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Tesla model 3 collision repair - hit by improper lane change driver

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I used Geico instead of going through the at-fault party's insurance and it was a breeze. It helped that the local Tesla certified shop was also a Geico Express shop. Tesla's parts came in two weeks, but it still took over a month to get the rear quarter panel replaced (which you will probably have to have done based on the damage below the door). I got my deductible back once Geico got their money. I would recommend using your insurance if you want this taken care of quickly. Once my repair was complete, I had to deal with their insurance directly to get a diminished value claim payout, which was eventually 75% of what I initially asked for. They are balking at the loss of use claim, so I may have to take them to small claims court.
 
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Well,,

I don't know. If you have dashcam evidence...and it indicates that the accident isn't your fault...then file the claim with their insurance company. Otherwise...your only recourse is to deal with Geico for now.
NJ is a no fault state. I'm not sure of the rule for an out-of-state policy but it likely doesn't make a difference. The only recourse is to file the claim with your own insurance company.
 
This happened to me also in mid-November and my car is still not fixed yet. Parts just arrived but the car is not even at the shop yet because they are too busy fixing other Teslas. Once the car goes in they said it takes 30 to 60 days to repair it.

Also, all Tesla services listed on the website that said they handle repairs declined to fix my car due to the damage.
 
Well,,

I don't know. If you have dashcam evidence...and it indicates that the accident isn't your fault...then file the claim with their insurance company. Otherwise...your only recourse is to deal with Geico for now.

Garlan: I realize that you are a strong poster, but be wary about offering advice about insurance and accidents in states other than your own, unless you are an attorney in that state in which the accident occurred and/or owner lives. At-fault, and no-fault states work much differently. CA law is different than IL law. (For example, no reason not to file with your own insurance company in CA when someone else is clearly at fault.) Chicago accidents are handled differently than in Newark......
 
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Garlan: I realize that you are a strong poster, but be wary about offering advice about insurance and accidents in states other than your own, unless you are an attorney in that state in which the accident occurred and/or owner lives. At-fault, and no-fault states work much differently. CA law is different than IL law. (For example, no reason not to file with your own insurance company in CA when someone else is clearly at fault.) Chicago accidents are handled differently than in Newark......

I will continue to offer advice for as long as I can.

I'm not worried about the things you are concerned with.

My posts have helped a lot of people here and I will continue.
 
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I will continue to offer advice for as long as I can.

I'm not worried about the things you are concerned with.

My posts have helped a lot of people here and I will continue.

I appreciate what @Big Dog said; it came from a good place, was well written, and non-confrontational. What I don’t understand is why you continue to not heed others’ advice or listen to reason.

A simple “That’s good advice, thank you” would’ve been much better than your “I don’t care and will continue to spread misinformation.”

Back to topic at hand - filing first or third party in NJ is mostly inconsequential; since the first party will just subrogate the third party, it’s not a big deal. The deductible will be part of the subrogation. It’s a no-fault State so no percentages are assigned as far as fault goes. It is possible - but fairly uncommon - to have a full tort policy, which complicates matters. Most folks do not choose that option. This really only matters for injury or other income claims, which do not appear to apply here. Best bet is to talk to your insurance agent for guidance.

... but don’t bother listening to someone who actually, you know, lives here. And has a current (comprehensive) claim.
 
I appreciate what @Big Dog said; it came from a good place, was well written, and non-confrontational. What I don’t understand is why you continue to not heed others’ advice or listen to reason.

A simple “That’s good advice, thank you” would’ve been much better than your “I don’t care and will continue to spread misinformation.”

Back to topic at hand - filing first or third party in NJ is mostly inconsequential; since the first party will just subrogate the third party, it’s not a big deal. The deductible will be part of the subrogation. It’s a no-fault State so no percentages are assigned as far as fault goes. It is possible - but fairly uncommon - to have a full tort policy, which complicates matters. Most folks do not choose that option. This really only matters for injury or other income claims, which do not appear to apply here. Best bet is to talk to your insurance agent for guidance.

... but don’t bother listening to someone who actually, you know, lives here. And has a current (comprehensive) claim.

Tell me,

What would be the problem with filing a claim with the other persons insurance?

