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Stopped at a light, my Model X was rear ended in late June by an F150. $2400 in damage. Tailgate dented. Bumper punctured. Fixed and repainted. Lower black plastic parts and badges replaced. Parts ordered same day as estmate done. Drove Tesla while waiting on parts. Silence from bodyshop until I called them after 4 weeks. "Oh yes, your parts are in. Bring the car in tomorrow." I don't know how long the parts had been in. Anyway, a week later the Tesla looked like new. She's a pretty tough bird. If the tailgate had needed replacing, I suspect it would have taken longer.
 
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Are there no state laws against holding ones car ‘hostage’?

Edit: to answer my own question, based on my search the only way to get resolution is to sue in civil court. I do wonder, if car is drivable, would one sue for broken promises or distress caused by driving damaged vehicle?
 
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OP - have you clicked the executive escalation on your My Tesla account and filled out the form? This also warrants tweeting at Elon and the old fashioned Executive Email Carpet Bomb. Unfortunately, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
 
I think you may have been hitting Elon's cool aid a bit heavy. Bringing repairs in house doesn't solve parts not being available problem, unless you're telling me Tesla is somehow able to ship parts to their own stores in timely manner but shipping to non-Tesla owned locations adds months to the process.

The talk to Tesla bringing repairs in house, in true Elon style with no timeline of course, is just another one of Elon's tweetures design to pacify critics. It may not happen for years, if ever, and even if it does, it doesn't solve the problem of non parts at all unless each service center turns into a parts factory for their needs. Remember Elon solving the high insurance problem for Teslas by bringing it in house? How did that turn out? How about Elon's promise for everyone getting P100D loaners?

Which is why the very next sentence I said was "Hopefully that along with straightening out the parts issue will get cars back onto the road."

So I'm not really sure how to respond. It's a little weird to agree 100% with someone, but feel like there is a disconnect. I didn't get into the broken promises things because frankly there have been so many that's impossible to say what will bear fruit, and what won't. I didn't see anything impractical about bringing some level of body work in house, but I'm far from an expert on that. My understanding was they were already at the hiring process stage. But, it could just be a trial thing where they decide to drop it.

The terrible thing about Elon is he conveys ideas of things they'd like to try as promises that's he's going to deliver on.

I think it's healthy to try different things, and to talk about them. But, Elon takes it way too far.

There is no point to it now, but I wish I would have created a web document years ago that simply kept track of Elon's promises, and what became of them. Each tweet/blog/press-release/etc would be analyzed as to whether it was an actual hard promise versus a soft "we'll implement it if it makes sense kind of thing".
 
Which is why the very next sentence I said was "Hopefully that along with straightening out the parts issue will get cars back onto the road."

So I'm not really sure how to respond. It's a little weird to agree 100% with someone, but feel like there is a disconnect. I didn't get into the broken promises things because frankly there have been so many that's impossible to say what will bear fruit, and what won't. I didn't see anything impractical about bringing some level of body work in house, but I'm far from an expert on that. My understanding was they were already at the hiring process stage. But, it could just be a trial thing where they decide to drop it.

The terrible thing about Elon is he conveys ideas of things they'd like to try as promises that's he's going to deliver on.

I think it's healthy to try different things, and to talk about them. But, Elon takes it way too far.

There is no point to it now, but I wish I would have created a web document years ago that simply kept track of Elon's promises, and what became of them. Each tweet/blog/press-release/etc would be analyzed as to whether it was an actual hard promise versus a soft "we'll implement it if it makes sense kind of thing".
I was just trying to say that bringing body work in-house has little to do with solving the long wait times, hence my confusion why people bring it up. I know you suggested fixing the part problem too, but why even mention bringing body work in-house? If you said "they'll improve blind spot detection, hopefully fix the part supply issue along with it" I would question how the first part solves the problem, besides possibly reducing the frequency of accidents. ;)

As for the examples, I gave two of what Elon "in-house solutions" turned out to be. Elon seems to believe a solution to anything is bringing things in-house, that's why AP had a 2 year setback, and we still don't have a reliable blind spot monitoring. There are of course plenty of other broken promises.
 
