Dec 16, 2014
yobigd20 mine is up 22%, despite my flawless driving record. this is completely due to increased rates in collision and comprehensive for Tesla vehicles. insurance company confirmed its because of the high accident rate and extremely high cost of repair.�
Dec 16, 2014
wycolo Ooops, I jumped over the interim increases at 6 months which were:
Collision = 6.5%
Comp = 2.3%
thus understating the actual increases! Methinks that is the beauty of the 6 month business model.
I'll leave it for others to set this all straight- head beginning to hurt.
--�
Dec 16, 2014
EarlyAdopter Again, I have to challenge this statement as we have the same insurance company yet my rate has only gone down over the last 2 years of Tesla ownership. There clearly are other factors at play.�
Dec 16, 2014
bhzmark Find a lawyer who does policyholder representation to send a letter to the insurance company explaining that the value is too low. Sometimes you need to do that to get their attention�
Dec 16, 2014
CaptDaveHowe I had a small dent in the wheel well that happened in a parking lot, along with a small dent from a shopping cart (all in one occurrence). Long story short, the cost to fix was over $4,000. State Farm paid it, then the next day dropped the coverage on my Tesla. As it was explained to me, the cost of parts from Tesla to the body shop is much higher than in Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, etc. Reason is that Tesla produces a lot less cars and therefore parts like door panels, fenders and such are extremely high. Being dropped by State Farm turned out to be a blessing, as I switched both my Model S and my wife's SC430 to Liberty Mutual and saved over $1,000 a year.�
Dec 17, 2014
swegman My premium increased $200 with Geico. The rate increase was solely related to increases to the collision and comprehensive portion of the policy. As I stated before, when I asked why (as I have no tickets/accidents), Geico said that their experience with the car showed it cost much more to repair than they had anticipated, and that all Tesla owners in the DC area were seeing rate increases to make up for the increased cost of repairs.�
Dec 17, 2014
3mp_kwh Really? I'd wait to have a quote on a quarter panel, before thinking the 18k is all price gouging. It makes perfect sense that no aftermarket competes with Tesla, yet. You don't think that could be leaving Tesla in a position to name its price?
Has anyone got a receipt, for a quarter panel and door? Can anyone comment on body fillers and aluminum working together, or if that's a whole new ballgame, too? A body shop that has worked with aluminum, and our own sell-insuring, could be a friend in the future. It's not the compulsory costs that are going up.�
Dec 17, 2014
yobigd20 Uh yeah there's a number of these incidents and receipts posted on these forums now, including the op and his $30k repair estimate....one owner got quoted $8k for a scratch, literally.�
Dec 17, 2014
Gizmotoy Not necessarily. Insurance companies calculate risk both locally and nationally. A lot of local high dollar claims are going to be more relevant than a lot of high dollar claims from across the nation. I suspect areas with dense Model S populations will lead the rate hikes of everywhere else. They might just not have the history in your area that he has in his.
I know from trying to switch a few months ago that around here GEICO is the only company still offering decent rates on the Model S, everyone else is sky high (the next cheapest is nearly 35% more expensive). It's only a matter of time until my GEICO rate goes up as well.�
Dec 17, 2014
Morristhecat Do you guys not have new car replacement insurance in the US? As long as the car is less than 4 years old we (at least in BC) can pay a small premium to ensure that if the car is totaled, it is replaced by a brand new car. For a car such as a Tesla, at least in my mind, it is a no brainer.�
Dec 17, 2014
MsElectric Any news on what Tesla plans to do to offer parts at price comparable to a Mercedes for similar repairs? If this price gouging continues some insurance companies will drop coverage of Teslas, other will charge exorbitant rates, and still more resale values will plummet costing us all in depreciation because no one wants to touch a 3-4+ year old Tesla because any little ding and the car is totaled.�
Dec 17, 2014
stopcrazypp There's really not much Tesla can do right now given the volume difference. Mercedes in the US alone sells about 10x as many vehicles as Tesla does worldwide, and worldwide vs worldwide it's more like 50x. Plus given Tesla is very parts constrained, that only increases the parts costs. There's probably not going to be a whole lot of change in the parts cost front until the Model 3 is well under way in sales.�
Dec 17, 2014
Majerus Revoke certified shops "Tesla approved" branding if they continue to gouge customers.�
Dec 17, 2014
SBR I got a quote for the P85D and it was $700 with Geico for 6 months. As a comparison my Bentley Flying Spur Speed was $500 for all things remaining the same! this is crazy...�
Dec 17, 2014
tga I'm not sure I buy this argument. There's a ton of parts that go into a Tesla (or any other car), and we don't necessarily know where they are parts constrained. If the stamping machines are running at 90% capacity, then the only additional marginal cost to making more body panels is the aluminum sheet and the operator labor. If they are changing a huge markup for these repair parts, then the customers are getting screwed.
