Pick-up truck scratched my Tesla

[MichaelP90DL]

For what it's worth, there are a lot of bumper repair services out there, many of them mobile. I used one fellow in SoCali I can recommend, if you want to send me a message. Yelp is a good place to find such repair outfits. Good luck.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

I'm not going to comment on how you handled the situation, just comment on how you might proceed moving forward. The guy seems to be a stand up character so I'd just treat him similarly. Take the vehicle and get a quote on repairs, it will need at least to be repainted, and present him with the quote. Discuss from there. You may want to meet the guy halfway, considering it looks like you're not exactly parked entirely in the space.

Hopefully his demeanor remains consistent. If it doesn't, then you'll have other decisions to make.

 

[JetFalcon]

For what it's worth, there are a lot of bumper repair services out there, many of them mobile. I used one fellow in SoCali I can recommend, if you want to send me a message. Yelp is a good place to find such repair outfits. Good luck.

IT Colleague, who had his Tesla Model S rear ended by his co-worker used this business
https://www.yelp.com/biz/spectrum-collision-irvine

I would be willing to find a cheaper alternative if my car is fine to go that route. Even if it leaves some barely noticeable imperfection, I don't feel its worth bankrupting the guy if an honest professional say I would barely notice a difference to use a cheaper route. I just don't want to punish this guy too much since he was honest and was willing to stay around, not knowing if I'm some angry guy who wants to sue him or take legal action. I am hoping we can just settle this like honest buddies if it can work that way.

 

[mswlogo]

Is that paint from his vehicle or chips of paint missing from yours?

 

[JetFalcon]

I'm not going to comment on how you handled the situation, just comment on how you might proceed moving forward. The guy seems to be a stand up character so I'd just treat him similarly. Take the vehicle and get a quote on repairs, it will need at least to be repainted, and present him with the quote. Discuss from there. You may want to meet the guy halfway, considering it looks like you're not exactly parked entirely in the space.

Hopefully his demeanor remains consistent. If it doesn't, then you'll have other decisions to make.

Based on his reaction. He said he will even buy me a christmas gift. And give me free cell phone screen repairs from his business.

If a simple paint job can make it look nothing ever happened, I gladly go that route. I'll gladly take the cheapest repair route as long as its decent enough to make it look like it never happened, and if an honest professional says it can

Is that paint from his vehicle or chips of paint missing from yours?

I think the paint came off my car. That's about it. I felt around the bumper, it doesn't feel like anything dented much.

 

[JetFalcon]

Based on his reaction. He said he will even buy me a christmas gift. And give me free cell phone screen repairs from his business.

If a simple paint job can make it look nothing ever happened, I gladly go that route. I'll gladly take the cheapest repair route as long as its decent enough to make it look like it never happened, and if an honest professional says it can


I think the paint came off my car. That's about it. I felt around the bumper, it doesn't feel like anything dented much. Funny thing is, I didn't even know my car was damaged until the guy pointed it out.

 

[Steve m]

Ask security for the camera images now.

 

[JetFalcon]

Ask security for the camera images now.

they won’t give them to me as they don’t give video footage to the public. I did call security, file a report since there was a camera right next to my car. Just in case, but I think this guy will do the right thing, especially now I know where his business is, so he couldn’t just run off.

The most security can do is let police look at the security footage. But thankfully this guy did admit his fault and wanted to make things right. Better than if he ran off and I had to hunt him down.

If I can find a cheapest way to fix it but still get the job done right, I think he will be more inclined and willing to pay up.

 

[SMAlset]

I hope everything works out for you. Don't bend over backwards to help him out if in the end it's going to harm you; as people said that's what you have insurance for. Case in point, this happened to me way back in the 70s I think. I had a Honda Civic that got rear ended by a seemingly nice young guy that just wasn't watching when all the lanes of traffic had come to a stop. I was unfortunately in front of his car and thankfully far enough back from the car in front of me. Anyway, guy admits to his being at fault and wanting to make it right. He didn't really want the police involved or insurance because it would raise his rates and he was kind of already struggling. Think he also wanted to offer me money on the spot to settle.

This was my first car I think and not really car savvy; but as I had no idea of the replacement cost would be, I declined and wanted to get estimates. Well he said the estimates were way more than he could afford and wanted me to get my chrome bumper replaced at a shop of someone he knew where they could at least save him on labor charges. Legit place, but what I found out later was that they used cheap foreign parts; and probably a year or so later the bumper started showing rust under the chrome which flaked off. Nothing I could do about it after the fact and so got stuck. The rusting got pretty bad and I think I ended up trading the car in and took a loss on the car beyond what I would have gotten. Sometimes it just pays to not get personally involved with other people's problems and go through insurance and other proper channels.

Let us know how it turns out for you.

 

[JetFalcon]

I hope everything works out for you. Don't bend over backwards to help him out if in the end it's going to harm you; as people said that's what you have insurance for. Case in point, this happened to me way back in the 70s I think. I had a Honda Civic that got rear ended by a seemingly nice young guy that just wasn't watching when all the lanes of traffic had ....

