According to some in-app notifications that Tesla owners received this weekend, Tesla “collision repair is here.” Tesla announced that it will officially start its in-house collision repair program in hopes of minimizing repair delays.
The amount of time taken to repair a Tesla vehicle after a accident or collision, has been a big complaint from some Tesla owners. In 2017, Tesla told automotive new outlet, Electrek, it had plans to eliminate “low performing shop” in its network and “rapidly expand” with “high performing shops across the US”.
While owners have been left waiting months for repairs, Tesla put the blame on its third-party body shops. Tesla ultimately still retained control over which body shops get to work on its vehicles through a “certified body shop” network that Tesla trained and approved, but the shops remained independent from the automaker. On the other hand, the body shops said the root of the problem was delay of parts from the automaker.
The bad experiences had with third-party approved body shops forced the automaker to make some changes and they vowed to update it in order to avoid long wait times in the future. Tesla moved some of its training programs online and looked to certify more equipment in order to offer more options to shops, as well as “adding 300 body shops to its network.”
Unfortunately, Tesla owners are still currently reporting long repair wait times with third-party body shops. Tesla announced it would would launch its own in-house “Body Repair Centers” in 2019 in hopes of reducing wait times. To date, the program has only been responsible for minor repairs such as “paint scuffs and scratches, minor dents as well as bumper, fender, door, side mirrors, and other bolt-on replacements.”
That is until now. Tesla spent the weekend sending in-app notifications to owners to let them know that “collision repair is here.” Tesla has added several more extensive collision repairs to its previously offered list, including suspension and axle damage, front and rear bumpers, hoods, liftgate and side mirror caps, as well as doors, wheels, and all glass repair.
Appointments can be made directly through the Tesla app, and repairs will be conducted by Tesla technicians in-house resulting in “optimized repair flow.”