Hit a Deer: Need Advice

[Sethhere04]

I was hoping to never have to be someone to post this, but a deer made impact on my passenger side door and left a pretty good dent. What is the process of getting this fixed? i made a clam with insurance and now i need to choose a collision center to repair. Should i take it to Tesla Service Center first and have them send it somewhere if needed? i cant get an appointment at Tesla until 11/29. Or should i find a Tesla Certified Shop and have them take care of it? Will they have trouble getting parts? Will they do a complete job as Tesla? What should i be aware of? Anybody have experience in Columbus Ohio with this type of issue?

 

[quitepossibly]

Is there paint damage and/or creases in the sheetmetal? If not, you might want to consider paintless dent removal.

 

[Montucky]

Ugh.. Sorry. My wife got the back of her 2019 Model 3 crushed 2 weeks after picking it up. Somebody backed into her in a parking lot going really fast (and with a bike rack on the back). We used a Tesla certified shop, and it took forever to get the parts although I hear things are much better now. I have to say they did a great job on the repairs - can't even tell. Once it's fixed it'll be like it never happened. Doors are a bolt on deal, so much easier than the rear quarter panel that we had to replace which needs to be welded on.

 

[Sethhere04]

I dont see any paint damage but i talked to Tesla Service and they referred me to two local body shops. So i have estimates out to them and hopefully it wont take too long to get it fixed. They might be able to do PDR on the door, but the front panel is also dented, so not sure about that.

 

[Sethhere04]

Ugh.. Sorry. My wife got the back of her 2019 Model 3 crushed 2 weeks after picking it up. Somebody backed into her in a parking lot going really fast (and with a bike rack on the back). We used a Tesla certified shop, and it took forever to get the parts although I hear things are much better now. I have to say they did a great job on the repairs - can't even tell. Once it's fixed it'll be like it never happened. Doors are a bolt on deal, so much easier than the rear quarter panel that we had to replace which needs to be welded on.

I wonder if it is better for them to just completely replace the door, or try to fix the door? There isnt anything mechanically wrong with the door that i can tell.

 

[rjpjnk]

From the stories I've read, if the car gets a dent it is totaled
Hopefully you can show us otherwise. I worry about deer every evening around here.

 

[Montucky]

I wonder if it is better for them to just completely replace the door, or try to fix the door? There isnt anything mechanically wrong with the door that i can tell.

I would always advocate to replace the entire door. Pulling out deformed sheetmetal and adding filler (bondo) is never optimal. Go with a new door and fresh sheetmetal and you'll never know it was ever damaged.

 

[GeezerSquid]

Venison roast, steaks, ground meat and sausage!!

 

[Sethhere04]

Venison roast, steaks, ground meat and sausage!!

The worst part is the deer just bounced off and ran back in the woods.

 

[Montucky]

The worst part is the deer just bounced off and ran back in the woods.

Deer probably got home and told his wife how he was hit by a white pillow on the side of the road!

 

[Sethhere04]

Deer probably got home and told his wife how he was hit by a white pillow on the side of the road!

haha. honestly the car did very well, we didn't feel a thing...it was almost like "What was that?" when we hit it...it jumped into the side of my car over a guard rail...

 

[roblab]

From the stories I've read, if the car gets a dent it is totaled
Hopefully you can show us otherwise. I worry about deer every evening around here.

Then please read my story. I had parked at the curb near a restaurant. When I came out the whole front of my car was in the gutter from a pickup cutting in close and catching the front fender, and the body shop had already sent their truck. It took over a week to get parts and the non-Tesla body shop did a fantastic job replacing everything. It cost around $10K to fix it, but when they finished it was literally like new, and I drove it for another four years. I sold it last year to buy my new blue Skye Cruiser, and it still looked new and ran perfectly.

I had a deer run into the side of my car as I was driving around 50 mph, but it just bounced off, leaving a dust mark where it hit. There was no damage and I never took it in for any repair.

 

[Vaildriver]

Hah! Hit a deer last night on the interstate in my 4Runner. I ran over part of the deer as well. It damaged the bumper and blew out the wheel well liner but not other damage. I immediately wondered what the damage would have been like in the MY. Whew.

 

[Sethhere04]

This is the damage. You can see the deer turned parallel to the car and the body hit the door

 

[Vaildriver]

View attachment 728531
This is the damage. You can see the deer turned parallel to the car and the body hit the door

Looks like you're likely in the need of a new door. I doubt they can make that "like new" with suction and such. Keep us posted on the wait time to get the needed materials! This keeps me up at night since I'm 2.5 hours from a tesla-certified collision center and drive a lot of highway in the mountains.

 

[Rice&Curry]

I think you need a new door

 

[Sethhere04]

that's what i'm hoping for, Just give me a new door. I talked to Tesla service center and they referred me to a certified shop who specializes in high end cars, so i'm pretty confident they will do what's needed.

 

[Sethhere04]

i receive two quotes. One is for about $10k and the other is about $6k. The higher quote is just from pictures so they included things like bumper and hood just in case but i dont think there is anything to do with those areas. Cant get in to shop until Dec 10. From there it is a two week repair. Shop had many Teslas in lot they were currently working on so that gives me confidence. Shop said they havent had many issues with parts from Tesla recently, which is good. We will see how it goes once they take it apart and get into it.

 

[jpy1980]

i receive two quotes. One is for about $10k and the other is about $6k. The higher quote is just from pictures so they included things like bumper and hood just in case but i dont think there is anything to do with those areas. Cant get in to shop until Dec 10. From there it is a two week repair. Shop had many Teslas in lot they were currently working on so that gives me confidence. Shop said they havent had many issues with parts from Tesla recently, which is good. We will see how it goes once they take it apart and get into it.

My goodness! A door is 6k?!

 

[Sethhere04]

My goodness! A door is 6k?!

Parts are $1500. The rest is labor to paint and disassemble all parts and inspect for any other damage.