside of the car. This has not been an issue on any other car I've ever known, but is a big problem for the M3, maybe other models as well. This is not made clear to tesla owners at all. I found this out the hard way. You probably have nothing to worry about in SoCal.

Edit- to be crystal clear, this car was driven in a completely normal way for any person in Northern New England- not used for off roading, farming, etc.

that's a design flaw and on Tesla. is the owner expected to lift the car, remove bolts, take of panels., shake it out and then re-install regularly?

 

[texas_star_TM3]

Best to do an annual alignment at Tesla and ask to go under the vehicle up on the lift and take photos
Ask them to do an full under inspection, everything

Get to any issues early as possible for either:
Better proactive cleaning by us
Replace any plates that have fallen off
Get Tesla to address a battery issue asap

after taxes Tesla charges around $300 for an alignment (...) your recommendation doing that annually isn't consistent with posting that "Tesla's are way cheaper to own than other cars because no oil changes and service checks!!!"

 

[KenC]

that's a design flaw and on Tesla. is the owner expected to lift the car, remove bolts, take of panels., shake it out and then re-install regularly?

I dunno. In the Spring, I always lift my car, and remove the snow tires, or if I don't have snow tires, I rotate my tires. Either way, I always do an inspection, check the pads/rotors, lube the pins, look at the suspension. Doesn't everyone?

As for the undertray, that has only been in recent years that vehicle manufacturers have been using under trays to improve aerodynamics. My Chevy Bolt had under trays, and yes, they filled up with pebbles, worse than my Tesla. How do I know? I vaguely recall hosing it out every Spring.

As for the Tesla, I was actually looking for pics of our muddy road in previous springs, but didn't find any. Instead, I found a video of me knocking on the underside of my Tesla:

That's April 5, 2019, 4 months after I had gotten my 3, and I must have seen a YouTube video of all the dirt that accumulates. I tapped and no, I didn't find anything worth worrying about, so no, I did not remove my panels and shake anything out. In 5 Springs, I've never taken off the panels to just remove dirt. Only 4x: twice for 2 alignments I have had done. The tire shop did that. I always get an alignment after I put on new tires. And, once, when I removed the front panel, to replace it with a metal one. And once, when I tried to figure out why I was getting an inverter motor whine, so I took off the front panel to tighten the inverter ground nut.

All 4x, I did not find enough dirt to get all worked up about. I think if you have unusual road conditions, and if you can hear significant dirt from tapping, or if you can see significant dirt, from the wheel wells, then by all means, you can remove the panels and remove the dirt. But no, it's not required at all.