Never knew this would happen but I was waiting for my MX to be delivered back to me after some repair works and I got a call from a Tesla rep that a car tried to cut through the line and ran into my MX damaging the front left part of the bumper. He said he's filing a polic report and will take care of the repairs (which could take week+). I have personally been never invovled in a car accident so am not sure how to handle in this situation. Do I just let Tesla take care of everything? How will this impact the value of the car / accident record, etc.? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you!
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I was waiting for my Tesla to be delivered back to me after some repair works and I got a call from a Tesla rep that another car tried to cut through the lane and ran into my car damaging the front left part of the bumper. He said he's filing a polic report and will take care of the repairs (which could take week+). I have personally been never invovled in a car accident so am not sure how to handle in this situation. Do I just let Tesla take care of everything? How will this impact the value of the car / accident record, etc.? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you!
Sorry to hear about that. Not to be a downer, but to be a realist as someone that has been rear-ended 3 times in 3 years:
If a police report exists, it will be on the carfax. If it's on the carfax, it's a vehicle with a damage history. Future buyers will wonder. Many will walk away because there will be other cars that don't have a damage history. Your car will sell for less in the future. I just sold a car with two "accidents" on the Carfax and it sold for $5K less than a car with no accidents (on a $25K car). Didn't matter what the accidents were.
The appropriate thing here is to ask Tesla for "diminished value." This is a pain. They will argue with you over how much this is. Make them take pictures of the car before ANY repairs. Keep all documents showing what they repaired so you can give the pics and documents to future buyers so they can see that it was minor. But with all that, they'll pay less than a pristine car. For a simple bumper cover replacement, I'd say $1,500 less would be fair, so Tesla should pay something like that.
Chances are 95% that they won't pay, and you'll have to decide if it's worth it to go to small claims court.
It sucks, but that's the reality. The easier path is to just suck it up as part of life, make sure they repair it well, and move on and worry about it when it comes time to sell.
As a final FYI, some dealers (like Car Max) won't buy a car with any marks on the carfax, no matter how great your story is about minor damage.
If a police report exists, it will be on the carfax. If it's on the carfax, it's a vehicle with a damage history. Future buyers will wonder. Many will walk away because there will be other cars that don't have a damage history. Your car will sell for less in the future. I just sold a car with two "accidents" on the Carfax and it sold for $5K less than a car with no accidents (on a $25K car). Didn't matter what the accidents were.
The appropriate thing here is to ask Tesla for "diminished value." This is a pain. They will argue with you over how much this is. Make them take pictures of the car before ANY repairs. Keep all documents showing what they repaired so you can give the pics and documents to future buyers so they can see that it was minor. But with all that, they'll pay less than a pristine car. For a simple bumper cover replacement, I'd say $1,500 less would be fair, so Tesla should pay something like that.
Chances are 95% that they won't pay, and you'll have to decide if it's worth it to go to small claims court.
It sucks, but that's the reality. The easier path is to just suck it up as part of life, make sure they repair it well, and move on and worry about it when it comes time to sell.
As a final FYI, some dealers (like Car Max) won't buy a car with any marks on the carfax, no matter how great your story is about minor damage.
BluestarE3
Active Member
So both your Model S and Model X were involved in accidents on the same day?
My MX in car accident while in transit by Tesla rep after repair
My MX in car accident while in transit by Tesla rep after repair
kev1n
Active Member
Thank you much, Gearchruncher. I spoke with the rep who drove my car. He assuring me no structural damages and a bumper damage won't be reported to Carfax so hopefully he's right. He's still waiting for polic report so probably will know more when he brings my car to an autoshop they use... Would've thought Tesla would repair/replace it themselves but guess it's going to be sent to a 3rd party.
You can't trust Tesla that it won't end up on Carfax. I had a window broken once that ended in a police report and it ended up on carfax. The VIN is on an accident report on a police report. If that gets entered into a computer, it's over. Tesla doesn't control that.
If you are otherwise OK with the repair and don't care unless it ends up on the various reporting sites, get Tesla to put it in writing. "The incident on 6/8/2017 will not end up on a VIN report for this car, and if it does, Tesla will reimburse you $1,500 for diminished value."
They won't do it because they know they don't control that. If they really have faith it won't end up on there, then they should sign that right away.
If you are otherwise OK with the repair and don't care unless it ends up on the various reporting sites, get Tesla to put it in writing. "The incident on 6/8/2017 will not end up on a VIN report for this car, and if it does, Tesla will reimburse you $1,500 for diminished value."
They won't do it because they know they don't control that. If they really have faith it won't end up on there, then they should sign that right away.
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
Ditto on asking for diminished value (I don't know how much it's worth though). Hopefully this causes Tesla to ask for the other driver for it too.
I agree with what everyone has said: Ask for diminished value, and if third party sale is important to you, get in writing that this accident won't show up on Carfax, otherwise you will be reimbursed financially or otherwise made whole.
Also, make sure that you or they file your SR-1 form to CA if the damages are above the statutory limit.
Finally, from a past experience with Carfax and similar services: It may take as long as a year for the report to update.
Also, make sure that you or they file your SR-1 form to CA if the damages are above the statutory limit.
Finally, from a past experience with Carfax and similar services: It may take as long as a year for the report to update.
Thanks, MP3Mike. Wow, up to a year. Then I guess asking for a writing is the only way. Will see what I can do.
It is hard. I had a 4 month old car rear ended while stopped at a red by a uninsured driver once. Car was repaired under my insurance, but I was unable to make a dimished value claim without going to court (my insurance refused to pay). The body shop claimed "no frame damage", but it turned out they had to weld structural parts back on and that was detectable as repaired when I traded it in. Cost me several grand in the end.
All for something that was not my fault and that I had no control over. In the end I just accepted it and moved on.
Police report almost certainly means it will be on Carfax. Unless they had the foresight to give the cop a wrong Vin number somehow.
Someone rearended me once and I got their admission of fault and apology on camera video and took pics and got their insurance info and never called cops (to her surprise and relief). She didn't want a ticket and I didn't want a Carfax.
Her ins co paid no problem --- as well as diminished value with some encouragement.
Someone rearended me once and I got their admission of fault and apology on camera video and took pics and got their insurance info and never called cops (to her surprise and relief). She didn't want a ticket and I didn't want a Carfax.
Her ins co paid no problem --- as well as diminished value with some encouragement.
As others have stated it will be on the carfax for sure. I had an insurance claim where my son opened up the door and scratched a person's car. She refused to take my money for it and insisted to use my insurance. The total was like $500 in damages total (it was considered property damage so zero deductible). When I went to sell the car it showed up as an at fault accident with property damage.
