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

[zhwang3]

Hi everyone, I owned 2019 Tesla model 3 for about 6 months and was hit by improper lane change driver during Christmas on i-95 in New Jersey. Have anyone has collision repair experience with your Tesla vehicle under insurance coverage?

I was quoted by GEICO for repair amount around $6,000 and it does not seem to be accurate. I have my model 3 to tesla certified repair shop for visual inspection and mechanic told it would cost at least $15,000 to fix.

My questions are:
1. Will insurance company pay the gap beyond their estimate amount of $6000? $15,000 vs $6,000 is significant.
2. How long does it take usually to fix collision repair? What should I expect in the process? (like, backlog of spare parts etc etc.. )

Damages:
1. Aero-wheel cover smashed on site. Scratches on passenger side front and rear wheels.
2. Passenger side rear and front doors damaged.
3. Passenger side panel damaged, bottom and close to rear bumper. Is that going to be distortion on frame structure underneath passenger side doors?
4. Rear bumper scratches.

I just accepted a job offer to move from NY to CA. This gonna make my relocation complicated...
Your inputs will be much appreciated. It's holiday season. Drive safe!

 

[hari-bhari]

Man that sucks. $15k seems high. 6-8K should cover it. I think those panels should be replaced. In a dark color any imperfections or uneven body lines are obvious. Most shops will approve and work off the insurance estimate, and call the insurance company to get more money if more items are found once they start pulling things apart.

 

[JakeMoore]

Good lord, they must have changed lanes SUPER HARD to do that much damage.

 

[St☰v☰]

Good lord, they must have changed lanes SUPER HARD to do that much damage.

I was thinking that too. I had the same happen years ago and I had was a small dent and rubber marks. And it's to his rear door, so it's not like they couldn't see them.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Hi everyone, I owned 2019 Tesla model 3 for about 6 months and was hit by improper lane change driver during Christmas on i-95 in New Jersey. Have anyone has collision repair experience with your Tesla vehicle under insurance coverage?

I was quoted by GEICO for repair amount around $6,000 and it does not seem to be accurate. I have my model 3 to tesla certified repair shop for visual inspection and mechanic told it would cost at least $15,000 to fix.

My questions are:
1. Will insurance company pay the gap beyond their estimate amount of $6000? $15,000 vs $6,000 is significant.
2. How long does it take usually to fix collision repair? What should I expect in the process? (like, backlog of spare parts etc etc.. )

Damages:
1. Aero-wheel cover smashed on site. Scratches on passenger side front and rear wheels.
2. Passenger side rear and front doors damaged.
3. Passenger side panel damaged, bottom and close to rear bumper. Is that going to be distortion on frame structure underneath passenger side doors?
4. Rear bumper scratches.

I just accepted a job offer to move from NY to CA. This gonna make my relocation complicated...
Your inputs will be much appreciated. It's holiday season. Drive safe!

Are you filing this with "YOUR" insurance?

If you are....then....reminder - you will only get 30 days or so with car rental. If you file with the insurance company of the party that hit you...then you get indefinite car rental.

 

[Reeler]

Was AP doing the lane keeping at the time? Just wondering if it took evasive action? Hard for humans to be watching for this sort of thing all the time, but easy for the AP hardware.

 

[KenC]

I'd take closeups of the damage. The Subaru hit your front passenger wheel? What were they doing, trying to avoid something on the road?

 

[focher]

Is NY a no-fault state? I didn't think it was. If it isn't, then the other driver's insurance is going to pay for the repair. I'd recommend to also investigate Loss of Use (completely different than a rental reimbursement) and Diminished Value (loss of value of the car due to being in a collision). Those are both in addition to the repair costs and a rental car.

If it's your policy covering the collision repair, then in my experience GEICO doesn't hold you to their original estimate. They eventually pay for the full repair.

 

[299792458]

I'd say $15K is a good estimate. A much less complicated repair by Tesla to the rocker panel area (cutting, welding, painting) costs a little over $8K.

 

[SMAlset]

Is GEICO your insurance or theirs? Did they and their insurance admit fault? Also did you have TeslaCam running and saved off file to prove they entered your lane when you were in it? Video would make it clear whose fault it was at least and could save you from being partially responsible and therefore factor into how much of the claim they will pay. Let us know how it goes.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

I just dealt with this exact type of accident on my ICE that I was about to sell to get the Tesla. It was a huge nightmare, and a not happy ending.

