There has been brooding buzz on the web of late regarding Tesla and what seems to be their biggest weakness: body repair.
Here are is some of what I've seen:
And action from Tesla:
What a coincidence that my Model S should get damaged only a week ago.
Given the current situation, I think it will be very valuable for everyone to see a repair happen in real time.
The first post is me playing catch-up with the last few days. After that, you will see updates as they happen.
This will be an unbiased, factual, lightly comical account of my experience getting my Tesla Model S repaired.
Here we go!
Friday, March 10, 2017 - Day 1:
Having spent the afternoon around town and my car being parked for several hours, I came back to find the
rear liftgate and bumper damaged on my Model S 70 D. I immediately called and reported a claim to my insurance company - GEICO.
Michele the Claims Adjuster was more upset than I was. She was one of those sexy-over-the-phone people that you hope to never meet in real life and have to face the disappoinment. After only 15 minutes of me divulging everything I've ever known or felt to her, I was told to be expecting a call from their local appraiser within the next 24 business hours. Hmm... 24 business hours. It's Friday early afternoon. So, I'll hear from the appraiser on Monday.
I get in contact with 3 Tesla Certified Body Shops:
- Dorn's Body and Paint - Mechanicsville, VA
- Rob tells me to send pictures and he'll put a quote together for me
- Caldwell Collision - Charlotte, NC
- Josh Caldwell warns me of wait times for parts.
- I send over pictures.
- Caliber Collision - Charlotte, NC
- Caliber has to see the car in person to give an estimate.
An hour later I have a quote from Caldwell Collision -
$7855.70! They want to replace everything. I'm not the one who will a problem with it. GEICO on the other hand might. Let's see what the other shops have to say.
At 3:30pm on the same day I receive a call from a local number I didn't know. Seeing as how I was in a super-important top-secret meeting about the number of plies on our office t.p. and it couldn't possibly be my insurance company, I declined the call.
When I checked my messages at 4:32pm, I discovered that the mystery caller was Brian the insurance appraiser from GEICO.
Great! I call him back to find out his working hours are from 8am to 4:30pm - just missed him. No problem, we'll talk on Monday.
Monday March 13th, 2017 - Day 4:
Brian calls me at 9:12am. We schedule a time for him to stop by my office at 1pm on Tuesday the 14th.
Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love you tomorrow! You're only a day away! - Yeah, I'm old. Shut up.
Tuesday March 14th, 2017 - Day 5:
When I get to the office I have a quote in my inbox from Dorn's Body and Paint -
$6215.84!
It's like that time your buddy Steve from college got drunk and banged a hooker. Did Steve get dumped? No way.
Why would Sarah break up with Steve? He was drunk. He didn't know what he was doing. But you... you sober piece of $@%&. Why would you let Steve do that? I just can't trust you any more.
In other words, my insurance company is definitely dropping me after this one.
Brian arrives at 12:56pm. After a brief inspection I give him the quotes and he is off doing his thing.
15 minutes later he is done with the appraisal -
$1547.26. High hopes Brian, high hopes.
Brian informs me that he recently had another claim on a Tesla in town. It was sent to Caliber Collision in Charlotte, NC. The owner and the insurance company were very happy with the process and results. We'll see about that.
Wednesday March 15th, 2017 - Day 6:
I submit the estimate to Dorn's Paint and Body and immediately get a response from them that essentially says, "We don't like dealing with GEICO. They suck." Well, seeing as how I've only dealt with Sexy-Over-The-Phone Michele and Brian the Prompt, I disagree.
I get in touch with Brian and inform him that he has haters in Virginia. Non-Nonplussed, he tells me that I should at least give Caliber a shot. GEICO will pay for the towing there and back (on a flatbed, of course).
Fine, Brian. I'll do it just for you.
After a quick call to Caliber Collision, they ask for a copy of the GEICO estimate. I send that over and here we are.
NOW YOU'RE ALL CAUGHT UP.
Like I said, I'll post updates as they happen - all the way to the bitter end.
Now go feed your cats, weirdos.