3 ms·

I don't know for other areas, but here in bay area Tesla only does service, not collision repairs. I took both my Model S, and my wife's Porsche to the same rep

by jd20 9y ago

I don't know for other areas, but here in bay area Tesla only does service, not collision repairs. I took both my Model S, and my wife's Porsche to the same repair facility, and I can tell you that both were eye wateringly expensive, and so well over my deductible that I really just didn't care. So, I'm not sure whether to feel bad that the Tesla's claims are higher on average, or take pride that I'm getting more for my dollar from the insurer when I get it fixed?

dogma1138 9y ago
As far as I know Tesla handles minor cosmetic damage for you they will hand it off to a local body shop but the problem is that anything that won’t buff out can’t be repaired as you for example as a body shop even a certified one can’t get say a buy a new door from Tesla. The only way to fix a Tesla is essentially via salvage and there are plenty of people who buy scrapped Tesla’s and make a frankencar some might opt to recertify it with Tesla so they can’t get updates and service but you don’t have to do so for the car to drive and even charge from the network.
- jd20 9y ago
  So in your example, sounds like Tesla is still not doing any body work, they're just referring the customer to a local body shop, which sets their own prices. Repair centers can certainly buy brand new official parts from Tesla. When my nose cone was fixed, the entire front bumper assembly (including new Autopilot sensors) was ordered from Tesla. This is pretty much the rule, not the exception, and Tesla seems to operate no differently than other car manufacturers when it comes to the repair process, from what I've seen. I don't see much about the Tesla that would make it more likely to salvage other than the battery pack though. Structural repair to a Tesla seems about the same as any other aluminum bodied car, and while there are shops that will do it (and get all the certified parts from Tesla), it just often doesn't make sense to spend $20-30k to fix a car whose used market value with a salvage title will be maybe double that?

by jd20 9y ago

dogma1138 9y ago

As far as I know Tesla handles minor cosmetic damage for you they will hand it off to a local body shop but the problem is that anything that won’t buff out can’t be repaired as you for example as a body shop even a certified one can’t get say a buy a new door from Tesla. The only way to fix a Tesla is essentially via salvage and there are plenty of people who buy scrapped Tesla’s and make a frankencar some might opt to recertify it with Tesla so they can’t get updates and service but you don’t have to do so for the car to drive and even charge from the network.

jd20 9y ago
So in your example, sounds like Tesla is still not doing any body work, they're just referring the customer to a local body shop, which sets their own prices. Repair centers can certainly buy brand new official parts from Tesla. When my nose cone was fixed, the entire front bumper assembly (including new Autopilot sensors) was ordered from Tesla. This is pretty much the rule, not the exception, and Tesla seems to operate no differently than other car manufacturers when it comes to the repair process, from what I've seen. I don't see much about the Tesla that would make it more likely to salvage other than the battery pack though. Structural repair to a Tesla seems about the same as any other aluminum bodied car, and while there are shops that will do it (and get all the certified parts from Tesla), it just often doesn't make sense to spend $20-30k to fix a car whose used market value with a salvage title will be maybe double that?