Tesla supercharger bay damaged my Model S and Tesla refused to help

[bxreilly]

On the morning of 19th Jan 2024 I parked my Tesla Model S in Tesla supercharger bay at South Mimms Welcome Break Service Station. This particular charging bay is unusual in that one can use it only by going in forwards. The rest of the bays require one to reverse in. The bay practice is to go into the bay unto the wheels touch the raised bar in the bay and then one knows that one is correctly parked for the charging cable to be able to reach the car. I did this and charged up. Upon reversing the bar in the charging bar caused the front of the car to break-off from the front of the car. On calling Tesla Roadside assistance they refused to help or even escalate the issue and stated I would need to make an insurance claim notwithstanding I had provided them with clear video evidence that this was not my fault, that it was the fault of the layout of the charging bay, that I am entitled to charge as a customer who has free lifetime charging from Tesla, have used charging bays for 6 years without issue previously and that I had 3 other independent witnesses who agreed that the damage could only have resulted from the bay design. I then was left with no other choice but to make an insurance claim and will be charged an excess fee of £650 by my insurance provider.

See video

 

[soulsea]

I agree that there's no reason for that parking block to be that far back from the end of the pavement, but this obviously happened whist reversing. Why in the world didn't you stop when you started scraping when you were going forwards? It would have to scrape something crazy for the bumper to get so stuck on the other side of the block that it gets pulled off going backwards. The moment you felt it scraping going forwards you should have stopped not insisted, even if it meant the charger wouldn't reach the port. Again, poor parking space design but this one could have easily been avoided.

 

[PJNewport]

Sorry for your loss. Viewing from my armchair, it appears you pulled into a deep chuck hole which reduced the expected clearance. It’s a game of inches.

You had options:
- Avoid the hole by parking closer to the charging pedestal. There looks to be a level surface (nearly an axe handle width) between the hole and the curb nearest the pedestal. Just be careful to avoid curb rash (Tesla will disappoint you again if you insist they provide a replacement wheel)
- You are entitled to use another bay, even if doing so requires a short wait
- Charge at a different site

 

[brainhouston]

blaming others for ur own mistakes is childish...
looking at google maps, every spot has the same exact rubber stop at the same distance
and i'm pretty sure Tesla doesn't own parking lot, only the chargers...
this can happen to u on any parking spot with such a stop

 

[Tam]

On the morning of 19th Jan 2024 I parked my Tesla Model S in Tesla supercharger bay at South Mimms Welcome Break Service Station. This particular charging bay is unusual in that one can use it only by going in forwards. The rest of the bays require one to reverse in. The bay practice is to go into the bay unto the wheels touch the raised bar in the bay and then one knows that one is correctly parked for the charging cable to be able to reach the car. I did this and charged up. Upon reversing the bar in the charging bar caused the front of the car to break-off from the front of the car. On calling Tesla Roadside assistance they refused to help or even escalate the issue and stated I would need to make an insurance claim notwithstanding I had provided them with clear video evidence that this was not my fault, that it was the fault of the layout of the charging bay, that I am entitled to charge as a customer who has free lifetime charging from Tesla, have used charging bays for 6 years without issue previously and that I had 3 other independent witnesses who agreed that the damage could only have resulted from the bay design. I then was left with no other choice but to make an insurance claim and will be charged an excess fee of £650 by my insurance provider.

See video

Since 2012, because I cannot see what under the front of the car, I always raise the air suspension up high.

You might want to switch to a car brand that has a low front camera if you can't raise the suspension up.

 

[sorka]

I always assume the parking stop is an infinitely high wall that shoots up billions of lightyears and never park an inch over them. You never know when your air suspension is going to sag. The parking stop is not meant to go until you front wheels hit. It's meant to stop the car when you incorrectly drive too far forward.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I always assume the parking stop is an infinitely high wall that shoots up billions of lightyears and never park an inch over them. You never know when your air suspension is going to sag. The parking stop is not meant to go until you front wheels hit. It's meant to stop the car when you incorrectly drive too far forward.

Yep, when going forward, even in my Model 3 (which presumably has higher clearance than the S set to lowest setting) I encounter plenty of parking stops that 100% will scrape my front if I just went in, so I instead use my rear camera as the reference point to see if I pulled in enough (see if my rear bumper is inside the white lines). Only backing in is it safe to have the wheels touch the stop.

