Let’s play is it totaled or not?

[gx9901]

Ok, realistic I think I’m pretty dang far away from being totaled, but I love that everyone rushes to that conclusion.

2022 Model Y Performance - Aug ‘22 ~9,400 miles

Car pulled out from a parking lot in front of me, I jumped on the brakes but wasn’t able to stop in time. I was just accelerating off a right hand turn from an intersection after a red light so probably somewhere between 20-35mph impact depending how much my car was able to slow down.

In Washington State. Just looking for feedback on what to do to make this process work easier since I’m already massively dreading how difficult this will be. SE WA state, closest Tesla certified collision shop is 130 miles away. Actual Tesla Collision in Bellevue is ~200 miles. I’ve already heard my worst nightmares of possibly (likely?) 2-4 months for repairs.

I called the police, explained the situation to them when they showed up. They took all my info and ran my license and insurance. Showed dash cam footage to them and they requested it be uploaded to them so I did that about an hour after the accident. The other driver was hysterical so I didn’t talk to her but officers told me they got all her info and I would get it on the report, they proceeded to give me a report number. I had overheard she has Progressive. My insurance (State Farm) was called and a claim started. Pictures were uploaded.

Vehicle could be driven into the parking lot and onto/off a flatbed tow truck. Alert that front left safety restraint system failed and required service, pretty positive the seat belt tensioner fired off. Air bag didn’t deploy. Small amount of fluid leaking, my guess is washer fluid rather than battery coolant. Front obviously is pretty messed up… unfortunately my PPF was no match for this level of impact . SnapPlate got murdered and will need a new one… lol. Hood is screwed. I originally thought front side/quarters were ok, but drivers side panel gap is now so tight it’s actually rubbing the front door when it opens, but door opens without force. Bottom of this panel seems to have a buckle in it. Frunk interior bits obviously ruined. Underbelly took some damage, but possibly just the plastic bits? I did hear a cooling fan scraping against something.

See attached pictures and tell me how doomed I am and best practices/tips at this point to not be entirely miserable for the next few months. I’m the blue line, other car is the red line.

Sorry to see this. Your situation sounds extra challenging with the collision centers being so far away and booked up so far into the future. Hopefully at least you won't be found to be at fault.

I'm always a bit nervous when I see cars waiting to pull onto the road I'm on without any turn lane or other types of buffer. Looking at your pictures of the area and the dashcam still, you were pretty boxed in when she pulled out onto the road. Do you think there was any way you could have been able to avoid the collision? If you stopped accelerating or even slowed down a bit when you first saw the car, would that have helped?

 

[acarney]

Sorry to see this. Your situation sounds extra challenging with the collision centers being so far away and booked up so far into the future. Hopefully at least you won't be found to be at fault.

I'm always a bit nervous when I see cars waiting to pull onto the road I'm on without any turn lane or other types of buffer. Looking at your pictures of the area and the dashcam still, you were pretty boxed in when she pulled out onto the road. Do you think there was any way you could have been able to avoid the collision? If you stopped accelerating or even slowed down a bit when you first saw the car, would that have helped?

I am too, I try to keep my eye on the surroundings and adjust driving, when appropriate, to them. In this case I don’t think there was much I could have changed to avoid this, without specifically knowing she was going to pull out. This is a fairly busy section of my town and at that time of day (~3:30pm) on a Friday I would say there were people pulling out from parking lots for almost every one I passed in the last mile or so… at the same time, traffic was fairly heavy and if I had been going 10-15mph below the limit, I would be the hazard. This specific section of road is 40 mph (a speed limit sign between the intersection I turned right from and where I impacted) and there was traffic. I also was aware that the road was not clear for her to pull out, not just from me. This is a still image from the dash cam just a few frames before she starts to pull out, you can see a truck in the oncoming direction in the left turn lane… she essentially starts to pull out into the lane as that vehicle just starts to pass her… if she had made it, it would have been *extremely* close to that truck, and if they had slowed down for any reason, she would have hit *them* or been stuck in the middle of my lane. This spot in the dash cam is when my vehicle was 80 feet away from hers… at 35mph (51 feet per second) I’m 1.57 seconds away from impacting her… (not accounting for my deceleration as I jump on the brakes when I realize she’s crossing my direction of travel.)

