The accident saga begins...

[TLLMRRJ]

Took me 5 months to get my BUICK back. I don't think Tesla is any worse than that ...

Buddy of mine just had his Model 3 repaired after a delivery van waffled the rear quarter panel. Was fixed in about 10 days.

OMG if I have to hear about that Buick one more time!!

 

[dmurphy]

OMG if I have to hear about that Buick one more time!!

Hahaha. It's a good comparison point. Body work always sucks - that's not a Tesla-unique thing ...

 

[sewing1]

In a similar situation; word of advice, if you own a tesla, make sure you have rental car coverage. I was hit, so their insurance had to pay, but I've been in a rental for almost a month and the car still isn't done.

and make sure that your rental car coverage will pay for the type of car you want to rent. Also make sure it will pay for the number of days you want. I'm entering the 6th week of my repair rental.

 

[texas_star_TM3]

and make sure that your rental car coverage will pay for the type of car you want to rent. Also make sure it will pay for the number of days you want. I'm entering the 6th week of my repair rental.

assuming you are not at fault... the other party *HAS* to pay for your rental. exception would be uninsured driver. I've been hit twice but in 20+ yrs of driving never been at fault even once. I'll take the chance of paying for a rental in case i wreck my own car...

 

[sewing1]

assuming you are not at fault... the other party *HAS* to pay for your rental. exception would be uninsured driver. I've been hit twice but in 20+ yrs of driving never been at fault even once. I'll take the chance of paying for a rental in case i wreck my own car...

I meant that you should have the rental car coverage you want for when your own insurance is paying to repair your own Tesla.

 

[sewing1]

Pretty sure there’s no aluminum in the door. I don’t think there’s any aluminum in any of the external body panels on the 3.

I got my Model Y back from the body shop yesterday. I just tested and a magnet will not stick to any of the 4 doors, or the front trunk hood. It does stick to all 4 fenders and the rear hatch.

 

[Rottenapplr]

Took me 5 months to get my BUICK back. I don't think Tesla is any worse than that ...

Buddy of mine just had his Model 3 repaired after a delivery van waffled the rear quarter panel. Was fixed in about 10 days.

Could be location dependent. I can’t imagine California being quick. took them 8 days, 7 of which my car sat to fix a minor problem.

 

[rfwheeler]

UPDATE:

Estimates right now as sitting at $29k, and may rise as time goes on.

Ouch.

 

[Needsdecaf]

UPDATE:

Estimates right now as sitting at $29k, and may rise as time goes on.

Ouch.

Not surprising.

What's your year and mileage? You may be headed toward a total.

 

[rfwheeler]

Not surprising.

What's your year and mileage? You may be headed toward a total.

30k miles, 2018 dual motor.

This 29k is prior to taking the vehicle apart, and without dimunition added.

 

[dmurphy]

30k miles, 2018 dual motor.

This 29k is prior to taking the vehicle apart, and without dimunition added.

Unfortunately the DV claim is wholly separate. Further, Georgia is a “Total Loss Formula” state.
The equation is roughly ....

if (repair cost + salvage value at auction) > book_value_of_car, then they total the vehicle and cut you a check.

If it’s less, they press forward with the repair.

and even worse ... you don’t get a choice in the matter. It’s solely the insurance company’s decision.

Absolutely sucks — I feel awful for you. At $29k repair, I have a feeling you’re asymptotically approaching book value, but not going over. Honestly with that much work to do, I hope for your sake they find something else wrong so you can get out of it and get a new car.

Sorry to see this. Been there, done that, got the hole in my checking account to prove it. :-(

 

[rfwheeler]

Unfortunately the DV claim is wholly separate. Further, Georgia is a “Total Loss Formula” state.
The equation is roughly ....

if (repair cost + salvage value at auction) > book_value_of_car, then they total the vehicle and cut you a check.

If it’s less, they press forward with the repair.

and even worse ... you don’t get a choice in the matter. It’s solely the insurance company’s decision.

Absolutely sucks — I feel awful for you. At $29k repair, I have a feeling you’re asymptotically approaching book value, but not going over. Honestly with that much work to do, I hope for your sake they find something else wrong so you can get out of it and get a new car.

Sorry to see this. Been there, done that, got the hole in my checking account to prove it. :-(

KBB average private party value for it right now is 43k, so here's hoping it would fetch more than 14k at auction! Certainly would be faster and easier to just get a new one.

 

[dmurphy]

KBB average private party value for it right now is 43k, so here's hoping it would fetch more than 14k at auction! Certainly would be faster and easier to just get a new one.

Not sure how Teslas sell at salvage but I can tell you book value on our Enclave was roughly 34k-ish and salvage value was less than 6k. So they spent the 22k, repaired it and then because it had “accident w/ airbag deployment and frame repair” book value dropped to $18k. And because it was a deer hit (comprehensive) I had nobody to go after for diminished value. Took a hardcore bath on that vehicle.

(edit: read 43 as 34. Corrected to actual value)

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

UPDATE:

Estimates right now as sitting at $29k, and may rise as time goes on.

Ouch.

I should have guessed higher.

Not sure why I didn’t actually. I guess I assumed no battery damage but maybe it is $29k without battery damage? It looks likely to be a total. Be sure to mention to the insurance company of the at-fault driver that you’re going to be asking for DV, so they plug that into their formula.

Is the battery damaged? If not, salvage value would skyrocket and this is probably an easy total.

A total loss, of course, is for the best, most likely.

Unfortunately the DV claim is wholly separate.

Ah. Yeah, might depend on state laws. Logically it should be in the total loss formula but that doesn’t mean it is.

 

[rfwheeler]

I should have guessed higher.

Not sure why I didn’t actually. I guess I assumed no battery damage but maybe it is $29k without battery damage? It looks likely to be a total. Be sure to mention to the insurance company of the at-fault driver that you’re going to be asking for DV, so they plug that into their formula.

Is the battery damaged? If not, salvage value would skyrocket and this is probably an easy total.

A total loss, of course, is for the best, most likely.



Ah. Yeah, might depend on state laws. Logically it should be in the total loss formula but that doesn’t mean it is.

No battery damage that has been seen yet, or that I saw from personally digging around as much as I could without removing things. This estimate looks solely to be replacing the door, quarter panel right rear suspension and cross member/subframe. 2/3 of the cost is strictly labor.

 

[dmurphy]

Ah. Yeah, might depend on state laws. Logically it should be in the total loss formula but that doesn’t mean it is.

Alan my friend — you and I both know that logic holds no place whenever state laws are involved!! Haha. Happy Friday!

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

No battery damage that has been seen yet, or that I saw from personally digging around as much as I could without removing things. This estimate looks solely to be replacing the door, quarter panel right rear suspension and cross member/subframe. 2/3 of the cost is strictly labor.

Seems very close to a total. I guess we'll see. Gotta add in the additional rental car costs into that total loss formula. When do they make the final decision? You should have the claims adjuster do the calculations for you. They have a calculator for projected salvage value AFAIK.

 

[rfwheeler]

Update: just heard from insurance. Total loss. Yay/boo?

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Update: just heard from insurance. Total loss. Yay/boo?

Seems good. Did you really want that car after that? Probably never would have driven quite right again.

Hope you can get a new one soon enough. Keep your ear to the ground ok when the AWDs might be getting higher capacity packs. You probably can’t wait, but I’m beginning to think that might happen this year. Or just get a Performance which already has the larger pack.

 

[rfwheeler]

Well, unfortunately we'll be waiting a few months already given we are in the process of a refi on our home. Not interested in taking the credit hit while that's ongoing.

C'est la vie...