Dirty Tesla? Owner Finds 15 Pounds Of Dirt In His Model 3: Video

There's dirt, then there's this amount of dirt.

Eric Loveday

By: Eric Loveday

Jul 14, 2019 at 5:53pm ET

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Have dirt, will travel. Will travel for gravel. Or something like that.

There have been a few reported cases of the Tesla Model 3 accumulating quite a load of dirt in its undercarriage, but this one is quite extreme.

This Tesla Model 3 owner, while conducting an examination of his car at 15,000 miles, found a not-so-pleasant surprise.

It seems some 15 pounds of dirt found its way into the panels under the Model 3 and was trapped inside. This range-reducing (mostly a joke) dirt had likely accumulated over time, but regardless the car was carrying the weight of a bowling ball in dirt in its undercarriage.

What do you think?

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It's not unusual to find dirt in the various plastic panels underneath a car. However, 15 pounds is excessive. Our advice would be to periodically remove those panels on your Tesla to let the filth out.

Grab a look at the video to see the so-called dirt avalanche.

Video description via Dirty Tesla on YouTube:

0:00 Teaser

0:16 - Overview and a little background on my driving habits

1:01 - Jack pads needed to lift the car

1:43 - Bottom looks good at first inspection

1:56 - Lifting the car

3:21 - Suspension is basic

4:26 - Removing some plastic piece

6:26 - Looking at the aero shield and deciding what bolts to remove

7:04 - The opening where dirt can enter

7:22 - removing bolts

8:55 - Sticking the camera into the aeroshield...uh oh

9:30 - Looking into the aeroshield from the tire

9:55 - Finally releasing the aeroshield...dirt avalanche

11:18 - Looking into the exposed aeroshield

11:43 - The pile and talking about other cars with the same issue

13:05 - Checking tire tread

14:06 - Checking the shocks

14:54 - The brakes are brand new

15:35 - Putting the plastic thing back on

15:46 - A lot of torque for the lug nuts

15:54 - Summary and my thoughts