This is so sad to hear this is still happening. I got my model S in Jan 2013. Two weeks after it arrived I got my bumper hooked on a piece of protruding re-bar from a concrete tire stop in a parking lot. When I backed out it pulled my front bumper off on one side. (The bumper was attached with mostly plastic fasteners.) I thought, no big deal, replace the fasteners. Tesla wanted to replace the bumper and the insurance company for the parking lot owner was going to pay for the repairs so I gave the go ahead. The problem was the service center could not get a bumper out of the factory. It took two months and a call by a vice president to get me a bumper. It was explained that the factory had a priority to build new cars and if a bumper to me meant a new car was not going to be built then I wasn't going to get a bumper. Other auto companies solve this problem by allowing their service/parts organizations to stock their own inventory of parts. It was somewhat forgivable at the time, Tesla was only 6 months into delivering the Model S that they had not yet set up a national logistics framework to handle spare parts. But this is 5 years later! Time to grow up and get it done. This "just in time" fantasy does not work for repair parts. The factory needs to schedule regular runs of repair parts and not allow this task to be "bumped" because of end-of-quarter madness. Maybe they should schedule these runs at the beginning of a calendar quarter so there will be less temptation to bump them due to production quotas. It is the right thing to do. If Elon had a C.O.O. (Chief Operating Officer) they could probably get this done. He needs to make getting a C.O. O. his number one priority both for his own sake and that of the company.
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Had a very minor paint scratch on rear number and some brackets on the rear bumper broke. Took it to two Tesla Approved body shops and had expensive quotes with vague turnaround times. Found out the Orlando Tesla dealership was one of the new service centers rolling out a new body shop. Set up an appointment with them, 2 days later car was perfect at a fraction of the cost. Was told my car was the first to go through this new program. My guess is that in the next few months Tesla will have these up and running in a lot of locations. Note that this was for very minor work only. The big stuff will probably still need to be handled offsite at least for awhile. But for minor dings that used to take forever to fix this experience was life changing.
 
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I agree with others that the fear of an accident is the single biggest concern I've had owning my MS these last 3.5 years. It was a big issue when I bought it, and by many accounts it has not improved one bit. Bringing body repair in-house is absolutely NOT the answer, they have enough on their plate without trying to take over the auto repair business nationwide. The solution is prioritizing timely parts availability to body shops, something they have failed to consistently do and it will probably be the reason I trade it in for a non-Tesla vehicle.

Really? So a problem you've never had is a reason to get a non-Tesla as your next car? My Model S was rear-ended, spent about 1 week in the shop to get fixed. I went in dreading the same thing, and couldn't have been happier...

Jeff
 
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I agree with others that the fear of an accident is the single biggest concern I've had owning my MS these last 3.5 years. It was a big issue when I bought it, and by many accounts it has not improved one bit. Bringing body repair in-house is absolutely NOT the answer, they have enough on their plate without trying to take over the auto repair business nationwide. The solution is prioritizing timely parts availability to body shops, something they have failed to consistently do and it will probably be the reason I trade it in for a non-Tesla vehicle.
Ironically my biggest concern has been realized. Less than a week after writing this I was rear-ended sitting at a red light by a distracted soccer mom in a Tahoe. Let the games begin.
 
Let the games begin.
So sorry to hear! I hope that you are okay and that the wait will be short. I just picked up Tessi again after 113 days without her. It turned out that the rail inside the vehicle was damaged and also needed to be replaced as a result of the rear end collision - something the shop did not see until the began to take the vehicle apart. What I thought was relatively minor turned out to be around $16K. 480F88E7-6FC4-4D80-B9C9-3047BC3AC0E8.jpeg

Potential positive news: When I picked up Tessi from her surgery, I was told that Tesla has drastically improved their communication with the approved body shop and delivery time for parts since the time I was hit.