This only works if the repair shops are the ones gouging the customers, and the pre-shop markup parts cost is reasonable.
It's hard to know who's doing the gouging unless we start seeing repair invoices. Once the F-150 brings aluminum down-market, the number of qualified shops should increase.�
Dec 17, 2014
stopcrazypp You have to account for overhead too, not just marginal. And when you are making parts in small volume, the overhead will be significant. As volume increases, the parts cost you can sell at and still break even will approach the marginal. There are some parts that are more general (like switch-gear) that won't be as affected, but body panels are custom made for this car only.�
Dec 17, 2014
tga I suppose, although I'd argue we're probably just quibbling about accounting issues (I'm thinking more cash flow, you're looking all in/GAAP).
They're stamping 1000 left front fenders a week (or whatever the current production is). The additional cost to make one more to fix a heartbroken owner's baby that just got smacked by a teenage idiot who just got their license just isn't that much.
Certainly we can agree that owners shouldn't be screwed on repairs, either by Tesla on wholesale parts costs, or repair shops on labor/markup. It's not the "Tesla way", and will come back to bite them (bad PR, excessive insurance, etc)�
Dec 18, 2014
yobigd20 Another data point. There is a local owner here in NJ whose MS60 just got whacked by someone who backed into the other day in a parking garage. I have permission from the owner to post his photos and repair quote. This one is actually reasonable given some of the other recent quotes we've seen.
The repair is being done by Peotter's in NJ and yes it's a certified Tesla repair shop.
Replacing:
- front bumper,
- left fender,
- left head lamp assembly due to crack;
- paint, including blending of the left front driver side door ,
- labor
The estimate is $6700. This one is actually good. Is it possible Tesla is taking control of the repair estimates now??
Pics:
you know what's kind of funny but not really: Peotter's is using a smashed up Tesla on the landing page of their web site. I don't know if that is supposed to say 'We repair Tesla's here!' or if it's rather 'We repair more Tesla's now than any other car!!' .
Peotters Auto Body, Inc.
�
Dec 18, 2014
islandbayy I think more or less that they are just a HONEST shop. As long as repair is done correctly.�
Dec 18, 2014
wycolo Did you really QUOTE all those bloated images? More fun for 3g page loading waiting in traffic this am. :frown:
--�
Dec 18, 2014
rlang59
You do know this is the place from that article you posted right?
�
Dec 18, 2014
Kbsilver There may be hope! While still more expensive than other luxury cars for the same amount of damage, at least it's in the correct ballpark. For most cars that fender would be repairable as the damage is limited. Is aluminum that difficult to reshape that it must be completely replaced? Or the cost of the replacement actually is reasonable and the repair labor is near or exceeds the replacement cost? I know aluminum is more difficult/expensive to work with, but if your just replacing complete body panels, there should be zero difference in labor costs compared to steel.
It seems as these stories of insane repair costs are a combination of the higher cost of parts, but mostly due to the honesty of the repair shop. As I mentioned before, Tesla needs to smack around any of their certified shops that try to gouge customers. Possibly these threads are causing this to happen.
I have had similar repairs on our BMW, requiring paint blending into the door. I knew where the work was done and I still could not tell once the job was completed.�
Dec 18, 2014
yobigd20 Yea I know. That article was from much earlier this year (March I think) and now Peotters gave a reasonable quote(yesterday). That's why I was wondering whether or not Tesla started smacking around these shops to harness them back to legitimate business practices.�
Dec 18, 2014
rlang59 Maybe but somehow I doubt they have anything to do with it.�
Dec 18, 2014
RAW84
Did we ever determine the root cause of the sky high repair costs?
