“We have some bad news for you.” That’s what Tesla owner Jeff heard on the other line a few days after he dropped off his brand new $155,000 Model S Plaid at the Plano Tesla Service Center. “Your car was totaled,” he heard next. He thought it was a joke. But he quickly found out it was not. The service tech was in an accident testing the Model S after making the necessary repairs.

How much damage did the Tesla receive?

Jeff’s black sedan had a smashed-in passenger door, as was part of the front door. He couldn’t see inside for all of the airbags that had fired off. Allegedly, the service tech failed to yield the right of way at a stop. A car entered the intersection and T-boned the Model S. Then things got worse.

The company initially was prepared to replace Jeff’s car with an identical one it had located in Texas. That was on a Wednesday. By the next day, Tesla backed off. It decided that its own insurance, the insurance company that Tesla owns, should pay off for a new car. That process would take almost a month. 

Should Tesla have already offered a new car or loaner?

What this all comes down to is liability. But it also comes down to customer satisfaction. Tesla should at the very minimum provide a loaner until the circumstances are sorted out. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened. 

Teslarati was provided a copy of the Plano Police report. Among other points, it says, “Due to Unit 1 (Jeff’s Model S) failing to yield right of way at a stop sign to Unit 2, the front end of Unit 2 struck the right back quarter of Unit 1.” That indicates the fault was the service tech’s Failure to Yield. So it seems that with the fault being placed on the service tech, Tesla needs to promptly step up with something for Jeff. And we’re not talking about a snow cone. 

The service tech admitted fault

Tesla is only saying it will get back to Jeff within three weeks. That’s a long time to be without wheels. What has surfaced since the accident is that the service tech admitted to Jeff he was at fault. And the 62-year-old driver of the Audi A5 that hit the Tesla entered the hospital with injuries. So with these added revelations, why does Tesla need three weeks to determine whatever it is it is trying to determine? 

In the meantime, just last month Tesla stopped offering loaners or Uber credits to customers. But this isn’t the same thing. Tesla isn’t waiting on parts or for it to pop up in the queue. Its employee totaled a customer’s brand new Model S. 

Teslarati reports that as of today, September 6, 2022, Tesla has been silent. The accident happened on August 24. So no word from Telsa in just shy of a half-a-month. And Tesla considers itself a “luxury automaker.” This sure doesn’t look like how a traditional luxury automaker handles incidents like this.

RELATED: What Happens if a Dealership Totals Your Car?

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