Overland to Arctic Ocean Ruined My Tonneau Cover (Due to Dust)

[HaulingAss]

Tesla modified that statement 180 degrees - it was an original Elon commitment in 2012 - they now show service profit and have normal shop rates

Tesla has never modified their 2012 philosophy on not treating service centers as centers of profit. If they did, it was all in your head.

Here's an article in a auto repair publication highlighting a 2017 earnings call:

Tesla: Company-owned body shops to open this year, could be revenue center | Repairer Driven News

As for mechanical service centers, Tesla continues to lose money on them, but to date they haven’t been intended as a profit center. Tesla’s letter speaks more of having them lose less rather than turn a profit.

CEO Elon Musk in the May 2017 earnings call described not treating service as a profit center, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript: “Our aspiration would be we make zero service revenue because the car never breaks.”

“Our philosophy with respect to service is not to make a profit on service,” Musk said a few years ago, according to Wired. “I think it’s terrible to make a profit on service.”

This philosophy suggests why Tesla would consider collision a revenue stream but not view mechanical repair in the same light. Based on Tesla’s logic, unexpected breakdowns and a constant need for maintenance would reflect badly on it as an OEM and must be minimized. However, crash would be the fault of an external party — the driver, another motorist, a deer, etc. — and therefore appropriate to make money repairing.

The above excerpt outlines the sensible philosophy that it serves the automakers reputation the best if it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to keep your car on the road, like it does at legacy auto dealerships who treat the service center as one of their main profit centers. They want to get that money out of your wallet.

Arguing against Elon's philosophy on Service Centers just makes you look silly, because it's so obviously true.

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[HaulingAss]

Since pressure washing while on an epic roadtrip isn't always practical, I wonder if having an electric leaf blower would help a little in trying to reduce the dust load.

Over 1/3 of the miles on my Cybertruck are off paved roads. And in the summer these mountain forest roads have insidious fine dust that gets everywhere. I use my cordless Husqvarna yard blower to blow out the bed and the tracks. I don't see dust as a problem. It seems @Cybergirl had a damaged tonneau (bent rod). That is very unlikely to be caused by dust. Maybe a rock got in there.

 

[Jager]

Thanks for the pics, @Cybergirl. And glad to hear of the favorable outcome!

I live on a 1/4-mile dirt/gravel driveway and much of the time there's a cloud of dust following me up and back. Even with the tonneau clover closed, my bed is perpetually covered in a very fine coating of dust.

I don't really worry about it, but have wondered how the inaccessible, hidden parts of the tonneau capture assembly might fare over time. More time and more miles will tell, I suppose.

In the meantime, I'd caution against overly cavalier use of pressure washers. They work great on many surfaces and many assemblies. But they can be very damaging in some areas, such as wheel bearings.

 

[mongo]

Thanks for the pics, @Cybergirl. And glad to hear of the favorable outcome!

I live on a 1/4-mile dirt/gravel driveway and much of the time there's a cloud of dust following me up and back. Even with the tonneau clover closed, my bed is perpetually covered in a very fine coating of dust.

The is a gap between the bed and tailgate when closed. There are various threads on sealing methods to reduce bed dust which seem effective.

 

[Cybergirl]

Thanks for the pics, @Cybergirl. And glad to hear of the favorable outcome!

I live on a 1/4-mile dirt/gravel driveway and much of the time there's a cloud of dust following me up and back. Even with the tonneau clover closed, my bed is perpetually covered in a very fine coating of dust.

I don't really worry about it, but have wondered how the inaccessible, hidden parts of the tonneau capture assembly might fare over time. More time and more miles will tell, I suppose.

In the meantime, I'd caution against overly cavalier use of pressure washers. They work great on many surfaces and many assemblies. But they can be very damaging in some areas, such as wheel bearings.

The portable pressure washer from Midnight Forest is 400 psi, so no risk of penetrating bearings, especially if kept 12" away.

 

[Jager]

The is a gap between the bed and tailgate when closed. There are various threads on sealing methods to reduce bed dust which seem effective.

Roger that, @mongo. I haven't been bothered by the dust enough to bother trying any of those things. Living where I do, a dirty, dusty vehicle is kinda just part of the deal!

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