Since it would be sooooooooo tragic to file with the other persons insurance....what would be the problem?

what would be so wrong with that?

I find it almost impossible to have a no-fault state. If someone hits me from the rear and totals my car.....its not their fault? I'm going to call alstate today and find out if they would cover my rental indefinitely ( if they were my insurance company and I lived in Jersey ). Its difficult to believe that insurance companies change their policies based on which state the accident happened in.

Are you saying that there is only a 30 day car rental in New Jersey ….. no matter what?

BTW- I'm going to continue to ignore the personal insults. I always have and I always will.
 
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I find it almost impossible to have a no-fault state. If someone hits me from the rear and totals my car.....its not their fault?

BTW- I'm going to continue to ignore the personal insults. I always have and I always will.

I do apologize if you consider anything I wrote an insult; it certainly wasn't meant that way... just merely suggesting that things can be - and are - different based on where you're located. What works in Chicago doesn't necessarily apply everywhere. That's all @Big Dog was getting at, and all I was trying to get you to consider.

There's several components to insurance - collision, comprehensive, and injury. No-fault doesn't mean a thing with collision or comprehensive, but it means everything with injury. In a no-fault state, no matter who is at fault, whenever there's any injury claim, YOUR insurance is the one responsible for handling the claim. Not the third party.

Even if it's as simple as being checked out by the ambulance squad; that would be covered under YOUR personal injury policy, not the third party's. Doesn't matter if they were drunk, ran into your car through a red light and hit you head on. It's still filed against your own policy, not the third party.

This is why I said it's best to talk to your agent. If there's any injury component whatsoever (and in most cases where a vehicle is totaled, there will be at least some injury component) - you'd have no choice but to file a claim with your own insurance company anyway. So there's no real downside to filing the entire claim via your own company - let their attorneys work for you ...

edit: Here's a great link that explains how it works: https://www.iii.org/article/background-on-no-fault-auto-insurance
 
I do apologize if you consider anything I wrote an insult; it certainly wasn't meant that way... just merely suggesting that things can be - and are - different based on where you're located. What works in Chicago doesn't necessarily apply everywhere. That's all @Big Dog was getting at, and all I was trying to get you to consider.

There's several components to insurance - collision, comprehensive, and injury. No-fault doesn't mean a thing with collision or comprehensive, but it means everything with injury. In a no-fault state, no matter who is at fault, whenever there's any injury claim, YOUR insurance is the one responsible for handling the claim. Not the third party.

Even if it's as simple as being checked out by the ambulance squad; that would be covered under YOUR personal injury policy, not the third party's. Doesn't matter if they were drunk, ran into your car through a red light and hit you head on. It's still filed against your own policy, not the third party.

This is why I said it's best to talk to your agent. If there's any injury component whatsoever (and in most cases where a vehicle is totaled, there will be at least some injury component) - you'd have no choice but to file a claim with your own insurance company anyway. So there's no real downside to filing the entire claim via your own company - let their attorneys work for you ...

edit: Here's a great link that explains how it works: https://www.iii.org/article/background-on-no-fault-auto-insurance

I just got finished with a very bad accident in my model 3 here in Illinois.

I was rear-ended. My repairs took 4 months.

Bottom line. My insurance company said that they would cover my rental for 30 days. The at-fault insurance company was required to cover the rental for the ENTIRE repair. Period.

I just called Allstate and they just told me that their policy is the same no matter what state an accident happens in. They told me that if a Tesla gets into a decent accident that it certainly matter who is at fault because Tesla's car rental costs ALWAYS equate to over $1000 in costs. Allstate just indicated that there are so few accidents that result in a $500< total costs that no fault hardly ever comes into play.

The total car rental cost in my accident came to over $4200. <------and that has nothing to do with repair costs.

Bottom line for me is: I don't care what state anything happens in: If you hit me, - your insurance is going to pay. I'm not filing a claim with my insurance company - and have my rates go up - when its your fault. That's stupid and its flat out wrong.
 
Bottom line for me is: I don't care what state anything happens in: If you hit me, - your insurance is going to pay. I'm not filing a claim with my insurance company - and have my rates go up - when its your fault. That's stupid and its flat out wrong.

