Accident - Got hit from behind

[hcdavis3]

Did you bitch slapped him, he deserved one at the very least.

That's just criminal, I feel sad for you.

Me too. That totally sucks.

 

[Milissalach]

Well. Here's my plan if mine gets wrecked. I've read here and TM that it can take easily 6 months or more before a well-wrecked Tesla is fixed. Talk to my insurance company - an the other insurance company.. Either my insurance or the other will be paying for a rental. I am sure they know it takes a while - months to get a Tesla fixed. Do they want to pay for months of rental car for me? I will try to get them to give me a lump sum settlement for just the rental car part separate from the accident. If I can, I can use it for a down payment on a used Tesla to drive while mine is in the shop.

If they total mine, then I can use the used on and trade it in. While mine is wrecked and in the stop, I am pausing insurance on the wrecked one. Sure don't need it sitting in the shop.

Then, find a used one maybe cheap one. Maybe at an auction. Maybe buy a used Tesla trade-in from Tesla before they sell it to the auction. Find one, and buy it with as little down as I can, maybe the cheapest I can find, or maybe one like I have before it was wrecked. Be flexible. Drive it and make payments until mine is fixed. In the mean time, work on making the used one better looking and nicer looking than it was when I bought it. Clean it. I am going to try to sell it months from now for at least what I bought it for. And when I get mine back, if its not good, I am going to sell or trade it to get back where I was before. Not going to try and cheat anyone, but put my energies into still driving a Tesla while I wait on repairs.

Once I am back in a Tesla, I can let my insurance company and/or the other insurance company figure it out, fight it out, but I am now in a better position versus at their mercy to give me what they want to give me because I am no longer in a rush to settle so I can find another car.

 

[Milissalach]

My car got hit from behind while I was at a stop light and it didn’t take a long time once the insurance company got it towed to the shop and the parts came quick. My car was towed to Slidel Louisiana and they did a great job. The biggest hassle was dealing with the other persons insurance. They kept putting me off and I would definitely get your insurance involved to deal with it. If you can have it towed to a Tesla service center. I had a part they didn’t change and it caused my car not to download updates which made Tesla pay to tow it to Atlanta but it was fixed there. They tried the mobile unit but it didn’t fix it.
I love my Tesla which will be 2 in August!

 

[A.N. Gineer]

Was in Delaware on the highway, and came to a traffic slowdown (from emergency workers cleaning up a fatal accident), middle lane with everyone else - when some idiot in the fast lane who was going too fast, couldn't stop and slammed into my rear driver's side quarter panel. Guy with no license was driving his girlfriends car. She allegedly has insurance.

I'm so glad we weren't hurt badly.
But my M3. Had it for 1.5yrs I'd say.
I loved that car... So bummed I'll be spending this miserable summer without my electric car.
What do you guys think? Repairable? Totalled?
Also.. it was an early model - full data for free. Ugh.
View attachment 544605

You don't say if it's an LR or AWD. In any case, imo that's totaled, especially given the shop rates where you live.

Rear wheel got hit & pushed forward in addition to needing the entire rear quarter replaced. In the best case, a few suspension components, worst case is a busted gearbox & bent up cradle mount.

Model 3 - nice rust you got started, there, which became visible. Which is why I'll stick to an aluminum MS/MX.

BTW, if you buy it back from the insurance company, it's a "salvage car." Tesla doesn't have much respect for a salvage car from what I've read. Time to move on.

 

[A.N. Gineer]

Just got our car back from having the rear quarter panel replaced with associated work. Mine was about a $10K job.
The biggest expenses relate to paintwork. Really, that's where most of the cost was.

While this car has more severe damage, the damaged area is very similar, so I'm taking my invoice and adding for some extra stuff.

BTW: Ours is also blue,but you can probably figure that from my avatar name.

I bet yours didn't have the rear wheel shoved forward...

Stick to your day job.

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

I bet yours didn't have the rear wheel shoved forward...

Stick to your day job.

No need to be an asshole

 

[Watts_Up]

Make it totaled.

I was in a similar situation last year in April 2019.
The car was not as badly damaged and cost $15k and I got my car back in February 2020, after 9 months.

They have however to replace the full quarter up to roof, replace the glass roof, the wheelhouse, and the full rear panel.
I had also medical issue with my back.

The other insurance tried to denied the coverage as the driver was driving his wife car but was not listed as driver,
but she was passenger. My insurance wanted to make it as an insured driver.
All that was BS to save money.

Take a lawyer and report any injury you may have and visit a Medical Doctor.

Get repair estimates from several body shops.
But try to have your car totaled, that's the best advice I would recommend.

 

[qingshan]

What about a white interior?

I think he was thinking that if the OP got real scared...

That’s why you have uninsured motorist...[/QUOTE

And uim and um comp/collision with limits similar to your liability coverage.

 

[Relayer]

Still no verdict, but cleaned out the car today and got the flash drive..
"Let's go to the tape."

 

[RedBaronCircus]

Was in Delaware on the highway, and came to a traffic slowdown (from emergency workers cleaning up a fatal accident), middle lane with everyone else - when some idiot in the fast lane who was going too fast, couldn't stop and slammed into my rear driver's side quarter panel. Guy with no license was driving his girlfriends car. She allegedly has insurance.