I suspect it is mainly the high costs of parts, and longer than average labor times to chart unfamiliar territory, gouging somewhere after those two. I wonder if part process have gone down or if the shop has gotten better about working on Tesla's or both?
It would be great if your friend could ask the body shop about the part prices.�
Dec 18, 2014
voidptr From my accident a year ago (Raleigh: Body Shop), the aluminum bits from Tesla weren't astronomical:
Front headlamp: $1200
Front fender: $500
Driver's door shell: $950
Driver's handle: $800
Door regulator: $220
Another couple hundred for random clips and bits, and the total repair was just under $9,500:
Parts: $4,100
Labor: $3,800
Other: $1,300 (shop supplies and having the PPF reinstalled)�
Dec 18, 2014
Alexander Our cars must of been built around the same time. My VIN is 26297 and its almost been a year since I picked up my car (Jan 4th).
I didn't read this entire thread but it sounds like that body shop is taking you for a ride. I just visited a Tesla approved body shop here in LA and got the tour of their facility. They had 5 or 6 Tesla's having various body damage repaired. The worst one was missing its ENTIRE front end AND the side was damaged too. Apparently they hit a center divider traveling over 60MPH. Ouch!
I thought that car was totaled for sure, but they said the insurance company decided to repair it because the cost of the repair was UNDER $30,000. They said it's cheap to fix Tesla's because there's no engine in the front. As long as the frame is good they can replace just about anything. They said its actually one of the easiest cars to fix because of its design. I think if you found another body shop you'll get a much better quote
Here's a picture of the wreck car I was talking about, if fixing that cost less then $30k then yours should cost less then $30k too:
�
Dec 19, 2014
Scotty I stopped at the Tesla store on El Camino Real in Sunnyvale yesterday, and asked them about this high priced repair phenomena. A youthful Tesla employee referred me over to a 'veteran' Tesla employee, who answered most of my questions.
I knew that several key points would be brought up by him, such as the Tesla factory does NOT do any bodywork repairs, the same as Mercedes, etc; that Tesla doesn't set the prices they charge (but admitted they do set the prices on parts, and do not sell certain frame related parts (but he was unclear if a Tesla certified shop might be able to get them.
He pointed out that the Tesla is built to protect the occupants, to the detriment of the vehicle structure, but also pointed out that the front of the Tesla is fairly modular, and it and the fenders are not too difficult to replace. He did not state whether they are priced close to industry pricing, and did not comment on Tesla Certified shop's labor rates. He also pointed out that in the SF Bay area, there's 2 Tesla Certified shops, one in San Carlos and one in Oakland.
As I expected, he basically toed the company line when he said any determination about repair costs vs total loss is the sole function of the insurance companies, and not Tesla or the Tesla Certified shop. He seemed reluctant to voice any opinion as to Tesla replacement parts pricing.
I am hoping to hear of more reasonable quotes as the collision / comprehensive quotes and repairs are posted here, and as they move more to mainstream. IMHO, the media would love to report further on the highest rated sedan and infer that we are foolish when we buy one, and we will be screwed when it has a fender bender. This probably will cause some of the business reviewers to launch into a further tizzy about foolish investors, and I told you so.
BTW, I'm reminded of a guy my sister dated in the mid 70's who owned a 1953 Jaguar. He had the one he was driving, and a parts one in storage, for when he needed a part. What's the similarity between a 50's Jag and my MS? Can't go to Pep Boys to order a part. Parts will be expensive if available, and might be difficult or impossible to locate or fabricate. To quote Kevin Kline in 'A Fish Named Wanda' ... Wait a Moment! !!
Ok, I'm warming up my TIG welder, and plasma cutter; maybe I'll have to buy a salvage Tesla for parts.�
Dec 19, 2014
wycolo Plasma on Al, really??
