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Those who have had body work done, how did you handle the key situation?

LostMyKarmaElSegundo | 2026-03-05 17:16 | 6 views

Well, someone decided to back into my car the other day and dinged the front left fender pretty good. Fortunately, he left a note, which kind of helps restore my faith in humanity. I've contacted his insurance company, but haven't figured out the plan yet. Anyway, it will inevitably end up in a body shop for repair, and I somehow doubt it will be the Tesla Service Center. For those who have been in this situation, what did you do for the key? Did you just leave the shop a key card? Is valet mode an option, or would that be a huge PITA for the shop? Is there a solution I'm totally missing? Thanks.

Comments (20)
dsf_oc 2026-03-05 17:20

You just give them the key as you would any other car.

Tree_Puff 2026-03-05 17:23

…… your question is how to handle the key situation and one of your solutions is to give them the key card. I think you solved it man

notman89 2026-03-05 17:23

lol this is what I came here for 😆

deztructo 2026-03-05 17:25

> I somehow doubt it will be the Tesla Service Center You are not limited to their shops. You have the choice of the repair shop or even a check. It just takes work on your part to get quotes and negotiate. With my old insurance, I got the quotes and they did the negotation with the other parties' insurance. With Tesla Insurance, best of luck. They are cheaper for many reasons. As for the key, yes, card key, remove your profile from it. Remove all your stuff before you bring it in.

wasteful_proximity 2026-03-05 17:26

give them a keycard. you can’t put it in valet mode as then they can’t get to the service menu if they need to. I was also asked to remove the pin to drive.

LostMyKarmaElSegundo 2026-03-05 17:27

I knew it was an option, but I wasn't sure if it was the *best* option.

LostMyKarmaElSegundo 2026-03-05 17:28

Good to know about the service menu. Thanks!

LostMyKarmaElSegundo 2026-03-05 17:29

I don't know how easy this insurance company is going to be to work with. Hopefully they are pretty flexible and I won't have to fight them at every turn. I've got plenty of time to get estimates, so that's not a huge concern. I don't have Tesla insurance, and it sounds like that's a good thing! Thanks for the tips.

deztructo 2026-03-05 17:41

El Segundo! I once really did lose my wallet there. My prior insurance was Allstate, they cost more, but over the decades they made the process of claims from other parties very easy. I was only involved when it came to filling out/signing forms, estimates and major decisions. The other company will be out to get the lowest cost. You can still get your current insurance involved and it will not raise your insurance since it sounds like you are not at fault. Tell them you want to use a Tesla facility for the repair and ask what to do. More likely provide the quotes to the other insurance. They'll choose the cheapest. I wouldn't be suprized if it's Tesla. If it's not, depending on the difference I would take a check. Bring it to Telsa and you approve which things to fix.

YouKidsGetOffMyYard 2026-03-05 17:49

Even if you forget to leave them a key card, shops that are used to working on Tesla usually already have Tesla account for each Tech so you can just add one of their existing Tesla accounts to the car temporarily (you just send a invite to the email address of the account) and then they can just use their phone.

Littlefinger6226 2026-03-05 17:59

Just give them the key card and enable parental controls, which you can use to limit top speed to 50 mph, and it forces safety features to be enabled and will notify you if the car gets driven between 11pm-4am. Acceleration is also locked to Chill. The setting is also PIN protected

FluxionFluff 2026-03-05 18:50

You leave it with the shop. The shop I went to for my Model 3, they explicitly said that they require a physical key, keyfob, or key card. Phone keys aren't valid. Some shops have Tesla accounts so you don't have to leave your card, though I've only had that happen with SCs. My local SCs aren't collision centers anyway so I went to a Tesla-certified body shop. Every other place I've gone to, I've given them my key and enabled valet mode.

iatetoomuchcatnip 2026-03-05 18:57

It’s the only option unless they also have a Tesla. Then you can add them as an owner on the app. Or you can also give them your phone and password so they can unlock it while they work.

LostMyKarmaElSegundo 2026-03-05 19:06

Good tip on the parental controls. I'm not a parent, so I wouldn't have considered that! Thanks!

LostMyKarmaElSegundo 2026-03-05 19:08

Thanks. Unfortunately, the only Tesla service center that does body work in my area is about two hours away. One of the big chain body shops has a location near me, so I'm going to get an estimate there.

wtfredditacct 2026-03-05 19:15

>Or you can also give them your phone and password so they can unlock it while they work. Honestly, that seems like the best option. Super easy for everyone and it gives me an excuse to not work for a few days since so much of my job is in my phone. Seems like a win-win.

rlap38 2026-03-05 19:48

My PPF installer got a card and the repair shop (ugh!) got one too. I just erase homelink.

iatetoomuchcatnip 2026-03-05 20:59

Always thinking ahead

BigBlackMagicWand 2026-03-06 10:30

Unrelated but why does anyone have the pin to drive enabled? Doesn't it get frustrating? Asking cause i work on service and a baffling number of Tesla's have the pin enabled and I can't think of any valid reason why. Really frustrating since half of the customers don't bother removing it for the service or even tell about it being on... *And yes I know it's an anti-theft function but still it's more of a hassle for the owner...

videoguy75 2026-03-09 02:53

A friend in his 40s told me I needed to add a pin because he forgets his phone in his car maybe once every three or four months and the pin is absolutely theft protection. As a boomer it made total sense. Added it two weeks ago. It was awful at first and a couple of times I could not figure out how to get the car going - forgot it needed the pin. Now that I’m used to it, it’s pretty quick and automatic and good protection.

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