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One week old today, and then backed into....

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J

JMG

Member
Feb 26, 2015
391
300
NE Texas
#1
Sigh....

After an excruciating wait, and refreshing My Tesla a million times a day, I took delivery last Saturday. I only had it for 2 days because I dropped it off at Speed Shield in Addison, TX for photosync, suntek wrap, and cquartz finish (HIGHLY recommend Speed Shield) on this Monday AM. I had a conference in Dallas all this week and so I was just at the hotel without a car, constantly watching my Tesla App "Oh, he's working on the hood now (hood popped)...etc." My 3 day class absolutely crawled by at a snails pace. All I could do was wait for Friday afternoon so I could pick her back up for good....

So I picked her up today around 2:30. Completely pumped and excited because it looked incredible with the wrap,Cquartz coating, and tint. I drove straight from there to Costco to grab some supplies for the house and offices. I parked away from all the other cars. At least 4 empty spaces on either side.

About an hour in the store I came out, and of course all the of spaces were full around me. I thought, "Yikes...I guess I should've parked farther out. Oh well, I'm sure nothing has happened..."

While loading in my supplies (a TON of stuff), a woman came up and said, "Sir?". I wheeled around with a smile on my face expecting my first "Tesla Moment". "Yes?" "Umm....did you see what they did to your car?" "WHAT?! :scared:"

IMG_20150501_160243359.jpg

IMG_20150501_172131927_HDR.jpg

I felt ill...immediately. What is ironic is while driving there, someone was tailgating me and I got a little nervous. I had the actual thought, "Man, that would realllly suck if someone rear ended me. What a headache that would be."

So, she saw how distraught I was and tried to calm me down. I explained this was my dream car, and it was ONE week old and I'd driven it THREE days of that week. Don't even have tags on it yet.

She said she actually saw it happen. She was an employee of Costco and she said, "I couldn't believe it. My 13 year old can drive better than that. He just backed out and came alllll the way over until he hit your car." But thankfully he left his name and phone number on my dash with a message to call him.

I'm in the business of insurance, so I was thankful that he wasn't with some off the wall insurance company but Ameriprise. I got the claim reported on the way home and am hoping to hear from the adjuster on Monday.

I live out in a rural part of Texas, so the nearest authorized Tesla Body Shop is in Plano, TX (almost 2 hour drive, one way).

So I just got her, and now about to give her back up. I just hope they can repair it like new.

Sigh..........:(
 
#3
Man that really sucks. Hope it fixed. What is the wrap and the other stuff you did for? I keep seeing things in threads talking about wraps and such, I don't understand why. Can you tell me what's that all about? Sorry new guy here waiting to buy my Tesla.
 
#5
CUBldr97 said:
Man that really sucks. Hope it fixed. What is the wrap and the other stuff you did for? I keep seeing things in threads talking about wraps and such, I don't understand why. Can you tell me what's that all about? Sorry new guy here waiting to buy my Tesla.
Click to expand...

The wrap is also referred to as a "Clear bra". It's a practically invisible clear protective wrap that you typically get done on the full front of the car and maybe the doors, rear bumper, or some wrap the whole car. They help prevent rock chips, scratches, swirl marks to the paint, etc. It's pretty incredible stuff. The demonstration he had was a hood with one half wrapped and the other factory. The wrapped side he just went after with keys, rocks, etc...you peel back the wrap and the paint is pristine.

I would highly recommend you look into it if you drive your car alot like I do. My previous vehicle, a Tahoe, is FULL of rock chips.

Sigma4Life said:
Sorry that happened to you. I hope it gets fixed like new and very quickly. By the way, I also had my MC Red P85D done by Speed Shield in Addison.
Click to expand...

Yeah you and I PM'ed a couple of times about Trey. He's an awesome guy and did a great job.

He couldn't believe it when I called him back and told him I'd be back very soon to get the bumper and rear quarter panel redone. I drove straight from his place to the parking lot in Costco.

Its just unreal the horrible timing. I've been driving for 16 years with 3 previous vehicles and no one has ever touched my vehicle or been involved in an accident. My dream car, one week old, and someone backs into it.

First world problems I realize. Things could be much worse!
 
#7
I've had body damage on my Sig S (also not my fault), and it is no fun. But my incident was at 32,000 miles, not the first week of ownership; I can't imagine how bad that feels.

At least your basher was insured and you won't have to swallow the deductible.
 
#8
Ugh, I couldn't even imagine.

I had that happen to me in my first car, a smart car. Parked all the way forward in a spot, and someone still manages to scrape the back of it. I hate other drivers so much!

I guess that's the one silver lining I have to only being able to afford the Model 3--I'll have slightly less car to hit in a parking lot.
 
#10
I'm hurting seeing this.. and this is one thought that crosses my mind when I think what all places I wont want to visit if I got this car. Downtown, Costco, Company parking spots, grocery store parking lots with children slamming open SUV doors.. shady areas with haters.. :crying:
 
#13
JMG said:
Sigh....

After an excruciating wait, and refreshing My Tesla a million times a day, I took delivery last Saturday. I only had it for 2 days because I dropped it off at Speed Shield in Addison, TX for photosync, suntek wrap, and cquartz finish (HIGHLY recommend Speed Shield) on this Monday AM. I had a conference in Dallas all this week and so I was just at the hotel without a car, constantly watching my Tesla App "Oh, he's working on the hood now (hood popped)...etc." My 3 day class absolutely crawled by at a snails pace. All I could do was wait for Friday afternoon so I could pick her back up for good....