She also hadn’t been waiting long, maybe 4-5 seconds as you can see her approaching the exit area of the parking lot as I was finishing my right hand turn, again approximately 220 feet away.

Edit: this is also why I couldn’t swerve aggressively since I didn’t want to head on that black truck or sideswipe it as it was passing me…

 

[acarney]

options?

 

[gx9901]

I am too, I try to keep my eye on the surroundings and adjust driving, when appropriate, to them. In this case I don’t think there was much I could have changed to avoid this, without specifically knowing she was going to pull out. This is a fairly busy section of my town and at that time of day (~3:30pm) on a Friday I would say there were people pulling out from parking lots for almost every one I passed in the last mile or so… at the same time, traffic was fairly heavy and if I had been going 10-15mph below the limit, I would be the hazard. This specific section of road is 40 mph (a speed limit sign between the intersection I turned right from and where I impacted) and there was traffic. I also was aware that the road was not clear for her to pull out, not just from me. This is a still image from the dash cam just a few frames before she starts to pull out, you can see a truck in the oncoming direction in the left turn lane… she essentially starts to pull out into the lane as that vehicle just starts to pass her… if she had made it, it would have been *extremely* close to that truck, and if they had slowed down for any reason, she would have hit *them* or been stuck in the middle of my lane. This spot in the dash cam is when my vehicle was 80 feet away from hers… at 35mph (51 feet per second) I’m 1.57 seconds away from impacting her… (not accounting for my deceleration as I jump on the brakes when I realize she’s crossing my direction of travel.)

She also hadn’t been waiting long, maybe 4-5 seconds as you can see her approaching the exit area of the parking lot as I was finishing my right hand turn, again approximately 220 feet away.

Edit: this is also why I couldn’t swerve aggressively since I didn’t want to head on that black truck or sideswipe it as it was passing me…

That sucks. When I see a car right next to the road waiting to pull out, I try to mentally prepare myself in case they pull out abruptly. But I never really know what I might or would be able to do if that ever happens.

Anyway, thanks for explaining the situation you were in in detail. Again, best of luck getting it resolved sooner rather than later.

 

[acarney]

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.

Correct about the Tesla stores, though I don't think I mentioned them. What I'm concerned about is that Tesla doesn't seem to be bottlenecked in making and selling cars. Maybe that's where you connected the comment about general Tesla stores. My point from that is that this problem is only going to get worse, not better, unless Tesla actively does something about this and soon. This isn't a "hey, their output was cut in half this year, this is a random blip of an issue and will smooth out." It's "hey, they're selling more cars than ever and already have a collision (and some would argue service) issue and I'm not sure they're doing enough to solve that."

I believe there are only TEN certified shops (not Tesla owned) in the state of Washington for collision. It's safe to assume Tesla is still the most popular EV so just looking at top states for electric vehicles per 100k people, WA state is number two....

I probably have 10 collision shops in my area alone... state wide... well I can't even think how many there are. Tesla either needs to get *many* more of them into the certified network (maybe they need to sweeten the deals?) or build out their own, very aggressively. Again, if it was staffing issues I think we would see more shops gaining Tesla certification, it's basically money sitting there waiting for them. Also, I would suspect I would be told upfront that they are short staffed and thus it's taking XYZ long to fix cars, not just Tesla. I truly think this is a parts supply issue with Tesla. If you have to wait two months for parts, why become a certified shop... you can't make bank if the cars are just sitting around for a few months waiting.

