Blue Paint, Model Y

[DragonRand]

Hi all,

Just moved over here from the now inactive Tesla forums. I looked over Tesla's new "Engage" site, but there doesn't seem to be much "there" there. Look forward to participating in this community!

I took delivery of my MY in November 2020. In short, love the car. However, I'm heartbroken about a couple of dings and mishaps. An accident with the garage door put a small nick in the top edge of my lift gate - slight dimple and paint missing. Then, taking a road trip earlier this week, apparently something hit the hood. I think I remember when it might have happened - it looked like a small piece of wood was kicked up by another car and bounced off the hood.

I didn't think much of the hood incident since it sounded/felt very minor when it happened. But after washing the car, I see I now have a nice dimple and very visible scratch on the hood on the passenger side. HUGE bummer.

However, I now see I'm also getting some small paint chips on the rear doors where they flare out to the rear fenders. I've seen people mention PPF and wonder if it's too late to invest in that, and how well it would protect against the things I've experienced thus far. I'm also left wondering if the Tesla paint quality is simply not up to par with all other cars I've owned. I drove many other cars for years without incurring any significant paint damage (Mazdas, Hondas and Toyotas).

I also saw mentioned that the red and white paint on the MY is a multi-coat paint job whereas the other colors are single coat. Does anyone know if that's accurate/true?

I'm looking to mitigate any future damage once I've used the touch-up paint to improve the appearance of the paint damage thus far.

(I also find myself wondering how much a replacement hood would be. That gouge on the hood really bums me out as it detracts from the beauty of the car!)

Any pointers or advice? I'll be happy to post pics of the damage later on but I don't want to delay this post going up - first post in these forums!

 

[jknutter]

Look for someone that does a paint-less dent removal for the hood and tail gate. It would be a lot cheaper than replacement of the hood. I’ve had this done on my Grand Cherokee. The door ding disappeared and it cost me $50.

 

[Automobilist]

I second that PDR recommendation. A good PDR person can really do wonders and make the dents disappear.

As far as paint quality.... we’ve only had our MY for a couple of months so it’s a bit early to comment for me. But the fact that your scratches also have associated dents would make me less inclined to blame poor paint and more inclined to blame bad luck. Any impact at freeway speed that leaves a dent on the hood will have had to have been fairly severe, and I would not be surprised to see a scratch go along with that. Same with a garage door incident (which sounds like it also left a dent).

Bad paint for me would be Honda paint. My experience was 20 years ago, but that car seemed like it had gel for paint, the smallest tap would take paint off, and a bird poo sitting for 2 weeks ended up burning a 1.5 inch diameter hole in the clear coat (it was completely gone).

 

[scissorfighter]

Get the Tesla front mudflaps ASAP. I didn’t have them and my rear doors have been destroyed by just one winter of sanded roads. I just added them recently. Before flaps, it sounded like it was raining sand whenever I drove on pavement that least bit of sand on it. With flaps, near silence. I do have rocker panel PPF, but that has been fairly wrecked too due to so much abrasion. Very disappointing design flaw. These pictures were taken immediately after a wash.

 

[Wilber]

Took delivery of my MY end of January 2021. Took a short road trip a few days later and was surprised how dirty the rear doors had become. Checked a few threads on this forum, and it was clear that quickest cheapest way to help protect those doors was to install front mud flaps. So, I agree with the comments by Scissorfighter, above. I installed the front mudflaps from Tesla myself and it was fairly easy. Since then, i have not noticed extra road dirt getting on rear doors, but also havent taken a very long ride like i did shortly after taking delivery. So, cant say how much the mudflaps help, just that i am convinced they do. My understanding is that in addition to the flare out of rear doors and fenders, the front tires stick out more from the front door, which allows more road stuff to get thrown up at rear doors.

 

[scabbotts]

Get the wrap ASAP. I just got mine wrapped but I had similar damage as scissorfighter. The mudflaps from RPM Tesla are simple to install and will help. I would highly recommend getting the PPF. If you can't afford the whole car i would definitely get the doors and the hood. I had a few random spots on the hood, but the damage in front of the rear wheels is significant. The PPF wrap will protect it from these issues.

