Hey fellow LHers. Been living outside the states for awhile. Came home to visit parents and their model 3 had a strong odor. Drove it and me and my passenger both got very strong headaches. Eventually opened the spare tire compartment in back trunk to find about 12 inches of water. Water could have been inside for as much as 12 months.
Emptied out. Dried out best I could. Then came the rains in SoCal. It is filled again. I am thinking poor build quality perhaps? Something is allowing water to get in. Subsequent drives now include side effects of general sickness in addition to somewhat severe headache.
We are now in a desperate situation. I am assuming some pretty nasty mold has accumulated.
ANY advice is appreciated. Would filing a claim with insurance be doable? Should I contact Tesla? Perhaps take to a place that helps with water damage (any leads?).
mold, and if it’s stagnant water that’s been sitting for year, god knows if it got into the insulation or other soft textiles that’s in the trunk. That’s a potential rolling biohazard. Insurance might be the way to go - but someone might have a better solution.
Poor weatherproofing seals is a hallmark of tesla’s awful build quality.
You got a limited edition Tesla Pool. Others will pile in Tesla but many manufactures have seal leaks. A buddy owns a few detail shops and it’s a common occurrence. If the odor is that bad it’s mold…you could bleach and use an ozone machine to kill the bacteria…no guarantee it won’t come back. Get ahold of insurance and start that path, my guess is they will investigate detailing first.
OP- start with Tesla. This should be a warranty issue- not an insurance issue. If you do not get anywhere with Tesla you could explore insurance. There is no point on filing a claim if it is not followed up on (and potentially raising your rates).
I’m not sure about anyone else, but I would not trust any fix Tesla tries. Priority should be to dump the car as I don’t think it’ll ever be healthy to drive again.
Bleach will not kill mycotoxins, which is what makes you sick from mold exposure. This car is likely a lost cause. I’d pursue all insurance options. If you’re stuck with it, search for car or vehicle remediation options, and then sell or trade ASAP.
If I remember correctly there was some sort of drainage issue on some Model 3’s that caused them to retain water in the rear, ultimately to the point of the bumper ripping off in some cases from the weight. Given the proximity to the trunk I wonder if there might be some sort of connection there.
VW Golf Sportwagens (thankfully, not mine) have had somewhat similar issues, and it was talked about extensively on VW Vortex. It eventually led to a service bulletin (but not an actual recall).
OP, I’d like a look at whatever Tesla forum is the most active to see if/what other owners have been able to do through insurance or through Tesla (or both).
Agree w/ others that properly cleaning this if not a DIY thing and that it is probably best not to drive the car at all. Dousing the obviously wet area w/ bleach isn’t going to kill the mold where you can’t see it.
The point still remains. Don’t leave cars essentially abandoned.
Bad things such as this water ingress issue which progressed into something much worse (probably mold) are much more likely to happen or get worse with neglected, unused cars.
