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I'm in mourning!

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My Tesla got hit today. An older lady reversed into me as I passed behind her in a Walgreens parking lot :eek: I picked it up exactly 3 weeks ago today. She says she didn't see me. I wasn't going fast she just didn't look. I took it to Dania Beach SC and to my insurance adjuster already. Probably looking at 5+ days to repair. Doesn't look like much but already estimated at $1300 labor without parts etc. One of those bad luck days.

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Thanks for the sympathy guys. I'm waiting for First Class to call and slot me in for the repairs. This is only the second claim I've made in 17 years of being here in the USA. The other one was in 2004 after Hurricane Charley passed through the Carolinas.
 
Think of it as a christening of sorts: "Hit happens."

Mine was hit in March, 36 hours after I picked it up, while I was waiting at a red light in a snowstorm. Someone who couldn't stop slid into my left rear door in slow motion. Fortunately only hit the door which was dented right along the crease. As it's aluminum they couldn't hammer it out so door was replaced in April. It took a while to get a door as Tesla was busy producing as many cars as possible in the first quarter. And then it took extra time to match the paint as it wasn't in the body shop's system. Tesla recommended Hollis Auto Body which does Audis and Volvos. The paint looks perfect - they did a nice job.

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Think of it as a christening of sorts: "Hit happens."

Mine was hit in March, 36 hours after I picked it up, while I was waiting at a red light in a snowstorm. Someone who couldn't stop slid into my left rear door in slow motion. Fortunately only hit the door which was dented right along the crease. As it's aluminum they couldn't hammer it out so door was replaced in April. It took a while to get a door as Tesla was busy producing as many cars as possible in the first quarter. And then it took extra time to match the paint as it wasn't in the body shop's system. Tesla recommended Hollis Auto Body which does Audis and Volvos. The paint looks perfect - they did a nice job.

Now that's a bang! Lucky it was along the line of the crease. I think they'll have to replace the whole rear panel on mine as aluminum can't be easily hammered out as you say. I took another look at it today and it's well buckled along the edge...

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It goes to the shop Monday. I have an ICE rental set up as replacement.
 
Mine got hit in a parking lot last week. Got referred to European Motor Works in Santa Ana. Hit and run (looks like someone backed into it) with no note! Rear quarter panel needs to be replaced entirely, as does the bumper cover. Now I also have to replace the HOV stickers too! Repair shop said that since the aluminum was cracked, the whole panel needed to be replaced. Total estimated cost...$12,000!!

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Mine got hit in a parking lot last week. Got referred to European Motor Works in Santa Ana. Hit and run (looks like someone backed into it) with no note! Rear quarter panel needs to be replaced entirely, as does the bumper cover. Now I also have to replace the HOV stickers too! Repair shop said that since the aluminum was cracked, the whole panel needed to be replaced. Total estimated cost...$12,000!!

Ouch! They must have been moving pretty fast to do that = reckless driving in a parking lot.

Sorry to see that - hope you have good insurance. My door replacement cost $3600 or so, entirely paid by the other driver's insurer.
 
Mine got hit in a parking lot last week. Got referred to European Motor Works in Santa Ana. Hit and run (looks like someone backed into it) with no note! Rear quarter panel needs to be replaced entirely, as does the bumper cover. Now I also have to replace the HOV stickers too! Repair shop said that since the aluminum was cracked, the whole panel needed to be replaced. Total estimated cost...$12,000!!

Yikes! That's bad. At least mine is covered under somebody else's insurance. I agree with PeterK, whoever it was must have been moving quite fast. It doesn't look like a typical slow speed shunt. Either that or it was some object protruding from the other car that punched into yours. Did you get a police report on it? I had one done which was a bit surprising as my insurance agent said that they won't always come out when the accident is in a parking lot.
 
OMG Daniel!! So sorry your new baby was hit. You didn't even have your permanent registration plate yet! I'm sure she'll be good as new after the repair!

I too am in mourning today. When I placed my reservation/deposit on 7/16 my sales rep at the Dania Service Center assured me I would be protected from any/all price increases as I would not be able to finalize my order for more than a year. I have since then found that not to be true. The new configuration for the car is now $10.1K more than my existing reservation. This prices me out of the market for a Model S. It was a nice dream while it lasted. No Model S for me.

Best of luck

KB

- - - Updated - - -

After placing my post I had e-mailed my Sales Rep to cancel my reservation. Since then she just called me to tell me that if I leave my configuration exactly the same my pricing will remain the same for up to a year. Also found out that Xenon Headlights and HD Rear Camera are now standard on all models. So I may still be able to get my Model S after all!!! Yippee!
 
After placing my post I had e-mailed my Sales Rep to cancel my reservation. Since then she just called me to tell me that if I leave my configuration exactly the same my pricing will remain the same for up to a year. Also found out that Xenon Headlights and HD Rear Camera are now standard on all models. So I may still be able to get my Model S after all!!! Yippee!

Hope so. Yeah, I didn't even have the permanent plate on it when the accident occurred. The day after I got the permanent plate via FedEx. Typical! Yesterday I ordered my personal plate for it so when it comes back from the shop, eventually it'll have this on it...
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Long Time Lurker, First Time Poster

Well, it looks like I am in mourning, as well, now. This afternoon, someone backed into my 2-month old Model S in what looks like a very similar incident:

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Looks like the damage is limited to the panel and the wheel; the door looks okay. Any thoughts on the cost of repair? Anyone know of a Tampa area repair place? (I left a VM with the Tampa SC) Should I handle this through my own insurance or pursue the at-fault driver's insurance (my car was parked and unoccupied at the time). I'm particularly interested in your advice, Brit, as it seems like an almost identical incident.
 
Looks like the damage is limited to the panel and the wheel; the door looks okay. Any thoughts on the cost of repair? Anyone know of a Tampa area repair place? (I left a VM with the Tampa SC) Should I handle this through my own insurance or pursue the at-fault driver's insurance (my car was parked and unoccupied at the time). I'm particularly interested in your advice, Brit, as it seems like an almost identical incident.

Oh bad luck astrogp. If you have the other person's insurance details, I'd go after them and do it off their insurance. The main advantage's are you won't have to pay any up front deductible(s) and any car rental costs will be covered under their insurance and not yours. Tesla in Tampa should know of local body shop's they use. You definitely want to use the Tesla approved shops. It took a bit of time but State Farm (at fault driver's insurance co) did find First Class Auto on their approved list/and or were able to add it to their approved list. Whoever does it you want somewhere that knows how to work with aluminium. I'll tell you now, that rear panel and the wheel hub will have to be replacement parts from CA. One thing I learnt from this morning at the shop was Tesla hand paint each of the individual body panels. First Class have an "arrest-me" pearl red Tesla at the moment which they said will be hard to color match exactly. Good luck.