Front grille louver broke

[Fa_]

I have no idea how this could happen, but it was a snow storm and then a cold snap, and one of my louver shutter assemblies on the passenger side is broken now.
Looks like the inside mount broke while it was trying to open itself while there was ice buildup.
I have a few questions:
1. How bad is it to drive like this for a while, I see that the actuator still works and just does not sit right?
2. Do you think this may be covered under warranty as there is no obvious damage to anywhere around this area, the louver mount just cracked inside the bumper assembly most likely from the effort to open itself while having ice all over?
3. Is this more a job for a dealership or a body shop to deal with, as from the looks of it they may need to remove the bumper?

Thanks!

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[shahrouz4]

Mine were somehow broken and fallen inside the fender. It caused the collision sensor to stop working. I read on this forum that the cost to replace is pretty high. Filed an insurance claim. They paid the body shop $4000 since the whole thing had to be replaced.

 

[Colorado MME GT]

I'm not sure why this costs so much at some shops. I had mine replaced at an independent auto shop that specializes in EVs and hybrids. The complete shutter assembly cost them US$581.33 and it took two hours of labor to replace. Final cost was US$926.04. It should be covered by most comprehensive insurance plans. Since I have a US$1000 deductable on my insurance, I ate the cost myself.

 

[Mach-Lee]

I'm not sure why this costs so much at some shops. I had mine replaced at an independent auto shop that specializes in EVs and hybrids. The complete shutter assembly cost them US$581.33 and it took two hours of labor to replace. Final cost was US$926.04. It should be covered by most comprehensive insurance plans. Since I have a US$1000 deductable on my insurance, I ate the cost myself.

Body shops are just that much of a scam. Yes it should only cost about $1000 to fix not $4000.

I would love to see more independent EV repair shops, but the level of business just isn't there in a lot of areas yet.

 

[Colorado MME GT]

Body shops are just that much of a scam. Yes it should only cost about $1000 to fix not $4000.

I would love to see more independent EV repair shops, but the level of business just isn't there in a lot of areas yet.

I guess my point was shop around. There's nothing really special about replacing the shutter assembly, so any competent auto service shop should be able to do this work, as long as they understand the lift points for the MME and have the correct lift pucks.

Body shops are notoriously expensive and are probably inappropriate for mechanical work. Dealer service centers are usually predictably expensive as they use defined shop markups for parts and book rates for labor time. I avoid dealers for most work on my vehicles unless it's warranty-related.

This does trigger a bigger discussion, maybe best served by a separate thread, on who we are using for our service work on EVs. There's so little maintenance required for any electric vehicle that the traditional service center business models will struggle to survive at the same scale it has with heavily mechanical ICEs. But there are still some common items between EVs and ICEs - suspension, brakes, tires, and some fluids. Is your independent shop comfortable with doing this work on an EV? If you are lucky enough to have an EV-specific shop, as I do, how do we ensure they are properly supported when we have so little work to be done? Or do we use Ford Service Centers to encourage them to properly train and certify their techs, a true bottleneck?

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

the level of business just isn't there in a lot of areas yet.

Some manufacturers drag their feet about having independent shops do any work as well, particularly with those that have centralized service centers. A local, well-regarded repair shop has been trying to get authorization to repair Teslas and is making very little headway. The MY sits at #2 in popularity here with zero shops able to repair (mechanically or body).

 

[Colorado MME GT]

Some manufacturers drag their feet about having independent shops do any work as well, particularly with those that have centralized service centers. A local, well-regarded repair shop has been trying to get authorization to repair Teslas and is making very little headway. The MY sits at #2 in popularity here with zero shops able to repair (mechanically or body).

