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Collision - who wants to play guess the damages??

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Sorry for your accident.

My 2 cents on auto repair in general, not specific to your case. The cost for auto repair is getting out of control just like medical bills. If pay cash for the repair, it will be a lot less for the same service. There is something wrong in the system whenever insurance company controlling the market.
 
At some point insurance companies are going to understand this fully, and the insurance rates will skyrocket. At that point Tesla will be finally forced to end their monopolistic repair practices. Sadly at that point it will be to late for most of us owners and it will be years before insurance rates return to reasonable levels.

People have been saying that for three years on here and it still hasn't happened. Why? Because people are WAY more expensive to repair or replace than cars and the Model S has proven itself the safest car on the road. Sure, insurance companies are having to pay out $10k more for fender benders, but they're not having to pay out $100k in medical bills.
 
... apparently it's their policy to grant "authorized" status to only one shop in any given area, insuring a monopoly and encouraging the body shop to charge whatever they feel like. This is why so many Teslas end up totaled and up for insurance auction. Also, once totaled Tesla refuses to even sell parts to anyone for that particular car.

Not the case here in the greater NY area. There are three authorized body shops within 60 miles ... two in CT and one in Mt Vernon, NY (and probably more as that radius would put me into Long Island and New Jersey).
 
Don't forget to go after diminished value! You certainly will have some.

Yes - I have heard of this as well, but am unsure of how to go about getting compensated for this. My understanding is that the repair is made and I get my car back. Is the insurance company then expected to cut me a check for what they consider the diminished value based on the damage? Do I have to do some sort of special haggling to get compensated for this?
 
Yes - I have heard of this as well, but am unsure of how to go about getting compensated for this. My understanding is that the repair is made and I get my car back. Is the insurance company then expected to cut me a check for what they consider the diminished value based on the damage? Do I have to do some sort of special haggling to get compensated for this?

Yes it is absolutely a negotiation. If the insurance company even thinks there is any DV, its unlikely they will just offer it to you. And if they do, it will most likely be low and any counteroffer you give they will want some sort of justification or proof of it. The thing about DV is that its subjective. I highly recommend this guy. I have no professional or financial relationship with him at all, he just did my own claim. In my own claim, the other insurance company (when I requested a DV settlement) came back with, "Well our department looked at everything and they didn't find any diminished value associated with your claim." Zero. :rolleyes: Even that surprised me, and I'm in the insurance business as a profession. I thought they would at least throw something out there like $1,000 or something. After a professional report by a third party, I wound up collecting a little over $10k in DV, when the original damages were just $10k themselves. Now part of what worked in my favor is that my car was practically brand new, with 300 miles on it. The newer and more expensive, the greater the DV. But you will need someone on your side to help you negotiate. We went back and forth with them for a few weeks, they produced two mediocre reports (which my expert shot down with them over the phone immediately). His report costs $250 and it paid for itself probably 20 times over. What finally got it done was requesting a supervisor on their end (the front line adjuster has no real authority to negotiate those things). I got on the phone with him and my DV expert and he did practically all the talking, and shut down just about every argument that guy made. Then finally he made a great offer and we took it. It was awesome.

But with yours, you will definitely suffer some DV loss. I would definitely contact that guy (his name is Justin). He's done a few Tesla's and so he's familiar with some of the different aspects of coming up with a DV claim. In other words, the type of clientele that would be buying a Tesla is going to most likely be far more averse to buying one that's been in an accident.

Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions about my claim or the DV process.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: johnr
Yes it is absolutely a negotiation. If the insurance company even thinks there is any DV, its unlikely they will just offer it to you. And if they do, it will most likely be low and any counteroffer you give they will want some sort of justification or proof of it. The thing about DV is that its subjective. I highly recommend this guy.


I'm in the middle of this process now, and working with Justin & Jen also. I have only good things to say about them. Very knowledgeable about the varying states and insurance companies' tactics.
 
So as a follow up, I would like to express a little frustration. I took some members' advice (for which I am very grateful) to take this up with Diminished Value Home - Petty Details, LLC. Initially they were very responsive and optimistic about getting a settlement. Since that time, communication has been extremely poor. My point of contact makes statements like "we should have more information in about a week or so, I will keep you posted" and then communication goes black for several weeks. On the last communication, the person told me that they should have an answer on the matter in 10 days. That was over a month ago. I email them, and usually by my third email I get an apologetic reply and an update. At first I was understanding, but this has happened repeatedly. I will update this post if and when things change, but as of right now I am NOT a satisfied customer and would NOT recommend them.
 
So as a follow up, I would like to express a little frustration. I took some members' advice (for which I am very grateful) to take this up with Diminished Value Home - Petty Details, LLC. Initially they were very responsive and optimistic about getting a settlement. Since that time, communication has been extremely poor.

If it's any help to you I have gotten diminished value settlements from insurance companies twice. Both times I used an attorney who specializes in this area and does a lot of work for luxury car rental companies with diminished value claims - I have never met him in person or been to his office (someone in the industry recommended him to me) but he was always responsive. He took the usual attorney 1/3 cut but he handled every detail from soup to nuts - I simply put him in touch with my insurance agent and later I received a check in the mail.

He's probably not licensed to practice in Texas but maybe knows reputable attorneys who do or could give you some advice on the phone - worth a phone call anyway and he's a nice guy..

Bryan Thomas of the law firm Del Tondo & Thomas in Irvine California.

Best of luck.
 
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Reactions: mblakele
I think there are two Tesla authorized auto body shops in the DC area and the Richmond, VA authorized shop has been doing repairs for DC, VA, and NC vehicles. I think the Richmond shop is slightly cheaper than the DC ones.

I talked to the local Richmond authorized body shop extensively after a friend's Model S was t-boned and then further when mine was rear ended. Model S's are apparently actually designed to be repaired, as in there are real established procedures to repair almost everything and those procedures are intended to essentially rebuild the vehicle. It should be that afterwards, a Tesla mechanic cannot tell it was repaired. The up front tooling and training costs are quite substantial. Authorized Tesla body shops must go through multi-week training sessions in CA and purchase all the right jigs and tooling. They must use the right structural adhesives and various techniques as spelled out in the repair procedures. All this contributes to a high labor rate, at least for now.

It is not much higher, if any, than repairing other comparable aluminum vehicles, at least that's what my local body shop claims. They had an Audi A8 in for repair when I was touring the shop and he indicated that Tesla repairs are more expensive. He indicated that for quite a few things, it is actually cheaper on a Tesla due to the nature of the vehicle design.
 
Getting the diminished value estimate is the tough part of the process, I had one done at the end of 2013 when my then new P85 got hit.
The insurance company will try to pick it apart and it will be a long drawn out process that the insurance company will try to make as frustrating as possible in the hopes you will give up on it.

One thing you might want to check on are the laws regarding diminished value claims in your state, this is something your attorney or estimator can help you with. It will be a frustrating process, but well worth it if you play your cards right.
 
A friend of mine just bought a CPO and he's been with AAA for years. They told him that they would not insure him on a Model S at all and gave him some excuse that it's considered an "exotic". So I guess it's finally begun.
 
I think there are two Tesla authorized auto body shops in the DC area and the Richmond, VA authorized shop has been doing repairs for DC, VA, and NC vehicles. I think the Richmond shop is slightly cheaper than the DC ones.
There's actually 3 in the "DC" area. Mechanicsville, VA (which I think you're talking about), Gaithersburg, MD and Annapolis, MD