Tesla crash: Tradie crashes through Auckland man’s garage, $80k Tesla damaged

An Auckland man thought parking his $80,000 Tesla in a garage would keep it safe, but he now faces thousands of dollars worth of repairs after a tradesman crashed into the building and shunted the car out the other side.

Rob Johnson counted his blessings the damage was not any worse when he spoke to the Herald, but he said Monday morning’s crash had left him “bloody frustrated” and he was disappointed the police told him they wanted to let the tradie off with a diversion.

Video footage of the incident showed it came out of nowhere. The tradesman, belonging to a company Johnson asked the Herald not to name, appeared to be using Johnson’s driveway to make a three-point turn.

Instead of reversing out and continuing on down the street, the tradie careened straight ahead into Johnson’s garage.

“My wife was home and she phoned me up, panicking. She said there had been a bit of a bang and the garage door was gone,” he said.

“I just jumped in my work van and headed home ... and it was way worse than I expected.

“I didn’t realise the back end of the garage had gone until I went through. He shunted the car, which weighs about a tonne and a half, he shunted it about a metre.”

Johnson estimated the total damage to be about $20,000 – mostly for repairs to the garage. He had insurance, but, “I’ve had to fork out some money just to start with, and then I’ll claim it back”.

Damage to a Tesla motor car caused by a tradesman's van accidentally driving into a garage on Tuesday in Albany.

He had only had his Tesla Model Y for about a year: “I was really quite proud of that car.”

Johnson was thankful the damage to his prized possession was minimal. After having the car examined, he said the damage was only superficial and the body was fine. He said it was still driveable.

“The only thing,” Johnson said, “I was disappointed with the police.”

He said police phoned him two days after the crash and told him they wanted to give the tradesman diversion - where usually first-time offenders can avoid a conviction for relatively minor offences.

Damage to a Tesla motor car caused by a tradesman's van accidentally driving into a garage on July 2 in Albany.

“What’s a diversion? I’m a bit old school and I believe in consequences, not wet bus tickets,” Johnson said.

An officer explained a diversion would see the driver forced to sit a defensive driving course and write him a letter of apology.

“I said I’m not interested in it. I think they [the police] were a bit disappointed, but apparently they’ve got to have us in agreement to be able to [offer diversion].

“As far as I’m concerned, they [police] have got to do something about it and charge him with dangerous driving or something.”

The Herald has approached police and the tradesman’s company for comment.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.