oreobbq
Member
Numpad is the perfect docking station for glazed donuts.
Uh no. This sounds more like a creative drug dealer down the street trying to steal your car than anything. If it's official you should be able to verify it.
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My first accident
- Thread starter diplomat33
- Start date
Numpad is the perfect docking station for glazed donuts.
Uh no. This sounds more like a creative drug dealer down the street trying to steal your car than anything. If it's official you should be able to verify it.
I checked him out on social media and he seems legit. He is a NHTSA tech that lives in my city. But I am not just going to leave my key card for some stranger to get in my car without me.
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
Have you been able to independently verify he actually works for NHTSA (not just his own claims on social media, but actually from an official NHTSA contact)?
What happens if the car is further damaged during the process of the inspection (especially given he says it will take a couple hours, will it involve disassembly of the vehicle or moving the vehicle)? This whole thing just smells iffy, especially given the unprofessional letter. You would think they would have a standard form they can fill out and post if the person was not home. I personally would not be comfortable just giving him unattended access.
oreobbq
Member
Your spidey senses should be tingling that this might be a scam. Paranoid take: maybe that accident was caused on purpose. How did he even find out about the accident? Anyway, worst case if you just ignore him, the NHTSA loses one data point and your car doesn't get stolen.
Well, the police did file a report on the accident. I imagine NHSTA would have access to police reports. So if he is legit, he could have gotten the information that way,
CDennis100
Member
Risk vs reward. Only you can decide. Me? I keep it simple. What do YOU have to gain by allowing?
TunaBug
Member
If I thought he could be legit I might meet with him but certainly not hand him the keys. Even if we was a retired engineer who was just curious, because, hey, I'm a retired engineer who is curious and I might learn something.
But 30 seconds with Google and his facebook page said he is a retired crash technician for a 3rd party company. I don't know how the titles work, but "Crash technician" is less interesting to me than "Crash engineer", assuming there is such a thing. But the real concern is signing the note to imply that he currently works for the NHTSA seems deliberately misleading.
I think at that point I would be done. But, being curious, I might call the local company he mentions on his facebook page and ask them about the situation, because I might learn something.
But 30 seconds with Google and his facebook page said he is a retired crash technician for a 3rd party company. I don't know how the titles work, but "Crash technician" is less interesting to me than "Crash engineer", assuming there is such a thing. But the real concern is signing the note to imply that he currently works for the NHTSA seems deliberately misleading.
I think at that point I would be done. But, being curious, I might call the local company he mentions on his facebook page and ask them about the situation, because I might learn something.
There is absolutely ZERO reason you should have accepted a check for that repair. They WANT you to do that, so they can say that they have fulfilled their responsibility. That repair is going to be 10-15k (easy) and they KNOW it isnt 4250.
Thats the preliminary estimate. On page 1 of this thread, thats why I mentioned you were wasting your time going to a tesla service center for that repair, unless the SC was also a body shop ( and most are not).
Hopefully you have not signed or deposited that check. I am not an expert in this but if you didnt you may still be ok, if you did (which probably has some verbiage on it that you are accepting that as full payment for the repair), you might be up a creek without a paddle, so to speak.
Its going to be weeks / a couple months for that repair, and its going to be 10k at a minimum, probably closer to 15 -17k when all is done.
That there is NO WAY IN HECK I would just "leave my car for several hours" with some schlub who says they are "with the NHTSA" who taped a hand written note to my door to talk about an accident. In fact, typing that out that you are considering that is so preposterous it almost feels like you are trolling us with asking that information and posting that letter that is supposed to be from some official authority saying "leave your car with me, you dont have to be here, leave the keycard, it will be fiiinnneeee".
I cant believe anyone would consider that to be ok.
I got to admit, if this is your way of having some fun at TMC’s expense, you are doing an awesome job — the only give-away in your schtick is the extremely low probability that anyone would actually be as naive as you portray yourself. But, in case you are being straightforward and sincere, DO NOT GO NEAR THIS GUY unless you get independent confirmation from the NHTSA that he is legitimate.
I am not trolling. The letter is real and everything really happened. Like I said, I won't give some stranger my key card to have my car for a few hours, not knowing who the guy is. I am not THAT naive or dumb.
SummerlinChiro
Member
Oh I believe that everything that happened to you happened, I just couldnt believe that anyone would even consider a hand written note taped to their door as an actual official response of some kind.
