2018 LR RWD, EAP and FSD 33k miles got into a accident (not my fault) and the car may be totaled. Would it be better to wish fixing it and getting diminished value settlement or accepting a total and buying a new LR AWD with FSD. Would be out of pocket probably 15k but would get a new car with AWD. Downside of totaling is no more free premium connectivity, no Homelink. Upside is AWD, brand new car with new tires as I was scheduled for new tires this month.I'm kind of torn but leaning towards wishing for total.
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Totaled or repaired Model 3 - what to wish for?
- Thread starter mazers
- Start date
2012MS85
Member
Actually receiving a diminished value settlement isn’t easy; it will be a long, stressful and expensive process. It may end well, but likely more challenging and time consuming than you can imagine. A quick total with fair price settlement check from insurance is always best, IMHO. Insurance companies happily drag DV claims out for a year or more; time is always on their side. You have a life you want to live.
Yapa Drive
Member
Will the FSD be included in the total? I have heard reports that it isn’t always included & isn’t transferable to another vehicle.
Always do everything you can to get a badly damaged daily driver totaled. Always.
You’ll never come out ahead getting it fixed. Huge hassle after hassle. Always takes a long time to get fixed. Almost always worse than before the accident. Hassle when selling or trading in. You will almost always lose financially.
I just dealt with that with a Jaguar XF, and my body shop played the insurance company to make sure they didn’t total it, and that sucked for me. They purposely underestimated the damage without me knowing and the hit the insurance for more money after they did a lot of work and there was no turning around.
Took 2 months, lots of calls to remind them to keep working on it and to keep insurance paying, work was obvious, sub par, and they damaged other things. Sold it for significant less than an undamaged car.
You’ll never come out ahead getting it fixed. Huge hassle after hassle. Always takes a long time to get fixed. Almost always worse than before the accident. Hassle when selling or trading in. You will almost always lose financially.
I just dealt with that with a Jaguar XF, and my body shop played the insurance company to make sure they didn’t total it, and that sucked for me. They purposely underestimated the damage without me knowing and the hit the insurance for more money after they did a lot of work and there was no turning around.
Took 2 months, lots of calls to remind them to keep working on it and to keep insurance paying, work was obvious, sub par, and they damaged other things. Sold it for significant less than an undamaged car.
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ElectricIAC
Good-Natured Rascal
I’m really torn here since FSD isn’t something that moves from car to car but I suppose if you’re reimbursed properly you can buy it again.
2012MS85
Member
If it were me, I’d push for receiving $7k, plus tax, as the replacement value of FSD (which was also my actual cost: $5k for EAP + $2k “sale” price on FSD). Simple argument for full cost (no diminished value like the rest of a vehicle) is that the functionality of FSD is just NOW starting to be realized...even for folks who pre-paid for FSD years ago. 2nd argument is $7k, plus tax, is your cost to add FSD to your next Tesla. Should be a straight forward negotiation regarding reimbursement of FSD, assuming the car is being totaled.
Here are the links to the videos:
Front Camera:
Right Camera:
Rear Camera:
Left Camera:
We'll see when it gets to the collision center in the next couple of days. Hopefully I can get at least $46k or more. I'm sure there will be back and forth about reimbursement for FSD. Thank goodness for Tesla Cams and driving the safest car around.
Front Camera:
2012MS85
Member
@mazers Since there was an impact, did all these videos instantly save without any action on your part? Good video to have showing you did everything right with a proper slowdown when traffic ahead of you was stopping. TeslaCam videos are invaluable in getting the at-fault driver's insurance company to quickly admit fault and hopefully settle with you for a fair price. Glad you're okay after that hard smack from the truck!
I have it set up to save the videos when I honk the horn, but I also pressed the red icon on the screen just to be sure. I then held the icon until it went grey. I can tell you the police were certainly impressed when I told them I had video of it. I went into one of the cop's SUV and we actually watched them on his laptop. Now, then he couldn't believe how good they were! He said that the video showed the I certainly was not to blame for it. May come back to bite him, as an officer may have actually caused it.
Good question @2012MS85! And thanks for the response @mazers. Glad to see you knew what to do to protect the video as it seems some Tesla owners don’t when they end up in an accident like this based on their comments.
Really sorry your car is damaged though. Hope you are feeling okay. Looked like a pretty good slam into your car but the fact the truck was sideways at that point probably lessened the impact. Did you get thrown into the car in front and sustain front end damage as well?
