Model S Crash - better to write-off or repair?

[Wayneiac]

Last month, we crashed our Tesla. A 17 year old driver cut in front of us as we were traveling through an intersection. The good news is that both my wife and I are fine.
The Tesla - not so much. At this point, the insurance company(s) haven't even assessed the damage so I don't know if they will write it off or not.
Honestly, the damage looks worse than it is:

• It's still drivable
• The air bags didn't deploy
• The console screen still works fine
• A tech at the shop told me it's mostly "soft" damage to the plastics and frunk. He thinks the frame is fine.

Assuming the insurance company decides to repair - do I even want that? Would you repair this vehicle?
I have life-time charging (non-transferrable) and just want my beloved Tesla back, but I don't know if I could ever depend on this vehicle again.
Please, any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Wayne

 

[spsheridan]

• It's still drivable

Really? I would not attempt to drive that car.

 

[zoomer0056]

soft damage

Ha, that's a good one. Did he see the car?
Driveable, ha! That's another good one.

Just buff it out and drive on .... rediculous!

 

[MarkFromDenver]

Last month, we crashed our Tesla. A 17 year old driver cut in front of us as we were traveling through an intersection. The good news is that both my wife and I are fine.
The Tesla - not so much. At this point, the insurance company(s) haven't even assessed the damage so I don't know if they will write it off or not.
Honestly, the damage looks worse than it is:

• It's still drivable
• The air bags didn't deploy
• The console screen still works fine
• A tech at the shop told me it's mostly "soft" damage to the plastics and frunk. He thinks the frame is fine.

Assuming the insurance company decides to repair - do I even want that? Would you repair this vehicle?
I have life-time charging (non-transferrable) and just want my beloved Tesla back, but I don't know if I could ever depend on this vehicle again.
Please, any advice would be much appreciated.


View attachment 966805

Thanks,
Wayne

Hi Wayne,
I sympathize. I too have lifetime free supercharging on my 2019 MS. I would do anything I could to fix the car provided no frame or structural damage was done. I'm in the same boat. I had a parking lot mishap where some guy backed into the passenger rear quarter panel. Only very minor damage (photo). My question is which of the Tesla approved body shops in the Denver area do the best work? I think the damage is so minimal that the dent could be popped out and the scratches buffed out.

 

[fholbert]

Honestly, the damage looks worse than it is:

• It's still drivable.

View attachment 966805

Thanks,
Wayne

 

[DerbyDave]

Any car in a major accident like this, I would be wary of repairs restoring the crash integrity of the vehicle. Safety is my primary concern, and I would always doubt the restoration quality. Also, with a Tesla, it will be in the shop for at least 6 months being repaired. If I am involved in an accident anywhere near this bad, I would ask the insurance company to buy it from me if they wouldn't total it. They would not have a salvage title, and the rebuild could take the normal year or so. Then they could sell it. Everyone is happy (so to speak).

 

[tldickerson]

Wayne, just wait until the insurance company looks at the car before you make any rash judgement calls. If it's totaled it's totaled. Nothing you can do about it. Any good body shop should be able to replace the hood, front bumper and both front fenders. Good luck.

 

[racerx2005]

Last month, we crashed our Tesla. A 17 year old driver cut in front of us as we were traveling through an intersection. The good news is that both my wife and I are fine.
The Tesla - not so much. At this point, the insurance company(s) haven't even assessed the damage so I don't know if they will write it off or not.
Honestly, the damage looks worse than it is:

• It's still drivable
• The air bags didn't deploy
• The console screen still works fine
• A tech at the shop told me it's mostly "soft" damage to the plastics and frunk. He thinks the frame is fine.

Assuming the insurance company decides to repair - do I even want that? Would you repair this vehicle?
I have life-time charging (non-transferrable) and just want my beloved Tesla back, but I don't know if I could ever depend on this vehicle again.
Please, any advice would be much appreciated.


View attachment 966805

Thanks,
Wayne

I’ve seen cars get totaled for much less damage. I wonder why your insurance company hasn’t done it yet.
It will never get back to what once was, not to mention Carfax report entry for major accident … most buyers won’t consider a car with Carfax accident report … the first thing I check before any other info, and if they do, they will lowball you big time.

 

[tldickerson]

@MarkFromDenver, you don't need a approved body shop to fix your car. Just find a good dent remover and have him take the dent out. Might cost you a couple hundred bucks, no big deal.

 

[NewbyMaybe]

It's a beautiful car. Very lucky the air-bags are good, that would have totaled it. Age could total it, what year is it?

 

[Wayneiac]

It's a beautiful car. Very lucky the air-bags are good, that would have totaled it. Age could total it, what year is it?

2019 "Raven" (long range dual motor)

 

[NewbyMaybe]

Hopefully the tech is correct. What I learned from the ding in my hood is the Tesla shop standard will replace all the body parts with new and then paint them. If that totals it then an ordinary shop can use salvage parts for less.

 

[DayTrippin]

Hate to armchair quarterback but most likely totaled. You are going to be shocked at how much values have fallen lately if they do.

Even if they didn't total it, it will be a long time to get the car back. Tesla repairs seem to take an eternity to get completed. Maybe better with older models so they aren't scavenging all the parts they can to build new ones, but probably 4-6 months to get it fixed.

Glad you are both safe, that is most important.

 

[dmurphy]

Assuming the insurance company decides to repair - do I even want that? Would you repair this vehicle?
I have life-time charging (non-transferrable) and just want my beloved Tesla back, but I don't know if I could ever depend on this vehicle again.
Please, any advice would be much appreciated.

Unfortunately, and please don't take it the wrong way, but the choice to keep or total is out of your hands. It's really the insurance company's decision.

I suspect it's going to be totaled, but that's up to the insurance adjuster. Just keep on them and they will notify you.

We had a Buick that was repaired -- I wished it were totaled. Cost me a bunch in resale value when I decided to get rid of it.... but that was just plain bad luck. I tried to bring the negligent deer to small claims court, but couldn't find him to serve the papers. ;-)

 

[cbdream99]

Only the adjuster and body shop can give you the answer. I suspect the cost will be substantial, but it does look like it stops early based on the shape of the frunk bin, but who knows what kind of damage after removing those parts? I scraped my rear door and rear quarter panel while parking, literally when I turned the steering wheel, and the Tesla collision estimate is 11k. I do have FUSC and USS, and I don't want to lose them. The best case in your scenario is just plastic parts, louvers, and panels; but I doubt that is the case.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Ha, that's a good one. Did he see the car?
Driveable, ha! That's another good one.

Just buff it out and drive on .... rediculous!

Of course he saw it. And as a tech paid by the hour, he would love to repair it versus have it towed off to the scrap yard.

 

[sorka]

Unfortunately, and please don't take it the wrong way, but the choice to keep or total is out of your hands. It's really the insurance company's decision.

Not true, he could just decide to fix it out of pocket

This reminds me of all those adds for salvage title vehicles where they claim the insurance company totaled it out for a miner fender bender.

The OP says it's drivable, but I think there's zero chance that it wouldn't shut down after a few minutes due to cooling system failures.