Tesla launches its own in-house ‘Body Repair Centers’ to reduce repair time

Body repairs have long been a weakness for Tesla as excessive wait times have become too common for owners.

Now the automaker launching its own in-house ‘Body Repair Centers’ to reduce repair time with the first 9 locations.

Some Tesla owners had been complaining about repair time after accidents for a long time, but it came back to the forefront of Tesla news last year.

It can sometimes take months for repairs to be completed.

Tesla placed the fault on its third-party body shops and the body shops are saying that it’s Tesla’s fault because of delays of parts.

Last year, Tesla moved some of its training programs online and it looked to certify more equipment in order to offer more options to shops. After the changes, the automaker said it was ‘adding 300 body shops to its network‘.

Despite those initiatives, Tesla owners are still reporting some long wait times with third-party body shops after body damages.

Now, Tesla is trying to address the issue with its own body shops, which will also be annexed to Tesla’s existing service centers, and they are pre-stock some parts in order to achieve much faster repair time.

The first 9 locations are now in operation according to Tesla’s website:

• Bellevue, Washington
• Dallas, Texas
• Eatonville, Florida
• Houston, Texas
• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Marietta, Georgia
• Owings Mills, Maryland
• Van Nuys, California
• Villa Park, Illinois

The automaker notes that its new in-house ‘Tesla Body Repair Centers’ currently “exclude major repairs.”

“If a Tesla Body Shop is unavailable to repair your vehicle, you will be directed to a 3rd party Body Shop in the Tesla Approved Body Shop Network.”

Therefore, the third-party network is still important to the automaker, but they plan to use their new locations to reduce the workload.

Tesla Model 3 owner u/ekobres on Reddit shared his thoughts after having one of the very first experiences with the Tesla Body Repair Center in Atlanta:

“He showed up at my work this morning with a loaner, had me sign a couple of forms and left with my car.

He texted me when my car arrived at their shop. He texted me to let me know they corrected my reported issue. He texted to let me know they noticed my Frunk latch was out of spec and asked my permission to fix it. And then he texted to let me know my car was ready and met me with it (washed and vacuumed.) A few minutes later, I was back behind the wheel of my fully sorted Model 3.

Tesla spent a fraction of what it would have cost to coordinate and hire a 3rd party body shop and a rental loaner – and the car was fixed by a knowledgeable Tesla employee who cares about their mission and their customers.

I’m impressed.”

The same-day repair was previously not something that Tesla owners could expect due to the long wait times at the Tesla-approved body shops.