Accident repair time Tesla parts?

[dogememe]

Recently an older lady did an oopsie coming out of a parking lot while I was on the main road and plowed into me. The car is going to the body shop but in the meantime I want to know what to be prepared for.

Everyone is telling me it’s going to take so long to get parts etc. But I’m wondering if anyone has real world experience anytime recently to see if parts availability is really a problem? Because you know how it is in the news and a friend of a friend of a friend with a Tesla type thing.

The other insurance is giving me a rental car but I like my car and would like it back sooner than later. I know it varies but I just want to know if we might be talking weeks or months or? Or if I should start shopping for something else. It would either be another Tesla, a Bolt, or another Equinox EV.

 

[bdcardinal]

My few body shop contacts have said that Tesla is a nightmare parts wise.

 

[xspeedy]

If there is a huge delay, maybe get their insurance to buy this at a fair market value so you can get a new car.

 

[The Critic]

Are you taking it to Anthony's Auto Craft or Tesla?

 

[FatOrangeCat]

It looks very drivable. If quick parts availability is an issue, can you band-aid it up until it can be fixed correctly in a shop?

 

[dishdude]

It looks very drivable. If quick parts availability is an issue, can you band-aid it up until it can be fixed correctly in a shop?

I'm sure that right headlight is no longer aimed properly for night driving.

I'm surprised there isn't aftermarket support for a bumper cover and headlight assembly.

 

[dogememe]

It looks very drivable. If quick parts availability is an issue, can you band-aid it up until it can be fixed correctly in a shop?

I often work early in the morning or late at night, one headlight isn’t going to work for me. Also I just don’t really have confidence driving it in that condition.

One of the FSD cameras is mounted on the fender and I don’t know if the fender being out of position affects it at all.

There are no errors on the screen surprisingly but earlier it was supposed to turn right into a parking lot that it’s done flawlessly hundreds of times and it started hesitating and doing weird stuff trying to make that right turn so I’m wonder if the slight geometric difference is confusing it? I wouldn’t think it would but it’s never had an issue with that parking lot entrance before!

 

[dogememe]

I'm sure that right headlight is no longer aimed properly for night driving.

I'm surprised there isn't aftermarket support for a bumper cover and headlight assembly.

I’m not sure but it’s a leased car so I think they need to use all original parts. I think there are more parts out there for pre-refreshed Model 3s but idk about these 2024+ ones?

 

[97prizm]

Recently an older lady did an oopsie coming out of a parking lot while I was on the main road and plowed into me. The car is going to the body shop but in the meantime I want to know what to be prepared for.

Everyone is telling me it’s going to take so long to get parts etc. But I’m wondering if anyone has real world experience anytime recently to see if parts availability is really a problem? Because you know how it is in the news and a friend of a friend of a friend with a Tesla type thing.

The other insurance is giving me a rental car but I like my car and would like it back sooner than later. I know it varies but I just want to know if we might be talking weeks or months or? Or if I should start shopping for something else. It would either be another Tesla, a Bolt, or another Equinox EV.

View attachment 334967

Tesla customers is still seeing 1-4 month backlogs on parts in 2026. I'd have the insurance company buy it off of you at this point.

 

[Owen Lucas]

I'd have the insurance company buy it off of you at this point.

I wish it were that easy, it's likely cheaper to pay for a rental, for a few months. I've paid out on rentals that long when we had parts backlogs. This is for claimants where there is no policy limit/30 day rental. OP should try to get a Tesla rental if that's possible.

 

[Snagglefoot]

This is a chance for Elon to decide to be best at what he does again. Tesla repair centres that are unquestionably the best. Perhaps sneak a few humanoid robots in to do the dismantling.

 

[QwikKota]

Make sure to verify with the other party's insurance that you can take it to whichever body shop you choose. I don't know if they were incorrect but once I only had a rental for 2 days because I took my truck to the body shop of my choice. They had my truck for 2 months! I was livid.

 

[dogememe]

I wish it were that easy, it's likely cheaper to pay for a rental, for a few months. I've paid out on rentals that long when we had parts backlogs. This is for claimants where there is no policy limit/30 day rental. OP should try to get a Tesla rental if that's possible.

They set me up with enterprise. For free they only offered a Corolla. They wanted an extra $40 per day for a Tesla. So I paid $14 extra for an Escape. I don’t really need the loaner as I have the Tahoe but later this week I have a lot of driving to do and the Tahoe is a gas guzzler.

I’ll probably go swap out the loaner for a free option like the Corolla next week if I’m still in a loaner at that point and just park it and drive the Tahoe.

But I feel by accepting the loaner they’re incentivizing to move the process along.

I’m mad because I just paid almost $800 to renew registration. Hopefully if they total the car I can get them to add that to the payout. Ideally though they could fix my Tesla quickly and we can move on.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Make sure to verify with the other party's insurance that you can take it to whichever body shop you choose.

You can take it to any body shop you want. If they tell you to take it to a certain place and nowhere else that's steering and it's illegal. They will push really hard to take it to one of their shops short of steering, but good luck finding a Gerber Collision or Caliber that is certified.

I don't know if they were incorrect but once I only had a rental for 2 days because I took my truck to the body shop of my choice. They had my truck for 2 months! I was livid.

