When Kelly Campbell bought a metallic gray Tesla last year, the Seattle resident was delighted. The luxury features, the stellar safety ratings — it was the car she’d been waiting for.

About seven months later, she was rear-ended in a minor collision. The car’s damage looked “very superficial,” Campbell said. “It was completely drivable.”

But fixing it sent her on a journey stretching more than half a year and costing $14,000 in repairs and nearly $2,000 in car rental fees.

From online forums to casual conversations, Tesla owners are sharing stories of slow, frustrating, high-priced repairs. The experiences have some consumers wondering if they should tap the brakes on electric vehicle purchases, or if crash repair worries are overblown.

Unlike missives from Tesla founder Elon Musk, the answers here are nuanced, data show.

• Tesla collision repairs do cost more on average than fixes for other vehicles, according to data.
• EV repairs are not inherently more expensive. Repairs for EVs from non-Tesla automakers cost only slightly more than those for gas-powered vehicles, and the cost difference has decreased over time.
• The cost of repairs for all vehicles has increased significantly for numerous reasons, and those increases are expected to continue as cars keep getting more high tech.
• Certain factors make Teslas more expensive to repair, and those issues could potentially extend to other new car makers such as Rivian, Lucid and others.

While Tesla owners and insurers are getting hit with bigger repair bills, collision costs are up across the industry. They spiked 8% for the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, according to Mitchell, which provides collision data. The average collision repair bill is now more than $4,700.

The factors driving up costs include: a labor shortage and higher labor rates; parts shortages and higher shipping costs; the increased need to replace instead of repair parts; and a growing use of high-tech safety features.

It all adds up to expensive, tricky fixes.

“There are so many things that go into this repair,” said William Parkins, general manager of Metro Auto Rebuild of Seattle and Bellevue. “The technology you know and love takes so much time to diagnose and to fix.”

Data reveal higher Tesla collision costs

While an expanding slate of automakers are introducing new models of EVs, one still reigns supreme. Almost 60% of the EVs registered in Washington are Teslas — that’s more than 63,000 vehicles.

“Teslas are still by and large the most popular EV on the road, so most of the repair stories we hear about are from Teslas,” said Liz Najman, content marketing manager for Recurrent, a clearinghouse of information on used EVs.  

A 2023 Mitchell report found that the average bill for collision repairs for all EVs except Teslas was $269 more than repairs for petrol-powered vehicles. When the comparison included Tesla repairs, the difference spiked to $950.

The Highway Loss Data Institute took a snapshot approach, matching up 2018-’19 Tesla Model 3s with their gas-powered counterparts, namely midsize, luxury four-door vehicles of the same year. The organization examined insurance losses from collisions, which includes how much insurers paid out for repairable and non-repairable vehicles. It found the losses were nearly 10% higher for Teslas compared to similar cars.

GeekWire repeatedly contacted Tesla for a comment on this issue, but received no response.

Experts attribute the higher costs to multiple factors, some of which also apply to other luxury vehicles. They include requirements for:

• repairs that follow precise step-by-step procedures (directions will specify, for example, the exact number of welds for a damaged area as too few would create weakness, and too many could make a section too rigid in a collision);
• Tesla-made parts, rather than cheaper alternatives;
• Tesla-specific tools for repairs;
• and specially trained Tesla technicians.

“Every Tesla body shop I know charges a higher labor rate,” Parkins said.

One upside for Tesla drivers: data suggest their cars are less likely to be involved in wrecks in the first place.

The Highway Loss Data Institute found there were 5% fewer collision claims for Tesla Model 3 vehicles, and much greater reductions in the likelihood of injury-related claims, compared to their luxury vehicle counterparts.

However, safety concerns regarding Tesla’s Autopilot function forced the company on Wednesday to issue a recall of nearly all of the 2 million cars it has sold in the U.S. The recall involves a software update to address a defect that allows drivers to misuse the automated driving system.

‘It’s not ‘replace the bumper and call it good’’

From the outset, Campbell’s pursuit of repairs was agonizingly slow. Her car was hit in May, but she couldn’t even get an estimate for repairs until August.

While there doesn’t appear to be data available calculating the time it takes from a collision to getting a fixed Tesla returned to its driver, multiple factors can lengthen the process for the vehicles.

