Tesla own body shop vs Tesla approved repairs in London

[ian2023]

Had a misfortune of being rear bumped by some old lady driver to my two week old Model Y Long Range three days ago, the tailgate lid and the rear bumper are dented. Fuming...as she told me that she just didn't know what happened.

Tesla sent me a list of body shops: one is Tesla's own body shop in Dartford in London, which is about 35 miles away from me. Another shop is called 'Fastlane Paint and Body', which is a Tesla Approved Body Repairer, which is closer to me, about 10 miles away. They are also an approved repairer for many other car manufacturers: Mercedes, Volkswagens, BMW, Audi, etc,
My insurance company is pushing me to use an approved repair, but not Tesla's own body shop and they make the quote and authorisation process more complex if I choose Tesla's own shop. Guess the insurer has agreed cheaper rates with the repairer on their book.
My question is: are there any differences between the expertise and the repair quality between Tesla's own shop and a third party 'approved' shop? Guess Tesla's own shop repairs significantly more Tesla cars than the other one, hence has got more experience and may do a better job?
I spoke to Tesla's body shop and they are very busy, they told me that I would have to enter their queue and the it would take about a month to get the job done. Haven't had a chance to speak to Fastlane yet.
Has anyone got any experience using Tesla's own body shop or a Tesla's approved repairer such as Fastlane?

 

[Billbrown1982]

If your claiming against the 3rd party I would 100% all day long be going to Tesla's own bodyshop and getting a courtesy car in the mean time. There have been too many stories on here about people having issues with "approved" bodyshops and insurers will always push towards them as its much cheaper, if not even one of their own "approved" bodyshops that isn't neccesarily a tesla approved one.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

There are 4 tiers

Manufacturer

Approved by manufacturer

Not approved by manufacturer, but might be by your insurance company.

A man in a shed who might be very good with a spray gun and works pretty much alone and trades on word of mouth locally. They might also be bad.

There’s also Chipsaway and the like who have tried to muscle in on this bottom end space with mixed result, personally I’d avoid anyone suggesting they’ll spray anything on your drive.

Tesla didn’t do their own repairs and only have the odd place now, like most manufacturers they usually rely on places they’ve approved which should offer the standards they require. These places historically were/are always very expensive when it came to repairs as Tesla generally have a replace not repair policy, so a small puncture hole in a bumper means a whole new bumper, whereas a cheaper place might fill and paint over.

So Tesla v Tesla approved should be no different, they (are supposed to) work to a quality standard

The 3rd tier of insurance recommended can be the problem as they tend to work to a price

The 4th tier can be magicians and with low overheads, cheap, and I’ve certainly used one local to me who was great dealing with a parking scrape somebody kindly did to my car and left without leaving their details. I don’t think this is a viable route in your situation.

 

[GlynG]

As with all repairs - its only as good as the person doing the job, the company name, Tesla approved or not is irrelevant because in every trade you have the exceptional, the pretty good and the downright useless bstards that fcuk every job they do. With body repairs it not just the quality of the repair but the skill of the painter and facilities for the painting like a dedicated spray booth.

I would look at reviews for the specific businesses you are considering rather than Tesla approved or not and then make your choice.
Personally I don't like the approved insurer choices as they tend to be the "Quick Fit" high volume warehouse type places, I accept the insurer will tell you that you get additional guarantees using their approved repair centres but that's just their way of steering you towards keeping their costs down - and those places tend to be anonymous buildings on industrial estates which makes it difficult to deal directly with them - its all faceless.

It wouldn't sway me one way or another if the chosen repairer was Tesla approved or not as Tesla themselves are not exactly synonymous with quality are they?
If your really fussy then go to your potential selected repairer and ask to speak with their bodyshop manager - if they are indeed proud of their work they will be open and enthused about what they do and just maybe will show you their facilities or some examples of their work. You could have a superb repair and fantastic paintwork but if they cant match the colour properly then its not a good job.

