One more parts saga for a minor fender bender

[suresv]

So after almost five years of Tesla ownership with multiple cars (P85+. Model X P90D, Model 3) my faith in Tesla is finally shaken. My experience with the spare parts for a minor fender bender (rear ended on stop and go traffic) is frustrating to say the least.

After almost six weeks in the body shop for a simple fender bender and through defective parts and multiple escalation calls etc., Tesla does not have the part (tailgate - which is probably the most commonly damaged on rear enders) that is required in stock and has no idea on ETA and is not willing to give a loaner. This is for a $ 130K car and I am driving around in Toyota RAV4 for the last six weeks and paying for it (as rental coverage on insurance is max 4 weeks on a repair job like this)

Does any one here know how to escalate and get visibility within Tesla to this - short of tweeting / instagram messaging Elon Musk? I have already worked with body shop support and also escalated on the My Tesla page (escalate to Exec visibility)


PS : my advice to others here - don't get in an accident but if you do drive the car with the damage if you can drive the car. If you send the car to the shop - you need to be prepared to not have the car for atleast 2 months!!

 

[Barklikeadog]

Sorry to hear about your plight, that is inexcusable.

 

[Altes]

It's simple math really...Tesla can put a tailgate on a car and sell it for >$55K (and get credit for a car sold which also helps stock price). or they can sell the tailgate alone to a sucker er CUSTOMER for say $2000. They ALREADY HAVE YOUR MONEY, THEY DONT CARE. If they dont survive the short term (ie sell cars and lots of them) they are toast, so they give up the customer service/loyalty aspect as it is expensive and does not add to the bottom line

 

[David99]

same here. 11 weeks in the shop for a low impact bumper and quarter panel damage. It is absolutely inexcusable that Tesla doesn't have those parts in stock that are needed for the most common accident. Your's and my experience seems to be common. I have heard similar stories over and over in the last 5 years.

 

[suresv]

It's simple math really...Tesla can put a tailgate on a car and sell it for >$55K (and get credit for a car sold which also helps stock price). or they can sell the tailgate alone to a sucker er CUSTOMER for say $2000. They ALREADY HAVE YOUR MONEY, THEY DONT CARE. If they dont survive the short term (ie sell cars and lots of them) they are toast, so they give up the customer service/loyalty aspect as it is expensive and does not add to the bottom line

I think with a little planning they can achieve both pretty easily. I can understand if this is a shortage for a month or quarter even - but to have these shortages over years only says that they are pretty incompetent when it comes to managing spare parts and haven't really done anything significant to fix it. They have these hordes of call center people on the body shop support for over a year - just this cost can be eliminated if they planned spare parts a little better

 

[David99]

It's simple math really...Tesla can put a tailgate on a car and sell it for >$55K (and get credit for a car sold which also helps stock price). or they can sell the tailgate alone to a sucker er CUSTOMER for say $2000. They ALREADY HAVE YOUR MONEY, THEY DONT CARE. If they dont survive the short term (ie sell cars and lots of them) they are toast, so they give up the customer service/loyalty aspect as it is expensive and does not add to the bottom line

It does not help with long term image of the brand. But I guess people waiting for their cars to be fixed isn't a large group and nothing that makes news. So you are probably right. Overall it makes more sense the way you explained it.

 

[jtdiddy]

i think one of the forum members here that used to be a tech said for u to search linkedin and find the contact to your regional service manager and escalate the matter with him/her. Good luck. hope they fix ur X soon

 

[vandacca]

It's simple math really...Tesla can put a tailgate on a car and sell it for >$55K (and get credit for a car sold which also helps stock price). or they can sell the tailgate alone to a sucker er CUSTOMER for say $2000. They ALREADY HAVE YOUR MONEY, THEY DON'T CARE. If they don't survive the short term (ie sell cars and lots of them) they are toast, so they give up the customer service/loyalty aspect as it is expensive and does not add to the bottom line

I disagree with your statement that Tesla doesn't care. They know it's a problem, (along with many other issues they need to solve) and have a long-term plan to address it. They plan to create their own body shops inside Tesla SC and stock common parts at these locations. I'm assuming they would use these SC as mini distribution centers, making them able to distribute parts more quickly.