On a positive note, picking up Tessi after 113 days was almost as exciting as the day I picked her up for the first time!
 
I was just trying to say that bringing body work in-house has little to do with solving the long wait times, hence my confusion why people bring it up. I know you suggested fixing the part problem too, but why even mention bringing body work in-house? If you said "they'll improve blind spot detection, hopefully fix the part supply issue along with it" I would question how the first part solves the problem, besides possibly reducing the frequency of accidents. ;)

As for the examples, I gave two of what Elon "in-house solutions" turned out to be. Elon seems to believe a solution to anything is bringing things in-house, that's why AP had a 2 year setback, and we still don't have a reliable blind spot monitoring. There are of course plenty of other broken promises.

Not only do I think it's worthy of mention, but I'll mention it again to provide an update that it's a very real thing that Tesla is doing. It's not some empty promise (although it does remain to be seen as to whether it helps solve the problem).

Tesla launches its own in-house ‘Body Repair Centers’ to reduce repair time

I don't see this addressing all issues, but hopefully it can address common issues by pre-stocking parts.

Hopefully you or I will never have to use it, but I'm happy that one of the sites is local.
 
Currently, Parts & Service are not and will not be Tesla's strong points and won't be for many years to come. Unlike all other traditional car manufactures, Tesla does not have a mature parts and service network. All other car manufacturers, have had many decades to fine tune their parts supply chain and service facilities. The Model 3 will most likely cause even more parts and service stress for Tesla. Think about it...Tesla Model 3 sales this August outsold all BMW's in August 2018 (in the United States). This is incredible growth for a 10 year old automotive manufacturer. Until Tesla has the resources to develop adequate parts and service support, parts shortages and service delays will be an ongoing problem. Traditional car manufactures rely on independent dealers to invest in parts and service facilities. This business model removes much of the parts and service support expense from the manufacturer. Tesla has to fund 100% of this massive expense while at the same increasing vehicle production and Supercharger locations. This is an incredible challenge. That said, Tesla has done an excellent job in building the best supercharger network in the world. This is the Achilles Heel for all other EV manufacturers. We can conveniently drive our Tesla from the Pacific to the Atlantic. In conclusion, as Tesla owners we have to currently live with all the good and bad this developing company has to offer and hope for rapid improvement.
 
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Not only do I think it's worthy of mention, but I'll mention it again to provide an update that it's a very real thing that Tesla is doing. It's not some empty promise (although it does remain to be seen as to whether it helps solve the problem).

Tesla launches its own in-house ‘Body Repair Centers’ to reduce repair time
I don't see this addressing all issues, but hopefully it can address common issues by pre-stocking parts.
Hopefully you or I will never have to use it, but I'm happy that one of the sites is local.

Sadly, the repair locations are limited to only 9 locations according to Tesla’s website:
  • Bellevue, Washington
  • Dallas, Texas
  • Eatonville, Florida
  • Houston, Texas
  • Las Vegas, Nevada
  • Marietta, Georgia
  • Owings Mills, Maryland
  • Van Nuys, California
  • Villa Park, Illinois
 
Not only do I think it's worthy of mention, but I'll mention it again to provide an update that it's a very real thing that Tesla is doing. It's not some empty promise (although it does remain to be seen as to whether it helps solve the problem).

Tesla launches its own in-house ‘Body Repair Centers’ to reduce repair time

I don't see this addressing all issues, but hopefully it can address common issues by pre-stocking parts.

Hopefully you or I will never have to use it, but I'm happy that one of the sites is local.
I still don't see parts supply being solved by in-house minor-damage repair shops. Either they can or cannot supply enough parts in timely manner. The only way this changes anything is if the in-house shops will become part warehouses and lack of warehousing was the original problem.

