My Tesla Received Hit — Repair It At A Tesla Licensed Restore Or “Common” Physique Store?

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How is my expertise getting an estimate for a minor restore at each a Tesla Licensed and a “common” physique store?

I’ve written about Tesla collision repairs earlier than right here and right here, about 5 years in the past. This summer season, I acquired the possibility to do the same restore once more! My earlier restore was to the rear a part of my 2018 Tesla Mannequin 3, and the brand new restore was to the rear a part of my 2022 Tesla Mannequin Y. Final time, my spouse acquired confused backing out of the storage and hit the storage door whereas it was closing. This time, the climate was wet and a automotive slid into my automotive with appreciable pressure. I used to be shocked that the harm was so small. My conclusion 5 years in the past was:

“In my articles on Tesla, I’ve constantly centered on how inexpensive the vehicles are and the way they price much less to personal than different premium sedans, and may even be as inexpensive on a Whole Price of Possession foundation as common vehicles like a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord. I’d say this restore expertise places that assertion in query. If the insurance coverage corporations see that it prices twice as a lot to restore a Mannequin 3 as a Honda, received’t Tesla insurance coverage charges be double? Perhaps, perhaps not. Insurance coverage covers much more than simply fixing your automotive. It additionally covers medical payments and the harm your automotive does to others. Perhaps the enormously enhanced security of the Mannequin 3 will decrease bodily damage claims sufficient to counter the upper restore prices. Perhaps the superior energetic security techniques will proceed to cut back the variety of accidents.

“I do assume that, as thousands and thousands of Tesla automobiles are offered over the following decade, extra physique restore outlets will be taught to repair the vehicles and competitors will decrease the prices of repairing the automobiles.

“So, for proper now, Tesla insurance coverage charges are very suitable to Honda and Toyota charges in my scenario and I hope they proceed to enhance, however considerably larger restore prices have the potential to be an issue if these prices don’t proceed to go down.”

The remainder of this text will clarify my expertise — how issues have modified and the way I select to take care of it.

Hit By An Underinsured Motorist

With out moving into all the small print, I used to be hit by a motorist who did vital harm to a number of vehicles and didn’t have sufficient insurance coverage to cowl the harm. I might have simply gone to my insurance coverage firm and had them repair my automotive, however I made a decision to work with the insurance coverage firm of the person who brought about the harm to keep away from a declare on my coverage. It’s unclear to me if that’s essential to hold my charges low, however that’s what I did. This inspired me to get my restore accomplished at a cheaper price, since I knew the payout can be comparatively low. I might even have sued the person who hit me and recovered damages that means, however I didn’t actually wish to try this. Fortunately, the automotive labored advantageous, together with the operation of the rear hatch, so I had loads of time to do the restore after I needed to. So I acquired two estimates for the restore, one from a extremely rated Tesla Licensed Restore Store and one from a extremely rated physique restore store.

So, what did I be taught from this estimate? That despite the fact that the liftgate labored advantageous, they insisted on changing it, and the physique and paint labor was $95 an hour, the identical because it was 5 years in the past. You might name the labor fee a win for customers, since the whole lot else has gone up in worth, or you may say it’s nonetheless larger than the speed we’d count on for a Honda or Chevy restore, particularly now that Tesla automobiles are MUCH extra inexpensive than they have been 5 years in the past. I feel the $5,140.50 complete could be very excessive for such minor harm on a automotive in all probability value $20,000. It’s about half labor and half elements and paint.

So, from this estimate, I discovered that if the physique store was simply treating the automotive like a “common” automotive, they’d simply restore the harm. They proposed spending half as many hours of physique labor (6.2 vs. 12.5) as a result of they’d simply restore the dent verses change the liftgate. The paint labor was additionally lower than half (4.3 vs. 11.1), since they proposed portray so much much less of the automotive. The price of the paint is a few third, at $154.80 vs. $444, since so much much less of the automotive is to be painted. One other large distinction is the labor fee is $54 an hour vs. $95 an hour. The whole price of the proposed restore is $827.54 vs. $5,140.50, a distinction of over 6 occasions!

