Replace Windshield - anyone have success negotiating with insurance?

[Footer]

Tesla replaced mine under warranty. It was a 12" crack in the camera area. No chips so it wasn't hit by anything. The invoice showed labor at $150/hour (hours not shown) and the following 4 parts.

WSHLD ASSY MONO-CAM LHD MS2
Dow BetalSeal Express - 310 ml
Betaprime, 10 ml
Module - Sensor - Light/Rain

Obviously a few more parts than the typical windshield.

I dropped it off in Highland Park. They gave me a loaner (oddly, the car I traded in 5 months earlier). Then drove it to my house 90 miles away the next day when it was fixed.

 

[andyaycw]

Thank you everyone for the responses! I am going to write an email to my insurance company using some verbiage from Tesla's site regarding safety, structural integrity, etc....as well as the California insurance *.gov website regulations. and see what happens, and hopefully they agree to cough up more money.

I also wanted to add an interesting data point on prices I was quoted from 2 different Tesla Service Centers:

• Tesla Torrance quoted me ~$1300 for parts + labor. I had them double-check they were quoting me the correct price
• Tesla of Buena Park quoted me just ~$800 total for parts + labor. They double-checked and confirmed parts + labor that this was the correct price, and even emailed me the parts list which matches pretty closely to @Footer 's list in the post above.
• City Collision of Stanton, CA (a Tesla certified body shop) said that no matter how cheap they get the part from Tesla (in this case, it would have been purchased directly from Tesla of Buena Park), they would charge no less than $1400-$1500. So...if they got the part for free, they'd charge $1500 in labor. If they got the part for $500, they'd charge $1000 in labor. What a ripoff!

If price was the only concern, I'd go to Tesla of Buena Park. Unfortunately, they are booked solid for 2 weeks.

Tesla of Torrance, while nearly 60% ($500) more expensive, can get me in in just 2 days. So, it looks like my only option is to see why Torrance Tesla is charging so much more + try to get my insurance to pay for more.

 

[gopassgas]

That's weird that the actual Tesla service centers are quoting you different costs. Perhaps the cheaper SC is marking some of the cost as Goodwill (i.e. For free) depending on the relationship you might have with them.

As far as your insurance goes, I would probably not make the effort to write a letter...just tell them you have a glass claim, let them decide whether repair or replacement is necessary, and let them make the arrangements of where they want you to take the car. Double check that you do indeed have glass replacement coverage, and let them know that replacement means full replacement value. If they deal directly with Tesla, perhaps they will be better able to understand the actual costs. Also, Tesla may have some wiggle room to negotiate in your favor....as your survey of costs might indicate.

May I ask, who is your insurance carrier?