X hit by 17 year old kid who just got his license, what now?

[OrbiterTI4]

I believe the totaling threshold for CA is "salvage value + repair costs >= actual cash value".

My advice is on the assumption you are working directly with Farmers (i.e. you have not filed a collision claim with your own insurance, and the other driver's insurance has accepted liability).

Remind the adjuster you will be seeking a Tesla rental during the time of repairs. The last time I quoted such a rental, it was $1800 a week.
Remind the adjuster, given the backlog of repairs and availability of parts, scope of the damages, repairs will likely take 20 weeks or more, so rental costs become $36k+.
Remind the adjuster you will be seeking diminished value, which for a vehicle with airbags deployed, will be on the order of 20-30% of actual cash value.
If the adjuster isn't swayed to the "totaled" side of the equation yet, maybe remind him you are already seeking lawyers to help with the diminished value and loss of use (if they don't provide a Tesla rental immediately) tort claims.

Good luck.

 

[jboy210]

I too was hit by a newly licensed teenager. I'm comparing my repair experience with an M3 to your X, so this is a little bit of apples and oranges, but the two things that blew my mind were the cost of the repair and the wait time to get it all done - it took me 60 days to get the car into the shop and 30 days to repair it. The lead time on ordering parts from Tesla is insane. So yes, a full three months for nothing but body damage - no lights, cameras or sensors damaged. Cost? $15,000. Knowing what I know now about the Achilles heal of Tesla, I'm not sure I'd buy one again.

Not unique to Tesla. We just had someone hit our 2016 BMW X3 from the rear at 7 mph. Initial estimate $6,000 then 9,000, final almost $12,000. 2.5 months to repair. Part of the problem is it is like peeling an onion. They look, estimate, and order parts based on what they can see. Then they start opening up the car for that repair and find more damage. And more parts are order. Ended up having to get a new gas tank with a 21 day time to locate and ship from Germany.

FWIW, the car was completely drivable the whole time. Rear liftgate worked fine, rear view camera, 360 view, tailights, etc. unbroken and worked like new. From the outside the damage looked like bumper scrape and small (finger depth) 6 inch long crease in rear bumper and liftgate.

 

[pdq]

Our 1 year old X w/ FUSC and FSD got smashed by another car a few days ago. All airbags were deployed. Here's a video of the accident in case you are interested:
piper pl. car accident

]

The boy was wrong in pulling out, but as seen in the video, it appears that you took no action to abruptly swerve and avoid the accident, rather continuing straight and hitting him. Is that due to a bad camera angle?

Regardless, as others have said, I feel sorry given that your car got really torn up, and as others have stated, if it were me, I'd want to have the car declared a total and replaced. Given how expensive Tesla repair parts are, and the weeks/months it takes to get them, this would not be quick or inexpensive repair.

 

[ColonelRHS]

If the damage to the vehicle, plus the salvage value equals, or is more then the value of the car. Then it can be declared a total. Get it in writing, send the libiality carrier a demand letter, then contact your state Commissioner of insurance, and make a formal complaint.
Your second option is to obtain a written opinion from the body shop that the vehicle still has open, an expectation of hidden damage, and in their opinion, the vehicle is in fact a total loss.
Your third option, is to obtain statements from dealerships that have sold or bought used Tesla's, and have them cite the before value of the vehicle, and after repair, the reduced value of the vehicle. I'm not familiar with your state laws, but in our state, the at fault party has to pay after market value after repairs are completed. Insurance companies like to play dumb and will never offer this until legal action is threatened.
Looking at the photos and the cowel damage, I'm surprised the battery case is not damaged.
You are also in a position to claim rental car expense or loss of use, and don't let the insurance company say they will only pay for the days the car is under repair. If they do, then demand they provide the name of a shop that will immediately repair the vehicle. This can potentially put them into a trap, because once a shop STARTS repair, and then have to stop because of parts availability, the car is still considered under repair...you may find case law in your state to back this up.

 

[jboy210]

FWIW, Here is a flowchart a body shop had posted on a desk. Notice when parts are ordered and re-ordered.

