Posts by Pete Gruber
Lost or Broke Your Roadster Keyed Lugnut?
The Roadsters came from Tesla with 4 locking keys, one on each wheel. With age, repeated use, and overzealous tire shop techs using impact wrenches (which these were never designed for), the keys eventually break. When they break, finding a replacement is a real challenge, and removing them without a key, is usually a carbide…
Read MoreHistoric VIN 100 Roadster
This 2008 Roadster was the last of the 100 US signature versions, and the only what Tesla called “Insane Green” color released in the USA. Lotus called this color “Krypton Green” and the euro spec Tesla Roadster brochure, they have a limited edition ‘signature’ color called “Poire Green”. The current owner is the second owner,…
Read MoreWe Resurrect Roadsters
This story plays itself out often these days. A Roadster is not charged for a couple of months, its beeping imminent death pleas are not heard or understood, and the Roadster will not charge anymore. What happens next is vital. Left unattended, the Roadster will go from recoverable, to “hard bricked” and the only thing…
Read MoreLet’s Resolve Deferred Maintenance
This Roadster was purchased in 2014 with only 360 miles on it. It has since been enjoyed by the owner and has a bit more mileage on it. With a high VIN – 1453, this was one of the last Roadsters off the production line. We own 1457 which is one of our ESS pack…
Read MoreWant to buy my Roadster for parts?
Another sad looking Roadster that got stuck in bricked mode, and sat waiting for a solution. The customer was disheartened with the lack of solutions, and it took a bit of convincing all was not lost. The Roadster was not only bricked, but like so many, the brief window of VDS screen still active to…
Read MoreWant to buy Roadster parts?
We got a call from someone trying to sell us Roadster parts. We do not get a lot of offers like this, but when we do, we have been buying Roadsters parts for many years. We were offered a hard top, and a charge cable. We always ask where they got these items, to which the…
Read MoreSerious Case of Sunburn
Visible Carbon Fiber hard tops are rare. When we see them on Roadsters, they always make the car pop. This poor Roadster had the worst case of Carbon Fiber resin decomposition and peeling we have ever seen. Every Roadster gets a bath before we let it enter the Service Center, and during the wash, the…
Read MoreDead – Recovered in 48 Hours
This story replays a number of times each month. We get a call from a frantic customer unable to charge their Roadster. Sometimes it is an unwelcome surprise after coming home from a vacation, a long overdue visit to a storage facility, repairs being done at a body shop who forgot to keep the Roadster…
Read MoreWhite Wheels
This beautiful Glacier Blue Tesla Roadster sold at the local Scottsdale Arizona Barrett Jackson auction. It was celebrity owned, by Dana Brunetti, an American media executive, film producer, entrepreneur and co-founder and chief content officer of Cavalry Media. Brunetti has been nominated for two Academy Awards for producing The Social Network and Captain Phillips and…
Read MoreSignature Roadster VIN 27
This Glacier Blue 2008 Roadster is one of the first 100 “Signature series” Roadsters released in the USA. It came to us from a Tesla Service Center with a PEM problem. The PEM had been replaced 3 years ago by Tesla, and a new problem arose in the replacement PEM. Rather than have it swapped…
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