Bodywork Price Gouging

[paulsiu]

Recently, a family member got some deep scratches on their new Model 3 bumper while parked. They took it it for estimate. All 3 Tesla approved body shop estimated $3,000+ in repair cost. All three essentially said they will replace the bumper. They decided to take it to an actual Tesla owned bodyshop which is quite a distance way and has a waiting time) and got quoted $1500 for replacing the bumper.

The moral of the story seems to be to make sure that you include an actual Tesla body shop for repair estimate since everyone else might be engaging in price gouging.

Paul

 

[jelloslug]

Tesla is now selling factory painted bumper covers. I got one today for our Model 3.

 

[MP3Mike]

Tesla is now selling factory painted bumper covers. I got one today for our Model 3.

How much did it cost?

 

[jelloslug]

How much did it cost?

$900. It's a bit on the pricey side but I specifically wanted a part that was factory painted.

 

[hcdavis3]

I have a small ding on my rear bumper. I’m waiting for an estimate from my local Tesla approved body shop... a week. Still no answer. He said a week ago that they would have to remove the bumper to fix it. I got another estimate from a local guy who has worked on many Teslas to date. 275.00 to fix it. Bumper doesn’t have to be removed. He will use heat to flatten the ding and a little filler and mixes paint in his own shop and said I won’t notice any difference. The reviews say he’s great. I’ll update when I hear from Tesla approved body shop.

 

[kgoroway]

$900. It's a bit on the pricey side but I specifically wanted a part that was factory painted.

How long did you have to wait for it?

 

[jelloslug]

How long did you have to wait for it?

About 15 minutes for them to bring it from the stock room.

 

[jelloslug]

I have a small ding on my rear bumper. I’m waiting for an estimate from my local Tesla approved body shop... a week. Still no answer. He said a week ago that they would have to remove the bumper to fix it. I got another estimate from a local guy who has worked on many Teslas to date. 275.00 to fix it. Bumper doesn’t have to be removed. He will use heat to flatten the ding and a little filler and mixes paint in his own shop and said I won’t notice any difference. The reviews say he’s great. I’ll update when I hear from Tesla approved body shop.

There are many shops that can do a great job on spot repairs like that.

 

[hcdavis3]

There are many shops that can do a great job on spot repairs like that.

And you are correct jello. Local Tesla approved body shop originally said ding could be fixed without replacing the bumper. I guess he changed his mind and came back with an estimate of over 2000 dollars. My wife could barely see the ding. I found a nearby shop that has worked on Teslas for quite a while. He quoted me 275 dollars. I told the Tesla approved body shop to pack sand. What a rip-off. The shop I’m going to have fix my ding has a deal with Enterprise for 40 bucks a day for the time they will need the car. See ya Tesla approved body shop. I was born at night, just not last night.

 

[jelloslug]

And you are correct jello. Local Tesla approved body shop originally said ding could be fixed without replacing the bumper. I guess he changed his mind and came back with an estimate of over 2000 dollars. My wife could barely see the ding. I found a nearby shop that has worked on Teslas for quite a while. He quoted me 275 dollars. I told the Tesla approved body shop to pack sand. What a rip-off. The shop I’m going to have fix my ding has a deal with Enterprise for 40 bucks a day for the time they will need the car. See ya Tesla approved body shop. I was born at night, just not last night.

Even replacing it with a factory painted part directly from a service center would be significantly less.

 

[hcdavis3]

Even replacing it with a factory painted part directly from a service center would be significantly less.

Amen jello. Just a word of caution to those using Tesla approved body shops.

 

[jelloslug]

Amen jello. Just a word of caution to those using Tesla approved body shops.

I have never been a fan of them. I had a quote from them when our Model 3 got hit in the back and they tried to get the insurance company to switch the payee to them instead of me without asking. I was done with them at point.

 

[kgoroway]

About 15 minutes for them to bring it from the stock room.