I love Tesla, they are amazing cars and amazing charging. But we have to face facts... there are more and more EVs coming on market and sooner or later even if they aren't the best, they'll be "good enough" for a lot of people. Then "little" things like service and collision repair will start to move up the list of factors for Tesla on why customers might be picking something else rather than Tesla. My situation will be a nightmare for anyone at work that talks to me, 100%. Now I still love the Tesla and know all the great things that help outweigh this, but someone that's just thinking of spending $50k or so and has never been in a Tesla, don't see Tesla dealerships anywhere around here, and have heard a story or two like mine... well, do you think they'll be jumping up and down for the Tesla or maybe go drive by the Audi dealer and talk to them?

The cars are great, the tech is great. I'm not suddenly not a Tesla fan, but there certainly are very very weak spots that *should* be changing fast right now. Tesla isn't a small little start up with 25k cars sold a year or something...

 

[acarney]

That sucks. When I see a car right next to the road waiting to pull out, I try to mentally prepare myself in case they pull out abruptly. But I never really know what I might or would be able to do if that ever happens.

Anyway, thanks for explaining the situation you were in in detail. Again, best of luck getting it resolved sooner rather than later.

I think I was, which is why I did jump on the brakes... just physics...

I'm a little surprised there wasn't any overt indication of any Tesla systems trying to warn me or prevent me from hitting... I have everything set to early warning and intervention... I guess "cross traffic" is still a weak(er) spot for Tesla compared to a forward event. I truly don't remember warnings or anything until the car was basically in front of me, which was maybe 20 feet...

 

[IdaX]

hmmm close -- if the battery was hit and damaged then it's probably totaled. Hard to see whether it is or not... but I'm suspicious that the battery probably has been bashed, so I vote "totaled".

 

[acarney]

hmmm close -- if the battery was hit and damaged then it's probably totaled. Hard to see whether it is or not... but I'm suspicious that the battery probably has been bashed, so I vote "totaled".

Under the car things look fine. There is a plastic underbody tray from the front of the car to just about the rear of the front wheels I think... then behind that I believe the battery pack starts... the plastic tray is still attached, but broken and hanging down. Doesn't appear to my untrained eye that the battery behind that has any indication of impact... but that's just from my looking at it.

I guess I wouldn't mind if it was totaled, assuming I would get the ~$58k that these are selling for from Tesla for a 2021 with ~10k to 12k miles. I'm a 2022 with 9,400 miles... I would be out $8,700 after tax... and my $6,500 paint protection film (I would try to claw any of that out of insurance, but who knows). That's still $15k.... which wildly Fs me over... but if I could just get this behind me...

 

[acarney]

Anyone had a "Accident-Helpline.org" number start calling you out of the blue after an accident? They've called me three times today while I've been at work and just leave a vague message as trying to get ahold of me because of my recent accident but no other information or who they represent or what they do. A quick google makes it seem like this is a scam... so I've just blocked their number, but boy am I going to feel stupid if it turns out they're legit and an offshoot of Progressive or something, lol

 

[acarney]

UPDATE: Initial estimate based on photos is $15,366.37....

 

[Whatstreet]

UPDATE: Initial estimate based on photos is $15,366.37....

It just needs a little putty then.

 

[acarney]

It just needs a little putty then.

I kinda thought maybe I just needed to rip off the paint protection film and it would be good as new

 

[acarney]

Well police report obtained... other party was 23 years old... younger than I thought (I estimated 25-28). They received a citation with the charge "fail yield private rd motor."

Narrative includes; "[other driver] advised she was pulling out of [location]. [Other driver] stated she did not see the red Tesla and when she did, it was traveling at a high rate of speed and then struck her." "driver of unit two (me) advised that he was traveling SB on [road] when red [model of vehicle] pulled out of the east exit of [location] right in front of him. [Driver two] had a dash camera video and showed it to me (officer). Based on physical evidence I observed, statements from both drivers and dash camera footage, I believe there is probable case that [other driver] failed to yield private road. I completed a sector citation and sent it to the [location] prosecutor's queue. Had [other driver] yielded right of way to [driver two], the crash would not have occurred."

