Hota
Member
Does anyone have a concrete/definitive answer for why there is such a huge markup? I would hope that the perception that it is an "exotic" isn't enough of a reason to artificially inflate the price. I realize that there is additional equipment and certification necessary to be given the Tesla stamp of approval as an auto body shop but I would assume that some of these costs would come down as the Model 3 rolls out and there are more Teslas on the road.
They can charge this much for labor because Tesla has limited the competition due to their authorized body shop program. You can take it to a generic body shop but most people won't for a $100k vehicle.
I'm confident that when the Model 3 becomes mainstream that Tesla will scale down requirements for their authorized body shop program and we'll either see a ton more authorized body shops or the dissolution of the program altogether thus driving down prices significantly.