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Insurance won't pay certified Tesla body shop their charges. Claiming they're too expensive!

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My local body shop took over and rebuilt it as new. You cannot tell there was any damage.
Any good body shop would do that. So I'm glad that your local shop did as good of a job as a Tesla authorized shop.

I 100% agree that the Tesla monopoly on repairs has got to stop.

When I sell, I will not drop the price because of the accident. It is not damaged goods.
lol, of course it will. And an accident that involved $15k will diminish the resale value substantially.
 
I 100% agree that the Tesla monopoly on repairs has got to stop.

To be fair, Tesla doesn't have a monopoly on body repairs. Any body shop can get certified, they just have to pay the fees and send their mechanics for the training.

A lot of body shops aren't willing to do that right now either because they don't have the people with the right expertise, they don't have the proper equipment to do the repairs even if they were certified, or they can't pay the fees necessary to get someone trained.

But increasing fleet size will put pressure on that in the marketplace. More and more Teslas on the road (especially with Model 3) means more and more body shops will go ahead and get certified so they can get a piece of that pie.

The actual bottlenecks are:

1. Telsa parts availability. Tesla is going to have to do better here. They're at some point going to need to get a production line going that is dedicated to spare parts.

2. Non-body repairs. Telsa is going to have to come up with a training and certification program for repair shops to get certified to work on the battery, drive, and electronics systems as well. As fleet size goes up, Tesla is simply not going to be able to work on every Model S/X/3 that needs a CID replacement or a drive unit swap.
 
I think it means Tesla will sell them the parts for repair. Doesn't mean they are certified -- which in my experience means little.

I think it depends on the parts. They will likely sell a bumper cover to anyone with a valid non-blacklisted VIN, but they won't sell a rear quarter panel, or anything structural, to anyone except a authorized/certified body shop. (At least that is my understanding.)
 
Insurance agent here, I usually chime in on insurance related topics.

First of all, like many others have said (and this is for future readers, not the OP), if you are involved in a similar incident as the OP. Don't report to your carrier if the other carrier is accepting liability and cooperating. This avoids a few things:
  • You being out your deductible (yes, you should get it back if your company subogrates against them, but this can take weeks)
  • A claim is now on your accident history. Yes, it will be coded as not-at-fault and should be zeroed out if your company subrogates, but its still there and still can cause problems if you ever move to a different insurance carrier in the future.
  • If you file on your own, hopefully you have rental car coverage, otherwise you'll be footing the rental car expense yourself until you can be reimbursed.
  • There's no certainty that your carrier will treat you any better than another party (such as in the OPs case). I've seen many claims and it's rare when one is treated differently just because they are your own policyholder. Companies and adjusters usually try to stick to the policy language and pay claims that are payable, regardless of who the party is.
However, if the other carrier is not cooperating, dragging their feet, arguing over shop hourly rates etc, then go ahead and report it to your carrier and let them subrogate.

I went through this exact same scenario. My Model S was 4 days old, less than 100 miles, and someone backed into me. My own carrier knew nothing about it, and it was handled 100% by the other party's insurance. My record is clean, I was never out a dollar (they set up rental, no deductibles, etc.). Now, I did have to haggle with them on diminished value, but other than that it went smoothly.

To the OP, you've already gotten good advice from others about working with USAA on the labor rates. Put pressure on them about the warranty, and get the shop involved if need be. They are used to dealing with adjusters.
Great advice. But how does the average person figure out with the diminished value should be?
 
Great advice. But how does the average person figure out with the diminished value should be?

www.diminishedvalueexpert.com I know him and he helped me negotiate with the other carrier. He used to be an adjuster, and he regularly teaches classes to adjusters on how to come up with diminished values. He knows all of their tricks. Because mine was so new, and had to get a new rear quarter panel, I was able to get $10k in diminished value which equaled the repair damage.
 
ELI5 (Explain me like I'm 5): What is diminished value claim? And how does it work? Thanks in advance.

Diminished value reflects a loss of a car's resale value because it's been in an accident, even if it's been fully repaired.

If two identical vehicles come on the used car market but one has an accident on it's record and the other doesn't, the car with the accident is worth less, even if it's been repaired to be identical to the way it was before the accident.

A diminished value claim is a way to recover that loss of capital from the insurance company. In addition to the insurance company paying for the accident damage to be repaired, they also pay the estimated drop in value due to the fact that the accident is on the car's record.

Different states have different laws as to how diminished value works, and insurance companies can be tough to deal with when trying to get a diminished value claim. See diminished value FAQs.
 
