Damaged Wing Mirror - £1,100 Repair Bill

[SpitGriffin]

Images attached.

It was completely my fault. I was reversing off the drive when I noticed a recycling bag in the middle of the road obstructing my exit. This distracted me for 2 seconds, during which the car continued to roll back, but it was at the crucial point when I was passing through two brick pillars at the end of the drive. It's tight but normally on the run up I get the car properly aligned. This lapse in concentration ended with a crunching noise and then seeing the driver side mirror inverted up against the pillar. There was no early warning ping, nothing, although I was kind of expecting more damage and actually all functional components (e.g. mirror folding, positioning, anti-mist) works fine.

So to cut a long story short, I called my Tesla SC and they quoted me £1,100 inc VAT and labour to get the mirror assembly swapped out. I knew it wouldn't be cheap, but I was kind of hoping for sub £1,000. I just wondered if anyone could possibly advise on the viability of getting it looked at by a body shop instead (given it's purely cosmetic)? I imagine that chrome will not be easy to repair though.

 

[sidmini]

wonder if a body shop could fill the scratches in the mirror and chrome spray or wrap both mirrors in a different colour? I think you can just buy a new mirror cap from tesla and have it resprayed. You might want to check on ebay for tesla parts that are being broken up

 

[SpitGriffin]

If all the damage was confined to the mirror cap, that would have been a much cheaper repair bill from what I've read. As the bulk of the damage is on the chrome under section, that part only comes with a whole replacement mirror assembly.

I've considered maybe looking at chrome delete or wrapping, but I've got a feeling that will be even more expensive.

I'll definitely take a look at Ebay though

 

[sidmini]

I would have thought a chrome delete just for the mirrors would be a £100 at a pro wrapping shop. Or maybe use something like plasti dip ?

 

[CotswoldSara]

Hi @SpitGriffin you might want to check out the breakers shown on here for a replacement: Tesla Parts - Where To Buy - DIY Electric Car Forums Worth a shot

 

[Tevvy]

Jesus, £1100 for a wing mirror!!!!! That is absolutely bloody scandalous!

 

[WannabeOwner]

£1100 for a wing mirror

If its anything like the doors I had replaced it will be £200 for the mirror and 5x that for the "labour" ...

 

[SpitGriffin]

Jesus, £1100 for a wing mirror!!!!! That is absolutely bloody scandalous!

Yeh it's bonkers, although the SC assure me there's all sorts of tech in there. But I could buy a top end iPhone X for that.

I'm definitely keeping the original if I go down this route. I might convert it into a little shaving mirror

 

[DJP31]

Yeh it's bonkers, although the SC assure me there's all sorts of tech in there

That’s true enough, the wi fi antenna is in there. Still eye watering though.

 

[arg]

Most of the problem with Tesla parts prices seems to be not so much that they are expensive for what you get, but more that they force you to exchange large sub-assemblies rather than the small part really needed (and don't give exchange credit for your old one).

This needs to change, probably in the form of exchange/refurb parts, though I don't hold out much hope of that happening soon.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Drop the price here, have to raise the price somewhere else to maintain bottom-line. Policy driven, perhaps?, by the fact that mostly insurance companies are picking up these high repair costs ...

I was horrified at the minor door dent being a) replace doors ("aluminium does not retain strength after "pulling") and b) it being (from memory) £1,000 for the parts and £7,000 for labour). Other vehicles fault, fully admitted, so not my problem ... other than everyone's insurance policy price going up as a consequence, and/or Tesla's being singled out as "expensive to insure"

 

[busaman]

that is repairable if it came to my workshop one of my guys would fill the scratches and make good the shape then wrap it. it is possible to re-chrome the lower part but too expensive to do.

 

[cheshire cat]

were they aware of the extent of the damage/repair needed ? it seems a lot but if that's right, then this is exactly the sort of thing that needs sorting along with the approved (rip off) body shops--not only does it brass-off the insurance companies(not difficult) but will turn Tesla into a sort of automotive I phone (ie short life span=heavy depreciation+loss of market share in the long run) it REALLY needs sorting before all the spares start coming from China -only a matter of time and number of cars "on the street"

 

[SpitGriffin]

were they aware of the extent of the damage/repair needed ?

I sent them the pictures I posted here. I mentioned the point about being forced into replacing large sub-assemblies (as mentioned by @arg) and the long term effect this will have on insurance premiums. He said that Tesla just don't have the tooling and manufacturing capacity to stock and distribute smaller components right now. He said I'd have the same problem with Bentley or Ferrari.

I can definitely see this becoming a major problem when the Model 3 production starts to ramp up. At that price point people are just not gonna swallow this.

BTW my car is booked in for repair at the SC next week. I will be paying for this out of my own pocket, so doing my bit to keep premiums down for you guys