Tesla approved body shops refusing cars with State Farm

[Dariushd]

I have heard from a few Tesla Approved body shops near me in Los Angeles that refuse to take on a car insured by State Farm. My agent found only two anywhere near me (within 20 miles) that they work with and their reviews are not as good as the others, so I’m at a bit of a loss here. Anyone else see this happening with State Farm? I have had them for over 25 years with multiple policies With never an issue, so I’m shocked at this. I read a few posts about State Farm increasing Tesla rates recently, too.

 

[CharleyBC]

Can you elaborate on this? Why are the shops refusing to work with State Farm?

 

[pa1ntbru5h]

Hmm.. can others please chime in on this?
I have mine insured under State Farm and would hate to run into any issues when I actually need to use it.

 

[mobilesuit818]

I recommend going straight to Tesla in Walnut as they have a body shop there.

I am insured under SF and just had a rear end claim there, with no issues

 

[Uncle Paul]

State Farm has their own approved and captive providers. They agree to the reimbursment that the insurer is willing to pay. They negotiate a lower hourly rate and other incentives to send them tons of business.

While this is blatantly illegal in many States (like California) they have the political and financial ability to get away with it.

California says you can take your car to any repair facility you choose, but State Farm does everything they can to force you into their cut rate providers.

Tesla is the exact opposite. They demand that their approved repair facilities have high standards. That they invest in the proper repair equipment and tools. They constantly evaluate and rate them, and will drop them if they put out substandard work.

LA is an expensive place to operate a repair facility. Getting an approved paint shop requires a high level of technology and pollution standards.

Understand why State Farm would want you to go to one of the cheaper places, but also don't understand why you would want to take your beloved Tesla there.

 

[M109Rider]

State Farm here in Canada is terrible as well.
I will never use them again.

 

[dmurphy]

No issues here. My ongoing saga with our Buick is actually at a State Farm “in network” shop ... which is also Tesla certified. No issues. Reviews are great as well: Collision Restoration - Google Search

 

[Kevy Baby]

While I haven't needed any claims with my M3, I have never had issues with them.

 

[kenpost]

I have heard from a few Tesla Approved body shops near me in Los Angeles that refuse to take on a car insured by State Farm. My agent found only two anywhere near me (within 20 miles) that they work with and their reviews are not as good as the others, so I’m at a bit of a loss here. Anyone else see this happening with State Farm? I have had them for over 25 years with multiple policies With never an issue, so I’m shocked at this. I read a few posts about State Farm increasing Tesla rates recently, too.

 

[kenpost]

I had SF for many years without any claims. The 2 times I had claims they were horrible to deal with. The last claim was for a Acura TL that was in my garage when my electric bike battery caught fire. They refused to total the vehicle even though the acidic air in the garage had eaten all of he chrome off of the car. It stunk so bad I couldn’t sit in the car. I will never use them again for car insurance.

 

[Big Dog]

State Farm has their own approved and captive providers. They agree to the reimbursment that the insurer is willing to pay. They negotiate a lower hourly rate and other incentives to send them tons of business.

While this is blatantly illegal in many States (like California) they have the political and financial ability to get away with it.

California says you can take your car to any repair facility you choose, but State Farm does everything they can to force you into their cut rate providers.

Umm, no not illegal at all. Yes, CA law says that you can take your car to any repair facility. But the law does not say that State Farm (or any other insurer) has to pay sticker at that repair facility. OTOH, if the SF approved rate is $xx, and you can find another shop for the same rate or lower, I'm sure SF would not complain.

We had an Audi A3 repaired last winter, and we took it to an Audi-recommended repair shop; their body shop rates ran $145/hr in the Bay Area. Insurer said, 'we have a contracted facility nearby which only charges $75/hr.' I said,' too bad, not taking the car there, it will stay where it is'. After some negotiation between my preferred body shop and insurer (I was out of the loop while this was going on), my preferred body shop came down in rate and the insurer came up with some extra money to pay for it. A hassle for sure, but the law work as intended.