I probably responded without getting to the end of the thread, and didnt see you say you were not going to do it. I only saw the post where you were asking for "thoughts?" on leaving the car with that person.
Maybe because I am a fairly private person, If this were me, I would be reporting this person to the NHTSA myself, for being so unprofessional as to tape a note to my door in hand written letter talking about an investigation. If it was legitimate, it should be on letterhead. This is not the way a professional organization conducts business.
Either this is an official investigation (and it should be treated as such) or the person is going off on some tangent they are not supposed to (wasting time / money on investigating stuff that doesnt rise to the level of an official investigation), or the person is a liar.
In none of those cases do I see any benefit at all to you for even entertaining them looking at your car, or doing anything other than contacting their supervisor at the NHTSA and informing them of this conduct. Everyone is different, but this is a real invasion of privacy to me, and would be dealt with like I said.
So sorry to hear about (and see) this. Look on the bright side, at least (hopefully) no-one was hurt. There is always that “kicking yourself“ feeling for a day or two afterwards, but it happens to all of us no matter how cautious a driver. With luck the repairs wont take too long!I got into my first accident. I was in a hurry and backed out of my driveway fast without looking and hit a car that was passing by on the residential lane. As you can see the rear of the car suffered significant damage. I did not suffer any injury. I am sad for my car. Hopefully the Tesla service center can fix the damage and my insurance should cover it.
I hate myself for being so careless.
OK, I’m willing to roll with the scenario as you have presented it. And in this scenario, you don’t want this joker near you or your car until you receive independent confirmation of who he is.
I agree. And, I think if it were an official NHTSA investigation, I would have received an official letter in the mail. The guy works for a 3rd party company called KLD that collects crash data. I suspect he is just trying to collect crash data for them.
Thanks
Sorry about this. I don't see why the rear and pillar cams can't be used as a rudimentary rear traffic alert system. It may not work as well with fast moving vehicles, but it should provide some level of protection.
Curious to see how all of this unfolds. Good luck!
Curious to see how all of this unfolds. Good luck!
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
It'll be redundant with the rear cam, which is what you are supposed to be using anyways (plus mirrors and possibly turning your head), while being cognizant you are essentially blind to rear cross traffic.
The pillar cameras would be blocked if there are cars or a wall next to you (which describes most situations you would use such an alert).
This is different from the rear cross traffic alerts that other cars have using radar sensors on the right and left bumpers, which would be able to actually detect rear cross traffic.
It may give a false sense of security and maybe even bring blame to Tesla. I'm reminded of that recent thread where someone blamed the Tesla system for not warning about a pole, even though that is an explicit limitation of the ultrasonic parking sensors laid out in the manual.
My recommendation: tell the NHTSA "no thanks". There's nothing he needs your car for, it seems very illegitimate.
Regarding insurance, if you have a $1000 deductable, then you pay the first $1000 and they pay the rest. Don't accept their check, they're trying to pull a fast one on you.
Regarding insurance, if you have a $1000 deductable, then you pay the first $1000 and they pay the rest. Don't accept their check, they're trying to pull a fast one on you.
alstoralset
Man from another place
Diplomat33, sorry to hear about your crash. I enjoy your posts and hope you will continue posting even if your car is out of commission for a while. Here are a couple of thoughts:
Insurance: in my experience, it's common for insurance companies to send you a check for their (always absurdly low) internal estimate. Then, either you or the repair company will submit additional invoices, which they should pay sans deductible. I suspect they encounter a certain percentage of insureds who don't realize that the check is not all they are entitled to, hence the rush to send the check.
NHTSA: I am speculating (without much evidence) that NHTSA is looking for reasons to take some major action against Tesla. The appearance that they have people searching web posts to find Tesla accidents would tend to bolster this speculation.
Insurance: in my experience, it's common for insurance companies to send you a check for their (always absurdly low) internal estimate. Then, either you or the repair company will submit additional invoices, which they should pay sans deductible. I suspect they encounter a certain percentage of insureds who don't realize that the check is not all they are entitled to, hence the rush to send the check.
NHTSA: I am speculating (without much evidence) that NHTSA is looking for reasons to take some major action against Tesla. The appearance that they have people searching web posts to find Tesla accidents would tend to bolster this speculation.
