From f70a0b06bba30dfff0553d8e0ec338e174b84451 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "R3AL.CH1CK3N" <jesse@devlabhq.net>
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2026 16:15:55 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] fix(client): stop the chassis watchdog dying on a nil seat
 during respawn

The stale-loop check indexed seatPart without a nil guard:

    not seatPart:IsDescendantOf(workspace)

On respawn CarManager destroys the old car, so humanoid.SeatPart is nil for a
frame while heartbeatConn is still live. That path then indexed a nil value,
the error propagated out of the task.spawn thread, and the watchdog - the only
self-healing path in the controller - DIED PERMANENTLY. The car was undrivable
from then on, and the bug looked intermittent because the edge-triggered
SeatPart signal still covered the simple nil -> seat transition.

Nil-check seatPart before indexing, and wrap the whole watchdog body in pcall
so no future error can ever silently kill the loop again (warn instead).

Verified: 5 consecutive respawns then drives to MaxSpeed 163 studs/s at road
level (up=1.00), TIME_ATTACK sessionKm advances 0.003 -> 0.169 km.
---
 src/client/ChassisController.luau | 49 +++++++++++++++++++++----------
 1 file changed, 33 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/client/ChassisController.luau b/src/client/ChassisController.luau
index 2b6a5ae..965eeab 100644
--- a/src/client/ChassisController.luau
+++ b/src/client/ChassisController.luau
@@ -144,22 +144,39 @@ function ChassisController.init()
 		-- if we are seated in a DriveSeat but have no live loop, arm it.
 		task.spawn(function()
 			while humanoid.Parent do
-				local seatPart = humanoid.SeatPart
-				local seated = seatPart
-					and seatPart:IsA("VehicleSeat")
-					and seatPart.Name == Chassis.SEAT_NAME
-				-- A live connection bound to a different seat (or to a car that
-				-- has since been destroyed) is STALE: it keeps driving the old
-				-- car's motors, so heartbeatConn stays non-nil and the new car
-				-- never gets armed. Re-arm whenever the bound seat isn't the
-				-- one we're actually sitting in, or its car left the world.
-				local stale = heartbeatConn ~= nil
-					and (drivingSeat ~= seatPart or not seatPart:IsDescendantOf(workspace))
-				if seated and (not heartbeatConn or stale) then
-					stopDriving()
-					startDriving(seatPart :: VehicleSeat)
-				elseif not seated and heartbeatConn then
-					stopDriving()
+				-- The whole body is pcall-wrapped: this watchdog is the ONLY
+				-- self-healing path. If it ever errors the thread dies silently
+				-- and the car becomes permanently undrivable, with the failure
+				-- appearing intermittent because the edge-triggered seat signal
+				-- still handles the easy nil -> seat case. Never let it die.
+				local ok, err = pcall(function()
+					local seatPart = humanoid.SeatPart
+					local seated = seatPart ~= nil
+						and seatPart:IsA("VehicleSeat")
+						and seatPart.Name == Chassis.SEAT_NAME
+					-- A live connection bound to a different seat (or to a car
+					-- that has since been destroyed) is STALE: it keeps driving
+					-- the old car's motors, so heartbeatConn stays non-nil and
+					-- the new car never gets armed. Re-arm whenever the bound
+					-- seat isn't the one we're sitting in, or it left the world.
+					-- NOTE: seatPart is nil for a frame whenever the old car is
+					-- destroyed on respawn, so it MUST be nil-checked before it
+					-- is indexed -- that crash is what killed this loop before.
+					local stale = heartbeatConn ~= nil
+						and (
+							drivingSeat ~= seatPart
+							or seatPart == nil
+							or not seatPart:IsDescendantOf(workspace)
+						)
+					if seated and (not heartbeatConn or stale) then
+						stopDriving()
+						startDriving(seatPart :: VehicleSeat)
+					elseif not seated and heartbeatConn then
+						stopDriving()
+					end
+				end)
+				if not ok then
+					warn("[ChassisController] watchdog iteration failed: " .. tostring(err))
 				end
 				task.wait(0.5)
 			end