Tesla backed my inventory P85D into a pole 5 minutes before delivery.. :(

Very sorry to hear this... Were it I, I feel I would flat out refuse delivery of that particular car.
That incident will probably be on the CarFax report forever.
If you have the time, I would go for a new car.

If you're going to refuse delivery, then it would be nice of you to do it now before they've spent the time fixing the car for you. As well, that will reduce your waiting time for a new one.

Secondly, before assuming it'll be on a CarFax report forever, investigate.

I doubt backing into a 'pole' at low speed is any sort of issue for the car and its future functionality, but I am sorry to hear you'll be delayed in getting and enjoying a Model S.

Kingside said:

So I went to go pick up my brand new P85D which I waited a month for and on the way there I get a call from Tesla saying they have bad news.. That they backed my car into a poll! I went to the service station to talk to them and they said they will fix it and it will take 2 weeks. I don't know if I will accept delivery since this is a damaged car and I'm certainly looking for them to compensate me. Now that this is a damaged car, how much is the car devalued?
What should I ask for compensation?


Pics attached. The whole trunk and backend need to be replaced.

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Even if Tesla replace the panels, getting the paint to exactly match could be an issue as the new panels will of necessity likely be painted at a different time and from different paint stock. A discount in the order of a demonstrator (so you can still claim the tax incentives) would seem appropriate, or just wait for a new car.

Kingside said:

... it's because I'm trying to figure out how much this will devalue the car.

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Well, it's not 25k.

Tesla Backed my brand new P85D into a poll upon delivery

Very unfortunate.

It looks to be the case though that you are open to accepting a repaired car if "the price is right". Is that a fair thing to say?

Personally, I'd refuse delivery rightaway and ask for a new one to be built. All the unknowns with a repair job both in the short term and the long term are not worth it. I'd rather drive away a spanking new car.

Damage looks pretty minor, just cosmetic. Wait to see how it looks after repair. I bet it will look perfect. No insurance claim so nothing will show on Carfax. If it looks good to you then I see no problem.

If they replace the damaged parts with new ones, painted in the same factory, it would pretty much be new. I'd be happy if they threw in the extra 4 years warranty.

IMHO, what they should do is keep the car, fix it, and sell it as an inventory/CPO. They should move you to the front of the queue and build you an identical new car, starting tomorrow.

If you haven't paid and taken title, it's not your car, it's theirs. Why should you have to accept damaged goods as new?

The vehicle is still a manufacturer car - it's not been titled or insured yet - so I don't think a repair will show on Carfax.

Cars are damaged at factories, in shipping, and at dealers all the time and they get repaired and sold as new without anyone being the wiser. Happens more often than you'd think.

Doesn't look like that will buff out.

I'd contact your OA and let them know you're not taking delivery until you're made whole. I'm sure this does happen occasionally, so they probably can figure out the best way to resolve the situation. You need them to assure you it doesn't hit Carfax (shouldn't since Manufacturer will be the one effecting a "defect" repair of not-yet-delivered car --- but hard to say since the car has left the factory already - they need to guarantee it won't be on the car's VIN history). You need to insist that the car will not be repaired by a body shop under your ownership or insurance, at all, that it's their car to repair and if they cannot guarantee the Carfax history then you don't want it.

Best is case they build you another car, it's worth the wait, and they make this one a Demo / Inventory car after the repair. If they insist on repair to make you whole, then you insist on inspection and tell them the car is not yours yet until they demonstrate to you 100% the car is normal again, non-Carfax reported, and probably insist on a loaner for your trouble. That's if they insist on pursuing the repair route, which I doubt they would do. I think they'll just bring you another fresh car off the line to your specs. It's not like they couldn't sell an Inventory P85D in record-time.

Ouch, that hurts.

I doubt thatll show-up on carfax given the car hasn't changed hands yet, and tesla will fix it themselves. Would be good to get that in writing from them. In which case, the incident will not devalue the car. And presumably tesla will warranty their work.

That said, with the amount of money you have riding on this car, I'd understand if you'd refuse delivery and order another one.

Bumper cover replacements (even on high end/exotic cars) usually don't affect the value of the car assuming the impact was minor, a good body shop is used and the paint is matched perfectly. If it were any other body panel it would be a different story.

Kingside said:

By the way, this was an inventory car with less than 1000 miles discounted by around $8500. I literally searched for weeks to find this deal about 40 days ago.

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That does change things quite a bit, IMO.

I seriously doubt they'd be willing to build you a brand new car in this case, since you weren't getting a brand new car anyway.

Also, once they repair it, i'm sure they'd not have much problem reselling it.

I'd expect them to repair it to as-was condition (and your satisfaction) and offer you a small sweetener (an additional 2-3K off for a free warrant or service plan seems excessive for essentially a 2 week wait).

Given the way they've handled things like the center console backlog, I can't see them building you a whole new car "at the front of the line." (Not sure how I'd feel about this is I were an owner waiting for my car to be built...)

Ah, the fact that it's a discounted, inventory car does change things up then. Very different equation. I get the ambivalence now.