Its all a bit of a lottery and you have the added issues because its an EV - so many garages and bodyshops are *sugar* scared of them and wont work on them, its irrational but a real problem. Good luck anyway.

 

[OsoFlaca]

Had a misfortune of being rear bumped by some old lady driver to my two week old Model Y Long Range three days ago, the tailgate lid and the rear bumper are dented. Fuming...as she told me that she just didn't know what happened.

Tesla sent me a list of body shops: one is Tesla's own body shop in Dartford in London, which is about 35 miles away from me. Another shop is called 'Fastlane Paint and Body', which is a Tesla Approved Body Repairer, which is closer to me, about 10 miles away. They are also an approved repairer for many other car manufacturers: Mercedes, Volkswagens, BMW, Audi, etc,
My insurance company is pushing me to use an approved repair, but not Tesla's own body shop and they make the quote and authorisation process more complex if I choose Tesla's own shop. Guess the insurer has agreed cheaper rates with the repairer on their book.
My question is: are there any differences between the expertise and the repair quality between Tesla's own shop and a third party 'approved' shop? Guess Tesla's own shop repairs significantly more Tesla cars than the other one, hence has got more experience and may do a better job?
I spoke to Tesla's body shop and they are very busy, they told me that I would have to enter their queue and the it would take about a month to get the job done. Haven't had a chance to speak to Fastlane yet.
Has anyone got any experience using Tesla's own body shop or a Tesla's approved repairer such as Fastlane?

I had some work done under insurance by a Tesla approved company (Tesla didnt offer an in house service)and I had to use one many miles away - there aren't many capable of working with aluminium chassis and the HV system.

If it's just a bump - unlikely that it will be an issue. If its is a panel replacement - same. If it is more than that - then Tesla approved is ok - insurers approved - avoid.

 

[pgkevet]

There should be plenty of repair experiences by now.
My insurance ding before Christmas was referred by Insurers to a local crash centre and when i rang them regarding it they were the ones that didn't want to touch a Tesla. Back to insurers who found a Tesla approved place 75 miles away. They seemed sensibly professional and knew what they were talking about after sending pics back and forth. They also had a huge backlog after the winter weather so it was a 10 week wait. Because of the distance the insurers arranged to flat-bed car each way. I can find no fault with the repair so happy with end result. I don't see any basic difference between the lottery of Teslas own shop and a Tesla approved shop - either can do a good job or bog-up depending on the person doing the work caring or not caring.

 

[KennethS]

As with all repairs - its only as good as the person doing the job, the company name, Tesla approved or not is irrelevant because in every trade you have the exceptional, the pretty good and the downright useless bstards that fcuk every job they do. With body repairs it not just the quality of the repair but the skill of the painter and facilities for the painting like a dedicated spray booth.

I would look at reviews for the specific businesses you are considering rather than Tesla approved or not and then make your choice.
Personally I don't like the approved insurer choices as they tend to be the "Quick Fit" high volume warehouse type places, I accept the insurer will tell you that you get additional guarantees using their approved repair centres but that's just their way of steering you towards keeping their costs down - and those places tend to be anonymous buildings on industrial estates which makes it difficult to deal directly with them - its all faceless.

It wouldn't sway me one way or another if the chosen repairer was Tesla approved or not as Tesla themselves are not exactly synonymous with quality are they?
If your really fussy then go to your potential selected repairer and ask to speak with their bodyshop manager - if they are indeed proud of their work they will be open and enthused about what they do and just maybe will show you their facilities or some examples of their work. You could have a superb repair and fantastic paintwork but if they cant match the colour properly then its not a good job.

Its all a bit of a lottery and you have the added issues because its an EV - so many garages and bodyshops are *sugar* scared of them and wont work on them, its irrational but a real problem. Good luck anyway.

Spot on excellent advice.