Tesla is much tighter about repairs since it was a startup without the long history a legacy car company like Ford has. There are multiple ways to get OEM Ford parts, and their service manuals are readily available. Having said that, I don't know about the software side of Ford maintenance and how open that is to independent centers. For my ICE cars, I always preferred finding a local shop that specialized in certain brands. My wife's Toyota goes to a local shop run by a couple of guys who used to work for the Toyota dealership, and for my previous car, an Outback, I had a lot of Subaru shops in my area since that's a hot brand in Colorado. It'll be interesting to see where the BEV world ends up for maintenance.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Tesla is much tighter about repairs since it was a startup without the long history a legacy car company like Ford has. There are multiple ways to get OEM Ford parts, and their service manuals are readily available. Having said that, I don't know about the software side of Ford maintenance and how open that is to independent centers. For my ICE cars, I always preferred finding a local shop that specialized in certain brands. My wife's Toyota goes to a local shop run by a couple of guys who used to work for the Toyota dealership, and for my previous car, an Outback, I had a lot of Subaru shops in my area since that's a hot brand in Colorado. It'll be interesting to see where the BEV world ends up for maintenance.

Yeah. Tesla experiences vary wildly. A friend in NorCal just dumped his MS due to his experiences with Tesla service, mobile and otherwise. He’s driving a plug-in hybrid now. A neighbor won’t ever buy another Tesla after his model S spent almost 6 months in the service center on Oahu during the course of his 36 month lease. Others have had great experiences.

There is virtually no Tesla service presence on this island now. The mobile service has had an on again off again presence for about 2 years now. New cars are being delivered with obvious defects and the prospective owners are told to have it repaired locally (including mechanical and body work) or to ship the car to Honolulu at their expense for warranty work, then fly to Honolulu pick up the car, drive the vehicle to the service center, drop it off. Wash, rinse, repeat for the return. Refusing the car, which does happen, usually elicits a threat of not being able to buy a Tesla in the future (How true that threat is is another question).

Without going into great detail, the person trying to set up a Tesla authorized repair adjunct to his existing business, says that there’s no single person in charge of doing this at Tesla. The rules change daily depending on who you talk to. There are also no Tesla authorized body shops on the island. If it requires a part you’re pretty much SOL.

Their mobile service was eliminated during Mr. Musk’s tantrum led downsizing a couple of years ago.

In an amusing side note, the guy trying to set all this up drives a 2023 Lightning. He says the general experience has been far better dealing with the local Ford dealer than with anything related to Tesla for even routine service or minor issues in his wife’s MY.

The Tacoma still is king state wide and has been for at least 12 years.

 

[RickMachE]

The louvers are covered by the 36 month / 36,000 mile warranty. If you hit nothing, and they break due to ice buildup, that's a warranty claim to me.

 

[Fa_]

Update: My AD fixed everything under warranty, the whole panel was replaced along with the louvers. No more washing car in subzero temps.

 

[mdwinther35]

Yesterday I noticed I have louver damage as well, not sure how it happened. Insurance claim submitted and scheduled for repair mid March. Anyone know if there is any issue driving it in the meantime? We have a trip planned next week and was hoping to take it but won't if that's not advisable. Thx.

 

[Fa_]

Yesterday I noticed I have louver damage as well, not sure how it happened. Insurance claim submitted and scheduled for repair mid March. Anyone know if there is any issue driving it in the meantime? We have a trip planned next week and was hoping to take it but won't if that's not advisable. Thx.

If there’s a clear opening and louver is missing then it’s not advisable to drive around like this especially on highways, as debris off the road may hit and break radiator. In my case they just broke where the hinges are but were still standing and blocking the opening albeit a bit askew, so I drove like this for a week or so before the part arrived.

 

[Colorado MME GT]

Yesterday I noticed I have louver damage as well, not sure how it happened. Insurance claim submitted and scheduled for repair mid March. Anyone know if there is any issue driving it in the meantime? We have a trip planned next week and was hoping to take it but won't if that's not advisable. Thx.

There are no drivability issues with the louvers being broken. You'll have a little more drag, but it will be negligible. I broke mine last year, clearing snow off the front end (hint -don't use your foot), and used a local independent EV-specialty shop to replace it. The total cost was about $950 for parts and labor. Note that a Ford Service Center will charge much more.

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