Then you will have to upload the video to one of the sites noted previously. (You may also be able to send State Farm a copy of the Dashcam video on a thumb drive but that will delay State Farm processing the claim.) Easiest is probably Google Drive if you have a Google Account.
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Let’s play is it totaled or not?
- Thread starter acarney
- Start date
Yep. I’ll give them a call so I can speak to a human and have them look for the link to download.
yerEVan
Active Member
Thats probably best (calling them and asking them how they want you to upload the video, with what information, etc).
When someone pulls out in front of you that doesn’t put them 100% at fault. The other party’s insurance will look at your footage and see if you had time to stop, or take evasive action to avoid the accident. They will also try and determine your speed/acceleration. The other party’s insurance will do whatever it takes to avoid taking responsibility, that’s their job to save money. You may see them accept 90%, 80% etc.., then you’ll be on the hook for the remaining %.
I’m worried the dash cam will make it look like I had time to stop, but from the stop light to impact was only 230 feet, not very much. She probably pulled in front of me at 40-50 feet. I likely was already 30-35mph and I did jump on the brakes, the side repeater shows a bit that I did slow right before impact… probably down to 20ish. I also tried to steer to the left, but I had an oncoming truck in the turn lane right next to me so I was sort of boxed in… honestly I’m not sure she would have had room to get into the turn lane behind the truck, she essentially started entering the roadway as the truck was just starting to pass her…
That’s why I kinda thought I would take the advice of everyone and try to lawyer up to fight that if their insurance says I should have been able to avoid a car enter the roadway immediately in front of me, no one expects that.
However, I’m hearing a bunch now from people that a lawyer probably wouldn’t even take this since there isn’t personal injury…
One thing I’m starting to learn is that I think it would have been easier if I impacted her at 35+ mph instead of jumping on the brakes to slow down, that force might have been enough to total out my car which seems easier… such a wonderful system
Getting a lawyer is pointless for a non-injury accident. They won’t be much help and will just cost you money. Your insurance has plenty of lawyers and you pay them for this reason.
Totaling the vehicle isn’t always the best, especially with the way Tesla prices have gone lately. If you total your car and you owe more than you get on the payout, you’re underwater and will owe the difference to pay off the lien. The payout is based on current value, not the value when you purchased. Unless you have GAP, then you’re ok. But now you’d be buying a new car at high interest rates.
Agree with Kairide. AFAIK, ANY frontal collision is considered "at fault" unless circumstances prove otherwise. The driver is responsible for controlling his vehicle at all times, and sadly, that includes impacting morons, or hysterical women/men who cut you off. Your insurance will, based on evidence (video) decide liability.
I impacted a concrete block that was airborne, kicked up by the car in front of me...at 70mph, dense traffic. Smashed the grill of my 2014 Avalon Hybrid, took out both radiators, about $3.5k (4 years ago).
Insurance: "Was it on the ground, or airborne?"
Me: "Clearly it was airborne, as it never touched my bumper."
Insurance: "That's good for you, that's no-fault. If it was on the ground, we would consider that AT FAULT. The driver is responsible to avoid anything in front of you."
Progressive insurance. Then they doubled my premium!!!
We NEVER know how good our insurance is until we file a claim. My wife and I have filed THREE claims, totaling less than $15k, in 95 years (combined) of driving, probably several million miles. Do we get special rates on our insurance? HAHAHAHAHA!!!!
I impacted a concrete block that was airborne, kicked up by the car in front of me...at 70mph, dense traffic. Smashed the grill of my 2014 Avalon Hybrid, took out both radiators, about $3.5k (4 years ago).
Insurance: "Was it on the ground, or airborne?"
Me: "Clearly it was airborne, as it never touched my bumper."
Insurance: "That's good for you, that's no-fault. If it was on the ground, we would consider that AT FAULT. The driver is responsible to avoid anything in front of you."
Progressive insurance. Then they doubled my premium!!!
We NEVER know how good our insurance is until we file a claim. My wife and I have filed THREE claims, totaling less than $15k, in 95 years (combined) of driving, probably several million miles. Do we get special rates on our insurance? HAHAHAHAHA!!!!
This was the crux of my posts in post #9 and #12, with the Op going out and renting a model Y as a replacement vehicle (and seemingly expecting that to be completely covered by the other insurance, etc). If that vehicle is above their own rental car daily limits (for example), they are going to end up with some charges it appears they do not currently expect.
I also dont know how the OPs state assigns blame on these type of things, etc.
I am just hoping that OP, who is a regular, active, member of this community, ends up with a result that makes sense for them, and without a bunch of charges they dont expect.
Oh I’m expecting issues with the rental… but when the lowest economy car is $750/mo (and that’s through State Farm with any contracted discounts as a preferred rental company!), a standard is $990/mo, and the Tesla is $1400… well, add $4/day at least for gas on the two car options and that makes it $870-$1,110 vs $1400… I am certainly not saying I will readily eat the ~$300-$500 cost (in case big insurance is reading my posts, lol), but that’s ~$13/day difference… and I feel knowledgeable, comfortable, safe, and familiar in a Model Y… plus it has dash cam in case any crazy issues…
Also I was able to book via my Amex and get primary insurance coverage on it for $25 for 30 days… which makes me feel better too…
So I’m thinking about it all, certainly will try to fight for whatever I can get, and generally feeling pretty down about my poor car being screwed up right now
Edit: State Farm right now has me “not at fault,” for what that’s worth… though they have a vested interest in that since they are my provider… lol
Still waiting on police report…
Not practical in WA, sales tax is going to be not "some money" but "a lot of money". And you only pay sales tax on the difference when trading a car in for a more expensive one.
