Clean Title, 10k Damage Accident, but Tesla Claims Salvaged Title

[Sniperange]

Hello all,

I have an issue. We had an accident where we hit the curb and caused the lower A-Arm to break (front left), as well as messing up the rims (front left and rear left), tires and scrapes on the lower body panel. The total repair was 10k (5k parts, 5k labor), while the car (2019 Model 3) is worth roughly 40k before the accident, which is well below the 75% mark. The insurance did accept the repairs and reported the accident, but did not claim anything else (no total loss, and did not turn into a salvaged title per DMV records).

However, Tesla decided to turn off our supercharger network access and claimed that it has a "Salvaged title". Has anyone else come across this issue?

Thanks!

 

[Sniperange]

Some quick notes:

For the insurance supported repair, I did work with Tesla Representatives from the Roadside service to pick a repair shop that is certified by Tesla as well that is recommended by our Insurance (Caliber Collision).

 

[jjrandorin]

Sounds like it should be easy for you to rectify since the car was not totaled by your insurance, and you didnt buy it back.

 

[Rocky_H]

The insurance did accept the repairs and reported the accident, but did not claim anything else (no total loss, and did not turn into a salvaged title per DMV records).

Tesla doesn't just do that out of nowhere and wouldn't even know about it unless it was told to them. So it sounds like your insurance company did actually report it to Tesla as totaled, but didn't tell you that they did that.

 

[davewill]

Tesla doesn't just do that out of nowhere and wouldn't even know about it unless it was told to them. So it sounds like your insurance company did actually report it to Tesla as totaled, but didn't tell you that they did that.

Just to check, you bought it new? Even if you did, it might be helpful to run a CarFax to see if there is any hidden history on the car. We've seen unusual situations before where a "new" car had been erroneously registered or some such. If nothing else, it should show you whatever Tesla is seeing.

 

[Black306]

Sounds like it should be easy for you to rectify since the car was not totaled by your insurance, and you didnt buy it back.

We are talking about Tesla here; it’s not always easy.

 

[henderrj]

If you've not gotten anywhere try Corporate Auto Resolutions (email removed at owner's request)

And please, let us know how it goes.

 

[Sniperange]

Hi everyone,

Our insurance did a complete an investigation on our title. They came back with with reports from CARFAX and Auto Data Direct and it shows a Clean Title. Looks like there's a mistake that occurred for our car.

We did buy our car brand new from Tesla and picked it up in Tustin, CA in Orange County. I'll contact using above email and see how it goes (i'll forward the email (where our insurance was trying to figure what was happening) with the reports attached to that email).

Thanks everyone for your advise and support!

 

[stopcrazypp]

Hi everyone,

Our insurance did a complete an investigation on our title. They came back with with reports from CARFAX and Auto Data Direct and it shows a Clean Title. Looks like there's a mistake that occurred for our car.

We did buy our car brand new from Tesla and picked it up in Tustin, CA in Orange County. I'll contact using above email and see how it goes (i'll forward the email (where our insurance was trying to figure what was happening) with the reports attached to that email).

Thanks everyone for your advise and support!

You can also try contacting regular chat support during business hours and see if they can get you connected to a department that can fix the issue.

Use the "contact us" button on the bottom of the page:
Customer and Product Support | Tesla Support

Select, Vehicle Charging, Home Charging, then scroll to bottom under "Need More Help?" and click yes. That will give a live chat option.

Note, I know there is supercharging option in the menu, but that doesn't give the chat option. The most important part is to get a support person to interact with you.

 

[Sniperange]

Quick update:

Using the above method, I used the chat and email. I ended up having to navigate through their Roadside service phone number (877-798-3752) and i was able to get to the Supercharging rep through their menus. I was to finally get to a Person to talk to on the phone (this is partly my fault for not looking in the right a area, but have to admit it wasn't that straight forward, lol)

However, they were able to give me a verbal policy from Tesla on Supercharging and Salvage titles:

I roughly remember that they basically said is that once the vehicle is salvaged, the supercharging capabilities can not be returned under any circumstances. However, if enough proof is provided, the claim can be fixed. In this case, if Tesla made an error with claiming the vehicle to be salvaged, and the DMV records show it has a clean title, it can be fixed with the department that handles titles at Tesla (probably related to their own insurance and financing/leasing). I was able to send the rep the proof via [email protected] email using the CARFAX report, Auto Data Direct Inc Report, and an official DMV Registration record showing no salvaged title. The rep forwarded the documents to the correct department within Tesla and mentioned it will take roughly 5 to 7 business days to work on it. Also, I have to schedule a Service appointment which I currently have this Sunday 12/11, and mention that the car needs a "Fast Charging Inspection". This way they will check the car's supercharging capabilities, and if they are good (along with proof of the clean title), they will return the supercharging access.