I've removed identifying comments. I am driver two, other party is "other driver." Sound like they got a citation and the officer did not mention anything about my speed (I wasn't speeding but was probably close to 35mph, within the speed limit of this section). Sounds like the police report is suggesting the fault is on the other driver for failing to yield and that they did not comment on if there was anything I could have done differently to avoid the accident. I'm hoping this is pretty clear and now I can reach out to her insurance later today, Progressive, and hopefully they are easy to deal with.

I reached out to ALSET auto and those guys were awesome and already got back to me with a more detailed record of my PPF that I had applied (listing brand and coverage) and provided me with a new quote for an estimate on what likely will need to be redone (front bumper, hood, fenders, doors) with a quote of $3,600 so I've got that ready now to hit Progressive with as well...

 

[jay1122]

Well police report obtained... other party was 23 years old... younger than I thought (I estimated 25-28). They received a citation with the charge "fail yield private rd motor."

Narrative includes; "[other driver] advised she was pulling out of [location]. [Other driver] stated she did not see the red Tesla and when she did, it was traveling at a high rate of speed and then struck her." "driver of unit two (me) advised that he was traveling SB on [road] when red [model of vehicle] pulled out of the east exit of [location] right in front of him. [Driver two] had a dash camera video and showed it to me (officer). Based on physical evidence I observed, statements from both drivers and dash camera footage, I believe there is probable case that [other driver] failed to yield private road. I completed a sector citation and sent it to the [location] prosecutor's queue. Had [other driver] yielded right of way to [driver two], the crash would not have occurred."

I've removed identifying comments. I am driver two, other party is "other driver." Sound like they got a citation and the officer did not mention anything about my speed (I wasn't speeding but was probably close to 35mph, within the speed limit of this section). Sounds like the police report is suggesting the fault is on the other driver for failing to yield and that they did not comment on if there was anything I could have done differently to avoid the accident. I'm hoping this is pretty clear and now I can reach out to her insurance later today, Progressive, and hopefully they are easy to deal with.

I reached out to ALSET auto and those guys were awesome and already got back to me with a more detailed record of my PPF that I had applied (listing brand and coverage) and provided me with a new quote for an estimate on what likely will need to be redone (front bumper, hood, fenders, doors) with a quote of $3,600 so I've got that ready now to hit Progressive with as well...

Hmm,

May I give you a few suggestions. I am not an expert but did have some accident dealing experience. It seems that the report has already determined that the other side is at fault. You have to decide whether to file with your own insurance claim and have them do the subrogation. Or File the claim with the at fault party. It seems that you have already started with your own insurance. The problem I see is that your own policy usually has limit to rental days. Tesla repairs usually take many months. I have heard someone successfully fought the insurance to extend the policy so it may be possible. if you file with the other side, there are no limit to rental days. You should talk to your own insurance regarding the rental policy immediately.

Now, as for diminished value. DV claims have to be filed against other insurance company. I would suggest obtaining a Diminished value report after the car has been repaired from one of the DV appraisal services online. Submit the demand letter to the other side's insurance and negotiate. How much you get really depends on the other side's insurance. Some will be generous, some will deny outright.

Personally, I do not think trade in for another car is reasonable unless the numbers are looking good. If the car is repaired, it is safe to drive. Yes your feelings are hurt and your trade in is lower, that is why you get those DV $$s in your pocket. When you trade in at a much later date, you likely will see little value difference with accident history.

Your PPF. As far as I know, for your own insurance, you need to have it added to the insured items in order to get covered. I think it is under vehicle MOD or Accessory. Talk with your insurance firm to make sure if it will be covered. If you file with the other side, I am not sure if they will cover it. It really depends on if the at fault insurance company.

