Geez... 11 months?! Is it a Model X? And you must have great insurance to cover rentals that long, or else you're just paying out of pocket by now.
2016 Signature Series P90D. We've been with USAA since 2012 and we will be leaving them and closing out every single other service we have with them the second this is done.
I have fought with them weekly, spent thousands on legal expenses getting our attorney involved. The adjustor literally told me in our last conversation that it doesn't matter if it takes
three years to fix the car. If the numbers don't add up, they don't add up. See below for the lunacy about that....
I don't know what rental prices on an X are like in the US, but you would think that by now the cost would have eclipsed the cost of the repair. Especially when you consider the other compensation for loss of value etc.
I'm surprised insurance companies have not wised up to this and started factoring it into the calculation when deciding to write the car off or not.
EXACTLY. I have battled USAA incessantly, as has our lawyer, for nearly a year now. Here are their figures at the beginning:
$43k in original repairs needed (+ $5-10k estimated cushion for additional repairs)
$42k estimated salvage value
$114k estimated value of 2016 Model X P90D
$11k+ in ICE rental vehicles to date (capped at their highest large SUV size of $55/day with Enterprise)
According to USAA's formula, we're at least $5k short of totaling the vehicle. Since day one, I've begged and pleaded to absorb the $5k difference—even $10k difference—for them to total the vehicle. I've argued that their $114k valuation is way too high considering it has 2 incidents on the CarFax now which has destroyed its value (which they don't factor in):
1. Original accident
2. The hail damage that occurred while waiting at the body shop, requiring 100% of the exterior—including the windshield and glass—to be replaced. USAA literally elected to have a body shop rebuild the
entirety of a Tesla Model X exterior.
Of course, USAA maintains, that no matter what, it's against their policy and it would not be "fair" to the other members to total the vehicle and let us make up the difference.
Here's my argument:
If you're going to spend minimum $43k regardless, and the shop has told you it will likely take a year, you factor in $10k+ in rental fees, plus the $5k cushion from your original estimation, and you're near $60k when all said and done. This should qualify the vehicle to be totaled.
But since they only measure their cost by the cost of repairs and don't take into account rental costs (not to mention shear length of time and inconvenience for the customer) we don't meet the requirement for total. It's absolutely absurd.
After finding out a couple weeks ago that an Enterprise here in the DFW area rents Teslas, I asked USAA to do right by their long-term customers by arranging to get us into any Tesla for the remaining months, since the fuel charges are in the thousands at this point.
Knowing that we are leaving the second this is done but would be willing to stay if they would do this, they still won't budge. They maintain that their policy is what it is and they can't go beyond the $55 a day rental, as we're already in the highest rental car coverage they offer. No special circumstance. No willingness to do anything.
just a thought. . . . Long rental time, long wait period. repaired vehicle this time next year, crash on record report. etc.
Consider keeping the vehicle, as is, take the repair money [~45K + rental], sell 'X' on ebay as is. [~$40K]. add in ~ $25k yourself. Buy used X on ebay, similar mileage. You'll then have a white model X in three weeks, your $25k is a casualty on Sch A, tax deduction [bracket x 20k] The remainder [your calc. here] is the cost for the minimization of the time of the replacement. 50 wks vs 3 weeks. You might please a buyer with parts from your crash. You might enjoy the flight, to say Texas Direct and the drive home. [another addition to the casualty][19-54cents/mi. depending on the purposes of this vehicle.]
You'd also have, perhaps, the chance to change the option choices you made on your first X. You could get fewer miles or a heftier battery, You would have a clean crash report, and perhaps a longer warranty. But done in 3 weeks is the biggest plus. Worth 10-20K? Well that's why it's a consideration, and not a no brainer.
Sorry for your loss, glad to see your wife walking away.
We actually attempted your suggestion toward the end of summer to see if we could make it work. We had our attorney and a contact reach out to salvage buyers, but the costs didn't pan out, since we'd have taken a $25k hit at the time, and the body shop was optimistic that they could get it done by October-November.
Of course, this was before Tesla sent three broken windshields and discontinued the glass for the rear doors. They've since re-released the retrofit glass for early model Xs, which is the latest three-month delay.
Allegedly, once this new glass arrives around the one year mark, they should be able to put everything back together and be good to go. But the body shop isn't getting our hopes up based on how everything has gone up to this point...
Of course, hindsight being 20/20, we'd have gladly taken the hit to be in another vehicle now.