--�
Dec 19, 2014
lolachampcar The above repair is surprising as a RR quarter on my wife's car and a similar repair on another car locally ran (or would have run for my wife's car had I fixed it) about $24K.�
Dec 19, 2014
Madartist I agree. Does anyone know if this type of coverage is available in the US?�
Dec 19, 2014
HankLloydRight Yes, it's called "Agreed Value" as I mentioned before. You and the insurance co agree to the value paid on the totalled car. Just agree that it's new car replacement value.�
Dec 19, 2014
scott jones We only have ONE Tesla certified repair shop in Indianapolis. And given all the posts, I consider $1,900 this a great deal I got from Connan's.
PS, they generally only do high end cars. Here's my post from a few months ago.
Replacing body panels is cheaper than fixing them on the model S and better, if possible.
I had both parts of the bumper replaced with the top part painted to match car. It was $1900 paid by her insurance Co. (All State). Really not bad with parts and labor.
Oh BTW, I was tapped from behind while cleaning off my windshield at a GAS station! That'll teach me. The lady thought she had her car in park.
Maybe she thought D stood for " Don't go!" And P meant pass.�
Dec 19, 2014
Alexander I think the Model S is a little more exotic out there on the east coast then it is here on the west coast. Maybe that's what's driving the crazy repair costs.
I say that because the same body shop where I took that picture (see above post) also quoted me $4,113.64 to replace AND paint my front bumper, rear bumper and rear diffuser. And it wasn't some back ally repair shop either, Tesla referred me to them, they're Tesla Certified, and fixing Tesla's wasn't its traditional business. They repair body damage to Lamborghini's, Bentley's, Rolls Royce's, etc... so if any body shop could jack up the prices this one certainly could. But I think they don't because we have a lot more Tesla's here then anywhere else, so they repair them much more often.
Here's the quote for my car:
�
Dec 19, 2014
Jaff For Ontario, Canada Tesla drivers, this coverage is called the "OEF # 43 Limited Waiver of Depreciation "or "Removing Depreciation Deduction" ...practically all Auto Insurance companies in Ontario offer this endorsement...it is not a replacement cost endorsement, it just guarantees that if the insured car is a total loss, than the insurance company will not apply any depreciation to the original purchase price of the vehicle...depending on the Insurance company you are with, this endorsement will cover the car for the first 24 to 48 months from the new car's purchase date...most insurance companies will only allow this endorsement to be added to your policy if you are the original owner of the vehicle (you bought it or leased it "brand new"), only to private passenger style vehicles (no stake trucks or work vans or RV's)...demonstrator vehicles are generally allowed if the vehicle has under 5,000 kms on it at the time of purchase...the cost of buying this coverage varies, but is usually in the $35.00 / yr to $130.00 / yr.
The bottom line on this endorsement is, for anyone buying ANY new vehicle (not just a Tesla), you would be nuts not to add it to your policy...it could be the best money you ever spent!
Again, this information only applies to vehicles registered in the Province of Ontario.�
Dec 19, 2014
breser Beyond just agreed value several insurance companies offer new car replacement. The difference of this to agreed value is that it's usually only available for the first year or two of the ownership of the car. Even that isn't uniformly available. Not all carriers offer it.�
Dec 19, 2014
Brightonuk Just got a call from my Geico agent who says they are paying the $8,850.00 bill for this scape and replace the Xpel on the panel
And to buff out or repaint one rim
�
Dec 19, 2014
Scotty Talked with my Allstate Insurance agent today, and they indicated replacement value insurance is not available here (California)�
Dec 19, 2014
Madartist Do you know which insurance company in the US offer a "new car replacement" policy? I asked State Farm, but they had no idea what I was talking about.�
Dec 19, 2014
randompersonx There appears to be some fairly significant rim damage.
The rim is basically directly in line with the motor ...
