PWlakewood
Active Member
Yup I’m going thru the process and waiting on an initial offer for my model s totaling. I don’t want to go back and forth but I certainly will if the offer is low.
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Declared as a total loss
- Thread starter Krish93
- Start date
PWlakewood
Active Member
Just settled for $89k. Now time to find a new Tesla.
That is surprising it was totaled. Keep in mind that even if they pay you out full value say $50K. They might still sell the car as salvage for $25K (I suspect salvage/parts market is probably strong too). So they are out $25K. Also insurance might have to pay out lost value too.
But it might cost OP $55K for a replacement.
Those are just example numbers. Don’t know actual numbers at all.
But it might cost OP $55K for a replacement.
Those are just example numbers. Don’t know actual numbers at all.
TarmacSurfer
Member
Insurance companies do not want to pay to fix cars. It’s easier and fewer headaches / chances of being taken for a ride by body shops if they simply pay out and be done with it. This is not a phenomenon unique to Tesla at all. It’s been going on for a few years now and is a shift in the historical way insurers have approached vehicle damage claims. Body shops are disappearing and those that remain are “R&R” shops only - no longer doing any serious metalwork.
Even though it might seem counterintuitive it’s probably sensible from an economics standpoint as it cuts out a lot of auditing, back-and-forth negotiation that involves expensive employees, etc. At the end of it all, since the insurers are subrogating a lot anyway, cutting payroll and getting people to take lowball first offers, they’re probably not losing.
They are also loathe to pay for “new” parts on a “diminished value” car. A friend of mine had a minor accident with his 911 a few years ago ago and was handed a bill for a couple thousand dollars by HIS insurance company after the repairs (the accident was not his fault either - he got sideswiped). They claimed that there were no five-year-old side view mirror or doors available to replace the damaged ones so they had to use new parts, which represented a “betterment” of his vehicle since everything else on it was five years old at the time. He ended up having to pay it - insult to injury. It was either that or get into a lawsuit (which he’d likely lose) or get dropped from coverage.
Insurance companies are ALL dirty and they don’t typically lose money. Just point it out so people know what they’re up against.
It’s not surprising at all that relatively minor accidents are resulting in “total” claims to avoid the headaches and associated hours of work. It’s because it’s penciling out in their favor when one considers all the claims involved.
Even though it might seem counterintuitive it’s probably sensible from an economics standpoint as it cuts out a lot of auditing, back-and-forth negotiation that involves expensive employees, etc. At the end of it all, since the insurers are subrogating a lot anyway, cutting payroll and getting people to take lowball first offers, they’re probably not losing.
They are also loathe to pay for “new” parts on a “diminished value” car. A friend of mine had a minor accident with his 911 a few years ago ago and was handed a bill for a couple thousand dollars by HIS insurance company after the repairs (the accident was not his fault either - he got sideswiped). They claimed that there were no five-year-old side view mirror or doors available to replace the damaged ones so they had to use new parts, which represented a “betterment” of his vehicle since everything else on it was five years old at the time. He ended up having to pay it - insult to injury. It was either that or get into a lawsuit (which he’d likely lose) or get dropped from coverage.
Insurance companies are ALL dirty and they don’t typically lose money. Just point it out so people know what they’re up against.
It’s not surprising at all that relatively minor accidents are resulting in “total” claims to avoid the headaches and associated hours of work. It’s because it’s penciling out in their favor when one considers all the claims involved.
Almost did a double-take thinking this was an update on the OP's almost new M3 LR. But I see this was a different Model S. Didn't think the used comp market was quite that crazy!
Not necessary.
I seem to recall the BMW i3 was "cast" out of two halves of carbon fiber compound, that can't be easily repaired, and were fused together. In the event of appropriate damage you had to replace one of the halves.
I'm sure most were totaled but BMW did have a repair process by replacing the damaged halve.
I can't image that removing everything from the car, taking two halves apart, putting two halves back together, and putting everything back in - while expecting everything to still work again was a better choice over just totaling it.
