Model 3 side collision - understanding process of repair through insurance

[sdevtechie]

My apologies if this message should be on a different sub-forum but saw some damage and repair related posts here hence doing the same -

My 5 month old Model 3 was hit by another car from the right (other party's fault), a week back, as they did not see oncoming traffic and turned right directly into my lane. The jolt was really hard and threw me off my lane and almost off the road. The damage was quite a bit but honestly not as bad as I thought (pic attached). The dents start from front right of bumper and along the top of the tire. And scratches along bottom rocker panel (passenger side). The front passenger side tire seems to have taken a big hit. One key outcome is the car is not driving in a stable manner at all as I suspect the wheel damange has more to it. I see the errors - automatic Emergency braking disabled, stability control disabled, vehicle hold feature unavailable. I also see that "Lane departure avoidance features are unavailable". In summary the car is wobbly, not drivable and needs to be towed to the shop.
I opened the claim with my insurer (Connect) and they are working with the other party's insurance (USAA) to establish their fault and liability. However I am a bit confused by some aspects of the process
1) Where to repair ? The adjuster is sending the pictures and videos of the damage for initial estimate to one of their "approved" repair shops. I indicated my preference to get it repaired at a Tesla service center and they said once the estimate is received they will send it to Tesla service center of my choice for their "approval". However it is likely Tesla service center will indicate higher cost at which point it is up to me whether to go elsewhere. That surprised me because my thought was if the other insurance accepts fault (which I am sure they will have to considering the dash cam video evidence) am I not allowed to get it repaired at a shop of my preference (Tesla service center) at their expense? Why should I be forced to go to a "authorized" center. Also are these Insurance authorized shops also Tesla authorized? Since I am still waiting for repair estimate I have some time to decide on the way forward ..This part is confusing me.
2) In addition to above, are Tesla service centers actually good at body repair work or is it probably better to get the repair done at an "authorized" auto body repair shop. Also I am in South California and my adjuster pointed out it might take 2-6 weeks (as of today's average) to get the car into a Tesla Service center. That makes the decision and situation even worse and confusing for me.
3) Regarding rental car, I requested my adjuster to work with the other insurance (USAA) to get me an eV rental. I get free charging at work and based on the inconvenience and issues caused by the other party it seemed a reasonable ask. But I was given the heads-up by my adjuster to expect only "same car size" and not necessarily eV. Tesla service center giving a loaner is something I have heard of but not having high hopes considering the wait times and rush I am hearing at these service centers. As of now I am pushing my adjuster to negotiate the eV rental or gas cost reimbursement at a minimum.
4) I also would like to explore the diminished value claim and loss of use claim ..am reading up on the great references in other threads here and will get back.
The above will kick into motion when the liability is established (hoping in a day or two as the two adjusters are talking today) but the repair process and rental aspects are something I would deeply appreciate any guidance on.

 

[Soul Surfer]

I'm no expert, but it really doesn't look that bad. I've seen pics of people curbing their cars, with more damage than that. I do agree 100% with regards to an EV rental. Hertz rents Teslas and they have a huge fleet. YOU are the client and can state to the insurance company, that you car MUST be repaired either at Tesla or a Tesla approved collision centre, for the warranty to stay in vogor.

Just my 2¢ Best of luck.

 

[Operator64]

Opinion………you have 2 insurance companies yours and theirs working together to benefit you?
Many Insurance companies have moved to independent adjusters that means they may work with many different companies, once again this varies by state and state requirements.
The ONLY person that has your best interest in mind is You or your representative hired by you.
I believe California allows YOU to choose the repair facility for repairs.

 

[sdevtechie]

Opinion………you have 2 insurance companies yours and theirs working together to benefit you?
Many Insurance companies have moved to independent adjusters that means they may work with many different companies, once again this varies by state and state requirements.
The ONLY person that has your best interest in mind is You or your representative hired by you.
I believe California allows YOU to choose the repair facility for repairs.

Thanks for the feedback. At the moment I don't feel the other ins is really working to benefit me as their initial feedback was responsibility is 50-50 as both vehicles turned at same time which is nonsense as the dash cam video will prove their fault..my adjuster is responding with the video. Anyway their response is typical and an indicator that they will probably push back on evthing else including rental, repair facility etc... fingers crossed. which is why I am seeking as much guidance and info to navigate this process. Thanks for the pointer on the repair facility aspect...