Until the last video I wasn’t exactly sure what happened. Given the rate of speed of the left lane that guy never should have pulled out of your lane and into that lane. Feel for the truck that tried but couldn’t avoid him and hit you. Hope they were okay. Also hope the driver who caused the accident stayed at the scene and got ticketed.
Really sorry your car is damaged though. Hope you are feeling okay. Looked like a pretty good slam into your car but the fact the truck was sideways at that point probably lessened the impact. Did you get thrown into the car in front and sustain front end damage as well?
Until the last video I wasn’t exactly sure what happened. Given the rate of speed of the left lane that guy never should have pulled out of your lane and into that lane. Feel for the truck that tried but couldn’t avoid him and hit you. Hope they were okay. Also hope the driver who caused the accident stayed at the scene and got ticketed.
BTW if you add equipment/features to your vehicle after getting your insurance, be sure to update the info with the company (ie PPF, ceramic coating, tinted windows, EAP, AP, FSD, sound system etc). They’ll only cover your car up to the level you insured it at (and paid for coverage on) if you go through them. In any event save your upgrade receipts just like you would for home improvements. If your going through the other person’s insurance you’ll want to have those for them.
Also check to make sure when the insurance company is valuing the car you see the itemizations to make sure it fits what you were driving.
Also check to make sure when the insurance company is valuing the car you see the itemizations to make sure it fits what you were driving.
That truck and the other passing cars were stupid to keep going so fast and not anticipate that someone from the slow lane would pull out in front of them. It happens all the time so why expect anything different then??
Tesla even made a recent firmware update to recognize that exact scenario and slow down, so if you disagree with me, you disagree with Tesla.
ElectricIAC
Good-Natured Rascal
That “feature” has almost gotten me rear ended twice and stares galore. I just kill AP when getting into intersection lane that’s significantly clearer than the rest of the road now to avoid it and keep a close eye for cars forward.
Totaled out. You want it totaled.
I’m in the thick of it now with our Buick Enclave. It’s been out of commission since October 21 after a deer hit. hopefully will get it back by end of January. No DV claim possible since it was an animal impact.
The vehicle value hit I’m about to take is pretty extreme. The words “accident with airbag deployment and frame damage” are killers. Even though it was only the driver airbag and the crossmember supports, it all looks the same to Carfax.
This is going to cost me $12k+ and there’s not a %{*{^]^ thing I can do about it .....
I’m in the thick of it now with our Buick Enclave. It’s been out of commission since October 21 after a deer hit. hopefully will get it back by end of January. No DV claim possible since it was an animal impact.
The vehicle value hit I’m about to take is pretty extreme. The words “accident with airbag deployment and frame damage” are killers. Even though it was only the driver airbag and the crossmember supports, it all looks the same to Carfax.
This is going to cost me $12k+ and there’s not a %{*{^]^ thing I can do about it .....
A great lesson that we learned from our appraiser. There is NO requirement that you must have the car repaired before making a diminished value claim. Presenting a diminished value appraisal, loss of use report + the fact that there will probably be a supplement is pretty convincing evidence for insurers to opt for totaling the car. Makes more sense to pay you and recover the salvage value than going through all of these claim (and possibly legal) processes which could inevitably be more costly to them.
God forbid anyone disagrees with Tesla.
I'm not a fan of that feature. As someone said above, it has nearly caused accidents on more than one occasion in my case. It completely fails to take into account HOV/express lanes. I hope they release an update allowing you to turn it off or tweak the speed adjustment.
Thanks for the heads up on that. When the car gets to the collision center and they start to look at costs, I'll keep this in mind and let the insurance company know of my intention to file a claim. Hopefully it won't come to that. By the way, the two SUVs that swerved out of the right lane into the left lane when they realized they could not stop in time were both law enforcement - one a state and one a county. The state trooper made it through ok (and stopped after the crash) but the county officer did not make it through as he lost his front end to the truck before the truck hit me.
ElectricIAC
Good-Natured Rascal
God forbid anyone disagrees with Tesla.
I'm not a fan of that feature. As someone said above, it has nearly caused accidents on more than one occasion in my case. It completely fails to take into account HOV/express lanes. I hope they release an update allowing you to turn it off or tweak the speed adjustment.
Oh that’s not the worst of it. I’ve had it read speed differential and try to slow down when it’s just one or two cars next to me going slower as well.
