While many, including Elon Musk, believe Tesla is leading the automotive technology industry, the firm continues to face quality issues with its vehicles – and Tesla’s service bulletin reveals why.
Service bulletins are documented recommendations for repairing vehicles issued by the automaker and the Musk-owned firm appears to have an easy fix for some potentially dangerous problems.
The manual, shared by industry analyst Bozi Tatervic, tells repair shops to use dead hammers, watch out for missing bolts and apply touch up to paint that was stripped during a repair.
The recommendations are so ‘alarming’ that the bulletins caught the attention of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has made them available to the public.
One frightening issue, which seems to be common, is a a missing nyloc nut that should be in the upper control arm of the Model Y.
Without this component, the ball joint could slip and the front suspension could potentially come loose while the car is in motion.
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One frightening issue, which seems to be common, is a a missing nyloc nut that should be in the upper control arm of the Model Y. Without this component, the ball joint could slip and the front suspension could potentially come loose while the car is in motion
Tesla is known for its faulty designs and many new owners know to do a through check the moment their vehicle is delivered to look for missing parts, chipped paint or crooked body work.
The firm is aware of its blunders and placed the most common issues in its service bulletin to help its contracted repair shops rectify them.
However, with many of these issues being potentially dangerous and the lackadaisical methods of fixing them, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTS) has cataloged the service bulletins for the public to review.
Tesla’s manual, shared by industry analyst Bozi Tatervic , tells repair shops to use dead hammers, watch out for missing bolts and just apply touch up to paint that was stripped during a repair
If paint is damaged during a repair, the bulletin suggests repair workers ‘Tatervic shared that ‘a repair shouldn’t finish’ with a need of applying touch up paint’
One issue many owners may face is an uneven charge port door.
This area has been found to stick out too much, in which Tesla suggests taking a dead hammer to the metal sheet where the over flush is.
Prior to this, Tesla recommends putting tape on the upper and lower rear corners where the charge door assembly mounts and if paint is removed after the strips are moved, ‘apply touch up pain to damage areas, and allow at least five minutes to dry.’
Tatervic shared that ‘a repair shouldn’t finish’ with a need of applying touch up paint.
Another common and potentially dangers mistake is that many vehicles are delivered with missing bolts.
Another common and potentially dangers mistake is that many vehicles are delivered with missing bolts
One Twitter user found three mounting bolts were missing from the rear of the Tesla, which resulted in the bumper falling off while the vehicle was in motion, and ‘led to a huge chain reaction in damage.’ ‘Toronto Lawrence Tesla continues to deny warranty,’ the user shared
Another user in the UK also had a similar experience, when they spotted a bolt holding the passenger seat in place was missing
One Twitter user found three mounting bolts were missing from the rear of the Tesla, which resulted in the bumper falling off while the vehicle was in motion, and ‘led to a huge chain reaction in damage.’
‘Toronto Lawrence Tesla continues to deny warranty,’ the user shared.
Another user in the UK also had a similar experience.
‘Sagar Vaish’ tweeted: ‘we’ve just taken delivery of a model 3 long range. How this car managed to pass a safety inspection I do not know. The front passenger seat is not properly bolted into the floor. It’s missing bolts!!!’