I was just hit while stopped at a stoplight on Friday. Pretty minor damage, but the rear lift gate and bumper both got bent out of shape. The person who hit me has State Farm, and they told me I had to start by getting an estimate at one of their "approved" shops.

i have the same damage and my insurance company (state farm) is going after the other guy's insurance, but will cover worst case scenario. the new rear lift and bumper were quoted at 4k by a tesla approved center, but for the amt of damage that still sounds pretty high.
 
was T-Boned by a GEICO driver on Oct 31. She and GEICO accepted liability, but I called my insurance co USAA first because I've trusted them for many years. Now Im not sure why. Maybe because they accept my payments faithfully every month for years, who knows. But they said they would handle the claim and get their money back from GEICO in the end, and I would not even be charged a deductible. Sounded great until now they called me on Friday to let me know that only $6k of my $16k damage would be covered because the Tesla certified body shop, the only one in Orlando, charges too much! So now she tells me I have to pay the rest. So where in the heck was I supposed to take it too? I had to hang up on her because I was already pissed that I now have to pay for gas in a chevy impala from enterprise, while paying a car payment for an electric vehicle that I will now be without for longer than I have driven. I don't understand any of this mess. I think this clearly cut and dry accident is going to get ugly. I think I better get one of those TV lawyers.
Lawyer up.
 
You are hit - other party accepts responsibility and they have insurance. You have some insurance but drive an expensive car.

Your insurance company is there to help recover SOME costs but not necessarily all costs. The other party has insurance which can cover SOME of the costs, but not all of the costs.

The other party is ultimately responsible, you sue them. They get their insurance involved which can help defray SOME of the cost (but not all of the cost)

* Car / vehicle repairs (obvious to everyone) which can be partially covered by their insurance. But if you drive an expensive vehicle (e.g. Tesla Model S at $140,000) then it's going to fall to the other driver
* Vehicle towing / rental. Doesn't matter if you have the rider to a $40/day rental car. You drive a Tesla and are denied your vehicle. Even if you don't have the rental rider on your policy, you're denied the ability to enjoy your Tesla. Check Turo for the daily rental rates - it's $100-$140/day and you should be reimbursed that much - depending on how long you are denied access to your vehicle.
* Diminished value for your vehicle. As other posters have stated, when two Tesla's are up for sale, the one with no accident history / damage is worth more. The difference is diminished value. Look at it this way - how much is it worth to you, when shopping for a new vehicle, boat, plane or home, for one that has no damage?
* Lawyer? Time and energy? All that will inflate the value of the claim. Gathering paperwork costs you time and you're going to be paying a lawyer so that's going to cost more money as well. Lawyers don't work for free, and neither do you.

Any push back? Just consider the other party flat out "buying" your vehicle for the replacement value (minus mileage of $0.50/mile) at a minimum. If you have a "classic" car then it's going to have a higher replacement value.

Go after them. There's a huge amount of deadbeat drivers out there and you should make sure they have a lien recorded against them (don't settle) which will affect their ability to get good credit (which means a job, a loan and potentially a place to live) and should be a matter of public record.

I would only settle if someone offered to buy my old Tesla and replace it with a new. Otherwise, I'm simply out all of the above.
 
You are hit - other party accepts responsibility and they have insurance. You have some insurance but drive an expensive car.

Your insurance company is there to help recover SOME costs but not necessarily all costs. The other party has insurance which can cover SOME of the costs, but not all of the costs.

The other party is ultimately responsible, you sue them. They get their insurance involved which can help defray SOME of the cost (but not all of the cost)

* Car / vehicle repairs (obvious to everyone) which can be partially covered by their insurance. But if you drive an expensive vehicle (e.g. Tesla Model S at $140,000) then it's going to fall to the other driver
* Vehicle towing / rental. Doesn't matter if you have the rider to a $40/day rental car. You drive a Tesla and are denied your vehicle. Even if you don't have the rental rider on your policy, you're denied the ability to enjoy your Tesla. Check Turo for the daily rental rates - it's $100-$140/day and you should be reimbursed that much - depending on how long you are denied access to your vehicle.
* Diminished value for your vehicle. As other posters have stated, when two Tesla's are up for sale, the one with no accident history / damage is worth more. The difference is diminished value. Look at it this way - how much is it worth to you, when shopping for a new vehicle, boat, plane or home, for one that has no damage?
* Lawyer? Time and energy? All that will inflate the value of the claim. Gathering paperwork costs you time and you're going to be paying a lawyer so that's going to cost more money as well. Lawyers don't work for free, and neither do you.

Any push back? Just consider the other party flat out "buying" your vehicle for the replacement value (minus mileage of $0.50/mile) at a minimum. If you have a "classic" car then it's going to have a higher replacement value.

Go after them. There's a huge amount of deadbeat drivers out there and you should make sure they have a lien recorded against them (don't settle) which will affect their ability to get good credit (which means a job, a loan and potentially a place to live) and should be a matter of public record.

I would only settle if someone offered to buy my old Tesla and replace it with a new. Otherwise, I'm simply out all of the above.
If you have a good insurance company and uninsured motorist insurance, your insurance company can be very helpful. You should get repaired in a Tesla approved body shop which your insurance company should be fine with. Your insurance company pays that shop. Your insurance company extracts whatever insurance the other driver has, and the balance falls into your uninsured motorist insurance (within your policy limit of course). If the fault is on the other driver, your insurance company then takes the other driver to court to try to reclaim what they paid out on the uninsured motorist claim.