Washington has one Tesla-owned collision shop and seven Tesla-approved shops, mostly in the Seattle area. To boost the number of technicians in the state, Tesla has a training partnership with Shoreline Community College that launched in 2018. Rivian and Renton Technical College are starting a similar program this month.

The Tesla collision center didn’t have availability, so Campbell went with a certified shop. An initial estimate was from $6,000 to $7,000, but once mechanics disassembled the damaged area to get a better look, the price doubled due to issues with sensors.

“It’s not ‘replace the bumper and call it good,’” Campbell said.

After the second estimate, the car sat waiting for parts.

While most automakers have commonly used parts distributed to dealerships and available to nearby repair shops, Tesla parts are shipped from California, Parkins said. Tesla is establishing a parts and assembly facility in Marysville, Wash., according to the Puget Sound Business Journal, bringing supplies closer to shops.

Another issue slowing the workflow are the negotiations between insurance companies and repair facilities regarding repairs and costs. Once work starts, the need for unanticipated, additional parts can trigger more negotiations and parts shipments.

“The biggest delay in my industry,” said Parkins, “is the insurance industry.”

Janet Ruiz, communications director for the Insurance Information Institute, rejected that characterization and noted parts and labor shortages are adding time to repairs for all vehicles.

“The claims process is no different for Tesla cars than any other brands,” she said via email. “Each claim after an auto loss is evaluated on its own merit. Labor costs and parts costs are evaluated and there may be back and forth.”

For Campbell, however, insurance delays were the final insult. “I had to wait a week to get the car after it was already repaired while the Tesla insurance assessor at Allstate signed off on it,” she said.

Finally, just after Thanksgiving, Campbell got her car back.

Electric vs. combustion engine vehicles

There are now more than 40 EV models on the market in the U.S., and EV sales are on pace to increase 50% this year, according to BloombergNEF. And data suggest those shoppers won’t be paying significantly more to fix their electric cars than drivers of internal combustion engine vehicles.

The Highway Loss Data Institute analyzed cars that are sold in both electric and combustion engine configurations and compared their repair costs. The analysis covered 11 manufacturers, excluding Tesla, Rivian and other companies that make only electric vehicles.

Looking at insurance losses, the costs were a mere 2% higher for EV collisions than for conventional autos. The research also showed that the difference in repair costs between EVs and internal combustion vehicles has been decreasing over time.

There are additional factors that help even out the costs of electric vehicle ownership:

• Because EVs don’t require regular oil, filter and fluid changes, routine maintenance costs are lower, said Consumer Reports.
• Contrary to some perceptions, EVs are less likely to be written off as totaled. For 2020 and newer vehicles, the total loss rate was 7.3% for EVs, compared to 8.5% for fossil fuel vehicles, according to Mitchell data.
• As with Teslas, the Highway Loss Data Institute found there were fewer accidents with the EVs from other automakers, a drop of 20% compared to their combustion engine counterparts.

Bubble wrap

Up until a month ago, Campbell was still team Tesla — admittedly with reservations. But after the final hoops in the repair process, she’s over the brand.

“I would not buy a Tesla next time had I known it would take over two months and $14,000 for what amounts to a minor, cosmetic issue,” she said. “It has been so frustrating along the entire ordeal.”

Other drivers are likewise unhappy with the repair process.

Rebecca Kavoussi had her Tesla clipped while parked in a lot north of Seattle. The damage from the July collision was limited, but Kavoussi couldn’t get it in for a repair until November. It appears her fix might take only a month, but she’s still spooked by the specter of costly, drawn out repairs.

So when her family’s name came up on a Rivian waiting list, Kavoussi declined the purchase given the repair risks.

Matt Moore, senior vice president of the Highway Loss Data Institute, agreed there can be challenges with new manufacturers — but emphasized that the problem doesn’t stem from the vehicles’ mode of power.

“Startup and or niche automakers may have smaller repair networks or more expensive parts, regardless of whether they’re selling electric or conventional vehicles,” Moore said via email.

Campbell just wishes she could bubble wrap her Tesla.

“I’m afraid to drive my car now for fear of getting hit,” she said, “and having to deal with it all over again.”