 

[2101Guy]

Model Y Mud Flaps

Protect your Model Y from snow, salt, sand and small debris with the Model Y Mud Flaps. Includes: 2x front mud flaps Installation hardware For detailed instructions, visit: Model Y Mud Flaps Guide

shop.tesla.com

Model Y Paint Protection Film

Protect your Model Y from snow, salt, sand and small debris with the Model Y Paint Protection Film. Protect your paint from stone chips and driving conditions that can accelerate wear and tear. Includes: 2x clear protective film for the rear doors / fenders 1x squeegee Installing Model Y Paint...

shop.tesla.com

 

[Koolio46]

Similar to scissorfighter. Got mine end of September, installed the Tesla mud flaps a few weeks ago and rear panel ppf last week. I have some paint chips but not as bad as I thought. Here are pics right before installing the ppf.

OP, you should still install ppf even if you have chips. It’ll prevent more in the future.

 

[DragonRand]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. I've ordered the Tesla mudflaps, and I'm getting a quote for the PPF in my area. I actually already have the touch up paint repair kit - I just haven't used it yet. Hopefully one of the dent repair places can help the obvious dimple on the hood to be less visible, and I'll do touch-up on that also, before wrapping with the PPF. In fact I think the PPF guys might do the nicks/scratches paint repair for me as long as I can provide the paint (which I can).

I told them I want to wrap the whole front body/mirrors, plus the lower panels of the rear doors, but not the rocker panels. I'm not as worried about black plastic getting nicks in it, and I imagine those rocker panels are not super pricey to replace (and then wrap) if I decide it bothers me.

 

[garpie]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. I've ordered the Tesla mudflaps, and I'm getting a quote for the PPF in my area. I actually already have the touch up paint repair kit - I just haven't used it yet. Hopefully one of the dent repair places can help the obvious dimple on the hood to be less visible, and I'll do touch-up on that also, before wrapping with the PPF. In fact I think the PPF guys might do the nicks/scratches paint repair for me as long as I can provide the paint (which I can).

I told them I want to wrap the whole front body/mirrors, plus the lower panels of the rear doors, but not the rocker panels. I'm not as worried about black plastic getting nicks in it, and I imagine those rocker panels are not super pricey to replace (and then wrap) if I decide it bothers me.

Once you or the dent repair place repairs the nicks/scratches with the touch up kit, will you post results? I have a deep scratch on the top of the lift gate from hitting the garage door as well and am curious how the touch up kit works on that. I have MSM. Body shops have quoted over $1000 for repainting the entire panel and I'd rather try a touch up kit first. Thanks.

 

[DragonRand]

Once you or the dent repair place repairs the nicks/scratches with the touch up kit, will you post results? I have a deep scratch on the top of the lift gate from hitting the garage door as well and am curious how the touch up kit works on that. I have MSM. Body shops have quoted over $1000 for repainting the entire panel and I'd rather try a touch up kit first. Thanks.

Will do. I also have a dent/scratch on the top of my lift gate from the garage door, actually. It's not super deep, but it's definitely a dent. Painting it will make it less noticeable, but I'm going to see what the PDR guy can do with that as well. If he can't do anything I'll just use the touch-up paint and live with the dent. It's less noticeable than the dent in the hood - a dent in a large mostly flat panel will always show more.

I've switched companies since I last posted. The place I'd booked before only does the wrapping - they don't do paint correction. I found another place that does the paint correction too, so it's a one-stop shop and there won't be any finger-pointing and "he said/she said". They do outsource the PDR to a guy they said is excellent and they've used for years. He said it's not uncommon for his guys to remove all the interior trim to get to the metal to address something from behind a dent, so I'm hoping for the best, including the dent on the lift gate.

I'll definitely take before and after photos.

 

[DragonRand]

By the way, I have the mudflaps now and am very happy with them. The install was super easy and they seem very secure. I'll be traveling from Salt Lake City to Missouri via the Colorado rockies for the next two days. Although I'm expecting clear weather the whole trip, I feel much better having those mudflaps in place before the long road trip. Once the car is wrapped, I'll be driving it back to SLC via the same route. I'll feel even better road tripping once the whole front has PPF in place.

