Cost to fix two dents and scratches on Model 3, $9k ?

[balajeek]

I got my model 3 in sep 2018, two months later on a bad weather day someone swiped me on driver side rear door and left the scene. the damages where few line of scratches on the door and on qtr panel and two minor dents, it didn't really bother me and not much noticeable, and been driving that since. I have ceramic coat maintenance coming up and those dealer want me to take care of the damage first before they reapply the coat.

So i found tesla authorized body shop in NJ, close to me was Ultimate Collision in Rt.1, I went with the pre-estimate made by all-state already which was $945, the guy walked around the car, and said it just a minor fix, no parts needed, just fix dent and paint job and accepted the all-state estimate, 2 weeks later i dropped the car for repair and was promised about a week time to fix.

10 days later, after when i asked whats the status, they told me they sent updated estimate to all-state, I asked them a copy and was shocked to see $8480 estimate + my deductible $750. REALLY !

Seriously, just minor scratch and dent cost this much to fix?

before i gave to Ultimate Collision i did go to few other body shop that i had dealt with for other cars, all estimated in the range of $1200 to $1500 only.

Is this a rip off, getting the car to body shop at low estimate and jacking up by 10x the estimate and claim from insurance?

When they said $945 initial estimate i thought i can pay out from pocket and not go thru the insurance claim, but its all changed due to this.

Anyone had done similar experience and are this reasonable or am I exaggerating !!

 

[mattnis]

What I find with ANY contractor....you ask one for price, they will tell you $1k...you ask another it will be $9k for same thing...and it's usually something you can do yourself in a day. Find a shop that fixes much higher end cars than teslas and you might even get a better result. They just see free money from insurance. This one place is probably so busy that they can't handle their current workload. They have to delay someone else to fit you in and that costs them money and time. They know insurance will pay and they make some evaluation of the car owner that didn't have sentry mode turned on.

 

[buckets0fun]

What did the 9k job quote that they were doing? If they replaced the quarter panel, sure it’s going to be money since they likely charged for a battery removal and new quarter skin.

if you were ok with a cheap shop tossing bondo on the dents and sending a metallic paint job off with a typical spray of only the panels with new bondo, sure. 1500$ is reasonable for no blend job and Maaco quality work.

for reference, there are quite a few model 3 that have been totaled for quarter panel damage and picky owners.

 

[el-guapin]

Post pics of the damage. This will give an idea as to any other hidden damage. Has any work been done yet? if not, politely decline their services and request your car back. Also talk to your insurance about it. Go to another body shop.

 

[KenC]

Pictures of the damage, and what does the estimate say the $9000 is for? Why do people never post the obvious information? Are we supposed to just guess?

 

[balajeek]

sure here is the pic. you see scratches just below the door handle, a dent just above the wheel.

 

[balajeek]

Post pics of the damage. This will give an idea as to any other hidden damage. Has any work been done yet? if not, politely decline their services and request your car back. Also talk to your insurance about it. Go to another body shop.

i am afraid that they already started to work on it, otherwise it wouldn't make sense to give me a big estimate. I am going to post some details from the estimate soon.

 

[balajeek]

Pictures of the damage, and what does the estimate say the $9000 is for? Why do people never post the obvious information? Are we supposed to just guess?

my bad, I was going to and I understand, I just did pos the pic.

 

[sroy]

Wait until you find out about hospitals.

Sorry this happened to you. That dent looks nasty. The scratch not so bad.

 

[balajeek]

There is too much of notes and details: I am posting the line that have cost in it:

High Voltage System Deactivate/activate - $25
LT Roof molding rivetx50 - $28
LT Qtr glass - $210
Urethane cleanup - $15
Misc. charging, cleaning and removal - $551
Parts - $546
Body Labor - $3800 ($125/hr)
Paint Labor - $2600 ($125/hr)
Mechanical Labor - $300 ($125/hr)
Paint supplies - $600
+ tax + some other small charges

 

[balajeek]

I wonder if the LT Qtr glass is actually the glass itself or just the assembly around it.
If its glass they have another problem becaz i had tinted the car when i did ceramic, that will look odd if they replace glass.

 

[balajeek]

Wait until you find out about hospitals.

Sorry this happened to you. That dent looks nasty. The scratch not so bad.

if you look in person it wasn't that bad, the dent is about 2" wide, 1" height

 

[Perscitus]

There are many similar threads with this kind of damage and the certified repair shop by the book repair procedure and costs. Sadly average cost for any repairs in that area.

The c pillar glass is indeed a complete assembly (trim and glass) and gets glued in place. And they have to replace it when messing with the rear quarter panel.

Not sure whats the need for the ,Roof modling rivet x50'. Perhaps they assume they will remove the trim to blend the paint all the way up there? Odd.

'Parts' cost might be the door skin (seems unlikely they would want to replace it, should just repaint and blend the front door) or much more likely the smaller piece quarter panel (they come in different cuts, same price, Tesla logic).

Overall sounds like the typical repair here, and the Left hand side where the charge port is makes is a. more expensive b. trickier to do.

I bet they want to cut and replace the quarter panel, weld it back in place, repaint the door, and quarter panel, blend the roof line and front door, blend trunk, blend rear bumper.

 

[sroy]

if you look in person it wasn't that bad, the dent is about 2" wide, 1" height

It’s kinked in above the wheel. You can’t just “suck it up” back in place. You probably need to remove the whole panel. It looks like a lot of work. Sorry to agree with @Perscitus but it looks like a pricey dent to fix.

 

[buckets0fun]

That’s a reskin, weld, blend the paint job. Pricing is consistent with damage.
Cheaper shops would likely be using bondo and not blending it.

 

[KenC]

Yep, mostly labor. Rear quarter panel repair work is tricky and expensive if they do it by the book.

 

[balajeek]

So to fix the dent and paint they remove the door panel and qtr panel completely ?
qtr panel seem run long below the door !

 

[TLLMRRJ]

You need a PDR specialist like this guy:

Cutting out your factory metal is way overkill for that level of damage, and less likely to give long term satisfactory results. Stick with the factory sheet metal.

 

[Perscitus]

PDR will not help, little to no way to get in there, too many metal sheets coming together, especially on the chargeport side.

And sure, you can have someone try, have a regular body shop bang out and straighten what they can, then use body filler and repaint, but it will most certainly not be what Certified Repair Centers or Teslas own repair procedures call for... Overkill? Sure. By the book? You bet.

Quarter panels on these things are indeed effectively the whole outer skin sides from mirror to rear tails and back across the entire rocker panel to where the rocker meets the front fender.

Tesla offers these in different cuts (think butcher's cuts) and at the same price. Most shops will therefore buy the largest, full size piece and cut to size, keeping the rest for a crushed roof or dented rocker panel repair on another car.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

PDR will not help, little to no way to get in there, too many metal sheets coming together, especially on the chargeport side.

And sure, you can have someone try, have a regular body shop bang out and straighten what they can, then use body filler and repaint, but it will most certainly not be what Certified Repair Centers or Teslas own repair procedures call for... Overkill? Sure. By the book? You bet.

Quarter panels on these things are indeed effectively the whole outer skin sides from mirror to rear tails and back across the entire rocker panel to where the rocker meets the front fender.

Tesla offers these in different cuts (think butcher's cuts) and at the same price. Most shops will therefore buy the largest, full size piece and cut to size, keeping the rest for a crushed roof or dented rocker panel repair on another car.

Lol, you haven't seen that guys channel have you? If you had, you would know you are flat out wrong.