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Car damaged during delivery

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So less than 24 hours before my delivery I received word that my Model X failed inspection. Turns out it there is a 'dime sized dent and scratch' on the FWD that they want to repair and repaint.

I'm wondering what everyone else's thoughts are on this? Is this sufficient or should I request a new factory door with factory paint? Is that too much to ask?
 
I'd definitely request a new door, but not necessarily expect it. My last custom-ordered BMW showed up with a 1/2 inch paint gouge (down to metal) on the edge of one of the door. I threw a small fit and they committed to repair it "like new." I spent a bunch of time being angry and skeptical but they kept their word and when the car got back I couldn't find the spot. It doesn't hurt to let them know you care -- there are plenty of people who don't, even on a $100k+ car.

You also have to give them some credit for catching it before it ever got to you and already committing to fixing it before delivery. The inconvenient truth is that all sorts of stuff like this gets done at the Vehicle Prep Centers of Mercedes/BMW/Porsche/etc. as the cars come off the boats.

Nick
 
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So less than 24 hours before my delivery I received word that my Model X failed inspection. Turns out it there is a 'dime sized dent and scratch' on the FWD that they want to repair and repaint.

I'm wondering what everyone else's thoughts are on this? Is this sufficient or should I request a new factory door with factory paint? Is that too much to ask?
My thought on this....accept delivery as is
 
Let them repair it but put them on notice that you will not accept the car if it is noticeable. There is a lot of "tuning" that goes into these cars as they are assembled and I would expect a new door to have many more fit issues than what the car was made with. A good paint shop should be able to match the paint perfectly.
 
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caught a small paint scratch/ding on the edge of one of the panels during delivery and the SC gave me the option of accepting delivery and scheduling a repair (one week turnaround) or rejecting delivery and picking it up later after they fix it.

I decided to accept delivery since the paint scratch/ding was pretty minor and i wanted to play with my new toy

but yea it does suck tho because i had to also delay my xpel wrap and coating until the paint scratch is repaired.
 
I keep seeing all these posts about people having their brand new cars wrapped. I had no idea these XPel products even existed.

As tempted as I am, I'd love to hear from anyone who has actually used these wraps.
  • What is the upkeep on these?
  • Can I still take my car to a detail shop?
  • We usually do a hand wash, but sometimes if we are out of town we might use a machine. Am I right to assume that's no longer an option with a wrap?
  • What about home washing? Do I need special products or tools?
 
Small dings or scratches happen - and if they're fixed at the factory, you'll likely never know about it.

We have a new Model X in transit - and if it had a minor dent or scratch, we'd likely accept it and let Tesla fix the issue.

However, if it required replacing any body parts - such as a door, bumper or side panel - we might not accept that car and request them to send us a new one, because once they've started replacing major body parts - it's not really a "new car" any more. And the paint job on the parts may never match 100% the rest of the car.

My last ICE was a Lexus LS 460. When our car arrived at the dealership, the front had suffered some damage during shipping. They didn't even offer to repair it and then sell the car to us. Instead, they notified us of the problem and worked with Lexus to get us a replacement several weeks later. While it was frustrating to wait for a few more weeks for our car - it was better than paying full price for a repaired car.

Now... If a Tesla is damaged prior delivery - would they consider discounting the car (after repairs)???
 
Answers from IMHO
What is the upkeep on these?
No extra upkeep from my perspective. The biggest thing is if you see a place that is peeling have it attended to so it does not get worse.
Can I still take my car to a detail shop?
Yes, but don't have them try to polish it.
We usually do a hand wash, but sometimes if we are out of town we might use a machine. Am I right to assume that's no longer an option with a wrap?
I assume you mean the brushes car washes. It's softer than paint so what was already a bad thing to do is even worse with a wrap. The brushless car washes should be OK but make sure if you ever see a corner that is peeling you have it repaired.
What about home washing? Do I need special products or tools?
Nope. I can uses a bucket and sponge or even the power washer and it seems to work either way. I just follow it up with a product like OPTIMUM INSTANT DETAILER & GLOSS ENHANCER after washing. I still have yet to put any wax on mine with 22k and a fair amount of winter/snow driving on the finish.
 
