Are the delays in repair severe?

[roboto120]

I'm a Tesla newbie. We received our new 2022 MY3LR 8 weeks ago after a 6 month wait. Beautiful car and my 4yo, 5yo kids keep talking about how awesome it is all the time. Sad part is that a deer rammed into the car on the passenger side yesterday. Fender and passenger side doors had dents and the mirror came out of its slot. Googled and took the car to a certified tesla collision center and the guy over there is saying that it's going to be 2-3 months before they get the parts and another month or so for them to fix it. And he said I should leave the car with them till it's all done. I left it with them, but it's bugging me all day long.

Two questions for those more knowledgable about these:
1) Are these delays genuine? This is a brand new car, so wouldn't tesla be able to produce the parts faster? Should I try another service center?
2) I'm paying a hefty amount on the loan each month for this one - do I have any option to recoup some of the losses? Also, my insurance covers rental for only 30 days which doesn't sound like it'll cut it with the estimated timeline.

This has been a really devastating experience for my family and especially the kids and I feel lost as the Tesla Service center apparently doesn't deal with these. Is there a person or team at Tesla that we can talk to who can help streamline this body repair situation and give us some comfort?

Thanks for your response in advance.

 

[karkrazy]

Sounds like everyone is ok, so that’s

There are delays in parts, there is truth in that - supply chain issues, shortages, prioritization to build new cars, etc. without knowing how bad the damage is, can you share the repair estimate (redact personal info)? Or photos? Others who are more knowledgeable can opine then.
And yes, sometimes it helps to get estimates from other shops.

And repairs taking months is not uncommon - you can search TMC for similar threads. As for recouping your losses… claim diminished value against your insurance company? Not sure how state works and if filing such a claim will ding your future premiums.

Good luck!

 

[ucmndd]

Sorry for your incident.

You’re at the mercy of the parts supply chain and the collision shop. There’s nobody at Tesla for you to talk to, but yeah, I might call around and see if other body shops in the area are quoting similar lead times and repair times.

You own the car and owe on the loan no matter what. Whether or not you can use the car is inconsequential to the bank.

Consider upping your rental coverage with your insurance policy. I’d also consider getting the car back and just driving it for a while unless the damage is really severe.

 

[roboto120]

Sounds like everyone is ok, so that’s

There are delays in parts, there is truth in that - supply chain issues, shortages, prioritization to build new cars, etc. without knowing how bad the damage is, can you share the repair estimate (redact personal info)? Or photos? Others who are more knowledgeable can opine then.
And yes, sometimes it helps to get estimates from other shops.

And repairs taking months is not uncommon - you can search TMC for similar threads. As for recouping your losses… claim diminished value against your insurance company? Not sure how state works and if filing such a claim will ding your future premiums.

Good luck!

Thanks for your response. Yes, everyone is good - thanks.

Re. repair estimate - the guy hasn't given me anything in writing yet but he thinks its going to be like 8k or so. And here are the pics.

 

[roboto120]

Sorry for your incident.

You’re at the mercy of the parts supply chain and the collision shop. There’s nobody at Tesla for you to talk to, but yeah, I might call around and see if other body shops in the area are quoting similar lead times and repair times.

You own the car and owe on the loan no matter what. Whether or not you can use the car is inconsequential to the bank.

Consider upping your rental coverage with your insurance policy. I’d also consider getting the car back and just driving it for a while unless the damage is really severe.

Ok, thanks for the advise about the rental coverage.

Re. getting the car back - so the guy at the certified body shop tells me that they need to open the car up to figure out what all parts have to be ordered (just in case there's any internal damage that's not visible). And he tells me that once they open it up, they won't close it back again which means that I won't be able to drive it at all and it HAS to sit there in the body shop till the parts arrive and they fix it. Could this be true? The car is drivable - was able to drive 45 mins to take it to this body shop.

 

[karkrazy]

That sounds about right. In a typical situation, you shop around first before landing on where you want the car fixed. Once you pick a/the shop and notify insurance, the shop will give an initial estimate. The tear-down is done so the shop can finalize the repairs (there is almost always hidden damage), and this has be approved by the insurance appraiser/adjuster and owner. Changes can be made if there is further damage found but only with approval of all parties. I’m simplifying, but that’s the gist of it.

Once a tear-down is done, it’s basically go all the way (fix it) or stop. The shop is not going to put damaged parts back together for liability reasons, could cause more damage, or it may not even fit again, etc. Plus they’ll have to bill for whatever labor that has been incurred. I’ve seen/heard of cars towed to other shops to be fixed once a tear-down is done, but that’s about it.