Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Is this damage justified for $4500?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Unluckily I had a car accident with my 2022 model 3 and have been visiting several body shops recently. I didn't a full coverage insurance so I need to pay the repair myself. The damage includes fender, front lamps and front bumper. There is a minor deformation to the fender, front lamp cover and front bumper are damaged but the light works well. One of the body shops gave me an estimate of $4500 shown below. He told me Color blend of the hood and front door is required to guarantee color match. My questions are:

1. Do I need to replace the emblem? I think it's unnecessary since it's good and reusable?
2. Is it required to replace the repeater lamp? It works well now. The body shop guy said 2022 model 3 has Part has related component that cannot be reused/reinstalled;
3. To do color blend with front door, does it require to reinstall belt, mirror, handle and trim panel? Seems too many stuffs for me.
4. Is there any other parts that I can negotiate?

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

Screen Shot 2022-07-08 at 11.39.45 AM.png
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2022-07-08 at 11.52.47 AM.png
    Screen Shot 2022-07-08 at 11.52.47 AM.png
    1.1 MB · Views: 539
Not really a Tesla thing. Quality body work is often expensive since parts have to be removed, fixed or replaced, painted, and then remounted.
You may have misread or I need to work on my voh-kah-boo-larry 😀 I agree 100% on the quality work thing. Recently had a tiny chip blown in and it was $550 - but it's like it never was.
 
Upvote 0
Guys, car "insurance" is basically just a line of credit with a secret and unlimited interest rate. Whether the OP has a $5k deductible, $500 deductible, or no coverage at all for collision/uninsured doesn't really matter. The OP still has to pay the full cost of the repair, either today in cash, or for the rest of their lives in jacked up insurance rates.
Interesting perspective. Our Canadian approach may be different, which is why I had trouble with this.
 
Upvote 0
Not to rain on the parade, but that cost will probably go up. Very rare for a body shop to not find additional issues once they start opening up the damaged parts. You really don’t want them sticking it together with duct tape.
I totally agree. I had more extensive damage to my M3LR last October. The insurance company's estimate was $3300. The initial estimate from the Tesla authorized collision center was $6200. Bot the insurance adjustor and the guy at the collision center said the cost would probably be higher, though. In the end the cost was $9200. But it was the other guy's fault and we were both insured by the same company, so there were no arguments about the cost and the repair work was excellent. It also looks like that bumper cover has two rips in it. That would be enough for me to want to have it replaced.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lephturn
Upvote 0
Did you get the quote from them looking at the pictures or they already took it apart and look inside? If it is just from the outside, the cost will go up. I had never had a body shop work done after they opened up and said "Yup the quote is exactly the same as the original quote, nothing else inside is damaged."

Honestly, it looks like a $6000 to $8000 damage from that one picture.
 
Upvote 0
Body shop will want to repair your damage "by the book". They are responsible for the repair for the length of their warranty.

If you want the job done as cheaply as possible, you can speak to them about that and see if they will go along. Imagine you will need to sign a waiver that you accept all results.

When safety equipment is damaged, there are rules the shop must follow to make the vehicle road worthy and legal again.

Repair shops are expensive in California. Just getting an approved EPA paint booth can cost big bucks.Rent and Labor costs are high as well. They charge accordingly.
 
Upvote 0
Another thing you could do is to get a quote from Tesla service center that does body shop work. Here in SoCal, there is one in Pomona and one In Van Nuys. My coworker damaged his Model 3 trunk lid. Originally he took it to a Tesla "Approved" body shop and got a quote of $6000 to $8000. Then I told him to take it to Pomona and he got it replaced for $2000 at Tesla directly.

A lot of people think taking the car to Tesla is like "taking it to the dealer" to fix and you will get charged the maximum. I don't think that's the case.
 
Upvote 0
Unluckily I had a car accident with my 2022 model 3 and have been visiting several body shops recently. I didn't a full coverage insurance so I need to pay the repair myself. The damage includes fender, front lamps and front bumper. There is a minor deformation to the fender, front lamp cover and front bumper are damaged but the light works well. One of the body shops gave me an estimate of $4500 shown below. He told me Color blend of the hood and front door is required to guarantee color match. My questions are:

1. Do I need to replace the emblem? I think it's unnecessary since it's good and reusable?
2. Is it required to replace the repeater lamp? It works well now. The body shop guy said 2022 model 3 has Part has related component that cannot be reused/reinstalled;
3. To do color blend with front door, does it require to reinstall belt, mirror, handle and trim panel? Seems too many stuffs for me.
4. Is there any other parts that I can negotiate?

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

View attachment 826302
Why would one not have full coverage? That’s wild! FYI that seems like a fair price
 
Upvote 0