Scrapped up rocker panel - alternative ways to repair?

[eddieb3]

I scraped up my passenger side rocker panel running up against roof tiles that the solar installers pulled from the side of my garage to replace broken tiles during their install and I didn't see them pulling into the garage. Estimate to repair is $2,300. $30 of parts. All the rest is labor cuz they have to basically pull the piece out that goes back over the rear wheel well to paint it properly.

Since it's the rocker panel which you can hardly see because it's below the door and then curves underneath the car part way, I'm thinking there might be another cheaper way because you can hardly see it unless you get on the ground, so if it's not absolutely perfect, I'm ok with it. Deductible for insurance is $500, but it's more about taking the hit on insurance, especially if I have another claim in 3 years and then the rates really go up.

Any suggestions or experiences with an alternate way of getting this fixed for cheaper and I would just pay out of pocket? Any recommended shops for that kind of work in the south Orange County area of CA? Or even outside that area? Thanks.

 

[bpobill]

You want an opinion on body work without supplying photos? Good luck lol.

 

[eddieb3]

You want an opinion on body work without supplying photos? Good luck lol.

You are absolutely correct. Thanks for the reminder. I already had pictures. Here they are.

 

[RB88]

Do you have a Tesla-owned body shop near you? If so - get a quote from them.
I had significantly worse rocker panel damage, local shops were quoting $3-4k. Tesla did it for $1.2k. Perfect job.

 

[Diamond Hills]

The tricky part with this is that there's no good break point for the paint from the rocker to the quarter panel so anyone doing it properly would have to blend the quarter. Then that involves a few other operations and that's where it starts to add up. We've done quite a few with similar damage. Our Orange location is a Tesla approved body shop, Tesla-specific, and handles nothing but Tesla repairs. We handle the work from the local service centers (Costa Mesa, Santa Ana, etc.) and deal with Tesla's Pomona shop, as well. They send hits to us when they're backed up and vice versa.

If you want a second opinion, feel free to give us a call. (714) 283-8808 Free estimate, no obligation, and our estimators would be happy to answer any additional questions. Or feel free to PM here and we'll answer as best we can.

 

[eddieb3]

Do you have a Tesla-owned body shop near you? If so - get a quote from them.
I had significantly worse rocker panel damage, local shops were quoting $3-4k. Tesla did it for $1.2k. Perfect job.

Wow. Interesting. There's one over an hour from me in Pomona, CA. Are these places different from a Tesla service center. Bacause I found a Tesla Pomona service center thinking that was it, but after making the appt. they cancelled it saying they didn't do body repair. I found a Tesla Pomona body shop, but got put on hold for a while but the name of the shop was Pomona auto body per the phone recording. No Tesla in their name so not sure how they are affiliated or if they are owned.

 

[KenC]

Dr. Colorchip.

 

[Black306]

 

[Diamond Hills]

Wow. Interesting. There's one over an hour from me in Pomona, CA. Are these places different from a Tesla service center. Bacause I found a Tesla Pomona service center thinking that was it, but after making the appt. they cancelled it saying they didn't do body repair. I found a Tesla Pomona body shop, but got put on hold for a while but the name of the shop was Pomona auto body per the phone recording. No Tesla in their name so not sure how they are affiliated or if they are owned.

The Tesla Pomona center has both service and collision repair. I'm not sure why they said they don't do any collision work. We just spoke to their body repair team yesterday regarding a vehicle they had sent us. This is the address for their collision center:

3880 Valley Blvd, Walnut, CA 91789

The regular Tesla service centers do not do any collision work - that's true. They may have a detailer/polisher on staff to try and get minor scuffs out, but for any actual body work they rely on the Tesla Approved Body shop (TAB) network or Tesla's own shop (in this region that would be Pomona). If you take it to a service center, they'll just refer you on to one of the above.

 

[Msjulie]

I feel your pain, similar thing happened to my car same side (not roof tiles though). It was pricey because the shop redid the clear all the way back onto the quarter so no paint 'seams' w/o a real body seam. Mine also had some damage to the actual plastic cover bit (grr) but happily you can't tell at all now