 

[1plavs]

Get the Tesla front mudflaps ASAP. I didn’t have them and my rear doors have been destroyed by just one winter of sanded roads. I just added them recently. Before flaps, it sounded like it was raining sand whenever I drove on pavement that least bit of sand on it. With flaps, near silence. I do have rocker panel PPF, but that has been fairly wrecked too due to so much abrasion. Very disappointing design flaw. These pictures were taken immediately after a wash.

View attachment 646528

View attachment 646527

I was thinking of just getting PPF and no mud flaps, but after your comment I’m thinking twice now. What about the front end and hood area? Are those prone to chips, etc....

 

[Koolio46]

By the way, I have the mudflaps now and am very happy with them. The install was super easy and they seem very secure. I'll be traveling from Salt Lake City to Missouri via the Colorado rockies for the next two days. Although I'm expecting clear weather the whole trip, I feel much better having those mudflaps in place before the long road trip. Once the car is wrapped, I'll be driving it back to SLC via the same route. I'll feel even better road tripping once the whole front has PPF in place.

FYI, with the Tesla mud flaps, they will gently scrape when going over high speed bumps. I go over those super slow just to make sure it won’t break one of the push pins. It probably won’t but just being extra cautious.

 

[73Bruin]

I wasn't going to do anything to my Blue LR AWD until I noticed an extremely small paint chip on my front bumper when washing it. Apparently, a tiny rock got thrown up while I was on the freeway. I have contacted Xtreme Edge (the detailing shop) offering the group buy and they said they will touch up the front and then wrap the front, rear package shelf and the area in front of the rear wheels. We are going on a road trip to Carmel in late April and I want to help prevent more damage.

I am still debating on paint correction and ceramic coating. I am kind of leaning towards it for 2 reasons. The selfish reason is that I am going on 70 and I don't know how many new cars I will need or get (I have only put on 1000 miles in 4 months), the Tesla is my pretty toy and I want to keep it that way. The second is because our water is very hard and I don't have a big shaded arear to wash and dry the car in. Water spots are a problem. Any thoughts or alternatives?

 

[Cp1484]

I wasn't going to do anything to my Blue LR AWD until I noticed an extremely small paint chip on my front bumper when washing it. Apparently, a tiny rock got thrown up while I was on the freeway. I have contacted Xtreme Edge (the detailing shop) offering the group buy and they said they will touch up the front and then wrap the front, rear package shelf and the area in front of the rear wheels. We are going on a road trip to Carmel in late April and I want to help prevent more damage.

I am still debating on paint correction and ceramic coating. I am kind of leaning towards it for 2 reasons. The selfish reason is that I am going on 70 and I don't know how many new cars I will need or get (I have only put on 1000 miles in 4 months), the Tesla is my pretty toy and I want to keep it that way. The second is because our water is very hard and I don't have a big shaded arear to wash and dry the car in. Water spots are a problem. Any thoughts or alternatives?

I did the cermanic coating and the clear PFF on my blue one the day I received the car. It really has been worth it. I don’t even need to wash the car in Arizona, just rinse it off. I can send you pics of you want, but so far it’s been worth it. I’m sitting at Feb 4th delivery and about 5k miles on it now

 

[73Bruin]

I did the cermanic coating and the clear PFF on my blue one the day I received the car. It really has been worth it. I don’t even need to wash the car in Arizona, just rinse it off. I can send you pics of you want, but so far it’s been worth it. I’m sitting at Feb 4th delivery and about 5k miles on it now

I would love to see pictures. Also did you have them do paint correction before the ceramic coating?

 

[Darmie]

Get the Tesla front mudflaps ASAP. I didn’t have them and my rear doors have been destroyed by just one winter of sanded roads. I just added them recently. Before flaps, it sounded like it was raining sand whenever I drove on pavement that least bit of sand on it. With flaps, near silence. I do have rocker panel PPF, but that has been fairly wrecked too due to so much abrasion. Very disappointing design flaw. These pictures were taken immediately after a wash.

Wow, Now I see why Tesla offers the PPF kits and mudflaps

 

[OMMJSN]

I saw Tesmania is selling front and rear mud flaps. Is it necessary to get rear ones?

 

[olsookie]

I saw Tesmania is selling front and rear mud flaps. Is it necessary to get rear ones?

based on reading and peoples experience yes.

even if it's not, it looks more uniform in my opinion to have all four corners flapped up! lol