Wow, that's quite lucky. I've been waiting over 2 weeks for my local service center to get one in. The local certified repair shop said they can "fix" the bumper in 4 days, by I opted to use Tesla direct because I'd rather have a "factory" painted bumper instead of a "repaired" bumper...but the wait time is crazy.

As it turns out, a "factory" painted bumper is somewhat of a misnomer. The part gets shipped unpainted to a Tesla owned shop that paints it, and then ships it to your local service center...but it's still painted by Tesla, so I guess that's worth something. (?)

 

[jelloslug]

Wow, that's quite lucky. I've been waiting over 2 weeks for my local service center to get one in. The local certified repair shop said they can "fix" the bumper in 4 days, by I opted to use Tesla direct because I'd rather have a "factory" painted bumper instead of a "repaired" bumper...but the wait time is crazy.

As it turns out, a "factory" painted bumper is somewhat of a misnomer. The part gets shipped unpainted to a Tesla owned shop that paints it, and then ships it to your local service center...but it's still painted by Tesla, so I guess that's worth something. (?)

Nope, they are painted by Tesla, not by a bodyshop or by the service center. I saw all of the bumper covers that they have in stock and they were sealed in their factory shipping packaging. The service adviser said that front and rear bumper covers come prepainted but all the other parts that they will offer at the Service Center will be painted on site.

 

[jelloslug]

Here is the new bumper installed:

The color match seems to be very good.

 

[Thomas Edison]

Here is the new bumper installed:

The color match seems to be very good.

Did it come with the black under plastic for the $900 or did they have to transfer that from the old bumper?

 

[kgoroway]

Nope, they are painted by Tesla,

I'm not debating that they are painted by Tesla. But that they are painted by Tesla, in, say, California. They aren't. There are regional centers which receive them unpainted, paint them, and ship them (properly packaged, as you noticed) to the local service centers. I'm not sure this really matters at all...because, after all, they have to get painted *somewhere*. In my case, my service center is Cherry Hill, NJ. The bumper is painted in Baltimore, MD. (interestingly, this *is not* the closest Tesla owned service center, so, it seems that the locations that paint these parts may be more selective than the total of all of the Tesla owned service centers.) [Additionally, the exact wording was "The Tesla Body Shop used on this coast is located in Baltimore, MD.", which seems to indicate that all of these parts destined for the east coast are painted in Baltimore.]

 

[jelloslug]

Did it come with the black under plastic for the $900 or did they have to transfer that from the old bumper?

It was just the bumper cover with the mounts for the parking sensors; everything else transfers over. Just for perspective, an unpainted new bumper cover is ~$330.

 

[jelloslug]

I'm not debating that they are painted by Tesla. But that they are painted by Tesla, in, say, California. They aren't. There are regional centers which receive them unpainted, paint them, and ship them (properly packaged, as you noticed) to the local service centers. I'm not sure this really matters at all...because, after all, they have to get painted *somewhere*. In my case, my service center is Cherry Hill, NJ. The bumper is painted in Baltimore, MD. (interestingly, this *is not* the closest Tesla owned service center, so, it seems that the locations that paint these parts may be more selective than the total of all of the Tesla owned service centers.) [Additionally, the exact wording was "The Tesla Body Shop used on this coast is located in Baltimore, MD.", which seems to indicate that all of these parts destined for the east coast are painted in Baltimore.]

That is not what the service center told me at all. It also does not look like a part that was painted in a paint booth rather than on a production line. I have done quite a bit of automotive painting and it looks like a production line paint job.

 

[kgoroway]

That is not what the service center told me at all.

Hey, imagine that. Tesla giving out different stories to people who ask the same questions... ;-)

I specifically asked. The answer was very vague. "The bumper is painted by Tesla." I asked for very specific details, as in, where, physically is this part painted by Tesla. That's when I was told the above. I'm not at all surprised that you were told differently.