My Model X was damaged in delivery also. The small dent was on a crease in the rear trunk. I refused delivery due to not waning a $110,000 new car with a non factory painted body panel. I told them that I would sacrifice my $5,000 deposit it they couldn't get me an another car or refund the deposit. They put another Model X on a VIP order and I received it 4 weeks later - in Florida!

After also 2 years, I still I love my Model X!
 
So less than 24 hours before my delivery I received word that my Model X failed inspection. Turns out it there is a 'dime sized dent and scratch' on the FWD that they want to repair and repaint.

I'm wondering what everyone else's thoughts are on this? Is this sufficient or should I request a new factory door with factory paint? Is that too much to ask?
I wouldn't ask for a new door. That's going to cause massive delays and headaches for the center when they could just fix it. A lot of cars that undergo end of line inspection have similar repairs done at the factory in the EOL Repairs. It makes basically no difference that it was caught at the delivery center vs. the factory line. The same work would have been done regardless.
 
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So less than 24 hours before my delivery I received word that my Model X failed inspection. Turns out it there is a 'dime sized dent and scratch' on the FWD that they want to repair and repaint.

I'm wondering what everyone else's thoughts are on this? Is this sufficient or should I request a new factory door with factory paint? Is that too much to ask?

Technically for something that small they could likely repair it and wouldn't even be required to tell you about it. (This is what happens at most dealers with other brands. Damaged cars are repaired before they are made available on the lot so you would never know.)
 
I ended up taking delivery of my car yesterday after a second trip to the body shop to fix some 'missing paint'. Then the day of delivery (yesterday) they called to delay delivery a third time because of some more missing paint. This time I told them I'll take delivery now and have it fixed later (since this issue was on the frame, not any exterior paint).

Turns out the original damage wasn't on the main door panel, but on the top of the door 'hinge' (that little strip of paint about 3" x 24").

If they had just told me that originally with some pictures, I probably wouldn't have cared as much (that and not delaying delivery 3 times...)
 
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There is a difference between having a part being painted at the factory vs at a local body shop. At the factory, they should be able to get a factory painted part, which should be very, very close to the paint on the rest of the vehicle.

If the local body shop has to do any repainting, they will likely have difficulty completely matching the paint job. When it's just a spot repainting, then can smooth out the transitions so you probably won't notice the slight difference in the paint. But if you get an entire body part, that's harder to do - and you may always notice a slight difference between that part and the adjacent parts.

When our 2013 S P85's rear bumper was replaced, the bumper color is very close, but not exactly the same as the rest of the car. If you look closely, it doesn't completely match. The body shop offered to make another pass at repainting it, but they couldn't guarantee it would be better. They could also try to do some repainting of the adjacent parts to smooth out the transition. We decided to accept it as it was - rather than risking having them do something that might look even worse.

We're hoping to get our X late today or tomorrow - if we see any damage requiring replacement of a body part - we'll ask for a replacement vehicle. If there are any scratches or dents that can be repaired in place, we'll likely accept that (which dealerships without your knowledge, prior to delivery).
 
The annoying thing is I was going to have the car wrapped and now I'll probably have to wait some time to get that door wrapped until the paint fully cures.
If they repaint you can ask the body shop to double bake the panel for wrapping. My hood had a tiger stripe at delivery. May want to wait an extra day or two prior to wrap due to offgas curing (vs up to 30 days). My first good film would not lay down but next day was fine. This sped up the process for me. With ordered cars, they may only be a week out of the paint shop when you take delivery.
 
There is a difference between having a part being painted at the factory vs at a local body shop. At the factory, they should be able to get a factory painted part, which should be very, very close to the paint on the rest of the vehicle.
The factory actually paints all of your cars parts at the exact same time to guarantee the paint is the same. But even at the factory there are situations where a part may have to be repainted later. In that case you may or may not get the paint from the exact same batch and environmental situations could be slightly different that could influence some colors, especially the pearlescent ones,