 

[acarney]

Hmm,

May I give you a few suggestions. I am not an expert but did have some accident dealing experience. It seems that the report has already determined that the other side is at fault. You have to decide whether to file with your own insurance claim and have them do the subrogation. Or File the claim with the at fault party. It seems that you have already started with your own insurance. The problem I see is that your own policy usually has limit to rental days. Tesla repairs usually take many months. I have heard someone successfully fought the insurance to extend the policy so it may be possible. if you file with the other side, there are no limit to rental days. You should talk to your own insurance regarding the rental policy immediately.

Now, as for diminished value. DV claims have to be filed against other insurance company. I would suggest obtaining a Diminished value report after the car has been repaired from one of the DV appraisal services online. Submit the demand letter to the other side's insurance and negotiate. How much you get really depends on the other side's insurance. Some will be generous, some will deny outright.

Personally, I do not think trade in for another car is reasonable unless the numbers are looking good. If the car is repaired, it is safe to drive. Yes your feelings are hurt and your trade in is lower, that is why you get those DV $$s in your pocket. When you trade in at a much later date, you likely will see little value difference with accident history.

Your PPF. As far as I know, for your own insurance, you need to have it added to the insured items in order to get covered. I think it is under vehicle MOD or Accessory. Talk with your insurance firm to make sure if it will be covered. If you file with the other side, I am not sure if they will cover it. It really depends on if the at fault insurance company.

Thanks for the guidance, I think I'm already following a lot of what you're suggesting.

I'm keeping my insurance aware of everything, but not actually having them pay out anything yet and then subrogation. I do have a limit of $1k and 30 days on my rental, I've floated the charge out of pocket but made my insurance aware that I have that already situated since they kept bugging me in messages to "select my rental" etc. It's for the exact reason you suggest, I want the at fault insurance to pay this and hopefully carry me for the full duration. I already spoke with a rep on my side and explained and they said that sounded like a good plan and they would be there to help if the other insurance tried to pull it out from under me before repairs were complete. Last resort I'll utilize my actual coverage.

I've already reached out to a DV company that was recommended to me via PNW Tesla owners group facebook (and is located in my state). They haven't contacted me yet (I just sent off info last night) but it's mainly to have them guide me on what information I need to gather as the process moves and what to say or not to say to insurance. I understand the actual claim for DV won't happen until things are all said in done. Interestingly enough this company also advertises they will fight for you to the other insurance, to be in a fairly comparable rental car. They use the example of "own a luxury car and insurance trying to put you in an economy car? We can help" so we'll see if maybe they can argue I should at least be in an EV rental, in which case the price on the EVs are all about the same and my Tesla from Hertz should fall in that range no problem. (Again, the Hertz was like $1400/mo while economy (lowest option) was almost $900, so not a huge difference to begin with).

I don't really think I'll pursue a trade in, I was more speaking to if it was totaled out buying new might have been an easier process, but I think I would have a fairly large gap to make up ($8k+ after taxes are factored in) so honestly I guess I'm glad that hasn't happened. I think my mother will be ok getting back into it even though the tow driver and police scared her about batteries randomly exploding into flames after an accident. I've got no battery warnings and weeks will have gone by from accident to driving which I think will ease her worries.

The PPF is the wildcard. I'm just trying to get as much hard info and official documents as possible to go after the other insurance for it. My shop has said they've seen customers before have luck with the other at fault party covering it, so I just want to present it in a professional and detailed manner and as an "expectation," not something down the road where I'm trying to extract more money, etc. We'll see what happens. I might be $3,600 out of pocket, which would suck... but crossing my fingers.

 

[gx9901]

I'm keeping my insurance aware of everything, but not actually having them pay out anything yet and then subrogation. I do have a limit of $1k and 30 days on my rental, I've floated the charge out of pocket but made my insurance aware that I have that already situated since they kept bugging me in messages to "select my rental" etc. It's for the exact reason you suggest, I want the at fault insurance to pay this and hopefully carry me for the full duration. I already spoke with a rep on my side and explained and they said that sounded like a good plan and they would be there to help if the other insurance tried to pull it out from under me before repairs were complete. Last resort I'll utilize my actual coverage.