With the other guys insurance, State Farm, and the body shop I selected, because I was told they are good, the whole process took 2 months and the results were very poor. I had a dashcam, otherwise State Farm was going to try to wiggle out of paying.

They replaced panels that were damaged and that went well. But the paint was horrible: darker shade, very different metallic that caused a color shift as you walked around, paint looked thick compared to stock panels, and orange peal was way off. There’s a lot of ways to screw up paint, and they went to town. Plus interior panels weren’t put on correctly, they somehow damaged an undamaged wheel, overspray on all 4 wheels, grease stains in the interior, and they killed the battery by leaving it dead for weeks.

It wasn’t a valuable car and I just put it back together as well as I could and sold it cheap.

If you’re ever in these accidents the best outcome is to have the car totaled. Good body work is very hard to come by these days.

 

[zhwang3]

Was AP doing the lane keeping at the time? Just wondering if it took evasive action? Hard for humans to be watching for this sort of thing all the time, but easy for the AP hardware.

nope, I was just coming out from the ramp, so I did not use AP for lane keeping at the time.

 

[zhwang3]

Are you filing this with "YOUR" insurance?

If you are....then....reminder - you will only get 30 days or so with car rental. If you file with the insurance company of the party that hit you...then you get indefinite car rental.

Hey Garlan, yes, I am talking about my GEICO insurance. Geico associate on the phone told it will take longer time to wait for at-fault party insurance to settle. and, the state Police crash report in NJ takes 15 business days to become available....

I am thinking to claim my collision insurance and then let GEICO take the $$ from the ICE driver. Is this better way?

 

[zhwang3]

Is GEICO your insurance or theirs? Did they and their insurance admit fault? Also did you have TeslaCam running and saved off file to prove they entered your lane when you were in it? Video would make it clear whose fault it was at least and could save you from being partially responsible and therefore factor into how much of the claim they will pay. Let us know how it goes.

Hey man, happy new year! Geico is mine. Crash report in NJ takes 15 business days.... Police judged onsite after watching Teslacam footage and it was 100% their fault, I do not know if this means they are 100% at fault in report, more concerning to me NJ is no fault state.... footage is helpful to the police, I do not know if insurance will tale footage as evidence.

 

[zhwang3]

I'd take closeups of the damage. The Subaru hit your front passenger wheel? What were they doing, trying to avoid something on the road?

Hey KenC, I did not see anything blocking the right lane on i-95. They were ahead of me a little bit on the right lane and changed into my lane suddenly, I tried to avoid the Subaru but everything was happening too fast. Their front bumper kissed my passenger side and subaru tire blown out immediately. They lost control and hit twice... I think I was in their blind spot.

 

[zhwang3]

Is NY a no-fault state? I didn't think it was. If it isn't, then the other driver's insurance is going to pay for the repair. I'd recommend to also investigate Loss of Use (completely different than a rental reimbursement) and Diminished Value (loss of value of the car due to being in a collision). Those are both in addition to the repair costs and a rental car.

If it's your policy covering the collision repair, then in my experience GEICO doesn't hold you to their original estimate. They eventually pay for the full repair.

good morning focher, I live in NY but accident happened in NJ. NJ is no-fault state unfortunately. But I am curious to know how's the state policy going to affect the judgment on liability?

 

[zhwang3]

I am taking the path to claim my geico insurance to get the car repaired and then have geico to claim responsibility or $$ from Subaru driver.

Any risk on this option? possibility at-fault party insurance would not compensate all cost?

 

[zhwang3]

Good lord, they must have changed lanes SUPER HARD to do that much damage.

Hi JakeMoore, it happened at the speed of 65mph.

 

[Teedub21]

I’d bet it’s easily $15k. A buddy thought he’d engaged AP and bent down to pick something up off the passenger side floor. Car grazed the jersey barrier before he realized AP wasn’t on. Scraped from the nose to the tail of the car, no where near as bad as yours in depth and his quote was $15k. Been in the shop a month so far.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Hey Garlan, yes, I am talking about my GEICO insurance. Geico associate on the phone told it will take longer time to wait for at-fault party insurance to settle. and, the state Police crash report in NJ takes 15 business days to become available....

I am thinking to claim my collision insurance and then let GEICO take the $$ from the ICE driver. Is this better way?

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.