May 18, 2017—Tesla officially released new initiatives for improving its repair certification program through both a document entitled "Tesla Body Repair Program Operating Standards" and a Tooling Master List.
The documents stated there will be different levels of certifications for shops. There will now be “Satellite Cosmetic Repair" locations, which require significantly less training and less equipment.
The company also now has guidelines for feedback and review of the shops in order to maintain customer satisfaction and a nine-day full cycle average on repairs. Tesla body shops will be required to keep customers informed every three days.
These new standards have come out just two months after Tesla annlouned plans to add 300 approved body shops. At the time, the company also said it would "eliminate" underperforming body shops and would "have individuals on our team personally manage each car on behalf of our customers that are in third-party body shops."
To aid with improving repair times on Tesla vehicles, the company also made plans to move its OEM certification training online (as opposed to the formely required live training) and accounced plans to open its own body shops in late 2017.