 

[sdevtechie]

I'm no expert, but it really doesn't look that bad. I've seen pics of people curbing their cars, with more damage than that. I do agree 100% with regards to an EV rental. Hertz rents Teslas and they have a huge fleet. YOU are the client and can state to the insurance company, that you car MUST be repaired either at Tesla or a Tesla approved collision centre, for the warranty to stay in vogor.

Just my 2¢ Best of luck.

Thanks for the inputs. You are right... during the collision I expected the worst since the crash pushed me off the road. Was surprised to see it was not as bad..probably testament to the build of the vehicle (saw today the news on a model y falling off cliff and everyone surviving!). However the screech and drag and instability along with errors indicate something off with the tire/axle? I hope its just an alignment thing and nothing more structural.

 

[dmurphy]

Thanks for the inputs. You are right... during the collision I expected the worst since the crash pushed me off the road. Was surprised to see it was not as bad..probably testament to the build of the vehicle (saw today the news on a model y falling off cliff and everyone surviving!). However the screech and drag and instability along with errors indicate something off with the tire/axle? I hope its just an alignment thing and nothing more structural.

Just at a complete glance, you probably have some bent suspension parts. Not a big deal to replace the upper and lower control arms. Hopefully that's all it is but the collision center you take it too will evaluate. I strongly doubt it's anything structural just given the way it's sitting.

 

[SinghATL]

Opinion………you have 2 insurance companies yours and theirs working together to benefit you?
Many Insurance companies have moved to independent adjusters that means they may work with many different companies, once again this varies by state and state requirements.
The ONLY person that has your best interest in mind is You or your representative hired by you.
I believe California allows YOU to choose the repair facility for repairs.

My apologies if this message should be on a different sub-forum but saw some damage and repair related posts here hence doing the same -

My 5 month old Model 3 was hit by another car from the right (other party's fault), a week back, as they did not see oncoming traffic and turned right directly into my lane. The jolt was really hard and threw me off my lane and almost off the road. The damage was quite a bit but honestly not as bad as I thought (pic attached). The dents start from front right of bumper and along the top of the tire. And scratches along bottom rocker panel (passenger side). The front passenger side tire seems to have taken a big hit. One key outcome is the car is not driving in a stable manner at all as I suspect the wheel damange has more to it. I see the errors - automatic Emergency braking disabled, stability control disabled, vehicle hold feature unavailable. I also see that "Lane departure avoidance features are unavailable". In summary the car is wobbly, not drivable and needs to be towed to the shop.
I opened the claim with my insurer (Connect) and they are working with the other party's insurance (USAA) to establish their fault and liability. However I am a bit confused by some aspects of the process
1) Where to repair ? The adjuster is sending the pictures and videos of the damage for initial estimate to one of their "approved" repair shops. I indicated my preference to get it repaired at a Tesla service center and they said once the estimate is received they will send it to Tesla service center of my choice for their "approval". However it is likely Tesla service center will indicate higher cost at which point it is up to me whether to go elsewhere. That surprised me because my thought was if the other insurance accepts fault (which I am sure they will have to considering the dash cam video evidence) am I not allowed to get it repaired at a shop of my preference (Tesla service center) at their expense? Why should I be forced to go to a "authorized" center. Also are these Insurance authorized shops also Tesla authorized? Since I am still waiting for repair estimate I have some time to decide on the way forward ..This part is confusing me.
2) In addition to above, are Tesla service centers actually good at body repair work or is it probably better to get the repair done at an "authorized" auto body repair shop. Also I am in South California and my adjuster pointed out it might take 2-6 weeks (as of today's average) to get the car into a Tesla Service center. That makes the decision and situation even worse and confusing for me.
3) Regarding rental car, I requested my adjuster to work with the other insurance (USAA) to get me an eV rental. I get free charging at work and based on the inconvenience and issues caused by the other party it seemed a reasonable ask. But I was given the heads-up by my adjuster to expect only "same car size" and not necessarily eV. Tesla service center giving a loaner is something I have heard of but not having high hopes considering the wait times and rush I am hearing at these service centers. As of now I am pushing my adjuster to negotiate the eV rental or gas cost reimbursement at a minimum.
4) I also would like to explore the diminished value claim and loss of use claim ..am reading up on the great references in other threads here and will get back.
The above will kick into motion when the liability is established (hoping in a day or two as the two adjusters are talking today) but the repair process and rental aspects are something I would deeply appreciate any guidance on.