I'm so glad we weren't hurt badly.
But my M3. Had it for 1.5yrs I'd say.
I loved that car... So bummed I'll be spending this miserable summer without my electric car.
What do you guys think? Repairable? Totalled?
Also.. it was an early model - full data for free. Ugh.
View attachment 544605

 

[The_Observer]

Still no verdict, but cleaned out the car today and got the flash drive..
"Let's go to the tape."

No verdict even with clear video evidence like these? I want some of that stuff they are smoking.

Also, jesus... that guy has no chill, weaving around traffic at much higher speeds than everyone else.

 

[Akikiki]

Ouch !!

 

[Relayer]

No verdict even with clear video evidence like these? I want some of that stuff they are smoking.

Also, jesus... that guy has no chill, weaving around traffic at much higher speeds than everyone else.

No verdict on if it's "totaled"..
To another post, it was an AWD

 

[SammichLover]

Still no verdict, but cleaned out the car today and got the flash drive..
"Let's go to the tape."

So either buddy was trying to retrieve the Whopper he dropped onto the passenger side floor;
OR they were actually trying to pass on the left shoulder "lane", aborted that, braked heavy while wheel was turned, went into a skid, started rotating, and just rode the skid (likely still under braking for a while) too long, shot across the left actual-lane and partially into your lane, couldn't get the car steered back straight down the road in time to fully get back into the left actual-lane before catching up to you.

Lot of debris out on that shoulder, no wonder he put it into a skid trying to stand on it and turn at the same time.

 

[Margaritaboy]

No verdict on if it's "totaled"..
To another post, it was an AWD

Damage I see for sure:
Rear bumper cover
Rear hatch assembly
Left rear quarter panel
Left rear rim
Misc. trim
Charge port has been pushed in.

Damage I suspect:
rear crash bar
Underlying frame bent

Unknown:
Left rear door damage/alignment
HV charge port cable damage

Since we are all guessing, my vote is that it will be totaled. The body damage is one one thing, but they will most likely replace the charge port and associated high voltage cables too. I am assuming no air bags went off. That would increase the expense significantly. I’m guessing the insurance company will cut their losses.

I purchased a auction vehicle that was beat up a lot less than this car. Someone can fix it, but not sure insurance will choose to undertake it...

Keep us informed on the outcome!

 

[Dolemite]

3,000 lbs sedan meets 4,000 lbs sedan

 

[dmurphy]

Rental coverage limits aren't applicable here, because the OP wasn't at fault. It's the other car owner's insurance that has to cover these costs as part of the claim against their insured.

This is a complex topic; depending on the state, how “not at fault” gets determined changes. For example, here, the two insurance companies (yours and theirs) assign a percentage of blame. If, say, it’s 80%/20%, you’d only be able to collect 80% of the damages from the other parties’ insurance company. DV claims are exceedingly difficult. I know “the Internet” suggests them all the time but to be frank - don’t get hopes up. They don’t happen easily.

It’s for this reason that I think it’s best to file the claim with your own insurance company and let them subrogate from the 3rd party. Your carrier has way better lawyers than anyone you could hire.

... but this is a good conversation to have with your own agent.

 

[dmurphy]

I am assuming no air bags went off. That would increase the expense significantly. I’m guessing the insurance company will cut their losses.

Depending on the situation, it’s actually not “as big” an expense as it appears. When a deer decided to jump in front of my wife’s Enclave in Oct, it set off the driver’s airbag. Replacing the airbag, controller & seatbelts only worked out to maybe $2500. The other $18k+ in damage was all in the front end.

Airbag deployments don’t always mean a gigantic expense - in our case it was dwarfed by the rest of the work. Which I wish were higher so we could’ve totaled out.

Book value before accident: $35k
Repair cost: $21k
Salvage value at auction: $6k (ish)

Since (repair + salvage) was less than book value, they chose to fix it. BUT here’s the screw job ...

Book value after accident: $23k

By fixing it, its value plummeted to be worth less than it cost to fix.

So back to the Tesla at hand - I actually hope it is totaled, for your sake. Losing the free data is a small penalty in the grand scheme.... Book values on these cars remains high so I think you’d make out OK - totaling would save you time, aggravation and ensure you can get a brand new one without latent issues.

 

[dmurphy]

Depending on the situation, it’s actually not “as big” an expense as it appears. When a deer decided to jump in front of my wife’s Enclave in Oct, it set off the driver’s airbag. Replacing the airbag, controller & seatbelts only worked out to maybe $2500. The other $18k+ in damage was all in the front end.

Airbag deployments don’t always mean a gigantic expense - in our case it was dwarfed by the rest of the work. Which I wish were higher so we could’ve totaled out.

Hate to be the guy that quotes himself, but I just pulled up the final repair invoice; it was $2,566.05 for airbag replacement, seatbelt replacements (driver & passenger) & diag unit replacement.

 

[SammichLover]

Hate to be the guy that quotes himself, but I just pulled up the final repair invoice; it was $2,566.05 for airbag replacement, seatbelt replacements (driver & passenger) & diag unit replacement.

View attachment 545915

If it sets off something near the full suite, which can happen when the collision sends the vehicle in a spin rotation, it can really add up. An extra $4-5K makes it more likely the tipping point is reached.

That’s how I took that initial post, anyway.