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Will insurance replace instead of repair the rear bumper cover?

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Someone hit my M3 in the parking garage and scratched the rear bumper cover through the paint into the plastic (the cover is in one piece with no cracks or missing pieces). Sentry mode caught the accident but the resolution was too low to pull a plate number so I'm going through my insurance company. I stopped at the SC and they suggested I just replace the bumper cover, they have one in stock and could do it in a couple of hours. Only problem is my insurance company wants a body shop quote to repair it. I'm guessing that to come in around $600 while my deductible is $500 (replacement at SC is about $1,200).

Has anyone had any luck getting their insurance company to replace a damaged rear bumper cover instead of having it repaired?

Are there any talking points I could use when dealing with the insurance co to build my case for a replacement vs. a repair?
 
Someone hit my M3 in the parking garage and scratched the rear bumper cover through the paint into the plastic (the cover is in one piece with no cracks or missing pieces). Sentry mode caught the accident but the resolution was too low to pull a plate number so I'm going through my insurance company. I stopped at the SC and they suggested I just replace the bumper cover, they have one in stock and could do it in a couple of hours. Only problem is my insurance company wants a body shop quote to repair it. I'm guessing that to come in around $600 while my deductible is $500 (replacement at SC is about $1,200).

Has anyone had any luck getting their insurance company to replace a damaged rear bumper cover instead of having it repaired?

Are there any talking points I could use when dealing with the insurance co to build my case for a replacement vs. a repair?

If the vehicle is new... within a year or two, you should be able to get them to replace vs. repair.

If the vehicle was older 5+ years, they would probably want it repaired.

That said, you are subject to the contract you signed with the insurance carrier, so it's up to those terms. Generally speaking however, adjusters are reasonable. Just get the estimate showing the replacement vs repair, like you want, and you should be ok.
 
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Someone hit my M3 in the parking garage and scratched the rear bumper cover through the paint into the plastic (the cover is in one piece with no cracks or missing pieces). Sentry mode caught the accident but the resolution was too low to pull a plate number so I'm going through my insurance company. I stopped at the SC and they suggested I just replace the bumper cover, they have one in stock and could do it in a couple of hours. Only problem is my insurance company wants a body shop quote to repair it. I'm guessing that to come in around $600 while my deductible is $500 (replacement at SC is about $1,200).

Has anyone had any luck getting their insurance company to replace a damaged rear bumper cover instead of having it repaired?

Are there any talking points I could use when dealing with the insurance co to build my case for a replacement vs. a repair?
if it's really only $600 to fix, why take the ding on your insurance?
 
If the vehicle is new... within a year or two, you should be able to get them to replace vs. repair.

If the vehicle was older 5+ years, they would probably want it repaired.

That said, you are subject to the contract you signed with the insurance carrier, so it's up to those terms. Generally speaking however, adjusters are reasonable. Just get the estimate showing the replacement vs repair, like you want, and you should be ok.

I took delivery on 4/30/19, I'll try my adjuster once I get the actual repair quote, thanks.
 
That's interesting, that would certainly solve my problem. My estimate is scheduled for Friday, I'll report back when I get it. Thanks.

It was ludicrous. (No pun intended.)

It seems these "Tesla Certified" shops *really* want to take advantage of that designation. The process involved all sorts of required steps to put the car into sleep, reconfigure various sensors, all sorts of technical mumbo-jumbo that was required "by Tesla." Not to mention all of the required hours for labor and paint and materials, etc.

Mobile service did it in two hours total, working meticulously, and the car never even noticed...no clue what all that body shop nonsense was about other than pure profit.
 
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It was ludicrous. (No pun intended.)

It seems these "Tesla Certified" shops *really* want to take advantage of that designation. The process involved all sorts of required steps to put the car into sleep, reconfigure various sensors, all sorts of technical mumbo-jumbo that was required "by Tesla." Not to mention all of the required hours for labor and paint and materials, etc.

Mobile service did it in two hours total, working meticulously, and the car never even noticed...no clue what all that body shop nonsense was about other than pure profit.

Wow, good to know, I feel better and better about my chances of getting that replacement.
 
my bumper cover was replaced. paid for entirely by insurance. great job and great customer service from the closest tesla certified body shop and my insurance company. note that the new bumper covers come unpainted.
 
Back in Nov. my husband’s MS was damaged in a parking lot by another vehicle, only he was lucky to know who did it so handled through their insurance. His bumper was gouged a bit as the vehicle scraped it and initially the estimator had put in for a repair. Car went to a Tesla Body shop and it ended up getting replaced not repaired. Also I think he had one sensor that got replaced as well.
 
Someone hit my M3 in the parking garage and scratched the rear bumper cover through the paint into the plastic (the cover is in one piece with no cracks or missing pieces). Sentry mode caught the accident but the resolution was too low to pull a plate number so I'm going through my insurance company. I stopped at the SC and they suggested I just replace the bumper cover, they have one in stock and could do it in a couple of hours. Only problem is my insurance company wants a body shop quote to repair it. I'm guessing that to come in around $600 while my deductible is $500 (replacement at SC is about $1,200).

Has anyone had any luck getting their insurance company to replace a damaged rear bumper cover instead of having it repaired?

Are there any talking points I could use when dealing with the insurance co to build my case for a replacement vs. a repair?

Tesla certified body shops don't fix anything.

Everything is replacement.
 
WTF? This is just wrong information.

No its not wrong.

I have my car at Auto Nation as we speak and I have had the opportunity to see the mandate by Tesla that precedes every repair job. In short it says: Replacement parts only....no repair.

Show me document that Tesla puts out that says something along the lines of " just straighten it out" or " just bend it back".

I was informed by the Certified Tesla Body shop that a Repaired Tesla will still be as safe as a new one. Body shops have to pay Tesla a TON of money for certification and licensing to be considered a "Certified Tesla Body Shop" and that they would loose all of their investment in training and such if they don't explicitly follow Tesla's repair guidelines.

A repaired Tesla is a safe Tesla...if repaired by a Tesla Certified Body shop that wants to keep its certification.


Now...if you take your Tesla to my uncle Clarences' back alley garage shop.....sure - " He'll straighten it out and bend it back in place for ya".
 
No its not wrong.

I said earlier in this thread that I just went through this. Everything I wrote was about a "Certified Tesla" body shop. I'd be happy to forward you the detailed insurance estimate they wrote. The only thing they were going to "replace" were the plastic clips that they claimed weren't re-usable and often break. (Nevermind the fact that mobile service didn't break or replace a single one of them.)
 
I said earlier in this thread that I just went through this. Everything I wrote was about a "Certified Tesla" body shop. I'd be happy to forward you the detailed insurance estimate they wrote. The only thing they were going to "replace" were the plastic clips that they claimed weren't re-usable and often break. (Nevermind the fact that mobile service didn't break or replace a single one of them.)

You can re-use something that isn't broken - absolutely.
 
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