Is it possible that there was damage to the motor?�
Dec 19, 2014
skilly Liberty Mutual and the good news with them is that they are highly rated and usually very competitive in their Premium costs. In fact, their new car replacement option is "15K miles less or 1 year newer replacement"�
Dec 20, 2014
andrewket Allstate. Your policy must be at least "gold" which gives you accident forgiveness and deductible decreases. You can then opt in for replacement value coverage on any individual car.�
Dec 20, 2014
Jaff Since it appears that any sort of "waiver of depreciation / replacement cost option" is not so commonplace in the U.S. , it might be a good idea for Model S owners to shop their coverage (in addition) to just shopping price...Oscar Wilde..."A cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing"...:wink:�
Dec 20, 2014
breser Liberty Mutual, AllState, Nationwide. It might vary by state what they offer.�
Dec 22, 2014
Grant Gerke StandardCode,
This is a very interesting topic, could I present a couple of your comments for an article on Teslarati.com? I write for them and would not identify your screen name or anybody else on this thread?�
Dec 22, 2014
JohnQ Regardless of StandardCode's answer I find it refreshing that an author is seeking permission to reference a post rather than simply using it without permission. Kudos for doing so.�
Dec 23, 2014
EarlyAdopter I just replaced a two year old 2013 P85 on my insurance with a new 2014 P85D and my 6mo rate went up a whole $3.�
Dec 24, 2014
Super Snake Liberty mutual won't write it in Delaware even though I am already a customer. I had to go to Chubb insurance for a full replacement policy�
Dec 25, 2014
adelman Yes, especially since the same author violated our copyright on the first "P85D" photograph and published it on his Teslerati website without either paying the requested royally nor removing it when requested.�
Dec 25, 2014
neroden Calling this a total loss seems fishy in the extreme, since the $30K is less than $70K! Unless Ameriprise thinks the scrap value is $40K!?! What's going on here, does anyone with experience in insurance understand this?
�
Jan 12, 2015
standardcode Update:
Ameriprise decided to repair my car in the end. The body shop did a beautiful job and my car looks as good as it did before the accident. If I was to rate the companies I had to deal with on a scale of 1-10 I'd rate Tesla a 7+, the body shop a 9 and Ameriprise a 1. Time to shop for better insurance with replacement value...�
Jan 12, 2015
EdA Hope you don't have to go through this again...glad it is looking good�
Jan 12, 2015
Jaff Thanks for the update...a lesson for all here...�
Jan 12, 2015
Gizmotoy What I wish was that there was a better mechanism to find out what insurance companies are actually good. I've spoken to some brokers with access to smaller companies, but they seem universally bad. I'd like a higher quality insurance, but even the more expensive boutique places have reviews no better than the well-known national brands. Seems like a crapshoot.�
Jan 12, 2015
Zextraterrestrial TMC crowd fund insurance?
(not that anyone here would want to insure me :tongue
�
Jan 12, 2015
Jaff Unfortunately Giz, a lot of it has to do with the quality (or lack thereof) of the personnel of the local branch office (in Canada at least) ...dunno about the U.S.
For every testimonial you read from a satisfied customer of a specific insurer, you can always find one from a dissatisfied customer...everyone has a different level of satisfaction ...(just like this place, where most are realistic, but as we all can see, "you can't please everyone")
I think the best you can do is adopt a protocol of setting your coverage parameters (coverage and limits that you choose to meet your requirements...rule is coverage first, price second)... then shop only those companies that will meet those parameters...this is no guarantee, but, it would have avoided the angst of the OP in this thread.
�
Jan 12, 2015
SteelGrey Agreed - LM was only about $15.00 more per year for my P85D than my 2014 Cadillac XTS (comparing apples to apples on coverage). I did add the "Better Car Replacement" option for the Model S at an additional $151.00 /year.�
Jan 12, 2015
castor I have Ameriprise and now I'm concerned... another company to recommend?�
Jan 13, 2015
golfski In WA I would go with PEMCO�they have a history of doing the customer right. There is no guaranteed replacement in their auto-policies but I think you could do an Agreed Value. They have a history of treating customers well and only insure the highest quality drivers (no tickets, etc..) which keeps their rates very low.�
Jan 13, 2015
taurusking I was looking up online to see if there is any rating of the insurance companies and I did find one website.
State Farm , All State and Geico were top rated but the website did not specify by region.
I switched from Geico ( was very happy with their customer service ) mainly because Liberty Mutual offers Better Car Replacement pkg.
Some insurance companies offer agreed value only in certain states.
