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.
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.