Lease payments during long repair

[aj42]

Hi all,

I leased a Model S 90D and got into an accident. The car has been in the bodyshop for 2 months, with the first small body shop telling me they had a 25-tesla backlog and that mine would not be done till at least March (they told me this in october). I had it towed to a larger body shop, which gave me an estimate of about christmas. Now that's looking impossible, since they only have one lift in the shop and no one has even started inspecting the car, nor have they ordered parts.

I ran out of rental coverage, and now I'm being billed ~$900 a month for the tesla, plus insurance (switched to a storage plan), while also having no rental. I've reached out to tesla finance, and they said they can't respond to incidents like this.

Has any one ran into a similar situation? Is it possible to get a loaner, or have the lease payments paused/reduced?

Thank you!!

 

[brkaus]

Sounds like it is totally the body shops issue.

Was the other party at fault?

 

[Uncle Paul]

Usually the same result on anything you buy or lease on a time basis. The lease or payments are determined by the number of days you own it. No matter if you drive it or store it.

Your coverage will totally depend on your insurance coverage, or that of another party responsible for your damage.

 

[aj42]

It's complicated — I exited the highway and a truck was behind me, following very closely at high speeds. There was no speed limit sign for the off ramp, and I didn't see a sharp turn with a stop sign through the thick fog until it was too late. I hit a speed limit sign (ironically facing the other direction). The truck managed to make the turn, and refused any responsibility. My insurance will not cover 3+ months of car rental.

 

[shokunin]

Is it possible to get a loaner, or have the lease payments paused/reduced?

Thank you!!

The loaner is up to you and your insurance, Tesla has no obligation in this. As for your lease payments, again, that's up to you and the Lessor (US Bank?). You're unlikely to get any relief from your lease obligation.

I'd find another bodyshop as there should be more than 2 in all of the bay area.

 

[BrettS]

It's complicated — I exited the highway and a truck was behind me, following very closely at high speeds. There was no speed limit sign for the off ramp, and I didn't see a sharp turn with a stop sign through the thick fog until it was too late. I hit a speed limit sign (ironically facing the other direction). The truck managed to make the turn, and refused any responsibility. My insurance will not cover 3+ months of car rental.

So did the truck hit you? I’m not sure why a truck that was following you and didn’t hit you would be expected to take any responsibility.

 

[brkaus]

It's complicated — I exited the highway and a truck was behind me, following very closely at high speeds. There was no speed limit sign for the off ramp, and I didn't see a sharp turn with a stop sign through the thick fog until it was too late. I hit a speed limit sign (ironically facing the other direction). The truck managed to make the turn, and refused any responsibility. My insurance will not cover 3+ months of car rental.

Ouch. That stinks. Sorry about the accident!

How extensive is the damage? Air bags and such? I’m surprised there isn’t a body shop that can at least do a tear down first so the parts can be ordered.

There is a Tesla body shop support web page. Maybe they could guide you to someplace quicker?

 

[whitex]

There is a Tesla body shop support web page. Maybe they could guide you to someplace quicker?

Body Shop Support

 

[brkaus]

Body Shop Support

Thanks! I was feeling lazy

 

[Grassright]

So did the truck hit you? I’m not sure why a truck that was following you and didn’t hit you would be expected to take any responsibility.

I was curious as well.. how the truck was able to make the turn at similar speed where a Tesla can’t....

 

[aj42]

Ouch. That stinks. Sorry about the accident!

How extensive is the damage? Air bags and such? I’m surprised there isn’t a body shop that can at least do a tear down first so the parts can be ordered.

There is a Tesla body shop support web page. Maybe they could guide you to someplace quicker?

no airbags and no injuries, thankfully! I did call a few body shops beforehand, and the shop i chose to have the car towed to said they are the largest one and they have more bandwidth than they usually do. But they still haven’t done a tear down or ordered parts. I called tesla too before towing to see if they had suggestions (if another owner had a ridiculously long wait time, for example) and they didn’t have that information either.

 

[aj42]

I was curious as well.. how the truck was able to make the turn at similar speed where a Tesla can’t....

i don’t know, but my assumption was that the driver might have known the route better than i did (or saw better) and braked earlier than i did. i didn’t check how far back he was when i was at the turn. my original post was just trying to explain why i didn’t slow down dramatically right after getting off the highway.