Just my thoughts.�
Jan 20, 2015
standardcode I have reached out to 4 insurance brokers and asked each about Newer Car Replacement coverage. Stay tuned...�
Jan 26, 2015
Shan S I don't usually post to these forums.. but well, I think Tesla owners are a different breed. Here's my public service announcement and endorsement of Farmer's Insurance Company.
- I purchased a Model S in Dec 2013.
- I purchased a service loaner version (P85+) that was pretty decked out (all but 1 or 2 options), had 7200 miles on it for about ~$105k (not including tax). Living in california, the tax was basically deducted.
- Also by buying the service loaner version, I was able to get the car in 24 - 36 hours.
- In Aug 2014, I was rear-ended while stopped at a red light. I lost the data on my phone which had images of the accident, but here's a clip from report from being dropped off at the Tesla approved, insurance approved body shop.
- The car would not move.. the rear passenger tire looked like it had "broken" and was angled in.. but the damage wasn't too severe (from the outside).
- After a week or so, the car was analyzed.. insurance company ended up declaring the car a total loss!!!
- They cited a part was damaged that Tesla wouldn't service
- So this kicked off the process.. Farmers basically said they would have to do a custom valuation on the car since there wasn't really a market. This took 2 weeks..
- I started to get anxious as this process was taking a long time..
- I finally got the total loss adjuster on the phone, and he volunteered the following information to me.
- Farmers had two approaches to total loss valuation in these circumstances. First, calculating a depreciated value for the car and paying that out. Second was to calculate a replacement value for the car.
- He mentioned that the valuation team had come back with an initial valuation, that he assumed would not be acceptable to me and pushed back on them without even coming back to me. He didn't even tell me what this value was.
- After another week or so, they came back with a valuation based on replacement value.. and ended up reimbursing something on the order of $115 - 120k all in.
- After they gave me this conclusion, I ended up going back to the Tesla dealership in september to buy a new car. They didn't happen to have any service loaners in stock which matched my configuration from before.
- It's worth highlighting that we have several insurance policies through them including Homeowners, etc, etc.
- The sales rep then mentioned to me.. "if you buy a new car now, and if hypothetically new features came out while you were still in queue, you could upgrade to those features without losing your place in line". Since I don't closely follow the forums, I hadn't at this point heard about dual motor or the auto pilot features... went back, read about them.. and of course, put in an order for a brand new Tesla.
- I took delivery of my P85D at the end of December with 20 miles on it.. have already about 1200 miles on it, just returned from a trip to Tahoe.
So the summary here:
- cannot believe what luck conspired to set us up with a new P85D.
- Farmers Insurance was amazing through the process. Highly endorse them.. happy to refer my agent to anyone interested..
- having once been on Costco / Ameriprise on a prior car, I highly recommend moving away from them... terrible!�
Jan 26, 2015
EdA @ShanS, great first post, thanks for sharing!�
Jan 26, 2015
yobigd20 *THIS statement is very interesting*. This sounds like some sort of dead man's switch. Does there exist a single part on the Model S that if damaged the entire car is a total loss no matter what???!??!?
You really lucked out on this one. Buying a car for $105k and for a used car valuation getting $115k-$120k back from insurance? WOW. I am floored. Makes me want to switch immediately... do you mind quoting what your coverage is and how much you pay per month or per 6 months? Was this an agreed value type policy (sounds like it wasn't)?�
Jan 26, 2015
standardcode Thank you for sharing!! I immediately went to farmers.com to obtain a quote. Problem is that a policy with the exact same coverage as my current Ameriprise policy is ~$2900 per 6 months for two cars. We currently pay less than $900!
I am willing and ready to pay more for a better policy, especially one with better car replacement etc., but $4000 a year for the same coverage?�
Jan 26, 2015
Gizmotoy I imagine severe damage to the tunnels the HV lines travel would do it. He was hit on the correct side for it. The HV lines travel right behind the rear passenger side door sill, where damage was indicated, I think.�
Jan 26, 2015
anxman I think I know someone that worked on your case. He works at Redwood City Auto Body now (which is where I took my P85D recently for a paint scratch repair). The gentleman had told me the 2013 P85 had damage to the steel frame around the battery. Once that is breached, Tesla considers the vehicle a total loss. On his advice, I'm getting quotes from Farmer's now for declared value coverage because I don't trust Geico enough.�
Jan 26, 2015
swegman I just got my renewal quote in the mail for my 2013 P85 and I am disappointed. They insurance company increased my rate in Sept 2014 by $200 for 6 months. When I inquired as to why, I was told the cost for repairs was way higher in the DC, MD, VA area than they had anticipated. I replied that my record was clean, and they said yes, but the rates were adjusted for ALL Tesla owners (even those without accidents) to spread the cost between all Model S owners.