NOTE: The Tesla Rep Also recommended scheduling a service appointment for Tesla to check the car after receiving it back from the Certified repair shop, so Tesla can look over the repairs that were completed. I already did this ahead of time with the current service appointment I already scheduled to replace the other tire so that all of the tires have the same life in them.

Also another NOTE: The rep did mention that they use verified sources on Salvage Title claims. However in this case, I'm not sure where they got their information since both our Insurance and the DMV records show nothing (probably the best proof you can get, haha).

I'll keep everyone updated so this can be archived for anyone else who may have any issues with this particular incident.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I roughly remember that they basically said is that once the vehicle is salvaged, the supercharging capabilities can not be returned under any circumstances. However, if enough proof is provided, the claim can be fixed. In this case, if Tesla made an error with claiming the vehicle to be salvaged, and the DMV records show it has a clean title, it can be fixed with the department that handles titles at Tesla (probably related to their own insurance and financing/leasing). I was able to send the rep the proof via [email protected] email using the CARFAX report, Auto Data Direct Inc Report, and an official DMV Registration record showing no salvaged title.

Yes, that's correct, as long as the car was ever labeled as salvage it is forever banned from supercharging. There was an update that restored it for some people for a short while (might have had to do with the CCS adapter support), but I believe a later update disabled it again. Tesla does not recognize "rebuilt" title as non-salvage (California law still says those cars are a type of salvage vehicle). There is a rumor of Tesla going to release a program to recertify cars that were salvage and allow them back on superchargers, but not sure if it was officially launched yet.
Tesla to allow salvaged vehicles back on Supercharger network

But that doesn't apply to you. Given from your account, you got your car new in California and it was never sold to someone else out of state (so title washing couldn't have happened), CA DMV says it's a clean title, and CarFax doesn't show it as salvage either, it is neither salvage nor formerly salvage in the first place. It's then a matter of being able to reach the right department to correct the mistaken classification.

The rep forwarded the documents to the correct department within Tesla and mentioned it will take roughly 5 to 7 business days to work on it. Also, I have to schedule a Service appointment which I currently have this Sunday 12/11, and mention that the car needs a "Fast Charging Inspection". This way they will check the car's supercharging capabilities, and if they are good (along with proof of the clean title), they will return the supercharging access.

That sounds very much like the program being launched to recertify salvage vehicles for supercharging. Given your car is not salvage, this step should not be required at all for you to regain supercharging access. Are you paying for this service? Technically once they correct their mistaken classification they should reactivate your supercharging (presumably OTA, just like how it was deactivated), without needing you to get the car inspected. Personally, unless you had a rush to get supercharger access and it's a service you would have to pay for, I would postpone the appointment (to make sure your car is official restored as non-salvage status, not as a recertified salvage). But it's up to you if it's worth it to have the car inspected anyways for safety.

If it's a free service to restore the functionality due to the mistake (not sure if they can restore it OTA), that's a different case. But given there is a 5-7 business day delay to process your proof, I'm not sure if Tesla would have processed your proof already by your appointment.

 

[Sniperange]

Hi team,

Quick update: The issue was resolved by Tesla. They turned the supercharging back on, but without any notification of doing so. I had to go to a supercharger to see if it worked, and it did (tried after the 5-7 business day turn around time).

The short answer would be that they will turn on the super charging capabilities for salvage titles, but per the posts above, it needs an inspection completed that would cost around $1,000 to check the battery pack's capabilities. If everything checks out, then they will turn it back on. Per the service rep at the service center, i talked to them and they did not perform the inspection service due to my previous call with the Tesla Phone rep (also as indicated by stopcrazypp's post above). Everything was done with no charge, just took some time.

Thanks for all of your help!