Help with Model S rear accident damage repair costs

[lolachampcar]

My 21 Model S was just recently hit hard in the rear while stopped at a (red) traffic light. The at fault party's insurance company has accepted full liability but is playing games with damage estimates. As usual with this company, a Tesla authorized repair center quotes X and this company sends out an estimator that quotes X/2.

I would prefer not to repair the car but this requires starting the conversation in good faith and with a reasonably accurate repair quote. It has been my experience that this company does not act in good faith.

Has anyone here had a rear quarter panel (or more) replaced on a Tesla Model S by a Tesla Authorized Service Center? If you have, can you please give me an idea of the final invoice amount and time to complete the repairs? More recent is better but I'm happy with any usable data points.

Thanks Much!
Bill

 

[David_Cary]

I had a 2015 that came to $25k to replace the rear quarter (7/2023). The value was about $25k so it was totaled out.
It was a t bone style collision so not the same. But it was very far to the rear - the car was driveable - the only issue was the parking sensors.

I can't imagine this would total your car if that's what you mean by "prefer not to repair the car"

I wanted to not repair the car but I didn't really want to total it. The at fault insurance sent me $6k and my insurance (USAA) sent me $9k. I cashed neither and they certainly weren't both supposed to send me checks. But I am sure they would do anything to get it off the books for that low amount. Significantly less than X/2.

I was hoping for $15k and then I would fix the car myself. But once I had to get a "real estimate" at a Tesla shop, I went down the rabbit hole of getting totaled and not being able to get the car back - not to mention losing FUSC if I was even allowed to get it back.

For reference, my repair strategy was going to be to replace the rear bumper and broken parking sensors. Than a little tap tap and some bondo on the rear quarter. Between MCU2, new tires/12Vbattery and an overall solid car - it didn't deserve to die. Hopefully driving around Ukraine nowadays....

 

[lolachampcar]

The long and short of it is-
$39k Tesla Shop estimate
$20k insurance company estimate
roughly $20k current value
roughly $65k market value before the accident

so, $6k in loss of use (rental car) and diminished value (more like $10k- $15k when the car sells after the repair) would make me whole.

If the insurance company uses an artificially low estimate to force a repair that comes out close to the original shop's estimate, my ability to total the car has passed. I'm looking for real actual repair information to refute an obviously low estimate. I have personal experience with two rear quarter panel replacements on Model S both of which exceeded $20K and that was without any real deck lid or extensive rear crush structure damage. Your $25k rear quarter panel estimate is in line with my previous experience.