Why four North German car washes block Tesla > teslamag.de

A local report circled large parts of the German-speaking Internet last week: Raiffeisen gas stations in the district of Oldenburg banned Tesla electric cars from using their car washes, an article in mid-February previously published in NWZ. Was reported as online. for customers. Another local newspaper later cited it on the Internet without a payment barrier, and a short time later several major media covered it with various dramatic headlines ranging from “Tesla ban: fear of wave of lawsuits from first car wash”. Reported. teslamag.de spoke to the managing director of the North German cooperative to end the silent post game.

At least eight times Tesla’s problems

Raiffeisen-Vergenosenschaft Hutten-Huntlösen is headquartered near Oldenburg and operates warehouses, shops and petrol stations in various locations. Of the seven gas stations (the photo above shows one in Wildhausen), four are equipped with car washes, as the cooperative’s managing director Wilfried Kniper told teslamag.de. Before that he had to think for a moment. This already shows that the car wash business isn’t the focus of their activity — and perhaps even the reason Tesla was ousted: There was “constant trouble” with this brand’s electric cars, Kniper explained. They confirmed that this is no longer to be dealt with and to protect the owners, they have banned Tesla from four of their car washes.

Nipper emphasized several times in the conversation that he has nothing against electric cars. He would also buy a Tesla if he could afford it, he also said the opposite. But there have always been problems with Tesla vehicles, and it really can’t be a coincidence. Specifically, they reported eight or nine cases. In many of them, the tailgate was opened and then damaged, in one tailgate. Sometimes, owners of other brands also complain after washing, but much less often. In the last one year, it is not necessary to consult an expert in any of these matters, the managing director said.

However, Knipper had to deal with a few Tesla cases longer before pulling the emergency brake due to time constraints. With the first such problem, he discovered through Internet research that Tesla stores too much data from its electric cars. He pointed this out to the Tesla owner, who, according to his account, had already hired a lawyer because of a loading flap that was damaged during the wash. The customer then asked Tesla and found out that his car was not locked after it was parked at the car wash. His cooperative has only so-called washing portals in which the vehicle is parked, no lanes through which it is pulled along with the driver, the managing director explained. He reported the matter with the tailgate to his insurance company, which would probably have an expert on it.

Manual: Wash Model 3 Contactless

By now the nipper even knows it’s Tesla recently introduced a special car wash mode emerged from the conversation. But that’s not enough for him, because apparently not all owners are aware of it, and he may not have the staff at his largely automated gas stations to explain Tesla how to wash properly. . He also looked at the Tesla manual. For example model 3. For Is in it, that you should only take it to a contactless system without a brush – “damage due to incorrect washing” is not covered by the guarantee. And if Tesla advises against washing cars like it does, it sees no obligation to solve the problem for the company’s customers, Raiffeisen’s managing director said.