Minor fender bender Any Suggestions for what next steps to take

[Vedant Patel]

Just had a Minor fender bender. From the looks of it looks nothing more than a curb rash on the front passenger wheel but wanted your opinion to see if wheel alignment or anything else might be needed.

I was driving out of my apartment and someone who parked a smaller car a little too deep did not see me while coming out and just touched the front passenger wheel area. See the damage pictures.

Did a check on everything around the bumper, nothing seems loose or scratched .I used some ipa solution (okay to use?) to take out all the marks you see on the bumper/fender no scratches . I'm just not sure if anything wheel or tire related would be somehow damaged ? Any suggestions would be appreciated

 

[ewoodrick]

Welcome to Tesla. There are those with wheel rash and those who will be getting it.

If you look at the wheel from the side, you will notice that the wheel and the tire are pretty much even. Go look at another vehicle and you'll see that the tire sticks out beyond the wheel.

EVs like to use tires with lower rolling resistance, which means that the sidewalls are straighter, and the pressure is higher.

And the tire doesn't overhang the wheel

And it's creazy easy to get wheel rash.

 

[afadeev]

Just had a Minor fender bender. From the looks of it looks nothing more than a curb rash on the front passenger wheel but wanted your opinion

That, and some fender paint scratches?
It's hard to see from the pics, but those will be way more expensive to repair than the wheel rash.

see if wheel alignment or anything else might be needed.

Impossible to tell from the pics.
You can keep an eye on the tire wear as miles go buy, and take it to the alignment shop pro-actively to find out. That should cost you ~$100-150 just to check, and $200-300 to re-align.

I was driving out of my apartment and someone who parked a smaller car a little too deep did not see me while coming out and just touched the front passenger wheel area. See the damage pictures.

If you description is correct, and the other party confirms, this was not-at-fault accident on your part.
You should let your insurance settle the matters on your behalf!

Did a check on everything around the bumper, nothing seems loose or scratched .I used some ipa solution (okay to use?) to take out all the marks you see on the bumper/fender no scratches . I'm just not sure if anything wheel or tire related would be somehow damaged ? Any suggestions would be appreciated

If the fender scratches are 100% gone with zero damage to the paint (that would be miraculous), then it's a judgement call on your behalf whether or not to pursue remuneration from the other party.
If you do, I would go through the insurance, unless it was a really cute girl who wants to go out with you!

a

 

[Vedant Patel]

That, and some fender paint scratches?
It's hard to see from the pics, but those will be way more expensive to repair than the wheel rash.



Impossible to tell from the pics.
You can keep an eye on the tire wear as miles go buy, and take it to the alignment shop pro-actively to find out. That should cost you ~$100-150 just to check, and $200-300 to re-align.



If you description is correct, and the other party confirms, this was not-at-fault accident on your part.
You should let your insurance settle the matters on your behalf!



If the fender scratches are 100% gone with zero damage to the paint (that would be miraculous), then it's a judgement call on your behalf whether or not to pursue remuneration from the other party.
If you do, I would go through the insurance, unless it was a really cute girl who wants to go out with you!

a

Did look at it a bit more closely and you can see some minor rough patches of scratches nothing too big and one little speck of paint that came off. I'll get a new aero cover since that's definitely scratched and dented. Not thinking of going through insurance for anything. As I was driving nothing was rattling or making any noise and none of the fasteners under the fender and loose or broken.

Thank you for the advise on wheel alignment watch out.

 

[Soul Surfer]

I would like to suggest you have the alignment checked as well. Any impact, however small, might affect the geometry. Never hurts to check.

 

[fredjan]

Is it not normal to take down the other person's insurance info? At the very least, some info in case they want to "settle" out of pocket (i.e. you get your alignment and get reimbursed by the person who hit you w/o going through insurance)?

 

[Vedant Patel]

Is it not normal to take down the other person's insurance info? At the very least, some info in case they want to "settle" out of pocket (i.e. you get your alignment and get reimbursed by the person who hit you w/o going through insurance)?

I've got that info, just not going to get Insurance involved.

 

[Vedant Patel]

I would like to suggest you have the alignment checked as well. Any impact, however small, might affect the geometry. Never hurts to check.

Yep, I will be reaching out to some of the shops near by for alignment check.