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Was such a nice day and then...
- Thread starter thepianocian
- Start date
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- Model S
Blu Zap
Grinning member
Dang! I always hate to see that. At least it was moderate and no one was injured. But still, your beauty is tarnished! Ugh. They will clean it up and all will be well especially with the culprit's car insurance paying for it. Sorry for you. All the best for a quick and well done repair.
Oh man, I know exactly what you are going through. Major bummer. Hopefully you'll get parts quicker than my body shop. Here is my timeline:
May 1st - Accident
May 2nd - Estimate
May 4th - Parts Ordered by body shop
May 5th - Independent Appraiser Inspection
May 27th - Parts Arrive
June 1st - Drop Car off, pick up old ICE rental :crying:
June 1st thru present - Habitually check my Tesla app to monitor location and see if they are working on it
June 22nd - Pick up car (Maybe? Hopefully)
Mine was more of a straight dent and not a scrape, but I would suspect the repairs will be the same:
- New bumper
- New quarter panel
- New chrome window accent piece on drivers side (they are single use)
- Repaint trunk to blend
- Repaint rear drivers side door to blend
- New small triangle window in rear drivers side rear door
- New Tesla emblem on trunk and chrome piece
- And maybe new trunk too (it looks like they scraped it too)?
Mine was $9,300 and I have to wait another 30 days to go get it rewrapped with clear bra, and CQuartz and retint that small window.
Good luck!
May 1st - Accident
May 2nd - Estimate
May 4th - Parts Ordered by body shop
May 5th - Independent Appraiser Inspection
May 27th - Parts Arrive
June 1st - Drop Car off, pick up old ICE rental :crying:
June 1st thru present - Habitually check my Tesla app to monitor location and see if they are working on it
June 22nd - Pick up car (Maybe? Hopefully)
Mine was more of a straight dent and not a scrape, but I would suspect the repairs will be the same:
- New bumper
- New quarter panel
- New chrome window accent piece on drivers side (they are single use)
- Repaint trunk to blend
- Repaint rear drivers side door to blend
- New small triangle window in rear drivers side rear door
- New Tesla emblem on trunk and chrome piece
- And maybe new trunk too (it looks like they scraped it too)?
Mine was $9,300 and I have to wait another 30 days to go get it rewrapped with clear bra, and CQuartz and retint that small window.
Good luck!
Kbra
Member
$9,300 seems cheap compared to many of the astronomical prices we've been seeing from those few certified body shops. Maybe their numbers are growing and prices are coming back down to earth.
kuttakamina
Member
In the last stockholders annual meeting, elon did tout the safety of model s, and that insurance companies should take note. One can only hope the high repair costs of tesla are on their radar and they intend to do something about it. I'll be driving mine very gingerly, but that's only 50% of the equation. I can't do much about the other idiots on the road.
Wow, JMG, that is a very long time... I am not looking forward to that. I just got my estimate today and it looks like they are replacing the same things you mentioned, but my estimate is more like $14,000. Good thing it wasn't my fault... but still, 30 days with an ICE is going to be painful.
Yeah, once you get your Model S...going back to an ICE is very painful. As "luck" would have it, they ordered the wrong quarter panel. Looks like you have a non-D car, so your body shop should be okay. Apparently Tesla changed up the quarter panels for the D models...so, for a 15 day job, they discovered they had the wrong quarter panel, on the FIFTEENTH day.
So back in the ICE rental I am. It has now been 23 days and counting. Boy do I miss my Slacker, acceleration, handling, gas-station-free, etc etc etc etc....:crying:
AlanSqB
Dog Chauffeur
You may have already done this, but if this is a "Tesla Certified" shop, you might want to contact Tesla to file a complaint about it. Perhaps if the shop knows Tesla has been informed, it might cause them to change their behavior. Probably wishful thinking though.
I had the same problem with a repair about 15 years ago. The repair was supposed to take a week. After the first week, I began calling for updates. Every week, it was a new excuse: wrong parts were delivered, repair guy was sick, his mom died, out on vacation, etc. About six weeks later, I finally got my car back. Since it was a shop recommended by the insurance company, I made them pay for the six week rental. I found that the repair shop scratched the tint so I had the insurance pay for that and some other missing parts as well. I documented everything and put the whole story online. The company eventually went out of business and I can only hope that I had a hand in that.
Sorry your repair is taking so long. I would suggest leaving some online reviews. It won't really help you but could help others and help relieve some of the stress.
Thank you both for the responses. Yes, it is a Tesla certified shop and I plan to email Tesla and even Elon about it. Being Tesla certified and having this behavior is going to tarnish Tesla's reputation even though they might not be directly involved.
In terms of reviews, they have a 3.5 on yelp. Looks like only 5 stars and 1 star reviews so it is pretty polarizing. This shop is also a recommendation by my insurance as well so I'll see what I can do... but this is stressing me out. I commute 100 miles to work, which is why I got a Tesla in the first place (gas savings and carpool). Right now I am still making monthly payments on my car but having to drive a rental with no carpool, plus paying for gas. It's absolutely annoying and insane; I paid a premium to get a car to save gas, and here I am now paying the premium AND gas!