 

[Big Dog]

1) agree with others; likely much more than $30k. My D's Audi A3 had a bumper dinged in a parking lot. But the ding was much worse once they pulled the bumper cover off. Original estimate, <$2k. Final tally, not including rental was $11.8k. (The quarter panel underneath was also bent, but not obvious on initial inspection.)


2) if it were me, I'd get it towed to a Tesla shop and let it sit until Oct. With Tesla parts and Tesla labor, you'l get to a Total in no time. In the meantime, the kid's insurance is paying for your rental. (Make sure you get a similar car and don't fall for the 'we only pay for sub-contracts' excuse.)

 

[MrABRanch]

gonna be more than 30k, I had a much smaller dent scrape from a tow truck, no internal damage, it was almost 8k, that is huge damage, you should get a separate estimate....to me it looks like a total.

Our 1 year old X w/ FUSC and FSD got smashed by another car a few days ago. All airbags were deployed. Here's a video of the accident in case you are interested:
piper pl. car accident

My questions are:
1) The adjuster that came out, said due to the high value of the car he can't total it, and it's going to get fix. He proceeds do an estimate and thinks it will cost 30k. In browsing the forums, I see some other X's in accidents much less than this and and their cost to fix is 20k already. Looking at these photos does this look like a repair job or a total? The frame to the trunk is bent, as well as FWD on both sides.

2) I called the Pomona Tesla Body shop and they won't even take the vehicle until October as they are at capacity. I called 5 other local tesla approved shops, and some don't do structural damage and some are at capacity until Oct as well. So is the only option I have now is to wait it out until Oct, for Tesla to do a full tear down and proper estimate?

View attachment 451576 View attachment 451577 View attachment 451578 View attachment 451579 View attachment 451580 View attachment 451581 View attachment 451582 View attachment 451583 View attachment 451584

 

[ash9.58]

'The adjuster that came out, said due to the high value of the car he can't total it, and it's going to get fix'

This is BS! As others are saying if you have frame structure damage of any kind the car is toast- who's your insurance company? We all need to know and we all need to ask these questions...

Do they give away licenses down there? I would sue Motor Vehicle for giving this kid a license, he/she never should've gotten one.

dont let the insurance company take advantage of you- $30k is nothing if your battery is damaged. By it's self the battery is 20K

 

[OrbiterTI4]

If the damage to the vehicle, plus the salvage value equals, or is more then the value of the car. Then it can be declared a total. Get it in writing, send the libiality carrier a demand letter, then contact your state Commissioner of insurance, and make a formal complaint

What are the rules for CA? Here in TX, when I reached out to the TX Dept of Insurance, I was told, "we can only help you if the company violating our rules is the company you have a contract/policy with. For third-party issues, use the courts."

 

[Peter Lucas]

Four to six months would be my guess.
Let us know.

 

[casamanzana]

I do have a preliminary estimate, they think it's 30k. I'm in S. Ca so close to a few shops, but prefer to take it to the official tesla body shop. In fact some tesla approved body shops don't even do structural work.

Give Amato's Body Shop in Miramar (San Diego) a try. They took mine in after I hit a truck tire on I-8. Allstate paid $8500 and I paid the $1500 deductible. Amato's is a huge operation and Tesla approved.. They did have big delays in getting Tesla parts, and because of this Tesla paid for my rental car admitting fault for the repair delay..

 

[Hobari]

The boy was wrong in pulling out, but as seen in the video, it appears that you took no action to abruptly swerve and avoid the accident, rather continuing straight and hitting him. Is that due to a bad camera angle?

The kid was on the wrong side of the street facing head on to another car, then pulled into the lane going in the wrong direction. Is there any defense for that?

 

[brkaus]

Sorry - that's painful to watch . Especially since I have a 15 y/o kid working towards a license.

Clearly they cannot see because they are parked on the wrong side and have no view of oncoming traffic - either through the windshield or the mirrors.

It's hard to tell how fast the Tesla is going. Someone could probably pull the crash data and/or estimate the distance traveled over several frames of the video.

Assuming it's the other parties fault I'd have to believe it's totaled. Add in DV & rental it becomes a pretty large amount.

 

[AGFlagg]

I feel for you. Five Tesla locations and non can take your car? That's ridiculous. Sounds like you're going to wait 2-3 months before you can get the car back. They should have taken your car and give you another MX loaner while waiting.

