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its pretty spectacular what major insurance does not cover in the digital context. For example, I work as an automotive engine mechanic for a small chain of mi

its pretty spectacular what major insurance does not cover in the digital context. For example, I work as an automotive engine mechanic for a small chain of midwestern shops. Recently we had a Tesla owner drive in for servicing a recalled suspension control arm. We were approved to do the work by Tesla and had the parts shipped directly from California. once the work was completed, we informed the customer in the waiting room, who immediately took it upon himself to "auto-pilot" the car out of the garage while it was still on the lift. The car happily obliged, and backed itself off a lift six and a half feet to the ground in a pretty spectacular display. No one was hurt thankfully, however our shop insurance refused coverage for our damaged lift, and the Tesla owners auto insurance refused coverage as well because he was technically not driving the car at the time. The customer had to pay out of pocket for repairing his car, as well as our lift.

w8vY7ER 8y ago
auto-pilot requires the driver to be in the vehicle, i'm guessing this was the summon feature activated from their app? what a complete waste
- Wowfunhappy 8y ago
  If this is what happened, it's not that stupid on the part of the customer. Or perhaps better phrased, it's within the realm of what I would expect some users to do given this feature. Tesla should have accounted for this.
  - coredumperror 8y ago
    That feature (Advanced Summon) isn't even out yet. Only a tiny fraction of beta testers have it, so it's unlikely that this idiot has the feature. Secondly, Tesla specifically states that you must have the car in line of sight before you enable Summon (which only goes straight forward and backward by 25 feet), so this guy is absolutely a complete moron for doing that.
    - Wowfunhappy 8y ago
      > Secondly, Tesla specifically states that you must have the car in line of sight before you enable Summon Just how explicitly is this instruction presented? For better or worse, I don't think you can expect users to read everything presented to them. (Partly because we bombard them with cookie notices, ads, and other crap)
      - sotall 8y ago
        Its not an instruction, its a software limitation. If you aren't close enough to the car, summon doesn't work. I think its basically bluetooth range. Enhanced summon is a different story, though that feature basically no one has yet.
      - JoshMcC 8y ago
        You don't need to read anything to know you don't tell your car to move by itself if you can't see it, with current Summon. With the new Advanced Summon, you would not need to see the vehicle because it would have move protections in place. But you still wouldn't Advanced Summon the car if you don't even know where it is (e.g. still on the lift or not)...unless you're a moron.
  - JoshMcC 8y ago
    It's still _extremely stupid_ on the part of the customer (if it really happened). No smart person would begin Summon if they can't even see the car. And if they _could_ see the car _on the lift_ and still began Summon, then they're they dumbest person in the world.
justin66 8y ago
> The customer had to pay out of pocket for repairing his car, as well as our lift. Given the level of dangerous stupidity they displayed, that seems like a decent enough outcome.
- Doxterpepper 8y ago
  > Given the level of dangerous stupidity they displayed Wouldn't that apply to most car accidents on the road? Stupid decisions by at least one party leading to someone's insurance paying the bills?
user5994461 8y ago
I'm not sure to understand, is there a thing to have your car drives itself home on the press of a button, from the internet?
- w8vY7ER 8y ago
  today, the public software allows you to move it backwards and forwards through the application if you're within range of the vehicle
- throwaway2016a 8y ago
  It lets you go forward and back. Only works if you are within Bluetooth range and keep your finger on the button in the app. If you let go the car stops. It will actually make minor turns to avoid hitting stuff. Though apparently not going off cliffs. Good for a party trick but in general I have yet to find a good real use case for it. Using it without being able to see your car is pure idiocy.
  - dsfyu404ed 8y ago
    >Good for a party trick but in general I have yet to find a good real use case for it. It's particularly hilarious when you and several buddies are watching the meter maid try to put a ticket on it. It's probably occasionally useful for adjusting a car in the driveway but yeah, it's 99% party trick. It could theoretically be useful for attaching a trailer but most Tesla owners aren't doing that and the collision detection system will probably go crazy and prevent you from getting close enough to the trailer to actually couple it to the car.
    - chris_mc 8y ago
      Yes, humiliating other people is hilarious...
      - dsfyu404ed 8y ago
        I assure you it wasn't nearly as big of an obstacle to the guy writing the ticket as you think it would be. Humans are very good at improvising when a new situation is thrown their way.
silverwolfe 8y ago
This is why the first thing Tesla service does is disable mobile access while the car's in the shop.
rabi_penguin 8y ago
You wouldn't happen to have captured this on video, would you? I'm not sure if this is more unfortunate or hilarious.
yub 8y ago
I have a tough time believing this. 1. You're telling me you had a vehicle up on a lift, by its wheels, and there was no chuck or gates to stop the vehicle from rolling? 2. I'm assuming you're saying the customer used "Summon" to remotely move the car. a. Summon will immediately stop the car if it detects even the slightest bump. b. Summon will immediately stop the car if it detects the wheels are off the ground, which is relevant because: c. Summon moves the vehicle at like 3mph, so even if the vehicle was AWD, since most of the weight (which is distributed throughout the vehicle) is still over the lift, there is definately not enough momentum to push it off the lift. d. I am fairly doubtful the auto insurance would not cover this, especially if the guy had comprehensive insurance.
- lohszvu 8y ago
  Chucks are there to stop a vehicle from accidentally rolling or pushed away. They aren't designed to stop an electric vehicle (that has tons of low rpm torque) from being purposefully driven off.
  - yub 8y ago
    Like I said, Summon will immediately stop the car if it detects even the slightest bump.
  - olex 8y ago
    Tesla's Summon mode has very low torque limits, it will barely make it up a slightly slanted driveway.
- JoshMcC 8y ago
  Me too. Doesn't make any sense.
staticautomatic 8y ago
Your comment seems to be attracting a lot of first-time posters taking defensive positions on Tesla's behalf...
hbarka 8y ago
Sounds like a tall tale.
JoshMcC 8y ago
We need to see pics.
JoshMcC 8y ago
Suspension, so you'd be lifting from the body of the car instead of the tires in order to access the components (and surely remove the wheels), right? Then how in the world would something like this happen? Need more details.

