-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Dropped the car off at SDR this am for the repair work to begin. Learned while I was there that they've applied to be an authorized Tesla body shop. They have all of the necessary equipment and have extensive experience with aluminum frames and body panels. Plus they've worked on quite a few Teslas already. This is great for us in the Baltimore area.
SDR's estimates for repairs have just come in: Around $8,000. Next USAA will have to send one of its field appraisers out to do an inspection & estimate.
I'm guessing when all is said and done it will end up being $2,000 - $4,000 more. Seems to me that the driver at fault and State Farm have gotten off easy. Next, however, a diminished value claim.
I'm guessing when all is said and done it will end up being $2,000 - $4,000 more. Seems to me that the driver at fault and State Farm have gotten off easy. Next, however, a diminished value claim.
It will go up. Just started dealing with State Farm an hour ago. They are so far so good. Hopefully it works out for you and me!
chibi_kurochan
Member
Curious question, can someone please explain to me how diminished value claim works?
Thank you!
You get the difference between the value of your car without accidents and one with a comparable accident. In my case $8k. In his probably little less. You file the claim and then they should pay. You just have to be nice then they will hook you up.
It's been two weeks since the accident and things are not going well.
As it turns out parts are not the problem. Tesla has my back on parts.
No, the biggest delay now appears to be the lack of repair capacity by the three Telsa authorized body shops in Maryland. Two have 6-8 week backlogs and the other, Service King, has a highly questionable reputation, so much so that I won't let them work on my car. And all three do repairs to other brands, so it's not just a backlog of Tesla's that's responsible for the delay.
So even if Tesla resolves the parts issues they must dramatically expand the number of authorized shops. Given that Tesla time marches to the beat of a very slow drummer, it they're going to resolve this problem before it causes major damage to the brand, Tesla had better find a a drummer who plays at a much higher cadence.
I go on vacation in the middle of August. I'm betting now that my car won't be repaired until September or even later. Pathetic.
As it turns out parts are not the problem. Tesla has my back on parts.
No, the biggest delay now appears to be the lack of repair capacity by the three Telsa authorized body shops in Maryland. Two have 6-8 week backlogs and the other, Service King, has a highly questionable reputation, so much so that I won't let them work on my car. And all three do repairs to other brands, so it's not just a backlog of Tesla's that's responsible for the delay.
So even if Tesla resolves the parts issues they must dramatically expand the number of authorized shops. Given that Tesla time marches to the beat of a very slow drummer, it they're going to resolve this problem before it causes major damage to the brand, Tesla had better find a a drummer who plays at a much higher cadence.
I go on vacation in the middle of August. I'm betting now that my car won't be repaired until September or even later. Pathetic.
Bummer to hear. Glad to hear it's not the parts; however, this problem isn't any better....
HankLloydRight
No Roads
You have my deepest sympathy.
If it's any consolation, I'd never get my car serviced at a place called "Service King". That's just asking for trouble.
If it's any consolation, I'd never get my car serviced at a place called "Service King". That's just asking for trouble.
As SDR is still waiting for approval from Tesla to become an certified shop, Tesla told them (even though they have the necessary equipment and experience) that the structural work has to be done by a certified shop. So the car will be transported to one of the approved shops, the structural repairs made, and then transported back to SDR for the rest of the work.
Why doesn't Tesla just certify SDR now and make all of our lives easier? That's the obvious and simple solution. SDR can do the structural repairs right away.
I did ask her how she could be so stupid. Then I said "this is going to cost you dearly." But when she handed me her insurance card her hands were shaking horribly and then I felt bad. Maybe I was a bit too hard on her.
I feel your frustration, but insulting the other driver isn't exactly helping the situation especially when she is cooperating with you. Also, don't forget that you were also that "stupid driver" once upon a time:
You might want to look into whether or not Dorn's Body and Paint in Mechanicsville, VA (just outside of Richmond) has a quicker turnaround. I know they do pick up vehicles from Tysons and Raleigh for repair. They did my repair after a rear end collision also.
I've contacted the Tesla team and described the delays that the authorized shops are having due to backlogs. That was on Friday afternoon. Haven't heard back yet but it will be interesting to see if they can do anything about this. And thanks for the reference to Dorn's techmaven.
Thanks to the Tesla team, who intervened when the two other authorized repair shops in Maryland couldn't do timely work, my car has been at Criswell Collision center in Annapolis. Here's a photo of where it stands (Criswell posts this for owners). Regrettably, they project that the repairs won't be completed until August 18.
Latest Status and Photos | AutoWatch Vehicle Status
Latest Status and Photos | AutoWatch Vehicle Status
I stopped at a stop light this am for about 10 seconds. There were about six cars ahead of me and none behind. As I was waiting for the red light to change and traffic ahead to start moving forward, I was rear-ended by a Subaru Forrester. I jumped out to ask the driver what was wrong with her. I asked if she was on her phone. She said no and claimed she was staring at my license plate at got distracted. I said "distracted." The license plate is on the rear of the car you just rammed, fool.
Luckily the damage seems to be limited to the bumper, lift gate, and rear parking sensor system, which will have to replaced. There appears to be no frame damage or damage to any other panels.
Fortunately, I don't have to have this kind of damage repaired by an authorized Tesla shop, as that will take forever and cost almost twice as much. This appears to be a job for SDR, the folks that did my refresh bumper upgrade.
Some photos of the damage:
You have a hitch??!! What do you tow? or is it for accessories?
It's for hauling my carbon trike around on my custom made carbon fiber rack. Here's a thread.
My dimished value claim will be around $8,000 maybe more.
Last edited:
I think you had the wrong thing in your clipboard, that is still the link to your car status.
Criswell, the place doing the structural repairs, provides progress reports with photos as their work proceeds. Here's the latest photo. Not pretty. But I love the fact that they provide these updates (they also provide an estimated completion date with each update). Helps with the uncertainty of it all.