 

[stopcrazypp]

blaming others for ur own mistakes is childish...
looking at google maps, every spot has the same exact rubber stop at the same distance
and i'm pretty sure Tesla doesn't own parking lot, only the chargers...
this can happen to u on any parking spot with such a stop

To be fair, all those spots are back in, only one spot is head in (the one all the way in the back).

That said, the spot does not require you to pull all the way forward, as the cable is plenty long enough and the pedestal is quite far back. Here is someone charging there and this is the "proper" way to park with no risk of scraping your front bumper:

Tesla Supercharger · M25 Motorway, Jct 23 Bignell's Corner, Potters Bar EN6 3QQ, United Kingdom

 

[ucmndd]

Tesla doesn’t own the site, the parking lot, set the requirements for the wheel stops, or really anything else - so expecting this is somehow their responsibility doesn’t make a lot of sense.

 

[islandbayy]

I don't see this being a Tesla Issue. The stop appears to be a fairly small one. Ive never had issues with the same.
Next, there seems to be a pothole that you pulled in to in the lot. That would be up to the lot owner to repair/maintain.
The pothole is visible. You should have seen it, or at least heard the car scraping the parking stop. At that point, it is your responsibility as owner of the vehicle to STOP, and Inspect to see if it is safe to continue to pull in/out. If you have Air suspension, a prudent thing would be to raise suspension to max height. If not, instead of continuing to drive, should seek assistance.
I had a similar issue way back in 2013, where a sinkhole formed at a supercharger, so when I pulled in, the front drivers side tire sunk down and got stuck. Rather than continuing to drive, I Sought Help. Got a jack, raised the front of the vehicle and put boards under so I could safely pull the car out without damage.

I know you are upset, I'd be too, unfortunately, you are on the hook for this one unless UK law permits otherwise. You MAY get a goodwill repair out of Tesla, however, don' hold your breath.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

Let’s put it this way, even if Tesla were responsible, they would do anything for you because they don’t care about customer satisfaction. You would need to sue them in court to get anything out if them.

 

[gaswalla]

this looks to be due to the sagging air suspension on older Teslas... happens quite a bit.
car sagged down in front after parking and driver 'just kept on going' even after meeting resistance in reverse.. not a supercharger issue, but an issue with older Teslas

 

[airborne spoon]

Learn to drive. Whenever I use a pull in spot that has those bumpers I always hit the suspension to very high before I go in. I did that once. Except I'm not a moron so as soon as I heard/felt it scrape on the way out I stopped and investigated like any intelligent person would. No damage besides a snap clip that I just put back in place

 

[ucmndd]

It’s a weird world we live in where the first instinct is always to find someone else to blame for our own mistakes.

I can’t imagine tearing the front bumper off my car in this manner and then thinking I need to call Tesla to get them to compensate me.

 

[maximizese]

It’s a weird world we live in where the first instinct is always to find someone else to blame for our own mistakes.

I can’t imagine tearing the front bumper off my car in this manner and then thinking I need to call Tesla to get them to compensate me.

I've learned to park short from driving my 2001 VW Golf TDI. The front of the car is actually lifted .75" with a set of H&R Dunebuggy coilovers (helps correct the front suspension geometry and reduces understeer) but the front bumper cover spoiler notoriously hangs low. Just about all MK4 VW Golf/Jetta/Beetles I've seen in the wild show mild to extensive damage and I've seem a few folks rip the bumper cover off after pulling off a parking bump.

Our Fiat 500e is so comically short that just yesterday I parked in a stall where someone left a shopping cart lengthwise in front of the parking bump. Didn't have to get out of the car to move it, just parked 4ft off the bump and was within the bounds of the stall like the cars around me.

 

[soulsea]

It’s a weird world we live in where the first instinct is always to find someone else to blame for our own mistakes.

I can’t imagine tearing the front bumper off my car in this manner and then thinking I need to call Tesla to get them to compensate me.

He's in the UK, he's probably written fifty letters to his local council and MP.

No one ever wants to accept accountability ... over here we sue each other, over there they expect the state to take care of every slightest perceived unfairness/injustice.

Do you have any idea how hard he would have had to drive over that thing without stopping in order for it to rip the bumper off on the way back? But no, let's blame the inanimate object instead of the person who was in full control of the situation.

 

[Takumi]

Oh, I see you got charged £650 tuition fee for that lesson at the School of Hard Knocks. Yeah, I hate getting that bill too. Damn school just places their classrooms all over the place. Does anyone know the direct line to the one in charge?