What Ought to I Do?

In deciding what to do, I believed concerning the 15 or so different accident repairs my household has been concerned in during the last 40 years and the way issues turned out. A few of these repairs have been accomplished at high quality outlets for $5,000 or so, and a few have been accomplished at extra inexpensive physique outlets for about $750. There has after all been vital inflation within the final 40 years, so I’m doubling or tripling the costs of the older repairs. After all, these older vehicles didn’t have the superior sensors and cameras that exist on a Tesla. Meaning if any of these are affected, you’re going to must get them repaired by somebody who is aware of what they’re doing should you care about Autopilot and FSD working (which I do). Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of accidents my household has been concerned in are these beauty solely ones (knock on wooden). What I discovered from that have is that should you get a high quality restore accomplished, it should final for a very long time. Perhaps 10 years or extra. I’ve discovered the occasions I used a decrease priced physique store, it regarded good for about 3 to five years after which it began to fade or peel or another minor downside popped up.

1. This extremely rated “non licensed” store is best high quality than among the cheaper locations I’ve used for older vehicles, however I’m assuming the paint may peel or discolor in 5 years. So, the related query is, if this occurs on my 9 yr outdated Tesla (the automotive is 4 years outdated now), how a lot will my household care and the way a lot will it have an effect on the resale worth. I can say that after a automotive is 9 years outdated and it isn’t some particular restricted version (like an Indy Tempo Automotive), most individuals don’t care that a lot. The Tesla Mannequin Y as the most effective promoting automotive on the planet is as far-off as doable from being a restricted version. It’s simply the fashionable day Toyota Camry. Will it have an effect on the resale worth? Definitely, a supplier would in all probability knock $2,000 off the worth of the automotive, whereas I feel a non-public social gathering would in all probability knock $1,000 off the worth of the automotive. Now, even when the automotive is mounted on the Tesla Licensed Store, you’re going to get some discount in worth simply because CARFAX will present an accident.
2. One other consider my choice is the impression on the surroundings. It looks like it’s wasteful to spend extra time and supplies to switch the liftgate, which is working completely advantageous. The outdated liftgate in all probability wouldn’t be reused, since it’s broken. The additional portray has some environmental impression.

Readers in all probability can inform that I’m justifying the choice to go along with the cheaper restore. I notice it’s a danger and wouldn’t have made this choice if the FSD cameras had been impacted, since conserving that working is vital to me (each as a author for CleanTechnica and for my private use).

Conclusion

I feel Tesla as an organization has made vital progress coaching a number of individuals in repairing their vehicles, so there isn’t an enormous wait anymore to getting your automotive repaired (no less than in Tampa, Florida). That being stated, my expertise says they might be too cautious in changing elements that don’t have to be changed. This might considerably increase insurance coverage charges. I’ve seen the insurance coverage charges in states the place Tesla gives insurance coverage are very affordable, however in some states that don’t provide Tesla insurance coverage (like Washington state the place my son moved), the charges are many occasions larger for Tesla automobiles versus an everyday Toyota or Nissan. Tesla must proceed to work on all of this to drive down the whole price of possession of its automobiles. After all, the corporate now appears extra all in favour of specializing in getting FSD working higher, however I hope they proceed to work on different tasks as a result of my expertise is that FSD is amazingly nice however nonetheless a number of years away from being unsupervised within the areas I drive in.

If you wish to make the most of my Tesla referral hyperlink to get Reward Credit, right here’s the hyperlink: https://ts.la/paul92237 — however as I’ve stated earlier than, if one other proprietor helped you extra, please use their hyperlink as an alternative of mine. If you wish to be taught extra about Tesla’s new referral program (August 2024), Chris Boylan has written an wonderful article on it.

Disclosure: I’m a shareholder in Tesla [TSLA], BYD [BYDDY], Nio [NIO], XPeng [XPEV], NextEra Power [NEP], and a number of other ARK ETFs. However I provide no funding recommendation of any type right here.