@ian2023 - we had a minor bumper scuff from a low speed impact from the rear (in our son's school parking lot and an in-attentive driver following too closely behind). We went to Fastlane for an estimate. Judging from the high-end cars they had in the shop and a superficial look at some of their repairs, I would be pretty comfortable they do top quality work. Their estimate for our repair however was extreme. They were proposing a very extensive dismantling, bumper replacement and respray blended into all panels that are adjacent to the bumper. All for what was a minor scuff/scrape. Being kind to the person who hit us we found a local independent shop that does work on Teslas. They did the repair for 1/10 of the Fastlane estimate and it is near perfect. Bottom line, if you're using insurance and they are happy to go with Fastlane I think they will do a great job. If cost is an issue, as @GeorgeSymonds stated option 4 can be viable with the right independent shop.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Getting parts can be an issue (elapsed time can be long). I dunno if Tesla has an advantage vs. Tesla Approved in those stakes?

 

[ian2023]

Thanks for all the advice/suggestions.
I had obtained two quotes for the repair, one from Tesla's own body shop and another from Fastlane (a Tesla approved repairer which my insurer suggested me to use). The one from Tesla is around £45k and the one from Fastlane is a whopping £75k. I originally thought Tesla's own shop would be more expensive and that's the reason my insurer would try to avoid and want me to use Fastlane which is in their 'approved repairer' list. Both garages suggest to replace the dented tailgate cover instead of repairing it. Tesla will repair the main rear bumper which has a few light scratches (but replace the lower rear bumper), Fastlane will replace the whole rear bumper (not repair it). Fastlane has included some additional items such as four wheel alignment, Covid-19 De-fume (no idea what it means), replacing rear window adhesive kit, rear screen bond kit (again, no idea what they are and not sure if the replacements are truly necessary as they are not included in Tesla's quote).

I am very surprised by that fact that Fastlane's quote is so much higher than Tesla's (even the paint cost is £300 higher in Fastlane's quote, I would have thought the same paint would be used by both companies as they need to follow the standard set by the manufacturer). Is this kind of discrepancy normal?

Tesla's shop is extremely busy, a week after I had submit a request and a few photos (from the App) to them for an estimate, I called to chase for the estimate, they told me that they had 100 cars waiting for repair estimation and it could take weeks to get one. I managed to persuade them to fast track my estimate But I'm not sure how long it will take to arrange the repair if I use them given that many cars are in their queue.

Fastlane is not as busy so the estimate came within 48 hours and by the sound of it, they may be able to do it quicker. Both said the repair itself would take about two weeks after the car is taken in. Still have not decided which one to use.

 

[ian2023]

Sorry, I got the figures wrong in my last message. The repair quotes were actually £4.5k and £7.5k respectively, not £45k or £75k as given in my message above, I got the decimal point wrong (after a long day ). Unfortunately, I couldn't find a way to correct the original post, hence post the correction here.

 

[EV1980]

@ian2023, sorry to hear about this issue. Having been involved in three prangs in my previous car, I know from experience that It's something we could all do without!

Without seeming like a rubber necker, have you any photos to show what £4.5k-£7.5k worth of rear damage looks like? It seems a lot of money, but I guess everything is expensive right now!
Hope you're pleased with the result when it's all done and dusted.

 

[Sean.]

Fastlane is not as busy so the estimate came within 48 hours and by the sound of it, they may be able to do it quicker. Both said the repair itself would take about two weeks after the car is taken in. Still have not decided which one to use.

Have you discussed the Tesla quote with Fastlane to see if they are willing to match it or at least replace the like for like items? It’s a fairly large cost differential.

I have no gauge of what the quality of repair is like with either outfit (fortunately or unfortunately). So have nothing to add there sorry.

 

[sgjs]

Hi! Any update on what you did here and what the result was? Was the repair done promptly or was there a long wait? (in a similar situation myself).

Cheers

 

[Laurence5550]

Had a misfortune of being rear bumped by some old lady driver to my two week old Model Y Long Range three days ago, the tailgate lid and the rear bumper are dented. Fuming...as she told me that she just didn't know what happened.

