Rekt

[Crutonius]

I am now entering the hell of getting a smashed Model S fixed. Driving home from Vegas a bunch of snow fell all at once causing me to lose control.

This third picture is where the real damage is. You can't tell from the angle but the wheel is bashed in by about 40 degrees.

Still waiting on an estimate to see if it's totalled. But they're leaning towards fixable. They tell me it's going to be at least 6 weeks.

The most obnoxious thing right now is they still don't have it plugged in. I'm going to have to go down there with a generator to juice it up soon.

 

[AMPd]

That’s not fun, luckily it’s just a car, it can and will be repaired. What’s important is you’re ok and it wasn’t worse than that.
Hopefully the repair process goes smoothly and quickly

 

[kazamm]

Sorry to hear!

Can you tell us what kind of tires were on the car? Summers?

 

[Crutonius]

All season. Continental... Pure contact? Super contact or something like that? I think they were 5 out of 10 for wear.

I'm still pondering what could have been done differently. Snow tires possibly. Dual motors maybe. This was a very strange weather event. It was too warm for snow to stick but the storm basically laid out an ice skating rink right before me. Several other cars were also caught by this event.

 

[Crutonius]

That’s not fun, luckily it’s just a car, it can and will be repaired. What’s important is you’re ok and it wasn’t worse than that.
Hopefully the repair process goes smoothly and quickly

Definitely. It could have been a lot worse. At one point when I was trying to regain control I was almost head one with the concrete barrier.

 

[Operator64]

As long as you are ok the car can get fixed

 

[thesmokingman]

That's light damage but its gonna be expensive anyways due to the rear quarter panel. A good bodywork specialist could massage the quarter back to shape.

 

[Crutonius]

Got a call from the adjuster. It's totaled.

Financially it's a good thing. The car actually gained value. Emotionally though, I feel like I've lost a horse.

 

[teyvat]

Glad you're safe. Any thoughts on your next car?

 

[Crutonius]

Still evaluate the current market. But to be honest, most likely another Model S. It's the only ev that checks all the boxes. Maybe one day the EA network will rise to level of being useful but that's not happening anytime soon.

 

[airborne spoon]

this is why you don't drive in the snow without the proper tires. Also how TF is that considered totaled? its just 2 maybe 3 body panels you can get those for next to nothing and paint is cheap too. I'd get a second opinion from the insurance folks. glad you're ok but i gotta say it feels like lack of driver skill and you shouldn't have been on the road in the first place.

When i drive up north every month for a few days if its during the winter i put on my snow tires and then when i get home i put my summer tires back on. This last weekend we got 17" of snow in 1 day and i had to drive home the following day. the roads were somewhat plowed but we still had chain control and if i'd not put on my snow tires I'd have gotten stuck for a few days till they ended the chain control requirement. But AWD with snow tires no chains needed and they dont make chains for the 20" or 21" teslas and there is no space in the wheel well for chains anyway

 

[AMPd]

this is why you don't drive in the snow without the proper tires. Also how TF is that considered totaled? its just 2 maybe 3 body panels you can get those for next to nothing and paint is cheap too. I'd get a second opinion from the insurance folks. glad you're ok but i gotta say it feels like lack of driver skill and you shouldn't have been on the road in the first place.

When i drive up north every month for a few days if its during the winter i put on my snow tires and then when i get home i put my summer tires back on. This last weekend we got 17" of snow in 1 day and i had to drive home the following day. the roads were somewhat plowed but we still had chain control and if i'd not put on my snow tires I'd have gotten stuck for a few days till they ended the chain control requirement. But AWD with snow tires no chains needed and they dont make chains for the 20" or 21" teslas and there is no space in the wheel well for chains anyway

If I had to guess it’s totaled because it’s an older model s so the value of the vehicle is low yet the repair costs from Tesla authorized body shops are high. So you end up with repair costs that are close to the value of the entire vehicle.

 

[Crutonius]

What isn't obvious in the pictures is the rear wheel being bashed in pretty good. So there's damage beyond just cosmetic stuff.

Still if it were Toyota or GM I'm sure this would be fixable within the value of the car.

 

[airborne spoon]

If I had to guess it’s totaled because it’s an older model s so the value of the vehicle is low yet the repair costs from Tesla authorized body shops are high. So you end up with repair costs that are close to the value of the entire vehicle.