That said, I suspect it will be just another one of Elon's hot air flops, you know, promise AP1 "will find you anywhere on the private property" and deliver "drive up to 40 feet in a straight line while you hold a dead-man-switch to make sure the car doesn't hit anything". It's very likely these body shops will turn out the same - promise "fix long repair times" but deliver "take on the minor repairs and offload anything major or things they don' t have the parts for to 3rd party shops, so they can blame those shops again". Tesla already officially stated they will not handle any major damage, so they are already part way there.

The real way to solve is is to fix the supply problem rather than mask it. If the problem is long delays with parts, fix the parts supply line so that all parts can be shipped within a day or two. Elon could put his money where his mouth is and guarantee ship time or provide loaners for however long the excessive parts delay is. Of course he won't do that, because he knows the problem is still there.

Sorry to be a pessimist here, but after years of listening to Elon's solutions I realized they are mostly hot air. He used to promise and achieve a lot, in the last 4-5 years he started promising more and deliver less.

Lastly, I hope to not ever have to go though this again. We got lucky because our estimate took less than 3 weeks, people a month later had a 3 month wait just to get an estimate from Service King. I suspect the very same accident would end up the same today, Tesla body repair would conclude that it's major damage and they would send it to Service King. I'm just glad our car was totaled so we didn't have to deal with parts delays to fix it - insurance doesn't cover car rentals for that long.
 
My experience with the in-house body shop in Eatonville was amazing. In and out in 2 days for repaired bumper, vs. weeks at an exponentially higher price through outside vendors. They think their system will revolutionalize the repair industry.
 
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My experience with the in-house body shop in Eatonville was amazing. In and out in 2 days for repaired bumper, vs. weeks at an exponentially higher price through outside vendors. They think their system will revolutionalize the repair industry.
Minor repairs can be quick. There are even businesses which will do dent repair, scratch removal, and othe minor body repair at your home or work parking lot. This is nothing revolutionary.

What was the actual damage repaired? Do you have hard numbers as far as cost at Tesla vs. other shop? What was that other shop that told you it would take weeks to fix what Tesla fixed same day?
 
I still don't see parts supply being solved by in-house minor-damage repair shops. Either they can or cannot supply enough parts in timely manner. The only way this changes anything is if the in-house shops will become part warehouses and lack of warehousing was the original problem.

That said, I suspect it will be just another one of Elon's hot air flops, you know, promise AP1 "will find you anywhere on the private property" and deliver "drive up to 40 feet in a straight line while you hold a dead-man-switch to make sure the car doesn't hit anything". It's very likely these body shops will turn out the same - promise "fix long repair times" but deliver "take on the minor repairs and offload anything major or things they don' t have the parts for to 3rd party shops, so they can blame those shops again". Tesla already officially stated they will not handle any major damage, so they are already part way there.

The real way to solve is is to fix the supply problem rather than mask it. If the problem is long delays with parts, fix the parts supply line so that all parts can be shipped within a day or two. Elon could put his money where his mouth is and guarantee ship time or provide loaners for however long the excessive parts delay is. Of course he won't do that, because he knows the problem is still there.

Sorry to be a pessimist here, but after years of listening to Elon's solutions I realized they are mostly hot air. He used to promise and achieve a lot, in the last 4-5 years he started promising more and deliver less.

Lastly, I hope to not ever have to go though this again. We got lucky because our estimate took less than 3 weeks, people a month later had a 3 month wait just to get an estimate from Service King. I suspect the very same accident would end up the same today, Tesla body repair would conclude that it's major damage and they would send it to Service King. I'm just glad our car was totaled so we didn't have to deal with parts delays to fix it - insurance doesn't cover car rentals for that long.

I don't think you need to apologize about being pessimistic. In this day, and age pessimism is really just being realistic. :)

It's entirely possible that it's hot air, and the real reason for it's existence is to fix Model 3 issues. Everyone keeps wondering what happens to do the cars that get rejected. It's entirely possible they're being routed to this.

But, it does seem to have more traction than the Snake-Chargers so there is reason to be hopeful.