Sharing my car repair experience

[s1rk]

Not to threadjack, but I dropped off my car to an authorized repair shop on 03/08/19 to fix an accident I got into.

I hit a cone which got sucked underneath my car (passenger side) while driving on low and proceeded to rip off the front passenger side undercarriage along with the parts connected to it, which I was told was the condenser, right front sensor, etc. I should be getting an estimate some time today. I will update this thread as I get them.

 

[democappy]

One Month Update:
I am just going to plan to update this thread once a month until my car is repaired. All parts have been ordered with Tesla in the past week. Tesla has not even acknowledged that they have received those part requests from my mechanic. There is no human you can actually talk to with Tesla. The parts could arrive next week or they could arrive in 6 months. No one knows. Apparently, Tesla parts orders just go into a black hole and if you wish really hard to Elon parts magically appear.

My mechanic is telling me to just assume everything will take 8 months in total.

 

[drklain]

Not to threadjack, but I dropped off my car to an authorized repair shop on 03/08/19 to fix an accident I got into.... I will update this thread as I get them.

Would be better if you start your own thread to avoid confusion. Much better than threadjacking.

 

[s1rk]

Would be better if you start your own thread to avoid confusion. Much better than threadjacking.

Figured it was better than starting another thread for the same issue -- dealing with repairs/timeline. But sure, I can do that to help those that might be in the same position as I am in.


Good luck with repairs @democappy ! Is ur mechanic able to show you the parts they've ordered and if Tesla has processed them? I just got an update from my shop right now and it shows which parts are in transit vs in processing, etc.

 

[democappy]

Figured it was better than starting another thread for the same issue -- dealing with repairs/timeline. But sure, I can do that to help those that might be in the same position as I am in.


Good luck with repairs @democappy ! Is ur mechanic able to show you the parts they've ordered and if Tesla has processed them? I just got an update from my shop right now and it shows which parts are in transit vs in processing, etc.

They can tell me parts ordered, but no other status than that since Tesla has given no response to them at all. They said some times they get parts before Tesla even acknowledges them, so just no idea when things will arrive.

 

[s1rk]

They can tell me parts ordered, but no other status than that since Tesla has given no response to them at all. They said some times they get parts before Tesla even acknowledges them, so just no idea when things will arrive.

I guess it's a case by case basis then and depends on what kinds of parts they will need. I did not take my car to Tesla body shop because they have a 3 month wait just to take the cars in but found a Tesla authorized shop down the street from me. They have been pretty responsive and sent me this today when I inquired about acknowledgement from Tesla. They did tell me it can take over 3 weeks to receive parts from them.

 

[Kokomo]

My Tesla was in an accident on 2/14 and I thought I would just track my experience here for anyone interested. I am about to go into that dreaded timeline of seeing if my car will be prepared in 1 month or 6 months. Definitely one of the biggest issues with owning a Tesla is when it works, it really works. When it goes wrong, it really goes wrong and the support is limited.

Accident happened on 2/14. Another driver ran a red light and hit the side of my Tesla. First thing to note, when Tesla finds out you have been in an accident, they cut all power even when it is unnecessary. Therefore, you can't even put it into tow mode because without power the car can't do anything. First tow truck driver that the police called eventually gave up trying to tow it. Tesla sent a tow truck driver for me who know how to charge the 12v so I could put it in tow mode. However, he also eventually gave up on being able to figure out how to tow it even with Tesla customer support calling him. I didn't get a tow truck driver willing and able to tow the car until 2/18.

Tesla gave me a list of body shops. The first one my tow truck driver towed it to informed us that they no longer work on Teslas because it isn't worth the hassle. That leaves me with one repair company (with multiple locations) in all of Charlotte even willing to work on them.

At the body shop, my Tesla has to get in line behind all of the other ones because they only work the Teslas in a special room since they are aluminum. So far my car has just sat their waiting. They are going to work on it today/tomorrow, but told me that the wait for Tesla to sends parts could be extremely long. They said the time to get parts is all over the place, but don't expect anything to be repaired for at least a month and it may be several months before they even get the parts. They said the Tesla they were working on today got in its accident in May 2018!

So here I sit, paying my car loan for a car I might not see for months and driving a rental car that is obviously nowhere near the level of my Tesla.

 

[Kokomo]

They can tell me parts ordered, but no other status than that since Tesla has given no response to them at all. They said some times they get parts before Tesla even acknowledges them, so just no idea when things will arrive.

Some guy hit the right side of my MS on Feb 13. It's been at the repair shop since Feb 18 with the tesla warehouse still sitting on one of the parts. The tesla repair shop advocate said that warehouse has had the part in stock for two weeks now but is having "shipment problems ". I offered to drive to Pomona to pick it up myself but they just laughed. This is a joke . What other business can operate under this business model. My wife recently said she wanted to look at getting a Tesla and I asked her if she was nuts if they can't even hire enough people in their parts facility to ship the parts to the repair shops.