Yep, sales tax is killer here, almost 9%.
I wonder if my VIN shows up in an accident database yet… maybe I can get a trade quote from Tesla and then get a trade quote once it was repaired and use that as more evidence for diminished value… I certainly would entertain trading in if I made up the rest on diminished value…
Edit: OUCH! Tesla trade without an accident is $41,200 to $45,600! That would be $19,800 out of pocket before even factoring in an accident… that’s not “some money.”
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You are in for one more shocker: most certified Tesla repair shops here are booking appointments for August. So regardless of who pays for it, if the car is not totaled you aren't driving it for a while. You can get a repair estimate right now though.
I just spoke with Crash Champions in Spokane WA (~130 miles from me) and they said they have 15 Teslas sitting there waiting right now... based on parts availability, if it's stuff they have or can get fairly quick (within three or four weeks) they said it could be more in the 2 month time frame rather than 5+ months. They're going to do an email estimate for me since my vehicle would have to be towed to them and it sounds like they don't really want more cars sitting at their shop right now.
I'm going to give some places in Portland (~200 miles) a call tomorrow... any recommendations?
EDIT: ARE YOU GOD DAMN KIDDING ME?! Bob Thomas CARSTAR Collision has over 200 Tesla's on the wait list and says anywhere from 12 to 18 MONTHS if it's a serious repair and more around the 9 to 12 months if it's more minor. Are people really waiting a GOD DAMN YEAR to have repairs done?! What the heck is going on? This is going to drive so many people away from buying a Tesla when they ask me about this... I love Tesla, I love the charging network, I thought I would "deal" with the worry of a hard repair if it ever happened... but man, this is really crazy.
LOL. Good old Tesla... of course their voicemail is full and they just direct you to email them. How is the customer element of Tesla so horrible at their jobs? Why can a voicemail box for a company the size of Tesla even get full? Does that mean they have 100 messages, 10,000 messages? Like it's some computer server somewhere, it's not an old flip phone cell phone that can hold 50 voicemails...
I think my new mood is going to be "I hope my battery bursts into flames overnight" now....
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12 to 18 months wait at one Tesla certified repair shop in Portland with over 200 Tesla's on the wait list... none of this makes sense. This is a serious issue that Tesla needs to address and instead is hoping people don't notice because the ones lining up to buy the cars are largely not people that first hand dealt with this or have close connections with others that have. I'll be honest with everyone I talk to now, I love the car but the human aspect of buying it (any time you have to talk to someone) is horrible and now the repair aspect is probably a deal breaker for anyone outside of the strong six figure range that has a couple extra cars in the garage where they can just leave one sitting in a lot for a year waiting to be fixed... or more realistically probably just buys a new one and plans to sell the old car for 50% of what they paid for it.
I get growing pains. I'm not at all expecting a week turn around time, I even wasn't too "mad" at 2 or 3 months... but this is getting ridiculous. If Musk can make half a million to a million cars a year, I'm sure he can make/source enough parts to repair these cars if he wanted to. The more people in moderate income brackets have to deal with major issues like this, the more this will poison the brand. I'm a huge Tesla fan (on my 3rd as I've traded my way up) but honestly... if the charging network of an Audi or Polestar was just as good... I might try to bail after this whole situation and switch brands where I've got a dealer near by to go visit. This might save the dealership model, that they shift from light service to collision repairs...
You crashed into a car and now your anger and hate is now a Tesla issue? Don’t think they crashed your car nor do I think ANY standard body shop for any car is doing expedited no wait repairs. They are all booked and behind for all brands. Your accident is a sad event but getting angry hunting for someone to blame will be fruitless.
I don’t think this is normal. I don’t think “any standard “ body shop is having waits like that. I also wouldn’t consider 2-3 months expedited. I mentioned I fully expected a few months wait, but when you’re getting out towards 4 months to a year… that strikes me as an issue. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if Spokane really is ~2 months, initially she said “I have no idea” how long and only when I pressed saying are we talking like two months or like six months did she say she thought it would be more like two months if it wasn’t frame damage kind of serious. Via Facebook I have someone else telling me a certified shop in Portland just lined them up for a June estimate and wouldn’t even tell them a repair timeline.
And I think I’m just being honest. I think if someone asks me about this experience and I mention there are only a handful of certified shops in the state and tell them the wait times I’ve been told… personally I think they might shy away from a Tesla. To me that’s an issue. And also, they clearly are selling cars like crazy, these shops should be telling me that they don’t have *staff* to work on them, not “it really all depends on the parts and how long before they show up.” That seems like it should be something that can be managed internally, especially with a company as vertically integrated as Tesla.
Yet Tesla stores are Not body repair shops! They like my Honda dealer service center only do general maintenance so the issue is with local body shop availability which means Many cars are in need of repair from Many brands. Just because they are certified Tesla repair sites doesn’t mean they work for Tesla nor do they only repair Tesla vehicles. Tesla doesn’t manage these sites and being vertically integrated has no bearing on damage repair.
My personal advice is to still talk to an attorney ASAP. Whether or not there was personal injury at the site of the accident makes no difference. I was in an accident last month where a teenage driver in an SUV T-boned into me on the drivers side- she was found completely at fault and my vehicle was totaled. Miraculously I’m ok (I think it helped I’d been coming from a yoga class). Anyway we didn’t report injuries on the scene but it’s important to remember that insurance companies are not working for you- they’re going to give you the cheapest deal possible and you might end up paying EVEN if it’s not your fault at all so getting a lawyer is the only way to make sure you’re not being taken advantage of - and just bear in mind sometimes that back soreness can kick in later, especially when you realize how screwed you’re getting in a situation where you’re not at fault.
