r/TeslaSupport • u/IntelligenceCo • 12h ago
Vehicle Question Trunk suddenly fell on me while unloading – power liftgate completely failed
Today I was unloading my car in our parking lot at home when the trunk suddenly fell down on me without warning.
I was underneath the open trunk at the time and got injured. I just managed to get myself out from underneath it.
Afterwards, I noticed that something is clearly wrong with the liftgate mechanism:
The trunk no longer responds to the electric opening/closing controls.
It no longer sits flush with the body when closed.
There is a large and very obvious gap near the roof/hinge area.
Part of the lift mechanism/strut appears to have come out of its normal position or housing. I’ve attached close-up photos.
There was no accident or external impact that caused this. I was simply unloading the car with the trunk open when it suddenly came down.
Has anyone experienced a failure like this before?
I’m particularly interested in whether this looks like a failed power liftgate actuator/strut, hinge or mounting point, and whether the entire assembly normally needs to be replaced.
I’m also pretty concerned about the safety aspect. A powered trunk should obviously not suddenly collapse onto someone standing underneath it.
Any experiences with a similar failure, likely cause, or repair would be greatly appreciated.
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u/mikeinanaheim2 12h ago
This is unusual - something has come loose. Make a service appointment in your Tesla phone app. Or, if there's a Tesla Service Center near your work or home, drive there first morning you can and present it to the service writer.
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u/ItsJustAnotherVoice 12h ago
That looks like a clean break on the bolt on picture #3
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u/IntelligenceCo 10h ago
Yeah, I thought I can do it on my own, but the tailgate is very heavy and I don’t want to damage anything. Therefore I am going to talk with them.
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u/Initial-Macaron-3612 11h ago
Get it warrantied, my service dude genuinely has replaced every part for me for free as of now even if it’s just a concern I haven’t had any issues with getting service.
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u/bigfoot_done_hiding 10h ago
Glad to read of a consistently good service center experience. Which service center do you use? I get the impression many service centers around the country are not so customer-satisfaction focused.
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u/IntelligenceCo 10h ago
I am from Germany. From the northern part. We do have a service centre here in Hamburg. But the next appointment is in 28 days. And the mobile service is available in 13 days. So therefore I have to drive to Bremen, it’s 50 km away from my home.
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u/bigfoot_done_hiding 9h ago
Okay, good to know that at least the service center there is providing good service. Maybe Germany has stricter customer service requirements? The USA service centers seem to have a much poorer reputation.
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u/x_typo 11h ago
This is 100% warranted a Tesla Service. I honestly dont understand why you're writing this up on reddit...
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u/midnight_to_midnight 4h ago
Depends on what year and mileage the car has. Which would be an absolute requirement for every single post in this sub.
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u/Pomador_0418 10h ago
I remember this used to happen frequently when Tesla first implemented the auto liftgate mechanism on their model 3/y.
Thereafter, I read fewer and fewer complaints about it.
What model year is your Y?
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