Tesla sent me a list of body shops: one is Tesla's own body shop in Dartford in London, which is about 35 miles away from me. Another shop is called 'Fastlane Paint and Body', which is a Tesla Approved Body Repairer, which is closer to me, about 10 miles away. They are also an approved repairer for many other car manufacturers: Mercedes, Volkswagens, BMW, Audi, etc,
My insurance company is pushing me to use an approved repair, but not Tesla's own body shop and they make the quote and authorisation process more complex if I choose Tesla's own shop. Guess the insurer has agreed cheaper rates with the repairer on their book.
My question is: are there any differences between the expertise and the repair quality between Tesla's own shop and a third party 'approved' shop? Guess Tesla's own shop repairs significantly more Tesla cars than the other one, hence has got more experience and may do a better job?
I spoke to Tesla's body shop and they are very busy, they told me that I would have to enter their queue and the it would take about a month to get the job done. Haven't had a chance to speak to Fastlane yet.
Has anyone got any experience using Tesla's own body shop or a Tesla's approved repairer such as Fastlane?

 

[Laurence5550]

I would not go to Dartford again, they had my car for over 8 months, lots of poor repairs that I am living with today, the manager Craig Rookyard has very poor customer service skills with a school boy mentality for customer service. I paid for this service, so it's off to the Financial ombudsman.

 

[ian2023]

Hi! Any update on what you did here and what the result was? Was the repair done promptly or was there a long wait? (in a similar situation myself).

Cheers

Hi sgis,
Very sorry, only checked this thread again now. I guess my update won't have any effect on your case now given it's so late. For other people's benefit in case they run into a similar situation, I just give an update on my repair experience.

I eventually chose the Fastlane Paint and Panel to do the repair. I chose them for the following reasons:
1. They are much closer to me.
2. They could send someone to collect my car from home and then deliver it back after the repair. So it would save me a lot of hassles. Tesla's own shop won't collect the cars and I would have to drive it to their shop myself.
3. Fastlane is on my insurer's approved repair list (and also a Tesla approved body shop), so they can provide me a courtesy car which my insurer will automatically cover. Tesla body shop said they could provide me a model 3 courtesy car, but I'd have to wait for one to become available and I also have to find separate insurance for it. I guess that I could ask my insurer to cover for it with my existing policy, but I couldn't be bothered with discussing with the insurer (Admiral is my insurer, you can never get through a proper agent directly, you always have to left a message with someone and someone will call you back within 24 hours, very frustrating).
4. I went to visit Fastlane's garage and saw many high end cars in their forecourt waiting for repair, and saw quite a few Tesla there as well. So I guess they do such repairs routinely, maybe not as many as Tesla's own shop, but certainly frequently enough to have required experience.

The repair experience
It took about two weeks for the repair to be done. Before that I had to wait for another three weeks for them to order the parts and for their workshop to become available. After the repair, I found a few tiny paint residual spots on the right edge of the upper back bumper. They are not that noticeable unless you look closely. I sent a photo to Fastlane and booked an appointment to see them again. They said it was caused by the plastic bumper having rough edges when it's new. They are supposed to sand down all those rough spots to make the edge very smooth, but somehow, they missed some of the tiny rough spots, so when they sprayed the paint to the bumper, the spots became visible. They did a little further polish to make them less visible. But if you look very carefully, you can still see the trace of them. They said if I was not completely satisfied, they could book the car in and respray it. It would take another few days. At that point, I just couldn't be bothered as a respray might have caused other issues somewhere else.

Overall, the result was not as satisfying as I had thought, given that it's a £7500 simple part replacement and paint job which should have been done perfectly. But the overall experience is Okay. Not sure if it would have done any better had I gone to Tesla's own shop which was so busy (when I rang for a quote, I was told they had 100 cars waiting for repair estimate).

Many thanks for all the advice and suggestions here. Fingers crossed no such things happen again to me or anyone else.