So I picked her up today around 2:30. Completely pumped and excited because it looked incredible with the wrap,Cquartz coating, and tint. I drove straight from there to Costco to grab some supplies for the house and offices. I parked away from all the other cars. At least 4 empty spaces on either side.

About an hour in the store I came out, and of course all the of spaces were full around me. I thought, "Yikes...I guess I should've parked farther out. Oh well, I'm sure nothing has happened..."

While loading in my supplies (a TON of stuff), a woman came up and said, "Sir?". I wheeled around with a smile on my face expecting my first "Tesla Moment". "Yes?" "Umm....did you see what they did to your car?" "WHAT?! :scared:"

IMG_20150501_160243359.jpg

IMG_20150501_172131927_HDR.jpg

I felt ill...immediately. What is ironic is while driving there, someone was tailgating me and I got a little nervous. I had the actual thought, "Man, that would realllly suck if someone rear ended me. What a headache that would be."

So, she saw how distraught I was and tried to calm me down. I explained this was my dream car, and it was ONE week old and I'd driven it THREE days of that week. Don't even have tags on it yet.

She said she actually saw it happen. She was an employee of Costco and she said, "I couldn't believe it. My 13 year old can drive better than that. He just backed out and came alllll the way over until he hit your car." But thankfully he left his name and phone number on my dash with a message to call him.

I'm in the business of insurance, so I was thankful that he wasn't with some off the wall insurance company but Ameriprise. I got the claim reported on the way home and am hoping to hear from the adjuster on Monday.

I live out in a rural part of Texas, so the nearest authorized Tesla Body Shop is in Plano, TX (almost 2 hour drive, one way).

So I just got her, and now about to give her back up. I just hope they can repair it like new.

Sigh..........:(
Click to expand...

This is amazing to me. Same thing happened to me. Only differences were: I was driving (stopped at a red light, women behind me was texting and thought the light turned green, and she rear ended me). I also had my car longer than two days. So, that is horrendous.

My dent looked almost identical to yours. The collision place fixed it. Without seeing it in person, you should be okay. Let us know how it turns out.
 
#14
Costco - the very mention of that place makes me shudder

My last car (Audi A6) was a week old when we went to Costco.

We parked miles away from anyone else, went shopping, and came out to find some dick had let a cart full of stuff roll down the hill of the lot straight into the back door of the Audi

Of course, no note, no security video, nothing

To their credit, Costco did pay my deductible, and the ICBC coverage meant I lost nothing - except the feeling that the car was no longer 'new'.

I don't shop at Costco any longer
 
#15
Wow, nearly two pages of condolences and no one has yet offered up the standard:
"That'll buff out" :smile:

I had my car for about a month when another driver stopped short in front of me. Low speed and no injuries so thankful in that regard but it seemed like the longest month of my life while my car was in the repair shop and I was driving a rental ICE. I can't imagine yours would be out of your hands THAT long. The upside is that you'll get to fall in love with driving it all over again.

Painful experience but at least the other driver was courteous and you have closure. I feel your pain.
 
#17
I know the feeling - but the short period of time really sucks...

Let's see... just think, now you've got the first dent in... you're good. My car was damaged by the Chicago service center two months after I received it; smashed up the front bumper (and then they did a really sh*tty job at repairing it. Tesla had me take it to my trusted guy to repair it and paid for it after I deemed their fix unsatisfactory.)

Recently, my wife was rear-ended a few months ago in St. Louis. I used the telemetry data to show his insurance company that he was a lying SOB when he claimed my wife rolled back into him - showing him that she rolled back only 8 inches, and that he slammed into her about 2 seconds after she stopped rolling backwards. I told them I'd be happy to call the police to have it investigated a bit more if he'd like.

Then, I walked outside after my wife returned from the store one day to see scuffs where someone pulling out of a parking spot dented the aluminum just under the charge port and scuffed the bumper and paint. No note, no contact information, no parking lot cameras.

And just two weeks ago, I managed to hit two raccoons who decided to cross the road just at the same time I was meeting another vehicle. Nowhere to go but hold tight - one raccoon went under the left wheel and the other under the right wheel.

I've reached the point where the car is simply a utility now. I'll get the body work done at some point. :)
 
  • Funny
Reactions: steveho and dragonxt
#18
Oh man, I totally feel for you. My car was less than a week old, and a lady in a huge truck pulls in to the parking place next to me and swings her door right into the side of my car . . . while I am sitting in it! She looks up at me, and then realizes she was caught and then becomes all apologetic. I about had a stroke. No dents, but scraped paint on my one week old brand new dream car. It's now wrapped from top-to-bottom and end-to-end. Just makes me feel better.
 
#19
That's awful luck. :-( As you say, at least you have an insured culprit.

Which leads me to one additional thought: there's another thread here on diminished value claims, definitely worth a read in this case. Then again since you work in insurance I could very well be telling you something you know more about than I do. :)
 
#20
Instead of coming out of Costco and finding that dent, imagine instead you reached into your pocket for your key and felt a lump you never noticed before. So you go to the doctor only to find out it's cancer and you have six months to live -- and only 6 months to drive your new, undented Tesla (although that's the least of your worries).

Then I magically appear and tell you that I can change that lump to a dent in your new Tesla. You're skeptical but what the heck, you have nothing to lose, and who cares about a dent, so you take me up on my offer. I wave my magic wand and immediately the lump is gone and the dent appears. So you are in the exact same situation you are in now, but you feel great -- really, really happy with a new lease on life. Soon your car will be like new again when the dent is repaired and you have your whole life ahead of you to enjoy the car.

There, now I hope I made you feel better... ;)

(But it does suck.)
 
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