Today I got the quote for the renewal to take effect in March. The rates for items such as comprehensive and liability decreased slightly, but the Collision portion increased by $250, for a total insurance increase of $205 above the Sept 2014 increase. In other words, insuring a one year older Model S costs $405 more than it did last year. The Model S now costs more than twice what my 2013 Avalon Hybrid costs to insure, and three times what it costs to insure my Prius (on a separate policy) which my son has at college in another state.
BTW, the insurance for the Avalon Hybrid decreased by $15 for the next 6 months. That is what is supposed to happen as a car gets older, the insurance rates decrease, not increase. The Prius (which renewed in Jan 2015 on a separate policy because the car is garaged in another state where my son attends college and which lists him as a driver) increased by $3 because I added accident forgiveness to that policy. The Tesla and Avalon Hybrid only lists me and my wife as drivers (our son need not be listed because he attends college in another state). All three cars have $300K/$500K liability, $300K/$500K uninsured motorists, comprehensive with $250 deductible and collision with $500 deductible.
I've read too much about the high costs of repairing this car. Tesla needs to investigate to determine why, and if the repair centers are taking advantage of the owners. The Model S is being totaled in many cases for seemingly minor cosmetic accidents. I love my car, but if it were to be totaled, I don't think I would buy another one if the insurance rates continue to go up.
I going to call my insurance comapny to see what they say this time, but I think I'm going to have to look at other companies to see what they charge.�
Jan 26, 2015
breser I'd caution all the people looking into Farmer's because of Shan S's experience.
1) Different employees are going to handle things differently. You may find that the appraiser in your area does not do the same thing for you. Ultimately you have employees making decisions based on a particular situation and not all of them are going to make the same decisions.
2) I suspect that it's going to get harder and harder to justify replacement cost as the FMV for a Model S. Unless your policy stipulates replacement cost or you have an agreed value policy set high enough for replacement, you are not entitled to this. Now that the Model S used market is more robust and places like Kelly Blue Book are listing Tesla Model S vehicles, you shouldn't expect the insurance companies to be so unable to value the vehicle. Especially, with the P85D vehicles out and so many Model S vehicles showing up on the market.
None of this is to say that Farmer's is a bad insurance company. I have no experience with them. I just think that you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you insure with them and expect the same treatment.�
Jan 26, 2015
loganthefirst As someone who sells auto insurance, you need to get lease gap coverage. I hope things have worked out!�
Jan 28, 2015
Fezzik Thought I'd toss this out there as well. The cost to fix that was a lot on an Al bed.
�
Jan 28, 2015
hockeythug I posted this in the other insurance thread but found this interesting from an article I read about the Edmunds story:
�
Jan 28, 2015
Jaff This is SOP by most body shops HT...is really entirely depends on your perspective...the body shop's perspective is that they are offering a discounted rate to the "little guy" who is paying the bill himself...
The contra opinion is that the body shop is over-charging the insurance company, when the insurance company pays for the repair.
I have a few body shops who are clients...these are small shops, and I know that they feel with offering this discounted rate, they are legitimately helping out the "little guy"...I agree with them.
When a body shop invoices an insurance company, they are doing so at the agreed upon labour rate for the shop's geographic territory which includes the body shop's profit and overhead...the body's shop's perspective is that they are "discounting" this rate to the "little guy" to help them out...�
Jan 29, 2015
EarlyAdopter In the Edmunds case, what's interesting is how the body shop stated their hourly labor rate for steel body work was $60 while aluminum was $120, unless you're not paying by insurance in which case their aluminum rate was $60.
