Beside myself with saddness!!!

[Tech_Guy]

That is going to take forever to repair. Don't drop your car off at the shop until they have the parts and are ready to start working on it.

Agreed My friend had a similar repair and it took a month to get the parts and a month for the repair.

As bad as it looks, a competent PDR tech can get all of that damage out without replacing the quarter panel. It will still need to be touched up as it appears that the paint is compromised but it will cut weeks off of the repair.

My friend looked into PDR but apparently that rear quarter panel is glued to the frame of the car and thus Tesla explicitly states not to pull or push on that panel to repair it so id suggest against PDR!

 

[Ghosty]

On the brightside - everyone is ok. You've got a beautiful ride that will look just as new when they repair it and everything will be back to normal. Smooth sailing in that beast car of yours. Life is good.

 

[jelloslug]

Agreed My friend had a similar repair and it took a month to get the parts and a month for the repair.



My friend looked into PDR but apparently that rear quarter panel is glued to the frame of the car and thus Tesla explicitly states not to pull or push on that panel to repair it so id suggest against PDR!

What Tesla is referring to is using a frame straightener to pull structural damage back into shape. PDR to fix a non structural dent is OK.

 

[AAARSINIC]

Wow, the similarities are striking. I too, was in Costco parking lot and hit on the exact same corner. Here is my thread about it.

Long story short, you're looking at a new rear quarter panel, new bumper, new triangle window, all new chrome pieces around the windows and emblems on the back, repaint and blend the rear driver's side door. Probably around $11-12k.

Make sure you go after diminished value.

I have never filed a diminished value claim but plan to. At what stage do you file this claim?

 

[wwu123]

That looks disgustingly similar to what happened to my car on Monday. Only it was a semi truck that rear ended me at a bout 15 mph. Unfortunately the driver is trying to claim that I merged onto the freeway into him, which is not true in the slightest. Insurance is now saying that its a word against word issue, and I haven't even begun my repair shop search yet. Not looking forward to this process at all.

I thought it was generally the case that the car behind is generally considered to be the one hitting the front, so the rear driver almost always considered at fault? The driver in the rear has an onus to leave a safe following distance, and can always brake to try to avoid?

I mean looking at that, how can your car, being in front and moving in the forward direction, be accused of "striking" a car behind you. Yes, the car in front may slow down and technically "cause" the situation, but it is pretty much the car behind that hits the car in front, not the other way around..

 

[WhiskySTL]

This is why you have a dash cam.

So, maybe dumb question, but... How would a dash cam help when you are rear ended?

 

[SomeJoe7777]

So, maybe dumb question, but... How would a dash cam help when you are rear ended?

Most of the better dash cam packages these days have front and rear cameras.

 

[Bebop]

I’m glad no one was hurt. It could’ve been much worse.

Something I don’t understand is other people’s interactions with Tesla cars. How stupid clumsy people can be. If I was behind a Tesla car, you better believe I’m going to be like 2 car lengths back. I don’t want to be involved in any kind of accident with a expensive car, I’m not messing around.

The good news is at least the car isn’t totaled and it is something that can be fixed. Everything is going to be okay!

 

[Mark Z]

I was pleased with a $50 professional touchup on a non-dented scrape on the 2012 Signature Red. The professionals can work magic.

That is going to take forever to repair. Don't drop your car off at the shop until they have the parts and are ready to start working on it.

As mentioned above, have the approved body shop get all the parts before the work is done. While parts can take weeks to arrive, the actual work to repair can be a few days.

 

[AAARSINIC]

I thought it was generally the case that the car behind is generally considered to be the one hitting the front, so the rear driver almost always considered at fault? The driver in the rear has an onus to leave a safe following distance, and can always brake to try to avoid?

I mean looking at that, how can your car, being in front and moving in the forward direction, be accused of "striking" a car behind you. Yes, the car in front may slow down and technically "cause" the situation, but it is pretty much the car behind that hits the car in front, not the other way around..

You are correct. But when the other party is claiming that you changed lanes into them it’s a word versus word story. That didn’t happen and the damage doesn’t support a side swipe at all. To make matters worse, the other parties insurance took a statement from the drivers boss for the claim and not the driver. Pretty suspect and inappropriate if you ask me.

A dash cam would have clearly shown the semi hitting me from behind and me trying to avoid it unsuccessfully.

 

[FlatSix911]

Look at the bright side ... your rear tail light is unharmed!

 

[seclinton]

That my friend means you will get the following:

1. New Rear quarter panel: ~$4.5 to replace (sorry must replace whole panel)
2. New Bumper cover: ($1.2k (finished))

Had this happen to me in Reno. Audi's insurance will cover. Go to certified shop, make sure all parts are ordered before turning your car in for repair and get a good ETA on when it will be complete.

 

[AAARSINIC]

For those that are interested, my insurance initially estimated ~1.8k for repairs with only pictures. The Tesla certified shop estimated 19.8k! Wowzers! Insurance is now sending out an appraisal to see it in person and confirm.

 

[RogerHScott]

Wow, that blows the 3x under-estimation of my car's repair cost out of the water!
Who's your insurance company?

Btw, can anyone relate what the hourly labor charge of their local Tesla-certified shop is? I'm wondering how mine compares.

 

[seclinton]

For those that are interested, my insurance initially estimated ~1.8k for repairs with only pictures. The Tesla certified shop estimated 19.8k! Wowzers! Insurance is now sending out an appraisal to see it in person and confirm.

Yeah been there too. don't worry, the repair shop will show them and explain what a certified repair means.

 

[AAARSINIC]

Wow, that blows the 3x under-estimation of my car's repair cost out of the water!
Who's your insurance company?

Btw, can anyone relate what the hourly labor charge of their local Tesla-certified shop is? I'm wondering how mine compares.

120/hr for body/refinish and 155/hr frame/mechanical.

My insurance is Ameriprise through Costco and theirs is progressive.

 

[AAARSINIC]

Yeah been there too. don't worry, the repair shop will show them and explain what a certified repair means.

I sure hope so!

 

[RogerHScott]

120/hr for body/refinish and 155/hr frame/mechanical.

Interesting. That's basically what my shop charges -- which even by their own admission is really high. In another thread someone answered this same question with a number in the 40s, so go figure!