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My Model S was destroyed by hail (no kidding), so I need to buy another car

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Take the check, buy the car for salvage. Buy a new or salvage hood. Replace front and rear glass if that’s all that shattered. Pay a paintless ding repair guy for a days worth of work ( not by the ding of course) the better guys can do wonders. The guy I use has done numerous hail cars for dealerships. Paint the new hood and roof ( some filler might be needed there if the ding guy can’t get everything completely out on that big flat horizontal panel) pocket the rest of the money. Drive happy
 
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It seems redundant to write something else, because the subject and the photos sum up my situation succinctly. On Monday 20 January an intense hail storm hit the centre of Canberra, leaving a trail of destruction, including my car. Ironically, I parked it in a remote part of an outdoor car park because I believed that would minimise the prospect of someone parking next to me and dinging my bodywork (an approach I'm unlikely to continue...). There were no warnings about this storm - its intensity caught everyone by surprise. Hundreds of cars were severely damaged. My S75 is officially a write-off. Every panel and door, plus the windscreen and rear glass, were severely damaged.
So I'm now in the market for a replacement vehicle: I really did love my S75 so I'm keen on getting another Model S. Since I bought the 75, Tesla has consolidated all those sub 100kw choices into a simple 100kw long range or 100kw performance. I rarely buy new cars, though four of the five motorcycles I've owned were bought new - so I must be agnostic on the issue. The current base Model S has all the bells and whistles and I'm very attracted to its long range. I think the cabin might be a slight step down from the 'premium/carbon' option I had but I think the better sound system will more than compensate - to me, the ability to drive while enjoying music with dynamic range and subtlety is a joy. The long range costs much more than my S75 but also seems to offer significantly more too.
I have recent emails from Mercedes touting their new EQC (Wheels magazine car of the year, according to them - though I know they push a lot of advertising through Wheels, so I have some doubts on impartiality). And the Jaguar E-Pace has some positive reviews, but I'm pretty sure their cabin is too cramped for my stocky frame. But neither of those models has the range of the new Model S - nor some of its features (I wasn't thinking of fart mode). I do feel invested in Tesla's vision and I did like my S75 so much that I'd really like to stick with Tesla.
For what it's worth, I do consider that hail event to be climate change-related. The hail stones were sized in-between golf balls and cricket, sorry baseballs - much bigger than I've ever seen before. And it came in a month of toxic smoke blown in from bushfires on our coast, heatwaves that broke temperature records, and a threatening bushfire on the city's southern flank. Some people have a remarkable ability to pretend obvious signs of climate change are really no different to weather events of the past, but I hope their ranks are thinning the stronger the evidence mounts.
Sorry to hear about your M-S got thrashed in recent Canberra gun shot hail. I did hear of another person who had just received their new Tesla one week before storm hit and it was badly damaged. I was driving in the storm yet ducked for cover in a petrol station! Yes really they do still have limited use. Fortunately had a few 4 wheel drives around me so got out unscathed. Wonder if you should hold out and get Tesla Truck whilst not as sexy as M-S they are more likely to withstand other car doors, gunshot hail, bushfires and floods better than other Tesla models. I was surprised to see the roof glass was pitted with gunshot hail. This picture is why I think many cars including Tesla’s, Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, Holden were all damaged in this storm
 
If you have the option, I'd certainly look at buying the car back, since the parts/battery of the Teslas seem to fetch decent money. You might be able to profit out of it depending on what they offer as a price.
 
Wow, probably the worst hail damage I've seen.

If cost is a factor, could consider a CPO "standard range" or 75 car from Tesla. There were several Raven versions of the S75 with I believe, 285 miles of range. I seriously considered one before going with the long range. But at 285, that's better than my original 85 Model S.

While the cars look similar, if you haven't driven a Raven version yet, you'll be pleasantly surprised with its improvements over pre-2019 cars. The new adaptive air suspension is incredible. Overall quality levels have increased significantly. Efficiency is far superior due to the Model 3 motor up front. Seats are improved. Interior is quieter.

If you can't find any on the website, I would call one of the sales centers. They might even still have a few brand new inventory cars. The CPO Ravens they usually have are nearly new. Often are those returned by the buyer within 7 days of the purchase under Tesla's return policy. If the Long Range is too pricey for your situation, worth taking some time to see if you can find one of the few Raven 75's.

My personal opinion, the Raven 75 is worth it over the pre-Raven. Naturally, you could get a 259 mile range pre-Raven 75 for less. After having driven my new Raven, I'm so happy I waited long enough to purchase my car and was able to benefit from its advantages. I almost purchased prior, but at the time, everyone assumed a major refresh was coming, so I held out for that reason.As soon as Elon said no such refresh was coming, I ordered the next day. Fortunately, in that short time frame, the Raven update was released.

Anyway, best of luck in whatever direction you go.
 
It looks like your Tesla will now get better milage per watthour. Someone might want it as is, except for the broken windows.

VIDEO: Mythbusters test golf ball-like dimpling effect on fuel economy (*Spoiler Alert!*)

Someone else thought the same thing:

Wonder if the range improved now with all those dimples. (Thinking golf ball tech on this one)

Sorry to hear about your car. Hope you end up in a Raven!

Upon reflection, only men without wives would be able to, and then they'd need to live someplace without law enforcement, since this would be considered a "red flag" for every LEO out there as "not normal" and they'd get pulled over all the time, and yet to make it matter they'd have to drive fairly fast fairly far, which means a long commute with good highways for which a short-range 75 would suffice, and I bet there's no place like that in USA.
 
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Bummer about your car.

The car will be a salvage title car after it has been deemed totaled so Tesla won’t allow supercharging. You could pay to have the car Tesla recertified, I don’t know the headaches involved.

If you are ordering a new car, can you special order the carbon fiber interior trim?

There will be salvage cars with CF trim, maybe you could see about buying the carbon fiber interior trim from a car being parted out.

I think I might try the special order. There should be a way to do it.
 
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