 

[democappy]

I have a positive update (at least compared to the low expectations that were set for me). Tesla has delivered enough of the parts for my car that they can actually start doing work on it at the body shop. I still have a couple of parts that no one knows when they will get shipped, but they are relatively minor parts and can be installed towards the end of the process. Assuming those parts arrive soon, I might get my car in the next 2-3 weeks.

That would put the full repair turn-around at ~2 months. Again, that is assuming the last couple parts arrive soon. I would happily take that since the body shop originally told me to just assume it would take 8 months.

 

[democappy]

Two Month Update:
I got tricked by hopeful news two weeks ago. They said my car might already be fixed and back in my hands by now and all that they needed was for Tesla to ship the last 2 parts. Tesla never sent those parts and they can't tell me when they might do it.

So I continue to wait. Probably at least another 2-4 week wait.

 

[Midwest317]

Two Month Update:
I got tricked by hopeful news two weeks ago. They said my car might already be fixed and back in my hands by now and all that they needed was for Tesla to ship the last 2 parts. Tesla never sent those parts and they can't tell me when they might do it.

So I continue to wait. Probably at least another 2-4 week wait.

All I can say is ... I'm sorry. I've been so excited about a future MS purchase, but this does give me pause. All the best as you wait!

 

[democappy]

Two and A Half Month Update:
According to FedEx, the last of the parts from the original request my body shop made to Tesla will arrive this Friday (5/3). However, when the shop got some of the parts a few weeks ago and started actually taking the car apart, they realized they needed a few more parts than they had originally expected.

Unsurprisingly, those new parts that they needed have been sitting in the "In Processing - Unknown ETA" status for the past 2 weeks. I think that means the parts aren't in stock. Still in parts limbo. 3 final parts waiting to be sent. Will hopefully all be fixed in the next month, but obviously "ETA Unknown".

One thing I would recommend to people is that if you have a Tesla you should really get extra insurance to cover extra rental car coverage when you get in an accident. The other driver was at fault in my case, so their insurance (which will end up being my insurance since they were underinsured) will cover the rental car cost. However, if I was at fault, my insurance only covers rental cars for 30 days/$900. I would have been paying $1,350 a month + my regular car loan payment to be driving around in a rental Nissan.

I really wish it was worth it for Tesla to invest in their parts process and try to also do some actual customer service around it. I cannot talk to an actual person at Tesla. When a Tesla breaks everyone involved in the process from the tow truck driver, to the insurance agent, to the mechanic think Tesla is the absolute worst to deal with. When a Tesla works, I do believe it is the absolute best car you could own. When a Tesla is broken, it is the worst car you could own.

 

[Bet TSLA]

Two and A Half Month Update:
According to FedEx, the last of the parts from the original request my body shop made to Tesla will arrive this Friday (5/3). However, when the shop got some of the parts a few weeks ago and started actually taking the car apart, they realized they needed a few more parts than they had originally expected.

Unsurprisingly, those new parts that they needed have been sitting in the "In Processing - Unknown ETA" status for the past 2 weeks. I think that means the parts aren't in stock. Still in parts limbo. 3 final parts waiting to be sent. Will hopefully all be fixed in the next month, but obviously "ETA Unknown".

One thing I would recommend to people is that if you have a Tesla you should really get extra insurance to cover extra rental car coverage when you get in an accident. The other driver was at fault in my case, so their insurance (which will end up being my insurance since they were underinsured) will cover the rental car cost. However, if I was at fault, my insurance only covers rental cars for 30 days/$900. I would have been paying $1,350 a month + my regular car loan payment to be driving around in a rental Nissan.

I really wish it was worth it for Tesla to invest in their parts process and try to also do some actual customer service around it. I cannot talk to an actual person at Tesla. When a Tesla breaks everyone involved in the process from the tow truck driver, to the insurance agent, to the mechanic think Tesla is the absolute worst to deal with. When a Tesla works, I do believe it is the absolute best car you could own. When a Tesla is broken, it is the worst car you could own.

This whole experience is really unacceptable. As I mentioned above, I got both my Model S and Model 3 repaired at the Tesla body shop (owned and run by Tesla) in San Jose, CA. One of the things they do different is they take everything apart to start with and determine all the parts that will be needed, so they order once. It requires a different protocol with the insurance company, but it obviously works much faster.

 

[democappy]

This whole experience is really unacceptable. As I mentioned above, I got both my Model S and Model 3 repaired at the Tesla body shop (owned and run by Tesla) in San Jose, CA. One of the things they do different is they take everything apart to start with and determine all the parts that will be needed, so they order once. It requires a different protocol with the insurance company, but it obviously works much faster.

I agree that it would be way smoother if they could just take it all apart in the beginning. I really wish my shop would have done that. Here are a couple things prevented that in the non-tesla own shop I went to based on my very limited understanding of their shop (I have never personally been to the shop).

