It’s one thing when you carelessly drive and damage your car but when your car does it to itself…you don’t know who to get mad at.
Although the Tesla Model X starts out at $85,000, the EV SUV really is a six-figure vehicle once you throw in some options and finance it. So When Tesla Model X Owner @FightSmartTrav on Reddit damaged his wheel and tire because he used AutoPark, for what he paid and what he expects out of a luxury SUV, he was understandably peeved.
Here’s Travis’s post below.
Autopark just damaged my rim and took a chunk out of my tire… from r/teslamotors
AutoPark is one of a handful of features part of Tesla’s Autopilot self driving capability. According to Tesla,
Autopark: Helps automatically parallel or perpendicular park your car, with a single touch.
Most can agree that perpendicular parking is heaps easier than parallel parking and it’s the same when you let cameras and sensors do it for you. A quick google search for keywords “Autopark+damaged wheels+tires” brings up dozens of cases of Tesla owners damaging their wheels on curbs, of no fault of their own, putting their full faith that their Tesla won’t damage itself.
And AP doesn’t just damage wheels, AP also damages bumpers and presumably any body panel that’s fair game, too.
Damaging a wheel and tire for these Teslas can be pricey. A new 22″ wheel and tire from Tesla.com will cost you $1,700. Smart shoppers hop on TireRack and eBay and save themselves hundreds. A Pirelli is just $326 and a new wheel on eBay can be had for around $500-$800 depending on where you look and how lucky you are. There was someone in San Mateo selling all four Turbine wheels for $300.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe unfortunate news is that since AutoPark is a BETA future, you’re on the hook for any damages while using this optional feature.
According to Redditor MrKnoble,
“Unfortunately you’re pretty much out of luck. All these features are advertised as beta. So there’s no repercussions on Tesla when an accident occurs. This is exactly why I don’t use Autopark or Summon. There are many horror stories on this subreddit regarding exactly the same thing. It sucks because you want to put your faith in the tech but it comes out as an expensive mistake. I have a few scratches from when I used Summon as a new owner.”
If I was a Tesla owner and knowing how my wheels and tires can be damaged honestly, I’d still use this technology. But if I start damaging way too many wheels and tires and it’s getting out of hand, perhaps I’ll consider not using this feature. My car parking itself, especially in a tight parallel spot, is too good an option not to use.
Hopefully, like all things Tesla, engineers send an OTA update Tesla owners way refreshing AutoPark’s capabilities, maybe tightening up its parameters.
