Scratched My newly leased Model S. Need opinion on best approach

YJBB · Nov 28, 2015

Dear fellow Tesla owners,

I painfully scratched my newly lease Model S. :crying

As you can see in the pic above). The damage is mainly on the left quarter panel and some on the rear door and a little on the side of the bumper and a little on the left wheel. The car is registered in NJ and have Progressive insurance. I have the following questions that need your opinion on:

1. do you know of any reliable body shop that does a good job in fixing aluminum bodies like the Tesla cars that's not certified by Tesla? In or near New York area is preferred. I already know of a Tesla certified shop so just want to get a comparison in the repairing cost.
2. With my progressive insurance, I seem to qualify for their platinum rewards which gives me a "small accident forgiveness". Do you think a scratch like this on a Tesla car would qualify for a "small accident"?
3. My main concern is if I was to claim it with Progressive, they will increase my insurance by a lot and also affect my husbands record since he's also an insured on the car. I wonder if paying out of pocket would make more sense here.

Thanks a lot for your help and opinion….

YJBB

andrewket · Nov 28, 2015

Unfortunately, that's not a scratch. The door and the quarter panel will likely need to be replaced and painted.

AMPUP · Nov 28, 2015

Yikes, that's about a 15-20k repair from what we have seen. Entire panel and door skin will need to be replaced and sprayed up.

bhuwan · Nov 28, 2015

probably terrible advice, but maybe another option is to wait until the lease is close to being done and then repairing the car? Yeah it will look like crap for the 2-3 years, but...

grichard · Nov 28, 2015

Ouch. Sorry.

I agree: that's actually a pretty big repair. I'd suggest that you just take it to the approved body shop, claim it on your insurance, and not agonize about it. Yeah, your premium may go up, but it's just one claim, so probably not too terribly.

This is what insurance is for. Get it repaired, and enjoy the car.

tomp · Nov 28, 2015

Why would that be better? Won't one then still have to pay for the repair, but have to drive a dinged-up car for 2-3 years? In order to delay the insurance increase?

bhuwan said:
probably terrible advice, but maybe another option is to wait until the lease is close to being done and then repairing the car? Yeah it will look like crap for the 2-3 years, but...

bhuwan · Nov 28, 2015

tomp said:
Why would that be better? Won't one then still have to pay for the repair, but have to drive a dinged-up car for 2-3 years? In order to delay the insurance increase?

This might be terrible advice, so take it with a grain of salt

Just some out of the box thinking
1) delay insurance increase
2) cost of repair should theoretically go down by then

JohnSnowNW · Nov 28, 2015

:scared:

Seriously though, I'm so sorry to see this.

YJBB · Nov 28, 2015

ouch, that's so expensive.

- - - Updated - - -

do you know how much the insurance might go up to?

- - - Updated - - -

That's some creative out of the box thinking. unfortunately, my lease just started, so it'd be a terrible 3 years to drive this car looking like this. feeling so bad still...

shokunin · Nov 28, 2015

Go through your insurance, that's what it's for. This is not a cheap repair. The rear quarter panel is welded to the frame. They have to cut the welds and remove the panel and then weld in a new panel. There's also quite a bit of disassembly even in the interior to remove rear quarter.

Yes, your insurance may go up, but it's cheaper than paying out of pocket.

YJBB · Nov 28, 2015

AMPUP said:
Yikes, that's about a 15-20k repair from what we have seen. Entire panel and door skin will need to be replaced and sprayed up.

Does this mean going to a non tesla approved shop is not an option since Tesla doesn't sell parts to anyone other than those approved?

shokunin · Nov 28, 2015

YJBB said:
do you know how much the insurance might go up to?

My wife hit out one our landscaping pony walls at like 2mph and got a 3" small dent/scratch. Had to replace the whole quarter panel for $15K, our insurance did not go up. Everyone's insurance, history, and location, driving record is different so best to talk to your agent.

David99 · Nov 28, 2015

Yes definitely around $15-20k. The quarter panel alone will be around $8-9k (I know cause I just got a quote for that). Check Tesla's website for certified body shops. I went to a few normal body shops and none of them would even take it since they are not experienced with aluminum.
Use your insurance, that's what it's for. Even if it goes up, it won't go up to were it will cost you $20k more.

SECRET M · Nov 28, 2015

Eek! I disagree with the advice to drive it around like that. It is a high end luxury car. Own up to the issue, use insurance, and fix the car. It is frustrating to hear advice that ignores your decision to pay for a car not only for its environmental impact, performance, comfort, but for it's aesthetic (and very functional) industrial design, and proceeds to advise you to add one more car to the population of dilapidated, damaged, and aesthetically unpleasant vehicles on the road that the eye sees day in and day out.

The car is not just a box designed by engineers; it is represents an industrial design that takes the aesthetic of the future in mind alongside the engineering needs. Get it back to new!

sickfox · Nov 28, 2015

This is the way to go.

shokunin said:
Go through your insurance, that's what it's for. This is not a cheap repair. The rear quarter panel is welded to the frame. They have to cut the welds and remove the panel and then weld in a new panel. There's also quite a bit of disassembly even in the interior to remove rear quarter.

Yes, your insurance may go up, but it's cheaper than paying out of pocket.

JPP · Nov 28, 2015

...and you need the rim rash repaired--hopefully don't need a new rim.

svp6 · Nov 28, 2015

Sorry about it. Just think about it this way - it is only metal, you can always fix it. Insurance should pay - that's why they take your money every month....

anxman · Nov 29, 2015

I did basically the exact same thing on my brand new 2014 Black P85D. I took it to a body shop and they fixed it up for $1500. I didn't want to claim anything on insurance so I paid out of pocket.

My two cents on the intersection of 'affordability' and quality: Find a local bodyshop that services Jaguars and is scored very highly on Yelp. Your car will require extra time to get done correctly because it will be new to them but pay them for the time anyway. They will know how to work with high end aluminum parts and it will end up significantly cheaper than going with a Tesla certified bodyshop.

Since repairing my Tesla, I've gotten plenty of small chips and scratches around the car that come from driving 20k miles / yr but I'm happy that I got the eyesore fixed. Now, at least when I wash the car, she looks amazing and sparkles.

I'm eyeballing here, and I don't have enough photos to make a fully informed decision, but I think you could get that fixed in the range of $2500-$3000.

David_Cary · Nov 29, 2015

I would definitely give a good non tesla shop a chance to make an estimate.

It certainly might be $2000 for a decent repair vs $20000 for a Tesla repair. After 3 years, you might save $3000 on insurance and you might buy the car for the residual and live with it.

I had a similar injury with a Leaf (steel version) and a $500 deductible. I chose to fix it for about $600 and pay cash. I can't tell where the repair is. My insurance is super cheap compared to the OP I'm sure. But it is still super cheap. I asked my agent and they refused to let me know if rates would go up if I reported it. I remember back in NY, if the value was under $600 at the time, they didn't raise your rates. NC has no specific rule.

YJBB · Nov 29, 2015

shokunin said:
My wife hit out one our landscaping pony walls at like 2mph and got a 3" small dent/scratch. Had to replace the whole quarter panel for $15K, our insurance did not go up. Everyone's insurance, history, and location, driving record is different so best to talk to your agent.

Can I ask which insurance company are you using?

Scratched My newly leased Model S. Need opinion on best approach

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