I hear you, and on the collision front, yes - the other company will be responsible. But as soon as there's any injury involved, you have no choice but to involve your own insurance company. The 3rd party will not pay anything related to injury - it doesn't matter who's fault it is. That's just not how it works here. I don't disagree with you that it's stupid - but it is what it is. For collision I agree with you in theory, but again, if it's 100% not-at-fault, your rates won't automatically go up. We discussed that before ... and believe me I'm well aware of it since I'm in the middle of a claim right now due to a deer hit.

Want to hear stupid? Check this out ... The deer above jumped in front of my wife's Buick Enclave back in October; set off the airbags and did a ton of damage. Repair estimate is $16k. Vehicle value is $32k; therefore, they won't total it out, so it's getting repaired. I have no choice in the matter. That said, because it was a deer hit, it's reported on Carfax as an accident. That means that once repaired, its resale value plummets. Best offer I've gotten so far is $23k (Carvana.) Worst is $15k (Vroom.) Talk about a screw ... The car's worth more banged up than it is fixed. Wish the deer had done more damage. Thankfully, my wife's fine, which is the really important thing ... the rest is just steel, aluminum and money. Same in your case - as frustrating as I know your repair was, I'm just glad you weren't hurt!
 
Bottom line for me is: I don't care what state anything happens in: If you hit me, - your insurance is going to pay. I'm not filing a claim with my insurance company - and have my rates go up - when its your fault. That's stupid and its flat out wrong.

I hear you, and on the collision front, yes - the other company will be responsible. But as soon as there's any injury involved, you have no choice but to involve your own insurance company. The 3rd party will not pay anything related to injury - it doesn't matter who's fault it is. That's just not how it works here. I don't disagree with you that it's stupid - but it is what it is. For collision I agree with you in theory, but again, if it's 100% not-at-fault, your rates won't automatically go up. We discussed that before ... and believe me I'm well aware of it since I'm in the middle of a claim right now due to a deer hit.

He's also wrong per California insurance law. Cal law clearly states if the 'other guy' is at fault, your CA rates will NOT increase; they cannot by law. (But that has been pointed out to him before.)

Folks are certainly entitled to their own opinion on an anonymous board, but not entitled to their own 'facts'.

Again, what works in IL -- or CA or NJ -- may not work in other states, as auto insurance is state-specific.
 
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Bottom line for me is: I don't care what state anything happens in: If you hit me, - your insurance is going to pay. I'm not filing a claim with my insurance company - and have my rates go up - when its your fault. That's stupid and its flat out wrong.
This is where reality won't care. The law is the law, and your personal desired state of reality will not change that fact. But I'll give one thing to you, you're committed to your cause.
 
OP should try to file claim with other party insurance and should also submit the dashcam footage. OP will have rental car for the entire process in that case and also not have a deductible. With rear-quarterpanel damage, this will easily take 2-3 months on a Tesla.
The real issue is the gouging and time wasted using the Tesla certified body shops - we all pay for their insurance fraud, and the owners suffer through needless delays in the repairs... I digress
 
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This is where reality won't care. The law is the law, and your personal desired state of reality will not change that fact. But I'll give one thing to you, you're committed to your cause.

What do you mean the law is the law?

If you are rear ended then you are innocent. That's about as close to law as it gets according to insurance companies.

What law are you talking about?
 
What do you mean the law is the law?

If you are rear ended then you are innocent. That's about as close to law as it gets according to insurance companies.

What law are you talking about?
You are not understanding that NJ is a "no fault" state. It seems you either don't want to know what a "no fault" state means or, as you wrote it, you do not care because you do not agree that "no fault" should exist. But it does. It means that, in a no fault state you file claims through your own insurance company and "fault" is not a determination. Your insurance pays.

Your fundamental problem seems to be that you refuse to let others educate you on the fact that no-fault states exist (and your "close to law" understanding is invalid in those jurisdictions). There have been multiple people now who have pointed you to resources so that you can better understand what no-fault is and how it works. At a minimum, you shouldn't advise people how to handle a collision in a no-fault state, because you don't know how it works.
 
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