Sorry that you are going through this. I went through the same for my highlander few years back and its frustrating. Now if I keep EV related things out of this here is my suggestion:
Try to work with At fault / other person's insurance directly to avoid any cost to your insurance to keep your insurance low. At fault or not your insurance will increase if they pay in my experience.
While working with their adjuster for diminished value (my car was not totaled but value was diminished).
To get diminished value money for your car from other insurance - get independent adjusters service, they will ask for pics and estimates etc and get you the number. And do google also. if you feel its right ask for that number and other insurance will probably ask for diminished value report which you can provide (same report which DV expert gave you).Now only accept that check and move forward.
Now to fix, in my experience you can take your car to Tesla certified or any shop (you tell the other insurance that you only trust them, you dont "have to" go to their authorized service center) but what come in to play is cost to fix. I went to Toyota dealerships collision shop.
Now, when you go to Tesla shop, they have higher cost and if estimate goes above 60 or 80% of residual value of car, other insurance will ask to total the car. So, this is where it gets tricky. In my case Toyota dealer fixed 805 and then sent another communication that they need to change certain sensors etc. and will need more money. If they had said that before hand then other insurance might have totaled the car.
So, when you get estimate from Tesla collision shop do that math and you be the middle man for sending bills across to at fault persons insurance, they can pay the shop directly but you be the middle person for sending bills etc.

In the end, you will get Diminished Value Check and they pay all the bills. Your insurance will pay nothing.
For this you need copy of police report (which will say who is at fault).
In our case we had some physio therapy and all also, so we hired a lawyer and I can say that it slow the process to get money for medical bills but car and diminished value check is all done quickly. When lawyers contact other insurance then their behavior is different and everything like fixing the cars and diminished value went very smooth because our lawyer made passing remarks to other insurance's adjuster that we asked him for help on Diminished value also. Pls message me your number if you would like to talk.

 

[AJ..]

I’m skimming through your post and trying to reply based on my experience (accident, heavy rear ended, sustained 20k+ repairs just this Sept ‘22) and if this helps as I had similar ish questions as you do.

1. Tesla (SC) were plain difficult or not reachable. I don’t think they care to do body shop work (and I needed solid body shop work for sure). I also doubted if Tesla (even if they do body shop work) will have as much experience as independent body shop that has been doing this for a long time.

I looked up “Tesla approved” body shops from Teslas site (it’s obvious Tesla wants us to do that route). I checked their ratings and info and felt somewhat comfortable. I did not want to be kept in dark/lack of communication during the repairs.

Here is the thing to know - a key detail - most of these “approved” body shops are generally well reputed shops in the first place. And they are usually in Teslas vicinity physically for the things you noted in your post. The tech is beyond the body shops’ expertise domain. So typically after body shop repairs - they’ll send it to TSC - for “calibration”. That basically is I believe software checks to see all cameras and other tech is working as expected. You can talk to and insist body shop so this. That should put your car in stable/as new condition. These body shops work very closely with TSC (supplies, parts) and I have a feeling if workload increases, Tesla has these guys fill in anyways! for labor help. I could see TSC driving back cars to this body shop and picking other cars to take to TSC.
Also, if it’s other party’s fault (and I think incident officer report is the most important source for this) - make sure this body shop is also NOT the “in network” shop for the other party’s insurance company! (they try to please all sides and may not keep your interest as their 1st priority). Though claims go much smoother in that case. I was just focused on best quality repair and so my pick.

Tesla SC is plain not reachable - and it’s typically farther away to keep going back/forth and likely doesn’t have focus for your repair job to be their priority.

I’m fairly satisfied with my experience having had much worst damage (including sensors).

 

[M3Pnightryder]

I'm interested to see how diminished value turned out for you. I just had my M3P backed into with a purchase date of 1/31 and 83 miles on the odometer...

 

[AJ..]

I'm interested to see how diminished value turned out for you. I just had my M3P backed into with a purchase date of 1/31 and 83 miles on the odometer...

