Model 3 Bodywork & Repairs

[ToothOfCrime]

Hello everyone,

Yesterday someone hit my 23 day old Model 3 while it was parked in my apartment garage. It needs to have bodywork done (rear door, quarter panel, rear bumper, and rim) but the Tesla dealer in Nashville doesn't have a repair shop yet. I have 2 options for Tesla certified repairs, a large dealer and a small independent shop that focuses on European cars. What should I be looking for/asking to ensure I get this repaired correctly and in the highest quality way? Also, based on the pictures, any ballpark of what a reasonable estimate would be?

Thanks!

 

[derekmw]

It's not going to be cheap. lol. I have a small door ding from someone in a parking lot. it's pushed in slightly and paint scratched off. The bill is coming to $2200 to fix.

 

[UncertainTimes]

Go through insurance? It’ll probably be under Comprehensive and your deductible should be less than that repair. Yea it’ll be pricey. Make sure it’s a Tesla Certified body shop then read as many reviews as you can on the shops. Ask if the shop can order the parts first then bring in the car when all the parts are ready that way you won’t be without a car while waiting for parts. You could be potentially be waiting days to weeks for parts...

 

[ToothOfCrime]

Go through insurance? It’ll probably be under Comprehensive and your deductible should be less than that repair. Yea it’ll be pricey. Make sure it’s a Tesla Certified body shop then read as many reviews as you can on the shops. Ask if the shop can order the parts first then bring in the car when all the parts are ready that way you won’t be without a car while waiting for parts. You could be potentially be waiting days to weeks for parts...

Working with my insurance now and trying to get it covered under my Uninsured Motorist coverage as it was technically a hit and run - much lower deductible that way. Both shops are certified by Tesla and listed on their bodywork support page. Does Tesla supply OEM replacement parts to these shops or am I stuck with like-kind only?

 

[UncertainTimes]

Working with my insurance now and trying to get it covered under my Uninsured Motorist coverage as it was technically a hit and run - much lower deductible that way. Both shops are certified by Tesla and listed on their bodywork support page. Does Tesla supply OEM replacement parts to these shops or am I stuck with like-kind only?

Not 100% sure but I believe Tesla supplies the parts, hence the long waiting time. Not even sure there are 3rd party manufacturers for Tesla parts.

 

[calidreamz808]

Hello everyone,

Yesterday someone hit my 23 day old Model 3 while it was parked in my apartment garage. It needs to have bodywork done (rear door, quarter panel, rear bumper, and rim) but the Tesla dealer in Nashville doesn't have a repair shop yet. I have 2 options for Tesla certified repairs, a large dealer and a small independent shop that focuses on European cars. What should I be looking for/asking to ensure I get this repaired correctly and in the highest quality way? Also, based on the pictures, any ballpark of what a reasonable estimate would be?

Thanks!

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I had the exact same damage but added my rear passenger door due to someone not paying attention in traffic and came into my lane... the final cost was about 5K. My wheel also had to be replaced because it literally ripped apart. So in your scenario without the door paint and new wheel (hard to tell if your rear door will need to be painted)... it would reasonably cost less than my issue. i'd say 3-5k estimated. Nothing had to be replaced except my wheel btw. they were able to repair the rest in whatever manner body shops work.. im not educated in that stuff. LOL My car went in 3/31 and will be done by 4/16. I was quoted 30 days if parts had to come from Tesla.

 

[ToothOfCrime]

Just got the initial estimate from the body shop (based on pictures and a video) - $11,000 and about a month to complete. Insurance adjuster is coming out tomorrow morning so we'll see what they quote comparatively.

 

[muffinjello]

Damn that really hurts. I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you! I wish sentry mode wasn't such a battery drain or that the car started auto-recording when the car is hit to help with cases like this one...

 

[ToothOfCrime]

Damn that really hurts. I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you! I wish sentry mode wasn't such a battery drain or that the car started auto-recording when the car is hit to help with cases like this one...

I was very surprised it didn't record on impact - even with Sentry Mode explicitly off. Learned that the hard way this time. I initially had it turned on while parked in my home garage but with the battery drain and constant recording with every car that drove by in the garage, stopped using it at home. The alarm also didn't go off which surprised me.

 

[muffinjello]

I was very surprised it didn't record on impact - even with Sentry Mode explicitly off. Learned that the hard way this time. I initially had it turned on while parked in my home garage but with the battery drain and constant recording with every car that drove by in the garage, stopped using it at home. The alarm also didn't go off which surprised me.

Right?

I know some people have mentioned that the AP hardware that's involved sucks up 250 W of power while running (0.25 kWh?) In a car that has a capacity of ~70 kWh it really adds up overnight.
It'd be nice if there was a "sentry-lite" mode that just started recording whenever the ultrasonic sensors pick up movement, and even then for those sensors the poll-rate could be turned down, and maybe the system could undervolt the computer processing it (so that it uses ~100W rather than 250W, much like GPU miners do), but I don't know what constraints the car has.