About 20 years back, someone cut into my wife's lane abruptly, forcing her 2-year old Porsche into a spin into multiple other cars. No major structural damage but almost every body panel was dinged up. Initial repair estimate was for "only" about 60% of the car's value, so the other at-fault party's insurer opted to fix it - six months later, final repair ended up 110% of the used value, after replacing every single body panel, plus other things. We didn't ask them to pay for a rental car, opting to get a used third commuter car - but maybe we should have, as that added expense maybe would have pushed them to total it upfront.
All said though, we did own the car for 15 year after that, and the car was perfectly fine after the repairs. Finally traded it in for our first Tesla.
All said though, we did own the car for 15 year after that, and the car was perfectly fine after the repairs. Finally traded it in for our first Tesla.
But the trade in would be less than if it didn't have an accident on it's history I would expect so unless Tesla didn't car, they didn't even look at my trade.... ???
PWlakewood
Active Member
Just curious. What insurance company did you have? I just got rear ended with my Tesla y LR. I haven’t done the estimate. I don’t think it will be totaled (hopefully not). I’m scared because if I order new one now cost 13k more than I bought mine and the wait is like a year.
PWlakewood
Active Member
Well depending on your states laws around how an insurance company determines value of your vehicle they would use todays market value not how much you paid for it. Also any amount they offer you is negotiable if it is a total loss.
So yeah in my cash when I first talked to them they said I would not get what I pushed even though I barely had the car and there was near no miles on.
When they pulled comps they were all over new prices and those were much older and way more miles.
It was a nice profit, got a newer version, extended my overall warranty.
When they pulled comps they were all over new prices and those were much older and way more miles.
It was a nice profit, got a newer version, extended my overall warranty.
I just had my Tesla YP totaled after getting hit broadsided. Unlike someone else I’d the thread, I lost over 10k with the price decrease and another 5k for the wrap, etc. Paid 72k all in and they are offering me 51k. Not sure I’m sticking with Tesla due to the crappy resale. Plus it’s scary to know that even small things total the car which leaves you upside down. I was not at fault. The dealership 1 mile from home has about 50 cars on the lot that are available. Even with the price decrease from Tesla I’m still Out over $10k to replace the YP.
Other guy’s insurer paid for my PPF and ceramic coating when my S was totaled recently. Also, for comps insist on Tesla used inventory pricing. Don’t let the insurer push CCC appraisal withou factoring in Tesla listed pre-owned inventory for your region
Coming back to this thread more than a year late, so thought I'd just finish my tale for completeness, as there's still a bit of activity here (which is how I stumbled back here ha ha)...
Yes, for sure a major repair would impact the resale/trade value, and if we'd known upfront it was going to be such an expensive (as well as lengthy) repair, we would've certainly argued for it to be totaled. But we were naive then, esp I didn't think 2-year old cars would readily be totaled, and in any case planned to keep the car a long time, which we did - it worked and looked great after we got it back. Resale value only matters when a car is like young, as by 16 years old, losing 20% of nothing is still, well nothing.
Or if a car has any sort of value at that point, it is probably increasing in value, as with our case an early model Porsche Boxster (not a collectible by any stretch, but apparently has some enthusiast value). The Tesla trade-in seemed like the typical lowball, a few thousand less than blue book - but we still came out ahead. Why? Well, the car had been throwing occasional emission error codes for a few years, so while it kept passing smog beautifully, there would soon come a year when we'd be facing a $5000 catalytic converter replacement to keep it on the road, on top of an impending need for a new convertible softtop ($1-2K). Tesla didn't care, didn't even look at it when we came in and took delivery of our new Model S.
Anyways, wrt to the thread topic, used car values have crashed a year later, and just a month ago my now 6-year old Model S was totaled by a drunk driver running a red light. Our damage was mainly to the front bumper and hood, definitely looked repairable and no battery damage - but since the airbags went off, it was an automatic total loss (this was before our insurer even had the car in their possession to inspect). I've also realized since that some big HV battery fuses blow anytime the airbags go off - which explains why the car lost not just HV power, but eventually 12V power about 2 hrs later as well. So add airbag/dash and HV fuse to repair costs, I get it now...
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