#1) They can't even get the car on a lift until the first part they need (the fuse that gets blown when the airbags go off) gets ordered and delivered. So they have to sit and wait for that part before they can even give the car power and do a full check for the parts they think they need.

#2) Since it is all aluminum, they can only work the Teslas in a special bay different from other cars they work on. Since they are the only company that fixes Teslas in Charlotte (the other shops all eventually stopped doing it) they have a backlog of cars that need to use that bay. So they have to be sort of strategic in how they do it. So they won't have your car take up time in that bay until they think they might be able to actually fix something.

I think my insurance company would have greatly preferred they take it all apart in the beginning. They seem to really hate the getting stuck in limbo piece.

 

[Alset4S]

Somebody backed into the rear of my MS. Very minor damage. Bumper cover needed some repairs and repaint. Hatch had thumb sized dent. Estimate from Tesla owned body shop was $1,400 and change.
Because the Tesla shop was backed up and 200 miles from me I used S local independent body shop that was not Tesla certified. Dropped car off Monday morning 4/22. Picked it up Thursday 4/25. Repair was perfect. Only thing not done new badges and a sticker inside the rear hatch. They were not yet received from Tesla (imagine that). Body shop called today parts came in took 15 minutes to install and I'm all done.
Now I'm wondering if I need to pursue a DV claim. How much value am I likely to lose because a Carfax shows accident?

 

[OrbiterTI4]

#1) They can't even get the car on a lift until the first part they need (the fuse that gets blown when the airbags go off) gets ordered and delivered. So they have to sit and wait for that part before they can even give the car power and do a full check for the parts they think they need.

...

I think my insurance company would have greatly preferred they take it all apart in the beginning. They seem to really hate the getting stuck in limbo piece.

I didn't mention this in my previous post, but despite the steering wheel airbag and driver knee airbags both deploying, power was NOT cut by Tesla or from any blown fuse. And even in my case, from time the vehicle arrived at the Tesla-certified shop (with power, since I was able to close windows and pano roof before the tow truck left) to the time a repair estimate was prepared was two weeks.

Somebody backed into the rear of my MS. Very minor damage. Bumper cover needed some repairs and repaint. Hatch had thumb sized dent. Estimate from Tesla owned body shop was $1,400 and change.
...
Now I'm wondering if I need to pursue a DV claim. How much value am I likely to lose because a Carfax shows accident?

Yes. In absence of age/mileage/condition details of the Tesla, a number is hard to arrive at, but my guess is it is significant enough to ask/remind/press the other driver's insurance about (or your uninsured coverage if that's what you used). Personally I used a company in my state for a more severe accident (as noted, multiple airbags deployed, which is an additional inquiry on the CarFax report) and am using that report to dispute the insurance company's lowball offer.

 

[democappy]

Three Month Update:
The last part my body shop needs has been shipped! The shipping tracking says it will arrive Friday afternoon. My body shop estimates another 1-2 weeks to get everything ready for me once that part arrives. I finally feel like I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

At this point, it looks like the total time I will have been without my car from crash to repair will be ~15 weeks.

 

[SO16]

Three Month Update:
The last part my body shop needs has been shipped! The shipping tracking says it will arrive Friday afternoon. My body shop estimates another 1-2 weeks to get everything ready for me once that part arrives. I finally feel like I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

At this point, it looks like the total time I will have been without my car from crash to repair will be ~15 weeks.

Well...I guess that’s better than 8 months. Still too long though. Too bad the repair shop couldn’t have ordered all the parts at once.

 

[democappy]

Four Month Update:
You know how in my last update my body shop estimated another 1-2 weeks to have my car back. Now over one month later, they are telling me it should only be another 2-3 weeks before it will be fixed.

Just a complete mess. They have the parts, they are just struggling actually putting the car back together. You could say I shouldn't blame Tesla for delays in my body shop. However, they are the ONLY body shop left in my area that will repair Teslas because all of the other ones quit doing it saying it wasn't worth it. Tesla is a disaster in supporting parts and repairs in my opinion.

So I might have the car back before my 5 month update.

 

[SO16]

Four Month Update:
You know how in my last update my body shop estimated another 1-2 weeks to have my car back. Now over one month later, they are telling me it should only be another 2-3 weeks before it will be fixed.

Just a complete mess. They have the parts, they are just struggling actually putting the car back together. You could say I shouldn't blame Tesla for delays in my body shop. However, they are the ONLY body shop left in my area that will repair Teslas because all of the other ones quit doing it saying it wasn't worth it. Tesla is a disaster in supporting parts and repairs in my opinion.

So I might have the car back before my 5 month update.

That’s too bad. Other shops seem to be having better luck.

Our shop became Tesla collision certified recently and it has been a very welcome change. (Part delays are also getting a lot better for those worried about repair turn around time!) : teslamotors