There is no way in hell a couple body panels and paint cost enough to total it out. it's the insurance company just pushing the easy button like a bunch of jackasses

What isn't obvious in the pictures is the rear wheel being bashed in pretty good. So there's damage beyond just cosmetic stuff.

Still if it were Toyota or GM I'm sure this would be fixable within the value of the car.

Rear tire looks fine it's probably not a P model or has the 245 tires and the the 265 ones. When I swapped mine out I was amazed how much that 20 mm made in the look of the car and they were sunken in the wheel well.

 

[AMPd]

There is no way in hell a couple body panels and paint cost enough to total it out. it's the insurance company just pushing the easy button like a bunch of jackasses

Rear tire looks fine it's probably not a P model or has the 245 tires and the the 265 ones. When I swapped mine out I was amazed how much that 20 mm made in the look of the car and they were sunken in the wheel well.

The rear wheel is definitely not fine, look closer, it’s crooked.
Couple of body panels and paint work might not be expensive but the “certified shop” labor sure as heck is unfortunately.

When I a lady backed into me leaving a quarter sized damage in my front bumper, regular shop shop quoted me 650 bucks, unfortunately they couldn’t do the work.

Tesla certified shop charged 3600, they said the bumper had to be replaced along with the home link unit behind it.

 

[airborne spoon]

The rear wheel is definitely not fine, look closer, it’s crooked.
Couple of body panels and paint work might not be expensive but the “certified shop” labor sure as heck is unfortunately.

When I a lady backed into me leaving a quarter sized damage in my front bumper, regular shop shop quoted me 650 bucks, unfortunately they couldn’t do the work.

Tesla certified shop charged 3600, they said the bumper had to be replaced along with the home link unit behind it.

Naw I still say it looks fine I think it's eyes playing tricks because the front of the fender is pushed in more.

What I don't understand is the shops. Why wouldn't the $650 do the work? Is there a law that says Jim's body shop can't work on a Tesla? Like body work isn't rocket surgery it's simple *sugar*.

 

[AMPd]

Naw I still say it looks fine I think it's eyes playing tricks because the front of the fender is pushed in more.

What I don't understand is the shops. Why wouldn't the $650 do the work? Is there a law that says Jim's body shop can't work on a Tesla? Like body work isn't rocket surgery it's simple *sugar*.

I’m not sure if it’s the same now, but back then Tesla wouldn’t allow non certified shops to work on the cars. So the shop couldn’t get any parts. I don’t know which parts they needed because they told me it was going to be a simple repair and re spray of the bumper. But then called back and said they couldn’t do the work

Felt bad for the girl that hit me because for 650 bucks we could have left the insurance company out of it.

 

[harkirath]

Still evaluate the current market. But to be honest, most likely another Model S. It's the only ev that checks all the boxes. Maybe one day the EA network will rise to level of being useful but that's not happening anytime soon.

Super sorry to hear about the S but glad that you are safe. I have a Model X reservation just about ready for VIN and production if you are interested. I booked it back in March when it was at a base price of $104k. PM me if interested. Looking for any fair offer but at a minimum my $250 fee back.

 

[Huachipato]

A couple years ago I got backed into. It was a deep scratch and minor dent in a few pieces of the back bumper. I didn't think it would be much more than a sanding down and spot repaint and buff and send me on the way. However - this is one area where Tesla absolutely fails. I called a few shops where they wouldn't even bother with me as soon as I said "Tesla". One shop said the parts are so slow to arrive that they end up clogging their work bays for months longer than it should be.

I dealt with a certified Tesla repair shop and they wanted to keep the car a long time too, but I talked them into ordering the parts and I would bring the car to them after they arrived. I didn't want to be without the car. The cost was rather high compared to what I would have expected and they replaced one of the flat black plastic pieces. The other person's insurance covered the cost. It's a pain getting these cars repaired even if you think the damage is minor.

 

[Crutonius]

Interesting. That would explain why this particular repair shop I was at seemed to have a disproportionally high percentage of tesla's waiting for repair in the lot.

Yeah, Tesla really needs to get it together. It's probably making the cost to insure it unnecessarily high.