Every time I read a thread like this, I want to cancel my MX order while I still can.

 

[massappeal]

Sorry about the accident. That sucks. Recently was in an accident and had Avio Coachcraft do the repairs because of the backlog at the nearest Tesla bodyshop. (Avio is a Tesla-approved bodyshop on the west side.) They were amazing and as everybody else is saying, the costs of repair went up as they peeled off the layers. Good luck.

 

[hoang51]

Our 1 year old X w/ FUSC and FSD got smashed by another car a few days ago. All airbags were deployed. Here's a video of the accident in case you are interested:
piper pl. car accident
...

Hi frebay , sorry that this happened to you. I hope those involved with the car crash are okay, including the kid at fault.

My recommendation is to check out this very detailed thread post here that describes how one set out to get their car totalled after being low-balled similar to you: 2016 Model S 90D - Property Damage Claim Post Mortem

Good luck.

 

[Jae001]

I can't even look at those pictures. So sad. What a waste of a beautiful car. Total it. I worked with a shop once on a non Tesla and told them to total the car. It was close and could go either way, the shop bumped the estimate for me to total it. They got a nice tip. Wink, wink!!

 

[derkan]

@frebay I went through something similar. Definitely read 2016 Model S 90D - Property Damage Claim Post Mortem as hoang51 has suggested. It may take some time, and a little bit of money for third party appraiser (I used stlucieappraisal).
- make sure the other driver is found 100% at fault. If you believe this to be the case, and the opposing insurance company says something about comparative negligence e.g. shared fault, you will have to fight this. From the video it seems this parked car is starting into oncoming traffing / wrong lane, without signal mind you, and your tesla actually tried to avoid him too, before swerving back.

You'll likely hear a bunch of threats and lies from the insurance company. As a third party claimant, you can say:
The damages I am seeking to recover are what are reasonably required to put me in the position had the accident not occurred.

Which basically means you are not bound by any sort of arbitrary limit they might try to impose, as this falls under tort. You should be able to claim
- repair by tesla
- equivalent model x rental for the entire duration including waiting for parts etc (loss of use) - which by the way insurance should be scared of because there is no telling how long it may take !
- towing, storage etc fees
- diminished value of your vehicle, because people and dealerships pay much much less for a car whose carfax says accident - structural damage, airbags deployed
- cost of third party appraisals
- any other damages

You are under no obligation to have the car repaired. If the insurance can replace your car (declare your car a total loss and pay you to replace it plus a much shorter time of loss of use), and then take posession of the wreck and sell it at auction, the math will likely work out much better for them than paying for all the above damages. You just need to convince them.

 

[Nikxice]

The kid was on the wrong side of the street facing head on to another car, then pulled into the lane going in the wrong direction. Is there any defense for that?

Agree, the actions of the 17 year old can't be defended. No call here, but I think the comment by pdq partially addresses the question, was this crash unavoidable or avoidable?

The boy was wrong in pulling out, but as seen in the video, it appears that you took no action to abruptly swerve and avoid the accident, rather continuing straight and hitting him. Is that due to a bad camera angle?

The video shows a residential neighborhood that typically might not see much street parking. The vehicle operated by the inexperienced driver appears to veer abruptly into the street. That driver had only progressed a feet feet forward prior to the collision with the X. The video doesn't reflect any oncoming traffic. Now imagine that same scene where a child is chasing a ball into the street, running out between the two parked cars. Blocked zones or other factors should normally alert drivers to reduce their speed below the posted limit. If this scene had the added risk of oncoming traffic, a further reduction in vehicle speed would be warranted. Whenever possible, making adjustments to lane position can be another way to leave yourself an out. A big key to avoiding crashes is skillfully managing the space around your vehicle.

 

[frebay]

However the other car came out of into driving lane after being the view blocked from opposite side... Its important to know who at fault is..BTW which year is your Model X anyways? If its last year no way is it 85K as a brand new one is 85K now that too Raven. Most 2018 are now selling at Mid 70K in used market. Is yours a Performance model?

We talked to a lawyer and he said the other party is 100% at fault. Still waiting to hear from the other side's insurance as they haven't talked to the driver yet. It's a 2018 100D, not sure how they will price it now that the raven is out....