need some advice/guidance on Tesla MYLR repair

[canYdan]

Hello,

I'd like your opinions and experiences on getting repairs done with Tesla corporate body shops vs third-party but Tesla-approved shops.

I impacted a curb pretty badly during recent local snowstorm. Had X-Ice Snow tires on but that didn't seem to help much.
I'm now trying to navigate getting the vehicle repaired and the experience with Tesla Collision is baffling and frustrating.
The fact there is no human to talk to at Tesla is IMO counterproductive.
Using photos to document damage for an estimate I think is a bit useless in my situation - there is no body damage that I can find, everything wrong is with the steering where one wheel which is angled + shifted out of position enough to make the car undriveable at anything other than slow speeds. I have no way to lift the car to photograph the struts, rods, arms, etc.
I've only had one reply from the official Tesla collision center through the app, which took a few days. The center is 50+km away. I can arrange to have it towed there once but back and forth is I think undoable. (Tesla app roadside assistance at the time of my collision only gave an option to tow to a corporate location 550+km away in the next province, so I don't trust it now.)
I am considering going to a local repair shop which is listed on Tesla's website as an approved body shop (but no level of approval indicated) but they've told me over the phone that everybody would end up waiting for repair parts from California. I've also heard that official Tesla body shops might have priority for parts but this was only speculation.
I had a "DIF_a251 / DIR_a251" alert pop up on-screen shortly after the impact but is now gone from the alert history. If gone, is it safe to assume it's no longer a problem? I've not pursued the local non-Tesla shop yet because I don't know if this gearbox alert requires Tesla staff to address.

Sorry for the wall of text. This experience has been stressful for me.

Thank you.

 

[gx9901]

I had an accident on a track last summer, which I detailed here, that resulted in a bent rear control arm and shock. I initially called a Tesla certified collision shop, but they told me since there is no body damage, it should be repaired at a Tesla SC. So I scheduled an appointment and had the car towed to the local SC, where they diagnosed and replaced the damaged parts. I waited around two weeks for the appointment and the repair took about a week.

If your car have no body damage, I'm thinking the collision shop probably won't be the one repairing the damage anyway, so if it was me I'd schedule an appointment at the closest Tesla SC to diagnose the issue and have the car towed there for the appointment. Unless it's some sort of un-repairable problem, in which case your car would be totalled, they will be able to repair it, so I don't think you would need to have the car towed back home.

 

[jay1122]

If it is suspension problem and not body work. You should take it to the regular service center. Just tell them you hit a curb hard, check the suspension components. They will replace the faulty suspension components.

 

[canYdan]

Thank you both gx9901 and jay1122. Didn't think to engage the SC at first.

There doesn't seem to be an option to schedule service now that I have a collision center appointment open. Calling them gets me an IVR always; finding a human seems sooooo difficult.

 

[jkdman123]

Thank you both gx9901 and jay1122. Didn't think to engage the SC at first.

There doesn't seem to be an option to schedule service now that I have a collision center appointment open. Calling them gets me an IVR always; finding a human seems sooooo difficult.

You can't cancel the collision center appt?

I believe they have it set up so that if you have an existing appt, you cannot schedule another appt.