I can understand why Tesla are a bit twitchy about people re-building accident damaged cars as the main cell pack under the floor could be damaged.
Imagine the headlines if the car caught fire with young kids in it. Any car which has suffered an accident will have some deceleration damage to areas which are not easily picked up. Any number of the multiple thousands of cells in that battery pack could have suffered damage. It happened in the early stages of the Volt testing when weeks after an impact test, the car burst into flames. http://consumerist.com/2012/01/23/nhtsa-says-dont-worry-about-your-chevy-volt-erupting-into-flames-more-than-other-cars/ Hardly surprising why Tesla are keeping their distance. Russ -------------------------------------------- On Thu, 2/10/14, Collin Kidder via EV <[email protected]> wrote: Subject: Re: [EVDL] EValert: !Don't buy a salvaged Tesla EV to repair &drive! (video) To: "Lawrence Harris" <[email protected]>, "Electric Vehicle Discussion List" <[email protected]> Date: Thursday, 2 October, 2014, 14:18 On Wed, Oct 1, 2014 at 6:04 PM, Lawrence Harris via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > I am afraid I side with Tesla on this. As much as I like to be able to > tinker with 'my stuff' here we have a very complex system with many sensors > and actuators that are all controlled by the onboard computer systems. The > car has been repaired by (apparently) someone with no training on making > sure all these system, some of them safety systems, are working. Tesla > says let us take a look, if it's all ok we will reactive the car, if not > you have the choice of getting them fixed or abandoning the project. > > > I absolutely disagree. If you purchase something (and you do get a title when you buy a car) then it is yours. What you do with it is no longer the company's problem. You could disassemble it, turn it into a fish tank, build it into a transformer, whatever. Saying that the car is complex does not change the question of ownership. When you sell something you give up interest in the object you sold. It is gone; it is no longer yours. Now, it is perfectly acceptable to offer warranties and other incentives. These things do not dilute the ownership question but rather provide some route for extra support after the sale. In all the cases we're currently hearing about the people with the cars are NOT trying to assert any warranty claims at all. They just want to fix their own car. Let's say that some safety systems are not working. If that is the case the car should know about it. This is not 1950. Cars have complicated diagnostic systems as well as complicated safety systems. Some cars even tell you which light is burnt out so you don't have to guess when it happens. If Tesla did even a half assed job of making their cars then it'll know if any of the sensors or systems seem to be malfunctioning. At that point it can warn the owner of the vehicle that something still isn't right. Often you are allowed to drive anyway so long as the problem isn't too dire. There is no need for Tesla to inspect the vehicle's sensors and computer systems. They do that themselves. The more pertinent problem here is likely the frame of the car. If it is cracked in half nothing else in the car is likely to know about it until the car tears in two. So, I could see someone being nervous about that. That's why the DMV will want the car's structure and suspension to be inspected before it is licensed for on-the-road use. Tesla has nothing to do with that. No, all of this is just Tesla being overbearing control freaks. > > As an aside I had a similar talk with Mercedes when the onboard computer > in my car got fried (wiring issue - their fault out of warrantee and no > recall). I tried to get a replacement from the wreckers and was told > sorry, the computer is flashed to the VIN of the car and unless I replace > 'all' the various interlinked components including the keys it won't work - > only a new computer will work. Talking to my non dealer mechanic he said > many of the new cars are like this and there are system he can't easily > service. > > Lawrence Harris > > This is also stupid and many people want a law (right to repair) to fix this sort of issue. I'm sure that their stated reason for doing VIN locking is to prevent chop shops from parting out people's vehicles. That's still a stupid reason and really a lie. I seriously doubt that the OEM cares about chop shops. They care about control. Now we're seeing that Tesla is showing their true colors as well. I suppose it isn't really a surprise but many people had hoped that Elon Musk would be different. It turns out that Tesla is behaving pretty much like all the big auto makers. I guess they want to fit in? There is currently a war against ownership and I'm not terribly fond of it. Unfortunately, few people seem to care. They're content to almost kind of sort of own things that they bought and paid for. And, that's sad. The general complacently of the populous leads to all sorts of dark places. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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