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Had an Accident.... (Collision work for Model S)

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Yes, it is true. I got into a car accident in my two month old car last night. Thankfully, I was not hurt and accident seems to have only caused minor damage. But there is damage. I hit the car in front of me probably at about 20 miles per hour. I believe there was a collision in front of me and I could not stop soon enough for it. There is some damage to my front bumper and my frunk is out of alignment and slightly lifted. We need to deal with the insurance company before we have Tesla look at it, but will probably contact them today to put them on notice and see what they say. The car definitely seemed to have held up well through this and I am even driving it today. It is just so sad.:crying:
 
Wow, what a major bummer. So sorry to hear about your accident. But very glad to hear that you or passengers were not hurt. As painful as getting the car repaired will be, it doesn't come even close to getting our health repaired.

I too am interested in how the repair process will go, especially wrt Tesla providing new parts, timing for the parts, etc.
 
Please post pic's when you can and glad there are no injuries.

Also, since this appears to be the first accident, the more details you can provide the better for inquiring minds. I'm buying the car for safety as the secondary reason! Primary of course is that it is a spaceship from the future.
 
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Please post pic's when you can and glad there are no injuries.

Also, since this appears to be the first accident, the more details you can provide the better for inquiring minds. I'm buying the car for safety as the secondary reason! Primary of course is that it is a spaceship from the future.
Is it the first?
Last weekend, during a meeting of the Tesla Owners Illinois group, one of our members was certain that an accident had already occurred in our area. But I've yet to hear about it.

But I am with you, all details from OP much appreciated.
 
Grammar police ... :cursing: ... "I has a sad"???? ") After your blog (excellent writing), you should be ashamed of yourself. :)
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Echoing others, let us know how the repair process goes. My last 2 cars managed to end up in accidents within days of my purchase (one my fault, one not), so I'm currently terrified of my new car curse kicking in.
 
Grammar police ... :cursing: ... "I has a sad"???? ") After your blog (excellent writing), you should be ashamed of yourself. :)

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I share the same sentiment. I received word yesterday that my bumper was damaged in transit to the Chicago service center and must be replaced and painted. I has sads all the way around.
 
I guess I need to get out more also...never heard this before now.

i has a sad - Google Search

Not so much getting "out" more, but spending time on websites other than teslamotorsclub.com
But who has time for that?!

Back on topic - so sorry to hear about the accident. Wanted to ask, do you feel it was because the brakes weren't up to snuff (ala the many roadster rear-end accidents)? Or was it more that you didn't see it and didn't have enough time to react?
 
I will update here when we get Tesla involved.

In terms of the cause of the accident, I believe I came up behind an existing collision and did not realize it. It was in an area I drive every night, so I know the traffic patterns there and the traffic is bad. It slows and cars are switching lanes. Unfortunately, I did not notice the cars were at a dead stop until it was to late. I hit my brakes as hard as I could but could not stop. Thankfully I wasn't traveling at a fast rate of speed so the damage was minimal and I did not get hurt. So far there aren't any warning lights on or issues that we can see. The frunk is lifted though but still seems latched.

I need the insurance carrier to look at the damage before I can take it in for repairs, but our plan is to let Tesla know what happened and will schedule service once we have had the insurance carrier look at it.

I will update the forum once we find out what Tesla has to say next week.
 
oof. sorry to hear about this. i've been driving around so nervous of a fender bender in the first couple months.. happened on two of my previous cars. neither my fault, but still, it stings. (my first in ca was my 92 explorer, on day two of ownership a guy went out of lane and scraped clear across my whole front end as i was waiting to enter traffic at a parking lot... he took off and i had to chase him 5 blocks... he didn't have insurance....) BUT, very glad all are alright and only the car taking the hit.

not in any way singling this incident out, but i have been thinking/wondering about things like this, rolling stops and coming up short, vis-a-vis the newish habit of single pedal driving in cars with regen. i myself always have a foot on the brake, hovering at least, as i'm stopping for this very reason. if ever you needed to very quickly stop, the habit of coasting in regen to stops makes your foot that much farther from the brake in a situation such as this. the brakes on the model s are exemplary and i'm sure there just wasn't the space between realizing the stopped traffic and needing to be stopped. it happens. with the best drivers and the best brakes. but i do wonder what regen brings to this equation.... just musing.

keep us updated on the repair process, very curious.


thanks for posting.
 
@sueinsanjose it might be a good idea to have your insurance adjustor review the car at the Tesla Service Center as this more than likely will be the very first EV the adjuster is looking at and really may have no clue about what systems may have been effected in the collision.
 
@sueinsanjose it might be a good idea to have your insurance adjustor review the car at the Tesla Service Center as this more than likely will be the very first EV the adjuster is looking at and really may have no clue about what systems may have been effected in the collision.

+1 - this is a good idea that I would not have thought of. Since it is driveable set up an appointment there, have the service manager there as well and anyone else who can discuss complexity.
 
It is hard to see the damage other than the frunk being slightly ajar. The front bumper has some scraping that you really can't see in the photos. But overall the damage thankfully looks pretty minor. Yes there is ice on the car too. and my hubby's hand prints. And I lost my license plate frame, which still has no plates since we ordered personalized ones. And by the way, CHP was more interested in my car than knowing what happened....



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