Quarter panel/ Passenger rear door damaged.

[sagarj03]

Hi

Last night, I bumped my model 3 with a pole in the parking garage and got few dents and scrathes on the quarter panel and passenger rear door.

So,I went to couple of tesla authorized centers as well as non-autorized auto body shop for the estimates -

1) Amatos (authorized) - Gave me an estimate of 12k for replacing quarter panel and door (no repair option)
2) AJ usa (authorized) - Gave me an estimate of 10k for replacing quarter panel and door (no repair option)

3,4) Ability(non-authorized), Black mountain repair(non-authorized) - They could repair it without needing to replace the parts. Gave me an estimate of $2600-2800. (out of pocket)

Location - san diego

I need some guidance regarding whether to go with insurance or out of pocket or repair it later with this damage.

The thing is I had an at-fault small accident last october (driving lexus 2003) where geico had to pay 1300$ bucks to the other party. So, this got my insurance to jacked up by 350$/6months for the next renewal starting on 5/29. So, my question is should i report this accident and see another 300-400$/6m jump in my insurance as well as take a hit on car value or just go with 2600$ out of pocket repair?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jjrandorin]

These things are almost always "estimates". What are you going to do if the "non authorized" shop either:

1. Gets in there and says "oh, wait, there is more damage, its going to be an additional $2500 to fix.

or

2. Gets in there and finds out there is more damage that needs parts, and cant get them because they are not authorized (and tells you to buy the parts, etc)

or

3. Does a crappy job, because they are not familiar with the process to repair that specific vehicle (as they are not authorized).

Number 1 or 2 is the most likely, imo. Paying out of pocket for a $700 simple repair? sure.. Something that another shop is quoting 10k for? I certainly wouldnt, the amount of things that could go wrong if I was footing the bill is too high. Thats what you pay for insurance for, at least in my opinion.

 

[Shelburne]

Last October, while visiting a friend, she backed her big SUV out of her garage and plowed into the front end of my M3. The car was only 13 months old at the time. I took it to a Tesla authorized collision center. Their original estimate was $6200. The insurance adjustor gave me an estimate of $3200. Because I was not at fault and because my friend and I had our cars insured by the same company, thus eliminating any possibility of haggling between two different insurers, I opted to have insurance comer the repairs. Tesla. sends owners emails listing the parts ordered, and when they ship. I parts order included 28 parts (and multiples of some of them). The parts included a new frunk lid, new left front quarter panel, new front bumper, new crash cans for behind the bumper, new sensors for the bumper, & two new headlight assemblies. The final cost of repairs was $9260 and the process took about 5 weeks. Personally, I would never take a Tesla to a shop that wasn't authorized by Tesla. But that's up to you. However, according to my insurance agent, there is a magic number of $5000. If the costs are less than that, it's cheaper in the long run to pay for them yourself if you are determined to be at fault, which you clearly are.

 

[santua]

I am going to provide my two cents. A lot of people here think that a Tesla is something ridiculously special that requires only an authorized shop to fix body damage. It's not.

I would personally go to a body shop that deals with high-level cars (Porsche, Ferrari, etc) that has a good reputation and get an opinion and estimate from them. I would agree with @Shelburne that if the costs of the damage are less than $5000, it might be a good idea to not get your insurance involved.

 

[jjrandorin]

I am going to provide my two cents. A lot of people here think that a Tesla is something ridiculously special that requires only an authorized shop to fix body damage. It's not.

I would personally go to a body shop that deals with high-level cars (Porsche, Ferrari, etc) that has a good reputation and get an opinion and estimate from them. I would agree with @Shelburne that if the costs of the damage are less than $5000, it might be a good idea to not get your insurance involved.

No, its not magical to fix, but parts only come from one place ( tesla ) and if a shop is not authorized, they cant get them. That part is Not like other cars, at all.

 

[sagarj03]

Last October, while visiting a friend, she backed her big SUV out of her garage and plowed into the front end of my M3. The car was only 13 months old at the time. I took it to a Tesla authorized collision center. Their original estimate was $6200. The insurance adjustor gave me an estimate of $3200. Because I was not at fault and because my friend and I had our cars insured by the same company, thus eliminating any possibility of haggling between two different insurers, I opted to have insurance comer the repairs. Tesla. sends owners emails listing the parts ordered, and when they ship. I parts order included 28 parts (and multiples of some of them). The parts included a new frunk lid, new left front quarter panel, new front bumper, new crash cans for behind the bumper, new sensors for the bumper, & two new headlight assemblies. The final cost of repairs was $9260 and the process took about 5 weeks. Personally, I would never take a Tesla to a shop that wasn't authorized by Tesla. But that's up to you. However, according to my insurance agent, there is a magic number of $5000. If the costs are less than that, it's cheaper in the long run to pay for them yourself if you are determined to be at fault, which you clearly are.

My car is insured with Geico. Do you have any idea whether they would cover the entire cost - deductible if the parts are to be replaced? because I have seen that the insurance estimator would give the estimate considering it can be repaired. i am just worried if i have to pay for the diff between the final cost and what insurance agrees to pay.

 

[Shelburne]

Insurance company estimates are almost always well under the estimates provided by any collision centers, and also well under the final price tag. My M3 is insured thru Commerce Insurance which is a division of MAPFRE Insurance. The guys at the Tesla authorized collision center told me to expect the insurance company's estimate to be a lot less than theirs. When the insurance company's adjustor came to look at my M3 he even confirmed that, saying that his estimate would be cursory and not include the cost of repairing damage he couldn't see at a glance. As for covering the deductible, in my experience I've only had to pay the deductible if I was at fault. If someone else was at fault, his/hers insurance company covers the deductible.

I still strongly urge you to have the work done by a Tesla Authorized Collision Center. Remember, my insurance company's adjustor said the repairs would cost $3200. The final cost was $6000 more. It was all covered and I didn't pay any deductible. And just as importantly, the repairs were done right - no need to go back for more work on the car.

 

[Mec0902]

I own a body shop and have repaired a number of teslas for members here. That quarter panel and the door are totally repairable. Replacing a quarter for that little bit of damage is completely invasive, and downright greed on the part of those body shops.