I've already reached out to a DV company that was recommended to me via PNW Tesla owners group facebook (and is located in my state). They haven't contacted me yet (I just sent off info last night) but it's mainly to have them guide me on what information I need to gather as the process moves and what to say or not to say to insurance. I understand the actual claim for DV won't happen until things are all said in done. Interestingly enough this company also advertises they will fight for you to the other insurance, to be in a fairly comparable rental car. They use the example of "own a luxury car and insurance trying to put you in an economy car? We can help" so we'll see if maybe they can argue I should at least be in an EV rental, in which case the price on the EVs are all about the same and my Tesla from Hertz should fall in that range no problem. (Again, the Hertz was like $1400/mo while economy (lowest option) was almost $900, so not a huge difference to begin with).

It would be interesting to learn what happens with your rental car situation. I was rear-ended about a year and a half ago that resulted in needing a rental car for about 6~7 weeks. I took my insurance's rental car policy which was 30 days at a pretty low rate. I talked to the other insurance and they said they would cover the overage (they would end up with the full bill anyway through subrogation) but their rate was even lower. I ended up in a Nissan Kick for a month and a Kia Rio for 2 more weeks (a couple of real shitboxes. But the Rio inexplicably has wireless CarPlay). I knew about potentially being able to fight for a better car, but I didn't really care and thought it would just make me that much happier when I finally got back into my MYP.

 

[acarney]

It would be interesting to learn what happens with your rental car situation. I was rear-ended about a year and a half ago that resulted in needing a rental car for about 6~7 weeks. I took my insurance's rental car policy which was 30 days at a pretty low rate. I talked to the other insurance and they said they would cover the overage (they would end up with the full bill anyway through subrogation) but their rate was even lower. I ended up in a Nissan Kick for a month and a Kia Rio for 2 more weeks (a couple of real shitboxes. But the Rio inexplicably has wireless CarPlay). I knew about potentially being able to fight for a better car, but I didn't really care and thought it would just make me that much happier when I finally got back into my MYP.

I was initially worried my policy would have some amazing discount and show that the shitbox was like $12 a day after tax or something and no way could I argue that I should be reimbursed anywhere near the actual out of pocket value if I floated the charge... however, looking at state farm (my policy) and pretending like I needed a rental from my policy, Hertz was one of their preferred options (so I assume any contracted discounts) and doing the math on how quickly I would reach my $1k limit with the shitbox and then comparing that to the rates I could get using my Amex Platinum discount booking direct with Hertz, there wasn't much difference. So that's what sort of gave me confidence that I could at least argue to be fully reimbursed for a shitbox value and the extra out of pocket wouldn't be insane (IE a few hundred per month and not like $1k+ per month extra). So.... going to fight it first for full reimbursement but we'll see what I ultimately can get. Plus this way I'm picking up Hertz points which have some value since I likely will be renting a Tesla from them down in LA for about a week in October... so if I can get a free rental out of it, that helps offset anything too... it's dirty math of shifting one cost to the other, but I want to still enjoy life some at this point and I feel safe and familiar in the Tesla.

 

[acarney]

Well.... now I'm really at a loss and possibly screwed pretty bad... other driver only had state minimums of TEN THOUSAND dollars and my photo based estimate is already $15,300....

What's the guidance now? The other adjustor (working for Progressive, the other person's insurance) gave me an "opinion" that it would be best to claim it with my insurance, and State Farm will go after Progressive via subrogation for the $10k that Progressive will pay out.

I assume an attorney won't really help much in this situation? The other driver was 23 year old... likely wouldn't have income or assets worth suing for? But I really feel like she's getting off with a small slap on the wrist and now I'm fairly furious.

What asshole carries state minimums? How stupid is the state to have minimums so low?! Why the *sugar* do I carry way more insurance to just get screwed over by others?

