On October 1, I was driving south on 6th Avenue, and when I approached about 98th St, there was a girl who had stopped at the STOP sign, preparing, it seemed, to cross 6th Avenue. Nope. She pulled onto 6th Avenue, just as I got to the intersection, and she turned south. (There's a designated lane for people at that street, who want to merge south, but she didn't use it.) I slammed on my brakes, but there wasn't time to avoid her in the intersection. I was unhurt, and I got out of my car to see if she was OK. She had a passenger who was, as I estimated, her slightly younger sister. My guess was that the driver was in her late teens, or maybe about 20. Yes, she and her sister were OK. Metal and plastic are one thing, but people are more important.
I was trying to find a diplomatic way to ask her this, but the best I could do was to say I didn't mean to be provocative or criticizing, but did she think of herself as at fault. Yes, she did. Would she tell that to someone else, if necessary? Yes, she would.
Her mother soon arrived (I assumed she or her sister called their mother), and so did two MSV cruisers. I don't know who called them. I have no idea what the other driver told them, but they allowed me to leave, and told me the fault was not mine.
My insurance and the other driver's (her parents') insurance was the same -- GEICO -- so the next step was to get an estimate of the damage. Oddly, my car is aluminum, which is light weight and soft, and the other car was steel, which is heavy and hard. But the other car had far more damage than did mine. I could drive my car, but the other driver couldn't drive hers. So I eventually made an appointment with the GEICO estimator, and he estimated the cost of repairs to be just over $1900, which they sent me. If it turned out to be more than that, I should contact GEICO. This interaction took place at a car repair shop, but he said he was prohibited from "steering" me to that shop. I'd have to find one on my own.
The last time I needed any body work done was several years ago, and I relied on one of my friends to recommend a shop. His son worked there. I called them again this time, and the owner has retired, and the shop is no longer in business. But my friend recommended another shop at about 154th and W Dixie. So I went there. We took a good deal of time to do the paperwork, after which I started walking home. I got about a block or so before the shop called me to say they'd called Tesla, and Tesla will only sell parts to me, not to the body shop. They're not authorized by Tesla. I mean... I have a contract with GEICO. I signed a contract with the body shop. I have no contract with Tesla. What do they care to whom they'll sell parts? And why would I have to go to a Tesla dealership to buy and cart away parts that might not fit in my car? There was no one with whom to argue (I tried calling Tesla, but they were intransigent. I told them this was the first Tesla I ever bought, and it would be the last. Yeah, next.) But there was a guy in that shop, and he told me he had worked with a Tesla authorized shop very near 135th and NE 16th. And I should talk to Betty. So I went there. Betty wasn't there, but yup, they could do it, but it would take 3-4 months for them to receive the parts. It was a long walk home, and I had to take, for who knows what reason, the charging cables from my rear trunk. The damage was to the front bumper. Betty called me the next day to tell me I would have to take everything out of the rear trunk, and everything out of the back seat, and on the floor in front of the back seat. Enough was enough -- why didn't someone tell me that yesterday? -- and I took an Uber ride to the shop, and retrieved my car. I didn't know what I was going to do about this (which also involved that my AC no longer worked, because some wires in the front bumper had been severed), but it wasn't going to include these garages.
Then, it dawned on me. As much as I didn't want to do this, I decided to find a Tesla body shop, and have them do it. The closest one is on Sunrise Boulevard in Ft Lauderdale. Right: nowhere near here. But I went up there, and they could get the parts in about two weeks, and I'd have to rely on a gas-burning rental for about two more weeks. All paid for by GEICO. I had run out of options, so I agreed. And I came back home until they would call me to tell me they had received the parts. Maybe in two weeks.
Probably the next day (Thursday), I was at Target, at the Tesla supercharger, when this guy in a Corvette stops in front of my car, points to the damage, and asks me if I want him to fix it. His 19 year old son was in the car, cruising around, learning how dad does business. And dad will fix it now, in front of my house (I had a couple of minutes left until I was fully recharged.) And if dad doesn't fix the car to my satisfaction, I don't have to pay him.
If you can think of a better arrangement than this, you can tell me what it is. I finished charging, and I went home, dad and son behind me in their Corvette. Dad, whose name is Chris, got to work, replaced nothing, and simply applied the artistry he learned from his father, and presumably hoped he was teaching his son. He used a blowtorch and epoxy, and paint, and fixed things. He didn't throw away the bumper, or anything else. And he quoted me a price of $1500 (I had already received $1900+ from GEICO). He finished the body work, and it looked perfect. I reminded him that my AC didn't work, and the thermometer inside the car, showing the outside temperature, didn't either, and they still didn't when he was done. He said I should wait 24 hours for them to "reset," and call him Saturday if they didn't. They didn't. So he came by today (Sunday) with his son and the Corvette, and he spent significant time reconnecting the wires. He wanted $500 more for that. So, I was behind a little, but I got my car fixed more or less on the spot by someone who has more of a passion for fixing cars than he does for taking money. He also told me he does various other tasks, and he suggested I hire him to pressure clean my driveway for $200, which is a low price, (unless I either find my pressure cleaner, or get it back from Derrick Murray, if he still has it).
If you have car issues, or perhaps some other related issues, you can call Chris at 786-578-3782. His card says "Auto Body Repair, Chris the Body Man, We Buy Cars, We Are Mobile, We Come to You, Same Day Service." It cost me a few bucks, instead of costing me nothing, but it was quick, and it was easy. And Chris is a very nice guy. His son, Giovanni, is quiet, but also a very nice kid.
I still feel sorry for the girl whose parents are probably mad at her, but that's how we all learn.
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