It’s still in process (via insurance and another route - but that is physical injury claim). From what I read and researched, I’m not too hopeful of value I get from LOV claim as it apparently is a formula (current resale value * 10%, and then 1.5% or some other similar low value factor). Overall, for me, LOV may pan out in 100s-2k range (I think it may be closer to few 100 range cause of current Tesla/EV market conditions for used). I doubt I can get anything for loss of time window to sell (sell last year vs after repairs this year) under LOV, but will see. Will add on.

 

[AJ..]

I'm interested to see how diminished value turned out for you. I just had my M3P backed into with a purchase date of 1/31 and 83 miles on the odometer...

sorry for this unfortunate incident on your new car. It will be fully restored (Tesla RC did decent job). Best of luck.

 

[llamafilm]

I also have USAA. I’ve asked them this same question - does rental coverage pay for an EV - and received different answers from 2 different agents. I think it depends on what state you’re in. I know California insurance law has minimal requirements on the rental vehicle, basically any functional vehicle is fine. Other states may require the rental to be similar in some way (size, class, energy source…)

 

[avocalex]

My apologies if this message should be on a different sub-forum but saw some damage and repair related posts here hence doing the same -

My 5 month old Model 3 was hit by another car from the right (other party's fault), a week back, as they did not see oncoming traffic and turned right directly into my lane. The jolt was really hard and threw me off my lane and almost off the road. The damage was quite a bit but honestly not as bad as I thought (pic attached). The dents start from front right of bumper and along the top of the tire. And scratches along bottom rocker panel (passenger side). The front passenger side tire seems to have taken a big hit. One key outcome is the car is not driving in a stable manner at all as I suspect the wheel damange has more to it. I see the errors - automatic Emergency braking disabled, stability control disabled, vehicle hold feature unavailable. I also see that "Lane departure avoidance features are unavailable". In summary the car is wobbly, not drivable and needs to be towed to the shop.
I opened the claim with my insurer (Connect) and they are working with the other party's insurance (USAA) to establish their fault and liability. However I am a bit confused by some aspects of the process
1) Where to repair ? The adjuster is sending the pictures and videos of the damage for initial estimate to one of their "approved" repair shops. I indicated my preference to get it repaired at a Tesla service center and they said once the estimate is received they will send it to Tesla service center of my choice for their "approval". However it is likely Tesla service center will indicate higher cost at which point it is up to me whether to go elsewhere. That surprised me because my thought was if the other insurance accepts fault (which I am sure they will have to considering the dash cam video evidence) am I not allowed to get it repaired at a shop of my preference (Tesla service center) at their expense? Why should I be forced to go to a "authorized" center. Also are these Insurance authorized shops also Tesla authorized? Since I am still waiting for repair estimate I have some time to decide on the way forward ..This part is confusing me.
2) In addition to above, are Tesla service centers actually good at body repair work or is it probably better to get the repair done at an "authorized" auto body repair shop. Also I am in South California and my adjuster pointed out it might take 2-6 weeks (as of today's average) to get the car into a Tesla Service center. That makes the decision and situation even worse and confusing for me.
3) Regarding rental car, I requested my adjuster to work with the other insurance (USAA) to get me an eV rental. I get free charging at work and based on the inconvenience and issues caused by the other party it seemed a reasonable ask. But I was given the heads-up by my adjuster to expect only "same car size" and not necessarily eV. Tesla service center giving a loaner is something I have heard of but not having high hopes considering the wait times and rush I am hearing at these service centers. As of now I am pushing my adjuster to negotiate the eV rental or gas cost reimbursement at a minimum.
4) I also would like to explore the diminished value claim and loss of use claim ..am reading up on the great references in other threads here and will get back.
The above will kick into motion when the liability is established (hoping in a day or two as the two adjusters are talking today) but the repair process and rental aspects are something I would deeply appreciate any guidance on.

I'm also in a similar situation where I was involved in an accident and the other party was found 100% fault. I decided to go with a tesla approved repair shop that has a well known reputation for working with teslas. I've visited a few other tesla approved shops that seemed way more inexperienced and didn't quite trust them as much so I would recommend you do some research if you decide to take this route. In terms of rental, I had to push the adjuster a few times to get an EV rental and went with enterprise since they have direct billing with the insurance company (this will save you time and effort since you won't have to book the rental yourself).