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US Insurer Hikes Tesla Premiums Due To 'Higher-Than-Average' Claim Rates (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader writes: "National insurer AAA is raising its prices for Tesla's Model S and Model X, citing higher-than-average claim rates and repair costs for the two cars," reports The Verge. "According to a report from Automotive News, AAA said it could raise its premiums by as much as 30 percent for the vehicles. Other large insurers including State Farm and Geico told the publication they couldn't say whether or not they would also increase prices, but noted that data about claim frequency is always used to calculate insurance premiums." Musk claims that AAA doesn't know what they are doing, but fails to be specific as to what is incorrect about their data or its usage. [The company says the AAA has made its decision based on faulty information from the Highway Loss Data Institute.]
It would probably work like this:
The body shop would pull the Tesla back into alignment itself. It's unibody construction so this can be done. However, pulling aluminum parts runs a big risk of cracking them, so you'd have to be very careful while doing it and do dye tests and crap like that. Otherwise, you have to just entirely replace parts (another reason fixing a Model S, for instance, would be very expensive).
The shop would measure it out and make sure it met original specs, replace suspension parts and other mechanical stuff, and reconstitute the electric drive train (if necessary). They'd also replace wiring harnesses rather than futz with it like on another car (a nod to the issues with the computer control). The shop would install sensors, too. They'd feel comfortable with that - it's a wear item.
When it came time to verify the computers, then it would go to the Tesla dealer.
The truth of the matter is that if you had one, and you wanted it repaired, you'd probably deal with a shop that works with the local Tesla dealer and pay the exorbitant labor rate, same as you would with an expensive German car, let's say. Thereby having a chance of having a good working vehicle at the end.
There are probably a _lot_ of "constructive total losses" of Teslas for this reason. It's a nightmare - I just did some reading about it and I wouldn't want to write the ticket on this. I did that job for years and my dad did it his whole life. You'd send the guy who didn't mind writing 5 supplementals and going over the vehicle inch by inch with the shop owner.
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
Insurance rates are based on statistics. If a particular model tends to be involved in expensive accidents, it will have a higher rate, even if the car itself is junk. The statistics don't care why such cars are accident-prone or why they are expensive to repair.