Let us know how it turns out for you.

I just got off the phone with him. We spoke for about 40 minutes. And he already offered to take my car to a licensed Tesla repair shop in Huntington Beach, he said he was refereed by a friend or colleague that is a professional in body work or cars. He seems to be well off, he said his cell phone repair business makes him $8000-9000 / month, so at least he's not a struggling student. And he was nice and told me how he runs his own business and I told him about my side hustle about selling Dave and Busters prizes.

And amazingly, he wanted to find a legitimize Tesla licensed business that's affordable, which is great. And not settle for a lousy job. I got the quote from a mobile repair business referred to me by a Tesla forum member, he said $400. But I guess I will wait until Monday, we will go to the shop he recommended, and see what makes sense. But thankfully, he seems to wanna find a legit place that charges a fair price, not just being the cheapest, but best value.

 

[JetFalcon]

Slight update, I have scheduled the service on Wednesday morning (12/18). And It's about $425. I think the guy will come through, he kept in contact for the past week and he never tried talk out of it.

I guess we will see for sure on Wednesday though. I think it will work out, I think this guy values being honest more than $400. Since he says he has kids and wants to teach them morals.

 

[erniejenson]

I don" think ones that are painted are $1,000. I think Tesla can replace it for less. On some items their prices are resonable.

 

[MichaelP90DL]

So what happened with the repair?

 

[JetFalcon]

So what happened with the repair?

It went well, I got it done around Dec 18. And its' been half a month and the paint held up pretty well. Like it never happened. Headlight was also done very well, a normal person who doesn't own the car probably wouldn't know its there unless they really wanted to find it.

I should ask him if he could do my parents old Lexus LX470 that has a few scratches.

 

[JetFalcon]

Right now, I'm still awaiting that guy to pay me back, but he at least didn't ignore me or try avoid me. He always responds back. But I dunno what kind of expenses he has, it's just $425, but he says he has kids and a divorced wife that he owes money to. So I don't know how that all adds up. But I just know he doesn't have $425 laying around, I just had $400-500 laying around in a safe so I just used that to pay the guy b/c I couldn't find a check book.

I told him I am open to cashless ways to repay me since he's taking forever for $425. So to help him out, but also get reimbursed somehow. He will start with a $270 target gift card to cover part of it, then repay me the rest in cash, or something else we can agree on. I'm being super nice and just giving him full value on these cashless offers just so I have something than nothing.

Especially that he did the honorable thing, it would have been easier for him to just run off and the cops would probably do nothing about it even if security cameras had evidence and his plate numbers.

 

[Evoforce]

He hasn't done the honorable thing yet. And what kind of business does he have that he doesn't have the ability to pay you back. His troubles will likely always take precedence over doing right by you... Better luck to you. You should have handled it with insurance. I really hope that he repays your kind spirit.

 

[MichaelP90DL]

I'm glad the repair went well. I referred two others to Ricky. Good luck getting your money; some folks just refuse to give it up and will spin all kinds of BS to avoid responsibility....

 

[MichaelP90DL]

If he doesn't pay you, tell him you'll sue on Judge Judy and then he can be humiliated in front of 10 million viewers.

 

[AMPd]

50 bucks says you won’t get the full amount if anything at all
Things started out with a “I run a profitable business and will pay you for the damage”
To now he has a divorced wife he owes money to and kids... next he will have a pet that needs surgery and so on, basically he will be the unluckiest guy in the world where he’s almost ready to pay you back only for something to happen that prevents him from paying you.

I’ve been through that with a friend I loaned money to, something always seemed to come up, the amount was much larger that 509 bucks but the story is the same.

 

[JetFalcon]

50 bucks says you won’t get the full amount if anything at all
Things started out with a “I run a profitable business and will pay you for the damage”
To now he has a divorced wife he owes money to and kids... next he will have a pet that needs surgery and so on, basically he will be the unluckiest guy in the world where he’s almost ready to pay you back only for something to happen that prevents him from paying you.

I’ve been through that with a friend I loaned money to, something always seemed to come up, the amount was much larger that 509 bucks but the story is the same.

Yeah, I knew it wasn't 100 percent, I am willing to accept a loss of $425 if I have to, he could have just ran off and be nothing I could do. But so far, he hasn't ignored me, so I'll work with him. If he intended to ignore me, I think he would have done it a week after it happened.

I just told him what cashless options can you do? So far, he seems he wants to give me a Target gift card worth $269, by returning beats he has. I just talked to him on the phone again. Its going to be blind faith, in hoping something will happen. He may be busy, but I don't think he has forgotten about me.

I'll update and see what happens. There is def no guarantee for anything, but he hasn't ignored me for the past month, I never hounded him down, I just try getting an update within a reasonable time so he can take care of his kids and still try resolve my issue.

I'll see how the Target gift card option goes. I'm trying to give him options so he can take care of his other expenses while still having a way to repay me. I dunno how $425 comes to most people, I just had that sitting in my safe in cash, likely from an AC unit I sold on Craigslist for $700.