'It's overkill': Tesla's active hood feature leaves owners with a hefty bill
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As cars are getting safer, extensive repair costs can be caused when the safety features are deployed. The Tesla 'Active Hood' feature is leaving owners thousands out of pocket.
An Australian Tesla Model 3 owner has been left with a pricey bill after the car deployed its pedestrian protection system in a minor collision with an animal.
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Lisa Mason and her husband from Wodonga, Victoria were driving their near-new 2024 Tesla Model 3 Performance when they clipped a wallaby. Despite the front of the car being essentially undamaged the car fired off its bonnet pistons.
"Anyone else have to repair the pedestrian protection warning system after their bonnet fires its pistons? I've just been quoted $5000 from a local car body repair place (including labour)," wrote Mason in a Facebook post.
The bonnet lifting is part of the Tesla's safety feature called Active Hood, fitted on the current generation Model 3. It is supposed to "reduce head injuries to pedestrians and cyclists in a frontal collision" by raising the rear portion of the bonnet by 80mm.
Drive spoke with Mason to find out more about the incident.
"My husband was driving, and there was a wallaby standing in the middle of the road… He didn't see it, and the car didn't detect it either. [My husband] spotted it in time to slam on the brakes, but the wallaby just jumped in front of us," said Mason.
"The impact was pretty small. It must've clipped the licence plate, and then it just jumped away, but the bonnet protection mechanism lifted.
"There was absolutely no damage anywhere else on the car besides the [Active Hood] deploying."
Mason clipped the wallaby on 20 December but was not able to book in a quote until 6 January, when the only Tesla verified repairer opened for the year.
"We went to see them, and they told us we had to replace the whole bonnet, which is bizarre because there was no damage. But he showed us that the pistons dented the hinges so much that if they just replaced the pistons, then the bonnet wouldn't go all the way down," she explained.
"He said it would be around $2500 to $5000 to repair. I put a claim in on my insurance, and it's going to be a $900 excess, but it's just crazy that it was not detected. It seems a little bit dramatic and overkill for such a small wallaby."
Lisa Mason isn't alone in her Active Bonnet woes, a number of other Australian Model 3 owners having taken to the Tesla group on Facebook to express their frustrations.
"So had a run in with a roo, only tapped him by the time I jumped on the brakes so no damage to the car. The active Hood has deployed though," wrote one owner in May 2024.
"Anyone had any experience with active hood pedestrian safety? Have the Model 3 and neighbour’s lamb just ran in front of the car, broke, hood activated. Lamb 100 per cent ok," said another owner in April 2024.
The issue is the sensitivity of the system, as was the case with Lisa Mason. A small impact, that would usually result in only minor scratches to the car, is causing the pistons deploy at such a rate that it bends the metal as the car braces for impact with a pedestrian. While commenters pointed out that replacement pistons are around $300, in some cases, such as this one, the bonnet latches are left damaged and in need of replacing too.
Tesla is not the only brand to employ an Active Bonnet feature on its vehicles. Mercedes-Benz, Mazda, Jaguar and Volvo, amongst others, also use the system.
Drive has contacted Tesla for a comment and will update the story when a statement is released.
The post 'It's overkill': Tesla's active hood feature leaves owners with a hefty bill appeared first on Drive.