Hmmmm...�
Jan 29, 2015
CHGolferJim Seems like the insurance companies would promote client payment and reimbursement.......�
Feb 8, 2015
swegman Here is an article on the web today by The Motley Fool about the outrageous costs for minor repairs on the Model S:
Tesla Auto Repair Bill: $10,000 for Scratched Aluminum!? (TSLA)
This is not what Tesla needs.�
Feb 11, 2015
HankLloydRight Standardcode -- do you know that the Connecticut Automotive Retailers Association (CARA) is using your story and your photo(s) on the home page of their new "TeslaCrash" website to fight the legislation to allow Tesla to sell cars in Connecticut?
see: TeslaCrash Website
and: Model S Owner: Owning A Tesla Is Awesome, Until You Get In An Accident…
They are "reprinting" an article from CleanTechnica: Model S Owner: Owning A Tesla Is Awesome, Until You Get In An Accident... | CleanTechnica I don't know if they even have permission to do that.
Also, neither article has an update with the resolution of your claim.
edit: Eh, I see this is already being discussed here: Anti-Tesla Website quoting TMC users/posts - www.teslacrash.com�
Feb 11, 2015
morbot Yeah, it's one thing when CleanTechnica was just reporting this incident as facts, but it's a shame to see it being used as propaganda by the opposition.
It would be nice if CleanTechnica would update the article with follow-up, but the TeslaCrash site would not follow suit I am sure. I also wondered about the use of his image without his permission or credit (CleanTechnica gave image credit, TeslaCrash did not). But I think free use rules for the purpose of reporting "news" would allow them to get around that. Even if standardcode requests they remove it, I'm not sure they are obligated to do so.�
Feb 11, 2015
TaoJones Looks like it's time to shift away from Ameriprise based upon the above, despite their inexpensive ($26/yr) gap coverage - available for the 1st 3 years of the loan, which is more than sufficient.
Also-rans to (re)call next from my list include:
Wawanesa - not quite into the 21st century, service-wise (one must remember how to write a paper check and put a sticky thing on an enclosure therefor in order to use this thing called the Postal Service in order to "apply for coverage, approval of which takes about 2 weeks". However, JD Powers likes their customer service, and they (Wawa) are supposed to have some sort of online/mobile interface "soon".
Encompass - someone from TM noted that they provide agreed-value coverage for $1200. Of course, the last time I heard similar, it was for Chubb, and Chubb won the prize for the most expensive quote at $4500/year for just $100K stated value (if a total loss). Of course, I live in an oft-maligned county in which admittedly fewer and fewer people seem to be able to competently drive - my dashcams weep on a daily basis. FWIW and with that said, Geico, Ameriprise, and Wawanesa were all within $100 of each other in the low $1K range (high limits, modest deductibles, every discount known to man - just no replacement value nor gap coverage except for Ameriprise).
Good luck to all. I'm not happy about engaging in this kabuki dance every 6 months (along with bitching at various telecom providers), but it seems to be the way of things.�
Feb 12, 2015
standardcode Just in case anyone from there ends up here; I would rather go through that entire ordeal again than buy another car from a traditional dealership ever again.�
Mar 3, 2015
swegman My Geico policy renews in mid-March. The 6 month premium went up $240 to $675 per 6 months (e.g., about a 55% rate increase). I called Geico to find out why the rate went up (I have no accidents or tickets). I was told that their experience with the particular model has been that repair costs have been much much higher than they thought they would be, and thus Geico has reclassified the model car to reflect the higher repair costs.�
Mar 3, 2015
anxman That's actually a good sign. It means that they'll repair the car properly in the event of an accident.�
Mar 7, 2015
neroden That's interesting. Your new GEICO rate is close to what I've been paying all along. (Rates are generally more expensive here, I guess.) Does GEICO underwrite *completely* separately in each state, or what?�
Mar 7, 2015
XxCyberHackerxX In Florida geico cannot increase the premium on a electric vehicle unless your in a accident�
Mar 7, 2015
gtimbers You should have the option to make the insurance company get you another equivalent car if you don't like what they offer you. Let them find a nice used car like yours. There should be plenty similar to yours around right now due to all of the Model S cars being unloaded for the "D's".�
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét