An oil leak on a truck with just 9,000 miles is a warranty repair, right? What if the leak was caused by a rock? It changes things, right? Well, what if that rock didn’t cause a leak because of an impact but because it was wedged between the subframe and the gearbox casing and wore a hole through the part? Does that change the equation for you?
Tesla
Tesla, Inc. is an American electric vehicle manufacturer largely attributed to driving the EV revolution. Through the Model S and subsequent products, Tesla has innovated and challenged industry conventions on numerous fronts, including over-the-air updates, self-driving technology, and automotive construction methods. Tesla is considered the world’s most valuable car brand as of 2023, and the Model Y the world’s best-selling car in the same year, but the brand’s greatest achievement is arguably the Supercharger network of EV charging stations.
- Founded
- July 1, 2003
- Founder
- Martin Eberhard, Marc Tarpenning
- Headquarters
- Austin, Texas, USA
- Owned By
- Publicly Traded
- Current CEO
- Elon Musk
It does for one Tesla Cybertruck owner. But, of course, it would. They’re staring at a repair estimate of nearly $8,000 for a new rear drive unit because of that tiny rock wedged between the subframe and the gearbox.
Tiny Pebble Leads To Boulder Of A Repair Bill
Cybertruck owner Joey Arrowood took delivery of his Tesla last June. He’s driven around 9,000 miles in the truck and said that the only off-roading he’s done is on local dirt roads.
Recently, he came out to his Cybertruck only to find a puddle of oil under the pickup’s rear end. A small rock had bounced over the belly pans and the covers under the truck and wedged between the subframe and the rear gearbox, wearing a hole and letting the oil leak out.
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His local service center said that the pinhole leak couldn’t be repaired. As such, the truck needs a whole new rear drive unit with estimated replacement costs of $7,660.55. He would need to pay out of pocket or make a claim through his insurer, but Tesla won’t cover the repair under warranty.
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This set off a flurry of comments on the Tesla Cybertruck Facebook group. Most of the other posters agree with Arrowood, saying this should be a warranty issue. Several blame poor design for the problem, and say that’s why Tesla should be footing the bill. The rock, they say, shouldn’t have been able to get in there.
Would You DIY Repair Your Brand New Truck?
The rest of the posters recommend DIY fixes, from JB Weld to drilling an even larger hole in the case to try and fit a drain plug. A few suggest an aluminum welder should be able to fix the tiny leak.
Would you go at your six-month-old truck with JB Weld or some other epoxy? Would that risk even more expensive repairs down the road if a gearbox failure damaged other expensive EV components and Tesla blamed the cheap fix?
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Should an automaker fix a problem that happened this early, even if it wasn’t directly the manufacturer’s fault? There are some precedents for fixes like that. Just ask Mazda, which had to recall 65,000 copies of the Mazda6 because spiders were attracted to and crawled into a vent hose in one of the strangest recalls ever. Or Toyota, which fixed 800,000 cars for spider webs blocking the air conditioner drain.
And before you ask, yes, electric vehicles use oil. Even though they don’t burn it, they still need to lubricate parts like the gearbox. Tesla’s service documents say to use KAF1 fluid, which is a Tesla-specific fluid that can only be found at a Tesla Service Center. How much do you need? The manual doesn’t say. The spec is to fill it until it overflows.
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