In terms of reviews, they have a 3.5 on yelp. Looks like only 5 stars and 1 star reviews so it is pretty polarizing. This shop is also a recommendation by my insurance as well so I'll see what I can do... but this is stressing me out. I commute 100 miles to work, which is why I got a Tesla in the first place (gas savings and carpool). Right now I am still making monthly payments on my car but having to drive a rental with no carpool, plus paying for gas. It's absolutely annoying and insane; I paid a premium to get a car to save gas, and here I am now paying the premium AND gas!
roblab
Active Member
I am sorry to hear your tale. I had nearly the same damage plus damage to the hatch door. It was repaired and repainted in less than a week, for less than $2000. It was NOT a "Tesla Certified" shop, but they were used to repairing aluminum.
The problem seems to be that so many people want to have new parts, when often they can be repaired. There is nothing wrong with bondo to smooth out a dent. No one cares if you tell them it had a bender and it was fixed. That happens to all cars. But to replace parts when they could be bumped out, covered, and painted gets into the money.
I don't know that this is the problem, but it seems to make a whale of a lot of difference.
How can you tell the difference? Your credit card balance. Is it worth it? I don't think so.
Also, for anyone who followed my story in the beginning and saw the damage...
Original estimate from non-certified Tesla shop: $3000
Original estimate from current Tesla-certified shop: $14,000
Final "estimate" (pending completion) from current Tesla-certified shop: $22,000
Ridiculousness!!!!!! Every day I call and every other day I get through, met with another excuse why they aren't done, then giving me an empty promise of the following week, only to rinse and repeat the same conversation over and over.
Original estimate from non-certified Tesla shop: $3000
Original estimate from current Tesla-certified shop: $14,000
Final "estimate" (pending completion) from current Tesla-certified shop: $22,000
Ridiculousness!!!!!! Every day I call and every other day I get through, met with another excuse why they aren't done, then giving me an empty promise of the following week, only to rinse and repeat the same conversation over and over.
davidc18
Active Member
I reckon they are taking you leg up. unless there is loads more damage than is shown on the pictures.
I am a qualified body repairer and MS owner. Although I don't paint cars any more, I see this kind of damage on resale cars dealt with weekly.
It is a standard repair, probably easier on an alloy panel than a steel one.
I find the whole thing unbelievable. At the end of the day, the paint quality is the same as any other car. If it is repaired, it has to be right, so the when it is sold, a trained assessor will not devalue it. The repair has to be invisible, like it never happened in the first place.
I cannot believe that removing that dent and repainting the rear bumper should cost more than $700. This includes the paint (which is mixed at the auto store and costs the same as the paint for a Kia a Ford or anything else). I cannot see any argument for a replacement panel. It is a tiny tap, nothing is out of alignment.
You might need a parking sensor by the look of it. They just push on from the botton once the rear apron is removed. $50 would be an expensive parking sensor.
Removing the rear boot liner and trim should not take more than 20 minutes and the damage looks so minor only one side has to come out.
The bumper is scratched, not split. The mounts don't even look broken. It will repair.
So it looks like is is a matter of removing the rear lamp (2 minutes) knocking out the dent (a couple of hours max for a panel beater) filling and preping the bumper and rear quarter. Nothing wrong with a skim of filler.
It is an easy job $700 Maximum. This is for a trained professional, with industry standard equipment as good as any other paint shop in the world.
Crazy!!!!
I am a qualified body repairer and MS owner. Although I don't paint cars any more, I see this kind of damage on resale cars dealt with weekly.
It is a standard repair, probably easier on an alloy panel than a steel one.
I find the whole thing unbelievable. At the end of the day, the paint quality is the same as any other car. If it is repaired, it has to be right, so the when it is sold, a trained assessor will not devalue it. The repair has to be invisible, like it never happened in the first place.
I cannot believe that removing that dent and repainting the rear bumper should cost more than $700. This includes the paint (which is mixed at the auto store and costs the same as the paint for a Kia a Ford or anything else). I cannot see any argument for a replacement panel. It is a tiny tap, nothing is out of alignment.
You might need a parking sensor by the look of it. They just push on from the botton once the rear apron is removed. $50 would be an expensive parking sensor.
Removing the rear boot liner and trim should not take more than 20 minutes and the damage looks so minor only one side has to come out.
The bumper is scratched, not split. The mounts don't even look broken. It will repair.
So it looks like is is a matter of removing the rear lamp (2 minutes) knocking out the dent (a couple of hours max for a panel beater) filling and preping the bumper and rear quarter. Nothing wrong with a skim of filler.
It is an easy job $700 Maximum. This is for a trained professional, with industry standard equipment as good as any other paint shop in the world.
Crazy!!!!
