Across the Atlantic, many insurance companies no longer cover low-mileage Tesla Model Ys that have been damaged, even slightly. They send them directly to auction after finding that many of them are too expensive to repair.
This is nothing new, changing the battery of your Tesla costs a fortune. In addition, the electric vehicles produced by Elon Musk’s firm are particularly expensive to repair. So much so that across the Atlantic, the car manufacturer and insurers approach the problem in very different ways.
In the USA, insurance companies no longer cover low-mileage Tesla Model Ys that have been in accidents and send them directly to auction after judging that many were too expensive to repair. Elon Musk said Tesla will make design and software changes to its vehicles to reduce repair costs.
Damaged Teslas sold at auction since insurers do not want them
In the US, insurance companies generally “totalize” a vehicle, i.e. they choose to scrap it and reimburse the owner, when the estimated cost of the repair is deemed too high .
Of the more than 120 Model Ys that were totaled after collisions and then auctioned in December and January, the vast majority had less than 15,000 km on the odometer, according to data from Copart and IAA, the two largest vehicle salvage auction houses in the United States. Selling prices for these cars ranged from around $60,000 to over $80,000.
To read: Tesla: the price drop is a success, record orders explode
For example, an Austin-built 2022 Model Y Long Range that was involved in a head-on collision and listed by the IAA in early January had a purchase price of $61,388 and an estimated repair cost of $50,388. A second Model Y, also made in Austin, involved in a side collision and listed by the IAA, had a purchase price of $72,667 and an estimated repair cost of $43,814.
“ It is remarkable how small changes in the design of the bumper and the supply of spare parts needed to repair a collision have a huge effect on the cost of the repair. Elon Musk said during his latest earnings call. ” Most accidents are actually minor, a broken fender, or a scratched side of the car ” he added. Musk also said that Tesla would ” minimize the cost of repairing a Tesla in the event of an accident “.
Source : Reuters
