1k Roadtrip with MY - looks like my car was sandblasted.

[mlkmade]

Took a roadtrip from San Diego to tahoe. Made this trip several times in my M3, never had anything crazy happen to the paint.

I come back from this trip with my new MY and there is white paint chips all over the car. On the back wheels where you'd put mud flaps, it looks like someone sandblasted my paint and plastic trim.

All over my hood, chips down to white. I had my M3 for 16k miles and did roadtrips almost exclusively with the car and never had any chips.

Added it to a per-existing service appointment.

Every time I look at the car , I find new white chips. EVERYWHERE. So depressing...Do I have any recourse? IS telsa gonna tell me f off, normal wear and tear?

Any insight or help would be appreciated.

 

[bodosom]

What color is your car?

 

[Fourdoor]

I have never seen a MY that color... and my trim is unpainted black plastic.

Who painted your MY that color?

Keith

 

[mrwug]

While not everybody needs it, PPF can be a worthwhile expense if your driving conditions are not kind.

 

[GeezerSquid]

Show us the hood.

 

[thesmokingman]

This is why we all get PFF and mud flaps.

 

[mlkmade]

Midnight Silver Metallic.

Hood has maybe a half dozen white chips sprinkled all around.

 

[thesmokingman]

Midnight Silver Metallic.

Hood has maybe a half dozen white chips sprinkled all around.

 

[bodosom]

All over my hood, chips down to white. I had my M3 for 16k miles and did roadtrips almost exclusively with the car and never had any chips.

If it's factory paint (which I assume it is) you can get the hardness checked. I don't know if Tesla has a hardness specification so it may not matter. If the paint is actually too soft and Tesla won't make it right you best option is getting it buffed out and using some PPF in the main impact areas (nose, hood, front fenders, rear doors at the lower rear). It worth remembering that the scratches may all be in the top layer which 'looks' white when scuffed but the color hasn't been damaged.

You might also compare the degree of headlight scuffing on two the cars allowing for age.

A rule of thumb is that if you can't feel the scratch with a fingernail it should buff out.

 

[Clark_Kent]

You have zero recourse. They will tell you to f-off for sure. What you see is normal wear and tear. I suggest ppf on high impact areas to prevent this. FYI - you cannot apply ppf to the black plastic trim below the doors.

 

[MDElectric]

On the back wheels where you'd put mud flaps, it looks like someone sandblasted my paint and plastic trim.

Just to clarify, any damage to the area shown in the pic would be prevented by *front* mudflaps. No matter what you do to remedy any paint damage, highly recommend getting the Tesla or similar front mudflaps installed.

 

[tomagucci]

how new is your car? They said the 2021 models paint quality is better than the 2020 (which I have and is the worst quality paint I've seen when compared to my history of 4 other cars)

Also - yeah you should definitely complain. mostly because it's free and you never know, only the squeaky wheel gets the grease

 

[Mike_TV]

This is why they sell front mud flags and rear PPF at shop.tesla.com

 

[bodosom]

This is why they sell front mud flags and rear PPF at shop.tesla.com

Yeah, too bad the Model Y Paint Protection Film is never in stock. You can order a pre-cut 'high impact area' set from Xpel for a bit more.

Of course that doesn't help the hood or front-end.

 

[EVer Hopeful]

This is why they sell front mud flags and rear PPF at shop.tesla.com

This is why they should include front mud flaps and rear PPF on a $50,000 plus car

 

[bodosom]

Yeah, too bad the Model Y Paint Protection Film is never in stock. You can order a pre-cut 'high impact area' set from Xpel for a bit more.

Of course that doesn't help the hood or front-end.

The Model Y Paint Protection Film is finaly in stock.

 

[DoctaM3]

I just did nearly 800 miles this past weekend going to NY and back. I purposely had PPF on my entire car (not for everyone) but it is for this reason you should consider some sort of paint protection because Tesla's paint is infamously pretty thin and not the greatest quality. From the picture, I am guessing there may be enough pitting that you are seeing primer which would really suck. Here is a video I made recently showing how the PPF is holding up. You may want to consider something like this after taking the car to a good paint shop--only if you care to do something about protecting the remainder of your paint job.

 

[mlkmade]

I live in San Diego and have never driven in the snow or planned to.

All these "this is why you should get PPF" comments are not helpful. Never had it on my M3 and never had any issues like this, ever.

 

[Vaildriver]

I live in San Diego and have never driven in the snow or planned to.

All these "this is why you should get PPF" comments are not helpful. Never had it on my M3 and never had any issues like this, ever.

What's your point? Maybe you got lucky in the M3? Maybe you drove up to the mtns when there was little recent snowfall and less applications of mag chloride, sand, and gravel on the roads? If you live in a snow climate, they spread gravel, sand, etc on the road to help traction and you can go ahead and plan on going through 1-2 windshields/year due to this. If you are breaking windshields left and right, what makes you think the paint will survive? Most of the telsa's I see up here in Vail, CO don't have PPF and I doubt their owners really care about the quality of the paint. My 4runner has areas stripped on it as well. Nothing new here.

 

[mlkmade]

This is why they sell front mud flags and rear PPF at shop.tesla.com

Yea, this is dumb. If it was necessary, it should be included with the car. I hate the logic behind this. "buy $60k car, but then when you get it, you have to buy a bunch of accessories from us, THEN you're safe to drive"


Horrible.