 

[jjrandorin]

Well.... now I'm really at a loss and possibly screwed pretty bad... other driver only had state minimums of TEN THOUSAND dollars and my photo based estimate is already $15,300....

What's the guidance now? The other adjustor (working for Progressive, the other person's insurance) gave me an "opinion" that it would be best to claim it with my insurance, and State Farm will go after Progressive via subrogation for the $10k that Progressive will pay out.

I assume an attorney won't really help much in this situation? The other driver was 23 year old... likely wouldn't have income or assets worth suing for? But I really feel like she's getting off with a small slap on the wrist and now I'm fairly furious.

What asshole carries state minimums? How stupid is the state to have minimums so low?! Why the *sugar* do I carry way more insurance to just get screwed over by others?

Now you have at least one reason why the other driver was hysterical. Pretty much everyone at this point puts "Tesla" in the same category as "BMW" or "Mercedes" so when they see a tesla they think its an expensive car. As for "who carries state minimum insurance?!?" that just comes across as lashing out. Mostly, its people who cant afford better insurance.

You carry more insurance so that you DONT get screwed in this situation.

Somewhat paradoxically, its really expensive to be "somewhat poor". its probably better to be "really really poor" but just "somewhat working poor"? thats expensive. There are a lot of decent people in that situation, too. I was there in my past.

As for suggestions, you could possibly sue, they may or may not have something that you could get from them, but a person carrying state minimum insurance probably doesnt have a lot you could take from them even if you wanted to. If it were me, I would "in a huge hurry" get out of that tesla rental and back into a crapbox since you are likely not going to get more than the rental car coverage than your policy allows.

The other person is likely pretty screwed though, they are likely not going to be able to fix their own car, their insurance is going to go up, and they already had minimum insurance, etc.

 

[acarney]

Now you have at least one reason why the other driver was hysterical. Pretty much everyone at this point puts "Tesla" in the same category as "BMW" or "Mercedes" so when they see a tesla they think its an expensive car. As for "who carries state minimum insurance?!?" that just comes across as lashing out. Mostly, its people who cant afford better insurance.

You carry more insurance so that you DONT get screwed in this situation.

Somewhat paradoxically, its really expensive to be "somewhat poor". its probably better to be "really really poor" but just "somewhat working poor"? thats expensive. There are a lot of decent people in that situation, too. I was there in my past.

As for suggestions, you could possibly sue, they may or may not have something that you could get from them, but a person carrying state minimum insurance probably doesnt have a lot you could take from them even if you wanted to. If it were me, I would "in a huge hurry" get out of that tesla rental and back into a crapbox since you are likely not going to get more than the rental car coverage than your policy allows.

The other person is likely pretty screwed though, they are likely not going to be able to fix their own car, their insurance is going to go up, and they already had minimum insurance, etc.

It is lashing out a little… and if she was in a really low value used car, sure I would see the writing on the wall struggling and would be annoyed, but more so at the state than anything else. Why regulate something when the regulation is ridiculous.

I’m rather annoyed at *her* though since she was in a 2023 vehicle… so she had enough to buy a new car… which ironically probably is covered since any finance company is going to require that. But anyone else that might be affected.. well too bad.

I'll probably keep the rental, again since the price isn’t actually that much different… but boy am I going to hope that this shop actually can do it in 4-6 weeks like they told me after seeing photos of the damage.

I feel like if you have a vehicle worth more than the state minimums, you should be required to carry more. I get if you have some $3700 car it’s unrealistic for you to carry $35k coverage or something… but you go grab a $22k new car, probably $24k to $25k after tax and then scrap the bottom barrel for insurance for liability…. Just such a wonderful system we have.

I wouldn’t even be so annoyed because I *do* carry good coverage… but I hate to think I might have rates skyrocket when 100% not at fault and being forced to use my coverage because of inadequate coverage of somebody else, that’s where 90% of my anger comes from. I feel like I’m being penalized here. I don’t mind paying for what I need, but it’s the penalizing feeling that is killing me.