Otherwise, the logistics of distributing one-off parts across the world is not a trivial solution to solve. For what it's worth, I too have on order the rear panel to address a dent I put in it. I've ordered and paid for the parts and have been waiting for over 6 weeks for those parts to arrive to the body shop. I agree that if the vehicle is drive-able, you should only give up the vehicle when the parts arrive.

In the mean time, that dent serves me as a reminder of my stupidity and just reinforces the need to always use the rear camera feed along with the mirrors. There are situations where the mirrors will miss obstacles that can be seen by the rear camera.

 

[Rockster]

A workaround for simple fender benders is simple: Make the case with the insurance company that it makes more financial sense for them to pay the body shop to put the Tesla back together so that you can drive it for the four to six weeks. Then, when the parts arrive, get a loaner for a few days while the actual work is done. It make take a few phone calls to find an insurance company human who has the brain and the authority to see that this works better, but I've gone this route. A few hours labor to reinstall and then re-remove the bumper etc. costs way less than weeks and months of car rental.

Don't just suffer the system. At least push for a more suitable workaround.

 

[suresv]

A workaround for simple fender benders is simple: Make the case with the insurance company that it makes more financial sense for them to pay the body shop to put the Tesla back together so that you can drive it for the four to six weeks. Then, when the parts arrive, get a loaner for a few days while the actual work is done. It make take a few phone calls to find an insurance company human who has the brain and the authority to see that this works better, but I've gone this route. A few hours labor to reinstall and then re-remove the bumper etc. costs way less than weeks and months of car rental.

Don't just suffer the system. At least push for a more suitable workaround.

I tried pretty hard with ServiceKing (the body shop doing the work!!) to put the car back together (and even offered to pay for the labor) but no bueno!!

 

[MP3Mike]

I am driving around in Toyota RAV4 for the last six weeks and paying for it (as rental coverage on insurance is max 4 weeks on a repair job like this)

There is no time limit to the rental coverage if you are claiming against the at fault party. (Assuming the at fault party is not yourself.)

And you could push that they cover you in a comparable car. (Which is only another Tesla.) Of course you could then end up hitting their coverage dollar limit... (Or they might decide that it is time to total your car vs. continuing to pay for a rental Tesla.)

 

[Rockster]

I tried pretty hard with ServiceKing (the body shop doing the work!!) to put the car back together (and even offered to pay for the labor) but no bueno!!

I'm confused. Who is paying for the repair? If it's you then you're the customer and they should do what you want or lose your business. If it's the insurance company paying and you convince the insurance company that this is the way to go then the result should be the same, Cervix King doing what you want. They're the vendor, not the decision maker.

 

[suresv]

I'm confused. Who is paying for the repair? If it's you then you're the customer and they should do what you want or lose your business. If it's the insurance company paying and you convince the insurance company that this is the way to go then the result should be the same, Cervix King doing what you want. They're the vendor, not the decision maker.

Well it is a little bit more complicated than that!! I was rear ended but filed a claim with my own insurance and let them deal with the other insurance. I was willing to only pay for the labor to put the car together. The total damage is close to $ 5K and I am not paying that!! I don't blame Service King for refusing my offer - it just complicates everything and creates liability issues for them for putting a car together with damaged parts.

 

[Rockster]

Well it is a little bit more complicated than that!! I was rear ended but filed a claim with my own insurance and let them deal with the other insurance. I was willing to only pay for the labor to put the car together. The total damage is close to $ 5K and I am not paying that!! I don't blame Service King for refusing my offer - it just complicates everything and creates liability issues for them for putting a car together with damaged parts.

My local Tesla authorized body shop, in conjunction with the at-fault insurance (Allstate, I think) was able to work it out, once I convinced someone at Allstate that it would save them money. Obviously, there are a bunch of factors here, including the flexibility of the insurance company and the body shop, as well as the exact nature of your damage.

 

[Oyvind.H]

Escalate through Mytesla page. It works.
But won't solve anything.