M3 Flooded Last Week - Concerned

[m3NY]

You don't need Tesla's inspection for an insurance company to act on this flooding claim. ​

100% wrong. Insurance explicitly stated the exact opposite. Tesla is the sole decision making party as to what the damages are. If Tesla says there's a problem, insurance will write it up and do the math. I can't leave Tesla out of it.

As a Tesla customer and the insured, I'm responsible to ensure that all parties are acting in my best interest.





a[/QUOTE]

 

[North75]

Document the potential issues that could arise down the road which would not appear immediately, but may present themselves later. Put it in clear terms that A, B and C could occur due to the exposure to water. Give me something that will protect me against a $9,000 bill 4 years from now. In writing. My insurance company won’t cover it without a clear timeline tracing the issue back to this incident.

Do you think you could get something like this from any other car manufacturer or dealer? I think all they can do is do their best to verify what is currently ok or not ok. If something comes up 6 or 12 months from now you will have to ask Tesla then if they think it was caused by the earlier water exposure and hope for the best. You are asking them to try to look into the future. I don't think that is a reasonable ask.

Unfortunately I think you can only hope for the best, and there is certainly a non zero chance that you could get screwed. Sorry.

 

[dsvick]

As a Tesla customer and the insured, I'm responsible to ensure that all parties are acting in my best interest.​

The problem you're going to have though is that, right now, all Tesla can say is "Everything is working fine" or "These are the things that need to be fixed/replaced". To also ask them to tell you what all the potential things are that could be affected years from now is asking quite a lot out of them. There are probably hundreds of things that are 12 inches or lower on the car that were touched by water. Do you want Tesla to name them all? What if they just said "Everything is great but everything below the high water mark could be an issue years from now." I'm not sure what you expect them to say or do.

Lastly, unless you're paying Tesla and getting reimbursed by your insurance company, Tesla is working for them not you.​

 

[Plug-n-Play]

You don't need Tesla's inspection for an insurance company to act on this flooding claim. ​

100% wrong. Insurance explicitly stated the exact opposite. Tesla is the sole decision making party as to what the damages are. If Tesla says there's a problem, insurance will write it up and do the math. I can't leave Tesla out of it.

As a Tesla customer and the insured, I'm responsible to ensure that all parties are acting in my best interest.

I think Tesla already came out and told you that there's no problem. So between the insurance and Tesla, that's settled. The real issue is you want the Insurance to cover you for future damages tied to this event, but Tesla won't (rightfully so) commit to making any guarantees that future damages would be a result of this event. How can they? Who's to say that something else doesn't happen to the vehicle down the road that causes a problem with one of the components below 12"? No company would ever give you a list of "These are the things that could go wrong down the road".

Either your insurance totals the car as it sits, or they accept Tesla's current-state assessment. It sounds to me that you're at the mercy of your insurance company and you're hoping to shift it to Tesla, which isn't likely to happen. Again, I am not aware of any company that would make any such forward-facing claims. That's a liability they can't manage.

 

[afadeev]

You don't need Tesla's inspection for an insurance company to act on this flooding claim.

100% wrong. Insurance explicitly stated the exact opposite. Tesla is the sole decision making party as to what the damages are. If Tesla says there's a problem, insurance will write it up and do the math. I can't leave Tesla out of it.

As a Tesla customer and the insured, I'm responsible to ensure that all parties are acting in my best interest.

Someone is taking you for a ride, or you do not understand the insurance claim process.

When you file a claim, you don't take your car to a dealership to estimate the damage, or the cost of repairs.
You might take it to a body shop, but that is optional.
An insurance adjuster (employee or contractor) comes out and provides independent assessment of the damage that the insurance will be liable to cover.

If you have already filed an insurance claim, the claim handling agent has either given you the adjuster's name and contact info on the spot, or promised to get back to you with one shortly. Share your facts and evidence of flood damage with that adjuster, and proceed based on his feedback.

Flood damage is also an insurance claim, and is handled similarly.
The key is providing evidence of the damage, as the worst of it will dry off, and the damage is less obvious upfront, is more insidious, and gets worse over time.

Do you have pictures of the damage?
Of the location where the car was flooded with reports of major flooding in the area?

Unless you are insured with Geico or some other sleazeball company (which one is yours?), they will handle flood damage assessment without your or Tesla's input.

Tesla is NOT the decision making party in this matter.
Not one bit.

HTH,
a

 

[BenCS]

Maybe talk to Richrebuilds, he has a fair bit of experience with wet Teslas

 

[Az_Rael]

You don't need Tesla's inspection for an insurance company to act on this flooding claim. ​

100% wrong. Insurance explicitly stated the exact opposite. Tesla is the sole decision making party as to what the damages are. If Tesla says there's a problem, insurance will write it up and do the math. I can't leave Tesla out of it.

As a Tesla customer and the insured, I'm responsible to ensure that all parties are acting in my best interest.





a

[/QUOTE]


Your insurance company should have given you a repair estimate from their own contracted adjuster. You can then take it to the shop of your choosing (Tesla in this case) who will evaluate the car and negotiate with the insurance company for an updated repair estimate. If the repair estimate gets high enough, the insurance will total the vehicle. You can help that part along with the diminished value claim.

If Tesla is not working with your insurance, then maybe you should take the car to a Tesla certified body shop instead, as they will have much more experience with insurance estimates, etc.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

Tesla service is the authority here (rightly so). If they say the car is fine now and I wind up with a critical problem 2-3 years down the road, I’m out of pocket for thousands (potentially 10s of thousands). No one is going to go out of there way to connect the history in order to save me money. I’m trying to protect myself against that now, in advance. The second the car leaves the service center without assurances in writing, I’m on the hook for whatever may happen in the future due to the incident last week.

No, you're not on the hook.

You've filed a claim.

Any subsequent failure or damage which can be traced back to the flooding incident is covered.

Relax.

Life's too short.

Also, next time, take some pictures . . . the more, the better.

 

[m3NY]

Hoping to get the vehicle back this week, reupholstered. Time, will ultimately tell.

Thanks for all of the productive, informative and positive input!

 

[MMBTUS]

No - I am not under the impression that I purchased a boat or submersible.

I want proof that the vehicle is safe to operate and in no way compromised beyond repair. If this incident has potentially compromised the safety or reduced the lifespan of my vehicle, I want them to tell my insurance company.

I think you have it backwards. You have to prove the vehicle suffered a covered loss. Tesla has no obligation to prove the vehicle is not compromised, whatever that means and even if it were possible. Find damage (now or later) to the vehicle and make your case to the insurer. Is there water damage or not? Insurance doesn’t cover “maybe.” And Tesla has zero responsibility for flood-related damage or repairs to its vehicles.