Depends on the situation. Was it a parts delay or incompetence? With an insurance DRP I can almost guarantee low quality repairs. I've inspected DRP repairs and there is a night and day difference between a shop that's not rushed to fix the work and those that are on a time crunch. DRPs - Direct Repair Shops for ins cos are incentivised to have repairs completed quickly and cheaply to keep getting referrals. Cheap and fast is at the sacrifice in quality. Perfect for a taxi, not for anyone else typically.

 

[97prizm]

Recently an older lady did an oopsie coming out of a parking lot while I was on the main road and plowed into me. The car is going to the body shop but in the meantime I want to know what to be prepared for.

Everyone is telling me it’s going to take so long to get parts etc. But I’m wondering if anyone has real world experience anytime recently to see if parts availability is really a problem? Because you know how it is in the news and a friend of a friend of a friend with a Tesla type thing.

The other insurance is giving me a rental car but I like my car and would like it back sooner than later. I know it varies but I just want to know if we might be talking weeks or months or? Or if I should start shopping for something else. It would either be another Tesla, a Bolt, or another Equinox EV.

View attachment 334967

Also look for I-CAR gold class certification. It's the highest level of repair and requires body shops to stay on top of current training and technology.

 

[QwikKota]

You can take it to any body shop you want. If they tell you to take it to a certain place and nowhere else that's steering and it's illegal. They will push really hard to take it to one of their shops short of steering, but good luck finding a Gerber Collision or Caliber that is certified.


Depends on the situation. Was it a parts delay or incompetence? With an insurance DRP I can almost guarantee low quality repairs. I've inspected DRP repairs and there is a night and day difference between a shop that's not rushed to fix the work and those that are on a time crunch. DRPs - Direct Repair Shops for ins cos are incentivised to have repairs completed quickly and cheaply to keep getting referrals. Cheap and fast is at the sacrifice in quality. Perfect for a taxi, not for anyone else typically.

It has been several years but with a 2 day timeframe, I would be surprised if the shop even had time to do a full estimate. The truck was badly hit and had frame damage. I was young at the time, didn't know better, and had a spare vehicle. The rental place had my credit card on file and I was a bit paranoid.

For the last 2 recent times I have been hit I use a well known and quality shop to do the work and they typically do a great job or will fix it. Sterling McCall collision center. I would definitely not say it's fast.

 

[97prizm]

I wish it were that easy, it's likely cheaper to pay for a rental, for a few months. I've paid out on rentals that long when we had parts backlogs. This is for claimants where there is no policy limit/30 day rental. OP should try to get a Tesla rental if that's possible.

Wouldn't a long term rental be insanely expensive for 90 days?

 

[Owen Lucas]

It has been several years but with a 2 day timeframe, I would be surprised if the shop even had time to do a full estimate. The truck was badly hit and had frame damage. I was young at the time, didn't know better, and had a spare vehicle. The rental place had my credit card on file and I was a bit paranoid.

Preliminary estimate, 15 minutes. Time to teardown, hours to days -> supplemental estimate #1. Shop will find additional damages throughout process. Adjuster comes back out for supplement #2 and possibly supplement #3 for part price adjustments, dealer resets, towing, diagnostics etc.

A job with frame damage? 2 months is not uncommon, on the longer end yes, but did they have to take the cab or bed off? It can get complicated fast and the more parts that are ordered, the higher the likelihood of 1 part backordered holding the whole job up.

Wouldn't a long term rental be insanely expensive for 90 days?

Ins cos have discount rates with Enterprise, so $25-$50 a day is pretty normal. Yes it adds up and it would wreck my rental numbers, but it has happened before. If we foresee a repair taking extremely long, we can calculate the rental into the repair amount and use it to total a vehicle. These scenarios usually happen with new and expensive vehicles.

 

[QwikKota]

Preliminary estimate, 15 minutes. Time to teardown, hours to days -> supplemental estimate #1. Shop will find additional damages throughout process. Adjuster comes back out for supplement #2 and possibly supplement #3 for part price adjustments, dealer resets, towing, diagnostics etc.

A job with frame damage? 2 months is not uncommon, on the longer end yes, but did they have to take the cab or bed off? It can get complicated fast and the more parts that are ordered, the higher the likelihood of 1 part backordered holding the whole job up.

When I say estimate I am talking real world time. Time to get back to the insurance company and myself, etc. This was in 2005, no idea what kind of system they had for producing estimates. I'm sure it's light speed fast now.

I believe they had to remove the bed to straighten the frame and repair the back of the cab where it hit. Dealer I towed it to said totaled, I was shocked and irate they were repairing it. Got rear ended shortly after, you'll never believe where the frame bent. And they fixed it again. Truck was cursed.

 

[Owen Lucas]

When I say estimate I am talking real world time. Time to get back to the insurance company and myself, etc. This was in 2005, no idea what kind of system they had for producing estimates. I'm sure it's light speed fast now.

Actually probably the same system, CCC or Mitchel. At that time they could pull down aftermarket and LKQ parts in real-time. Upload photos and estimates to the ins co almost instantaneously. The lag time is almost always human. Show is busy, tech is working on a car, no time for tear down, parts guy is busy, secretary didn't get authorization to repair etc.

Yikes, sorry to hear they fixed it. The frame ends are replaceable and on some vehicles, back then you could straighten metal to a point. DRP shops will bend the rules and repair things they shouldn't. I've seen it happen unfortunately. I'd rather have a frame job and rebuild the truck from scratch but DRPs don't like jobs that take a long time as it increases cycle time and ruins the shops numbers on how fast they fix vehicles etc.