Tesla Model X emergency repair: what a cheap aftermarket control arm really cost

A snapped front suspension ball joint left this Model X stranded outside its owner's house, unable to move.

A recovery that took a day and a half

Getting the car to us turned out to be more complicated than expected. The Model X was parked tightly between two other vehicles, and with the suspension collapsed it could not be driven or rolled.

The first recovery team estimated a three-hour job. Once they arrived, it was clear the car could not be extracted with standard recovery equipment. A specialist crane recovery had to be arranged, and it only arrived a day and a half later. During that time, the rear bumper unfortunately picked up some scuff damage.

The root cause: low-quality aftermarket control arms

Once the car reached our workshop, we inspected the suspension and quickly found the root cause.

The car had been fitted with very low-quality aftermarket front control arms. They had been supplied by the previous owner, and our customer had them installed shortly after buying the car, unaware of their quality. Only three months later, one of the arms failed completely.

When the ball joint separated, the suspension collapsed, and that also damaged the air strut housing.

We unfortunately see failures like this from time to time, when very low-quality aftermarket suspension parts are fitted to a Model S or Model X.

The repair

Luckily, we keep refurbished Model S and Model X air struts in stock, so we could repair the car quickly instead of waiting for parts. You can read how we refurbish them in our Model X air strut reconditioning entry.

The other side of the car had the same inferior control arm fitted. To remove the risk of that side failing too, we advised replacing both front control arms with quality parts.

Why we do not fit low-quality suspension parts

Over more than a decade of fleet management, we tested everything from budget parts to genuine OE components, across vehicles covering around 3 million miles a year. The conclusion was always the same: cheap parts almost always become expensive parts.

In this case, the real cost of the cheap control arms ended up being:

• two new, quality control arms
• a refurbished air strut
• specialist recovery
• paint repair to the bumper
• two days of lost income for the owner

Teslas are heavy, fast and very demanding on their suspension. Control arms are safety-critical components, and using poor-quality parts on them is simply not worth the risk. It is also why we only fit parts we supply ourselves: it lets us stand behind the quality of everything we fit.

Not sure what is fitted to your Tesla?

If you have bought a used Tesla and do not know the quality of the suspension parts fitted before, it is worth having the suspension checked before a failure like this happens. A post-purchase inspection is a good place to start.

Send us a message with the model and year, and we will arrange a check.