w8vY7ER 8y ago

auto-pilot requires the driver to be in the vehicle, i'm guessing this was the summon feature activated from their app? what a complete waste

Wowfunhappy 8y ago
If this is what happened, it's not that stupid on the part of the customer. Or perhaps better phrased, it's within the realm of what I would expect some users to do given this feature. Tesla should have accounted for this.
- coredumperror 8y ago
  That feature (Advanced Summon) isn't even out yet. Only a tiny fraction of beta testers have it, so it's unlikely that this idiot has the feature. Secondly, Tesla specifically states that you must have the car in line of sight before you enable Summon (which only goes straight forward and backward by 25 feet), so this guy is absolutely a complete moron for doing that.
  - Wowfunhappy 8y ago
    > Secondly, Tesla specifically states that you must have the car in line of sight before you enable Summon Just how explicitly is this instruction presented? For better or worse, I don't think you can expect users to read everything presented to them. (Partly because we bombard them with cookie notices, ads, and other crap)
    - sotall 8y ago
      Its not an instruction, its a software limitation. If you aren't close enough to the car, summon doesn't work. I think its basically bluetooth range. Enhanced summon is a different story, though that feature basically no one has yet.
    - JoshMcC 8y ago
      You don't need to read anything to know you don't tell your car to move by itself if you can't see it, with current Summon. With the new Advanced Summon, you would not need to see the vehicle because it would have move protections in place. But you still wouldn't Advanced Summon the car if you don't even know where it is (e.g. still on the lift or not)...unless you're a moron.
- JoshMcC 8y ago
  It's still _extremely stupid_ on the part of the customer (if it really happened). No smart person would begin Summon if they can't even see the car. And if they _could_ see the car _on the lift_ and still began Summon, then they're they dumbest person in the world.

justin66 8y ago

> The customer had to pay out of pocket for repairing his car, as well as our lift. Given the level of dangerous stupidity they displayed, that seems like a decent enough outcome.

Doxterpepper 8y ago
> Given the level of dangerous stupidity they displayed Wouldn't that apply to most car accidents on the road? Stupid decisions by at least one party leading to someone's insurance paying the bills?

user5994461 8y ago

I'm not sure to understand, is there a thing to have your car drives itself home on the press of a button, from the internet?

w8vY7ER 8y ago
today, the public software allows you to move it backwards and forwards through the application if you're within range of the vehicle
throwaway2016a 8y ago
It lets you go forward and back. Only works if you are within Bluetooth range and keep your finger on the button in the app. If you let go the car stops. It will actually make minor turns to avoid hitting stuff. Though apparently not going off cliffs. Good for a party trick but in general I have yet to find a good real use case for it. Using it without being able to see your car is pure idiocy.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  >Good for a party trick but in general I have yet to find a good real use case for it. It's particularly hilarious when you and several buddies are watching the meter maid try to put a ticket on it. It's probably occasionally useful for adjusting a car in the driveway but yeah, it's 99% party trick. It could theoretically be useful for attaching a trailer but most Tesla owners aren't doing that and the collision detection system will probably go crazy and prevent you from getting close enough to the trailer to actually couple it to the car.
  - chris_mc 8y ago
    Yes, humiliating other people is hilarious...
    - dsfyu404ed 8y ago
      I assure you it wasn't nearly as big of an obstacle to the guy writing the ticket as you think it would be. Humans are very good at improvising when a new situation is thrown their way.

silverwolfe 8y ago

This is why the first thing Tesla service does is disable mobile access while the car's in the shop.

rabi_penguin 8y ago

You wouldn't happen to have captured this on video, would you? I'm not sure if this is more unfortunate or hilarious.

yub 8y ago

I have a tough time believing this. 1. You're telling me you had a vehicle up on a lift, by its wheels, and there was no chuck or gates to stop the vehicle from rolling? 2. I'm assuming you're saying the customer used "Summon" to remotely move the car. a. Summon will immediately stop the car if it detects even the slightest bump. b. Summon will immediately stop the car if it detects the wheels are off the ground, which is relevant because: c. Summon moves the vehicle at like 3mph, so even if the vehicle was AWD, since most of the weight (which is distributed throughout the vehicle) is still over the lift, there is definately not enough momentum to push it off the lift. d. I am fairly doubtful the auto insurance would not cover this, especially if the guy had comprehensive insurance.

lohszvu 8y ago
Chucks are there to stop a vehicle from accidentally rolling or pushed away. They aren't designed to stop an electric vehicle (that has tons of low rpm torque) from being purposefully driven off.
- yub 8y ago
  Like I said, Summon will immediately stop the car if it detects even the slightest bump.
- olex 8y ago
  Tesla's Summon mode has very low torque limits, it will barely make it up a slightly slanted driveway.
JoshMcC 8y ago
Me too. Doesn't make any sense.

staticautomatic 8y ago

Your comment seems to be attracting a lot of first-time posters taking defensive positions on Tesla's behalf...

hbarka 8y ago

Sounds like a tall tale.

JoshMcC 8y ago

We need to see pics.

JoshMcC 8y ago

Suspension, so you'd be lifting from the body of the car instead of the tires in order to access the components (and surely remove the wheels), right? Then how in the world would something like this happen? Need more details.