When our Tesla got hit, the car was towed to a tow yard. I called my insurance company (State Farm), I told them who is on the approved body shop list (I got that from Tesla, who called me within minutes of the accident by the way to ask if I needed any help, this was before 3/Y flood, not sure this happens anymore). State Farms said they will take car of it, they booked the tow truck to take it from the tow yard to the body shop. After I proved it was clearly the other party's fault to the state police (thank you BV dashcams), they issued the report, State Farm told me the other driver is uninsured so 100% will fall onto the uninsured motorist claim (the 1 year old Model S was totaled in the end, so it was a large claim). Somewhere at the end of the process, I remember I had to sign some papers giving State Farm the rights to sue the other driver on my behalf, but when I asked whether I had to do anything they said no, they have everything they need. Everything went very smoothly, the only snag was the fact that it took a few weeks to get the estimate as there was a long queue of crashed Teslas at the only authorized body shop. The queue grew to months long a couple of months later. Unfortunately, waiting for an estimate stalls everything, your insurance company cannot proceed with anything until the final estimate is in. There was a preliminary estimate (of $16K) someone did, but that doesn't mean anything (in our case the final estimate was $60K and climbing when State Farm declared it a total loss). Oh, I did end up putting money out of pocket for the deductible and car rental, but State Farm reimbursed me that couple of weeks after I got the check for the totaled car (apparently it comes from some other pools of money).
 
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I was just hit while stopped at a stoplight on Friday. Pretty minor damage, but the rear lift gate and bumper both got bent out of shape. The person who hit me has State Farm, and they told me I had to start by getting an estimate at one of their "approved" shops.
No you DON'T have to use their approved shop. The wife says this and I will take her word for it since she has processed thousands of claims for practically every insurance company during the last 30 years.
 
Had my S repaired by the Tesla approved shop in Orlando. They did an excellent job. The parts ordered from Tesla were there in a week and Tesla sent me tracking on the shipment. State Farm was easy to work with. Aluminum has to be worked with with tools never in contact with steel, so shop has to be rated for work on aluminum vehicles. Also, the people need to be trained on how to work around high voltage, high amperage. By the way, I just was informed by Tesla that they are doing bodywork themselves now.
By the way, a lot of shops can’t work on F150s either.
 
I was just hit while stopped at a stoplight on Friday. Pretty minor damage, but the rear lift gate and bumper both got bent out of shape. The person who hit me has State Farm, and they told me I had to start by getting an estimate at one of their "approved" shops. I called their "approved" shop and the shop told me that they don't get anywhere near Teslas for any reason and told me to go directly to one of the Tesla certified shops.

I'm expecting a follow up from the insurance company on Monday, but I will not take it somewhere that is not qualified to work on it for any reason.

No you DON'T have to use their approved shop. The wife says this and I will take her word for it since she has processed thousands of claims for practically every insurance company during the last 30 years.

With these two posts, yes, he does need to get an estimate from one of their approved shops. State Farm uses their approved shops to provide estimates and they need a number they can trust. That said, he does not need to have the work performed at one of their approved shops. You can use any shop you want for the work. (I’m sure mrs Silicone Desert will agree with that difference, although she does have me by a few years in the industry.)

Any differences in cost/estimate will be worked out between the insurance company and body shop unless the body shop is charging rates that are out of line for the market.

Now, if an approved shop won’t give an estimate thenState Farm will need to adapt.
 
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With these two posts, yes, he does need to get an estimate from one of their approved shops. State Farm uses their approved shops to provide estimates and they need a number they can trust. That said, he does not need to have the work performed at one of their approved shops. You can use any shop you want for the work. (I’m sure mrs Silicone Desert will agree with that difference, although she does have me by a few years in the industry.)

Any differences in cost/estimate will be worked out between the insurance company and body shop unless the body shop is charging rates that are out of line for the market.
wife agrees with that. Thanks for clarifying to folks.
 
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With these two posts, yes, he does need to get an estimate from one of their approved shops. State Farm uses their approved shops to provide estimates and they need a number they can trust. That said, he does not need to have the work performed at one of their approved shops. You can use any shop you want for the work. (I’m sure mrs Silicone Desert will agree with that difference, although she does have me by a few years in the industry.)

Flashback to 4 years ago! Yes, I had been told to get an estimate from the State Farm approved shop. The State Farm approved shop told me no way -- they didn't touch Teslas. From there, I went to a shop of my choosing, pointing out that their approved shop not only was unable to do the repair, but also unwilling to even consider providing an estimate. State Farm took the estimate from my chosen shop, an update to that estimate once teardown revealed additional damage, paid in full, and paid my diminished value claim. All in all, it went smoothly, but it's something I wish I didn't know about.
 
NY doesn't recognize DV. I had a 2 week old Audi Q8 with under 2K miles. Got hit at rear bumper had 15K in damages, his Honda Civic was basically destroyed. He had minimum 25K liability. Attorney I spoke to says nothing he could do in NY. Did say if it was in NJ I would have a great case.
Vehicle was bad luck all around, wound up as a buyback from Audi.
 
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