Body Shop Repair Costs--for me, a deal killer?

[mrElbe]

That is a very high estimate. My car was sideswiped and needed front fender and 2 doors, and rear fender body work and new wheel and hub. Our Toronto certified repair shop did it for CAD$ 15,500 on other party's insurance claim. They did a fabulous job. They also explained to me the training they went through.
Picture here - http://www.teslazoom.com/Accident/acc1.jpg

 

[green1]

I have no problem with tesla offering certified shops. I think that's great. The problem i have us with their policy to only sell certain parts to these shops. A certified shop will naturally be able to command a small premium over a non-certified shop, however without an absolute monopoly they won't be able to gouge.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Like others said it is Insurance Pricing vs paying out of pocket. My wife just went through a bunch of estimates for a 4runner 'nose' and it was 2X the price for an 'insurance' repair vs her paying. Some places wouldn't even do an estimate when she said she wasn't using insurance.
If my S gets some damage like this I will probably just do the same to the other side to make it match

 

[kennybobby]

...
If my S gets some damage like this I will probably just do the same to the other side to make it match

lol--that reminds me of body shop class in tech school, we would take a sledge hammer to the fenders then pull the dent out and fix it, then after it passed, we would smack it again...

 

[JST]

Like others said it is Insurance Pricing vs paying out of pocket. My wife just went through a bunch of estimates for a 4runner 'nose' and it was 2X the price for an 'insurance' repair vs her paying. Some places wouldn't even do an estimate when she said she wasn't using insurance.
If my S gets some damage like this I will probably just do the same to the other side to make it match

Part of me wants to hit with some primer and make it into a rat rod.

 

[TampaRich]

I wonder how Tesla is going to mitigate repair costs like these on the Model 3. Clearly they would have problems selling a $35k car in volume that required $20k fender scrape repairs. Makes me think they will go with old school bolt-on steel body panels instead of aluminum. But that adds weight and reduces range. Will be interesting to see their engineering choices when it comes out.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I wonder how Tesla is going to mitigate repair costs like these on the Model 3. Clearly they would have problems selling a $35k car in volume that required $20k fender scrape repairs. Makes me think they will go with old school bolt-on steel body panels instead of aluminum. But that adds weight and reduces range. Will be interesting to see their engineering choices when it comes out.

Plastic body panels ala the Fiero and Saturn.

 

[Spyder14]

Based on what I have read re: the unfortunate ones who have had to deal with this, parts are not readily available + high cost of parts + high costs of Tesla-approved body shops = poor overall experiences. I would agree that it seems the costs are high but after having to have minor body repair on an Audi A6, sticker shock there too! Also aluminum parts, metallic paint, etc. I don't have the facts yet but any high-end body shop that is OK with aluminum body panels & high quality metallic paint should be OK with minor repairs--unless there is welding etc since mine were bolt on.

 

[jaguar36]

I don't have the facts yet but any high-end body shop that is OK with aluminum body panels & high quality metallic paint should be OK with minor repairs--unless there is welding etc since mine were bolt on.

Most decent body shops these days can handle aluminum repairs, its not that uncommon anymore. Even a minor repair might still require a new clip or trim piece and the problem is unless you're Telsa certified you can't get new parts so the skill of the body shop doesn't matter.

 

[green1]

any high-end body shop that is OK with aluminum body panels & high quality metallic paint should be OK with minor repairs--

They should be, yes, but Tesla has other ideas, and there is a long list of parts that only authorized shops are permitted to buy, this means only authorized shops are really allowed to do the work, and they know it, so they exploit this to their advantage.

 

[CarlK]

From reading the posts I got the feeling that body shops charge the high price because they can. Probably the same as they would with any high end or exotic cars.

 

[Spyder14]

Most decent body shops these days can handle aluminum repairs, its not that uncommon anymore. Even a minor repair might still require a new clip or trim piece and the problem is unless you're Telsa certified you can't get new parts so the skill of the body shop doesn't matter.

Seriously--they won't sell parts to a body shop unless it's officially approved/certified? That sounds like ANOTHER issue that needs to be addressed before Model 3 & it's "high volume" arrives.

 

[Skotty]

I agree the repair costs are insane but I don't understand your "philosophical grounds" objection. Do you feel someone is being cheated? If so, who? The only one I can think of is the insurer and, if that's your objection, you're a very rare person to be concerned about the bottom line of an insurance company. I'm guessing though that I've misunderstood you. I just can't see anything else "philosophical" in this. I guess if the repair was cheaper the money could be better spent feeding the homeless, but we all know insurers won't use a savings on vehicle repairs to do that, nor will they lower premiums.

This fails to see the bigger picture. Excessive costs to insurance companies will come right back around eventually into much higher insurance premiums, at which point good drivers will be further subsidizing bad drivers who wreck their cars a lot. Yes good drivers have lower premiums, but I've had exactly 0 claims on car insurance in my life and all that money I've paid into it has to be going somewhere. (PS -- I hate insurance companies, they have *#*$&# me over many times in my life despite the fact that I have never cost them a single dime; I have a very poor opinion of insurance companies in general and do not want to give them reasons to charge me more money for their bad attitudes, unethical discriminatory policies, and complete lack of service).

 

[FlasherZ]

Seriously--they won't sell parts to a body shop unless it's officially approved/certified? That sounds like ANOTHER issue that needs to be addressed before Model 3 & it's "high volume" arrives.

They can get parts that aren't "restricted" parts with a VIN number. They cannot get "restricted" parts.

 

[green1]

Seriously--they won't sell parts to a body shop unless it's officially approved/certified? That sounds like ANOTHER issue that needs to be addressed before Model 3 & it's "high volume" arrives.

Some parts they'll sell, others they won't, it's quite arbitrary really. I would say this definitely needs to be changed.

 

[KenN]

The skillset and equipment costs to do bodywork is expensive. Costs are similarly high for any car with aluminum skin. I'm dreading the bill for my upcoming repair. Wife turned early and ripped it open on a curb.

 

[qwk]

Some parts they'll sell, others they won't, it's quite arbitrary really. I would say this definitely needs to be changed.

What's worse, this varies from SC to SC. Some SC's won't even sell you a 12V battery...

 

[Doug Darby]

I think MrElbe's post #21 shows the Tesla repairs can be "realistic". I would certainly get another estimate and dig deeper into what is going on.

 

[taurusking]

This fails to see the bigger picture. Excessive costs to insurance companies will come right back around eventually into much higher insurance premiums, at which point good drivers will be further subsidizing bad drivers who wreck their cars a lot.

This is very true...every single time a body shop gouges the insurance companies and asks for alarming high cost of repair...it will come back with higher insurance premium in the future for all Tesla owners.

 

[Gynob001]

I have two marble sized dents, barely perceptible. I decided not to do anything about it. Dents and scratches are inevitable. My take home lesson from my Lexus is if you get insurance involved, you save money on the short end but pay a premium when you try to sell the car. Any insurance claim is listed as an accident and the car value goes down. I would try a body shop or as a do it yourself project or drive with the dent. Who cares, if the car performs good!