Tesla dent repair: Paintless dent extraction

[FranKim]

Guys, anyone living in south-cal know this "authorized collision repair" service?

Tesla Certified Collision Repair Center - Spectrum Collision in OC

When looking for a shop I called costa mesa SC and they said either Spectrum or European (off dyer road and 55) were certified. They said spectrum was newly certified and European was their long-term gold standard. I went with Euro but they are very very busy, took me 5 weeks to just get an appt and then once they had my car, 8 weeks to replace one quarter panel for a strictly cosmetic mall parking lot bump and run. Euro did an outstanding job tho.

 

[fablau]

When looking for a shop I called costa mesa SC and they said either Spectrum or European (off dyer road and 55) were certified. They said spectrum was newly certified and European was their long-term gold standard. I went with Euro but they are very very busy, took me 5 weeks to just get an appt and then once they had my car, 8 weeks to replace one quarter panel for a strictly cosmetic mall parking lot bump and run. Euro did an outstanding job tho.

Nice to know that FranKim, were prices reasonable?

 

[SDRick]

I went with Euro but they are very very busy, took me 5 weeks to just get an appt and then once they had my car, 8 weeks to replace one quarter panel for a strictly cosmetic mall parking lot bump and run. Euro did an outstanding job tho.

8 Weeks once they had your car? Hopefully they provided a Tesla loaner. LOL
Why did it take so long? Eight weeks? That's approximately $4000 of my future lease payment, while the car is in the shop?

 

[FranKim]

Nice to know that FranKim, were prices reasonable?

I didn't comparison shop so I don't really know about the pricing. I figured no matter what it would exceed my deductible so may as well go for the best shop I could. It was $13,000! To replace one rear quarter panel and paint blend the adjacent panels. It literally looks like it never happened but crazy expensive are these aluminum panels.

8 Weeks once they had your car? Hopefully they provided a Tesla loaner. LOL
Why did it take so long? Eight weeks? That's approximately $4000 of my future lease payment, while the car is in the shop?

Haha I agree, dont even get me started. the car was just weeks old, less than a 1000 miles and someone hits and runs in the parking lot. I was asking myself the same thing during the 8 weeks of waiting -- why so long??. I think they may have overbooked themselves and got behind. They are perfectionists and they had various reasons along the way for the delays.
Loaner was not an option since I went directly to the shop and not through the SC.

 

[shokunin]

I can say that European Motor did a phenomenal job on the repair. I've been through some high end repairs on other cars that I could tell where the paint was blended, felt some overspray, or orange peel in the clear coat. None of that at European. Mine took 6-7 weeks and there were several teslas in various stages in their shop for the same type of repair. For a rear quarter panel, they have to disassemble the back half of the car including the interior, cut the existing welds, replace the panel and weld the aluminum quarter panel to the frame.

Personally, I rather have them do it right with quality than to rush a crappy fix job just to get the car out the door in a couple of weeks.

 

[fablau]

Thanks FranKim for your reply and information. That'll help!

 

[J-Co]

Incredible repair! Working in the auto industry, there are super talented individuals out there that often go unnoticed. Recently picked up a Signature P85 and the driver rear quarter had gnarly PDR's above the wheel well. Called BullsEye PDR in the Sacramento area and performed an exceptional repair similar to the OP. Aluminum panels are very very finicky and tend to rip and tear unlike steel panels. The Tesla SC in Rocklin recommended BullsEye and Jared spent 8 hours at our home making sure the repair was perfect.

 

[sorka]

Troy at South Valley dents in San Jose is similarly talented. I've been going to him for 22 years some of which were like the OPs dent repaired just as well. For that level of talent, I'm not sure you can learn it. I think there must be an innate ability on some level.

 

[CHG-ON]

I don't mean to disparage either shop, as they sound like very good quality guys. But the costs and lead times are simply absurd. Replace a qtr panel for a cosmetic issue? Really? Aluminum has been around for a long time. But now that !!!TESLA!!! is made out of it, people are talking like it's the newest thing around. What about Audi? Hell, I had a Miata 15 years ago with an AL hood. This is nothing new. The only issue is that it stretches more than steel and is therefore harder to work with and welding is very tricky. Considering what @Winfoot got done, which is truly amazing, body shops need to learn some new skills or be less lazy. Yes, insurance pays the bill in the short term. But we pay it in the long term.

I think we are being screwed due to the hype about the car.

Not that I have an opinion on this...

 

[Bruin1996]

Hi everyone.. Unfortunately I just dented my right rear quarter panel and right rear door just above the tire. The automatic gate to my community malfunctioned and closed early on me and raked the right side of my Tesla as I drove in. Car still drives fine so this is just cosmetic damage. I have been to European motor car works in Santa Ana and got an estimate for $13K but with 2 months wait for appointment and 6 weeks of repair time after. I am wondering if the paintless dent removal should be an option that I should consider. I do have Xpel ultimate wrapped over the affected area so maybe the paint is mostly intact. The Xpel is badly ripped up and will need replacement. If I go PDR, I can avoid any potential premium increases.

Also, are there any other tesla certified body shops nearby in Southern Califonria with shorter waiting times that still do quality work?

 

[SDRick]

PDR can work wonders. Take a few pics and send them to a few PDR guys for an estimate. You may as well post the pics here as well. $13k is nuts!

 

[SDRick]

The automatic gate to my community malfunctioned and closed early on me and raked the right side of my Tesla as I drove in.

I forgot to mention, I also live in a gated community. Whenever our gates malfunction, the community is usually on the hook for the repair. This may save you from a deductible and future premium increases.

 

[Reekdog]

Rich at Auto Recon Express in Irvine, CA.

Thanks for sharing, Hope I never need him but great to have that contact in my back pocket!

 

[Bruin1996]

Thanks for the advice.. Considering PDR if even if I am not at fault because repairs would be at least 6 weeks after a long 2 month waiting period. I am having trouble uploading images with my iPhone. Anyone know how to add an image to a TMC post with an iPhone? Or if there are directions on the website please let me know where to find it.

 

[davidc18]

Amazing!

 

[SDRick]

Bruin,

There is probably a more efficient way to get pictures but what I do is take a picture with the iPhone, email it to my desktop computer and copy the file to my desktop. From there you click the upload a file button to paste it in your thread.

 

[Bruin1996]

 

[Bruin1996]

 

[Bruin1996]

I was able to clean off the pain transfer (the red colored stuff) with rubbing alcohol but the dent and the damage to the Xpel Ultimate remains. Going to bring it to a Paintless Dent Repair guy recommended by my Xpel installer on Thursday and if he can't do it.. will check out Rich at Auto Recon Express. I am not sure if the paint underneath the Xpel got damaged in addition to the dent to the rear quarter panel. If PDR can't fix it.. will have to carry on with the Tesla-certified body shop repair. Will need to reapply Xpel ultimate after this as well.

 

[SDRick]

That eight week and $13,000 repair estimate you got is ridiculous. It does not look over six weeks and $12,000 repair job to me!

I really hope the PDR guys can fix it. I cannot really tell from the picture but I do know one of the more difficult areas to fix perfectly are areas where the dent exists in a factory crease.

Once I had a dent in a Mercedes hood. Several PDR guys said it could not be fixed. One guy said he could do it, and he was right. Good luck and let us know how it goes.