What the OP probably experienced was that the Tesla shop that s/he contacted was unwilling to accept SF's rate reimbursement per the insurance contract. Of course, OP always has the ability to continue to look around for other Tesla shops, or pay the delta, . (worst outcome, no question)

 

[dmurphy]

I had SF for many years without any claims. The 2 times I had claims they were horrible to deal with. The last claim was for a Acura TL that was in my garage when my electric bike battery caught fire. They refused to total the vehicle even though the acidic air in the garage had eaten all of he chrome off of the car. It stunk so bad I couldn’t sit in the car. I will never use them again for car insurance.

We’ve had two claims, both with State Farm. They’ve been outstanding for us. I think it’s all about your agent - a good one is great; a bad one can sink the ship. Sorry it was such a bad experience.

 

[thimel]

We had no problems with a SF claim. In fact, one of SFs recommended repair locations is a Tesla certified shop. We took it there and had no problems.

 

[jboy210]

State Farm offered us $2,500 to repair our BMW X3. Final bill was $12,500.

State Farm now uses some wacky phone app to determine how much your repair will cost. You take pictures and they go by those. But, none of my phones have x-ray vision so they cannot see that behind the scratched bumper is a bent frame, so State Farm does not cover that damage.

 

[dmurphy]

State Farm offered us $2,500 to repair our BMW X3. Final bill was $12,500.

State Farm now uses some wacky phone app to determine how much your repair will cost. You take pictures and they go by those. But, none of my phones have x-ray vision so they cannot see that behind the scratched bumper is a bent frame, so State Farm does not cover that damage.

We must use a different State Farm. In our deer saga, they sent out an adjuster who, ya know, wrote up an estimate. I have nothing but good things to say about SF; with all that's gone wrong in our saga, State Farm is the one thing that's gone right.

I also just got my renewal; it's $841.61 for 6 months (for both the Enclave and Model 3). Can't really complain there.

 

[Big Dog]

State Farm offered us $2,500 to repair our BMW X3. Final bill was $12,500.

State Farm now uses some wacky phone app to determine how much your repair will cost. You take pictures and they go by those. But, none of my phones have x-ray vision so they cannot see that behind the scratched bumper is a bent frame, so State Farm does not cover that damage.

That may be standard practice in the insurance industry nowadays, as USAA did the same thing on our Audi A3 which got hit while parked in a lot last year. But not a big deal, bcos once the body shop took off the bumper cover and found additional damage, a real live estimator was dispatched to look at the damage up close. The insurer then covered the much higher repair bill.

 

[original]

That is really strange, I always thought State Farm was a great insurance.

 

[alsetmylr]

I just went to a body shop in Glendale, CA for my non-tesla car and the worker there told me this exact thing. He told me that they were good a while back; however, they seem to have some internal issues (at State Farm) where they are not paying out on Tesla repairs and using loopholes. As a result, the insured person is left with a remaining bill for the items that Tesla won't cover.

 

[DrRoy]

I just went to a body shop in Glendale, CA for my non-tesla car and the worker there told me this exact thing. He told me that they were good a while back; however, they seem to have some internal issues (at State Farm) where they are not paying out on Tesla repairs and using loopholes. As a result, the insured person is left with a remaining bill for the items that Tesla won't cover.

Ugh! My new Model Y hit a deer the day after I made my first loan payment. At this time State Farm's estimate is 50% of the certified Tesla shop's estimate. There is another certified shop and am wonder if it will make a difference getting a second estimate. Of course if that estimate is significant less, i'd be suspicious. There are no Tesla certified shops in my local area Select Service Shops listing. To be continued....

 

[snellenr]

Three episodes on my 2014 Model S — Prius, light pole, deer, all on the front end — all insured by State Farm, and no issues beyond waiting for parts for any of them. The Prius hit me two months after I got the car and was also a State Farm customer - SF covered the damages and even paid off my Diminished Value claim.

The last time around, they didn’t approve replacing both headlamp assemblies - only one was damaged, but Tesla doesn’t offer the old design any longer and the body shop proposed replacing both so that they’d match. State Farm instead proposed an “used” assembly from some parts dealer, with them warranting the part themselves for a year. Seemed reasonable, so I said yes…