Clear Coat on RPMTesla Spoiler Flaking After 15 Months?

[JLOC]

Sorry if this is the wrong place (or site) to be posting this, but I purchased a "Performance Plus" spoiler from RPM Tesla in October 2021, which they installed for me. My car is parked inside/in the shade 80% of the time, and, per the RPM Tesla website, I apply 303 Protectant and a ceramic spray regularly. A few weeks ago, I noticed what appears to be the clear coat flaking in certain locations.

Has anyone ever had this issue with RPM Tesla spoilers? With spoilers in general? If so, how can this be addressed/corrected? I've reached out to RPM Tesla, and we will see what they say, but I suspect they will disclaim any responsibility since it has been more than a year since purchase. Would I need to take this to a body shop to have them remove/reapply the clear coat? If so, how often would this process have to be repeated? In the alternative, how difficult would it be to simply remove the spoiler altogether (without damaging the paint)?

 

[rickyleung12]

not surprised they rebrand cheap aliexpress stuff

 

[JLOC]

I did not realize this to be the case.

In any event, anyone have a solution for this issue? Any recommendations for a body shop that can repair this (in Orange County, California)?

 

[Pianewman]

Give RPMTesla an opportunity to respond. I think the clearcoat should last the life of the product, but RPMTesla might think otherwise.

 

[Kokukenji]

Have you tried reaching out to RPMTesla to see what they recommend and anything they can do to help solve the issue? They might not have warranty but they might have good insights.

 

[thesmokingman]

Cheap clear coat, probably didn't use a 2x at the least.

 

[JLOC]

Have you tried reaching out to RPMTesla to see what they recommend and anything they can do to help solve the issue? They might not have warranty but they might have good insights.

Give RPMTesla an opportunity to respond. I think the clearcoat should last the life of the product, but RPMTesla might think otherwise.

Thank you. I did reach out to RPM Tesla yesterday, but, because of the holiday, I don’t anticipate a response until Tuesday, at the earliest.

I do hope they have a solution (or can at least point me in the right direction). I posted on here proactively to see if anyone else has experienced something similar, so that I can have a realistic expectation of how to proceed (in the event rpm does not have a viable solution).

 

[Kokukenji]

I added some ceramic coating onto my aftermarket spoiler, we will see if it'll last, lol

 

[thesmokingman]

Has anyone ever had this issue with RPM Tesla spoilers? With spoilers in general? If so, how can this be addressed/corrected?

Remove and re-clear with a UPOL or a 2X clear.

 

[JLOC]

Give RPMTesla an opportunity to respond. I think the clearcoat should last the life of the product, but RPMTesla might think otherwise.

Have you tried reaching out to RPMTesla to see what they recommend and anything they can do to help solve the issue? They might not have warranty but they might have good insights.

I did a livechat with RPM this morning, and they are sticking with their one-year warranty, which I expected. To be clear, I do not fault them for disclaiming responsibility based on the one-year warranty, as that is what many businesses do.

In any event, the only solution they offered was to replace the spoiler for 50% off . However, they want to charge an additional $50 to remove the spoiler, and another $25-$50 to replace the spoiler (while some may suggest I just do the removal/installation myself, I do not feel comfortable enough to do so, as i do not want to risk damaging the paint, or screwing up the install). So it would end up costing $140.63, plus tax, for the spoiler (it is 50% off the retail price, not 50% off the "sale" price of $225), plus another $75-100 to remove and replace the spoiler, or a total of approximately $225-$250 for a replacement spoiler that may exhibit the same issue after a little more than a year (RPM's rep claims the spoiler was coated with 3 coats of UV Protection).

In the alternative, I could pay RPMTesla $50 to just remove the spoiler altogether (again, I am too concerned about paint damage to do it myself), or I could pay a body shop $275-$300 to remove and replace the UV/clear coat.

Given these options, what would you opt for?

 

[Kokukenji]

I didn't even know they do install and removal. Personally, I would save the money and remove it myself. Watch some videos on how to. It should be pretty straightforward.

Since you'll be stuck with the used spoiler, maybe you can post it on your local marketplace and see if someone wants to buy it at 50% off then use the funds to buy the replacement 50% spoiler.

 

[pete8314]

It's definitely a failure of the clearcoat, either not enough coats, poor UV stability, or it was applied in damp conditions (most likely). Obviously there's many Tesla's out there still with the OG spoilers from their 2013 Model S that are not having issues, so this shouldn't be a thing, not least a little after a year.

Removing it is really quite easy though, you just need to heat up one end with a hair dryer, and gently start pulling it away. If you're lucky, most of the adhesive will come with the spoiler, but anything that's left can be 'rolled' away, and then use an adhesive remover to get rid of any residue. That's probably 30-45mins of work though, and it's pretty tedious, so wouldn't blame you off-loading the headache. The paint underneath, if you're not applying a new spoiler, might need to be corrected, the adhesion promotor used will have stripped the top surface of the paint a little. I don't think it's worth the money/effort trying to refinish the spoiler.

 

[thesmokingman]

You don't have to remove it to re-clear it, fyi. Tape off well, light sand, clean, and spray.

 

[mmyers300]

You don't have to remove it to re-clear it, fyi. Tape off well, light sand, clean, and spray.

I like this advice - you have nothing to lose!

 

[M|S|M MYP]

I had my original Tesla CF spoiler on my MYP flake after about 13 months, Tesla mobile service guy came out and replaced it and told me since i had PPF done on my MYP that it voided the warranty After a few handshakes, a new CF spoiler was installed.

 

[pete8314]

Lol. It's amazing the stuff some of the tech's claim voids the warranty.

 

[fredzos]

I had my original Tesla CF spoiler on my MYP flake after about 13 months, Tesla mobile service guy came out and replaced it and told me since i had PPF done on my MYP that it voided the warranty After a few handshakes, a new CF spoiler was installed.

wtf?! ppf voids warranty?!?!

 

[M|S|M MYP]

wtf?! ppf voids warranty?!?!

He claimed because the spoiler had been removed in order to apply the ppf. Any removal of factory parts voids the warranty. He was super nice though, told me a bunch of things that were deemed 'classified' to techs.

 

[JLOC]

After some thought, I opted to have the spoiler refinished (at a cost of $300). Called around town, and I kept being referred to a place called Bell's Autosport in Huntington Beach. I'm probably butchering the description of the process, but I was told (after removing the spoiler and cleaning off all the leftover adhesive) they removed/sanded off the existing clear coat, then put on several new layers of clear coat (the dad was telling me they used a brand of clear coat that was one of the best in the business, and which should last me the lifetime of the car). It's only been a day, but I'm glad to no longer have the unsightly flaking that seemed to be getting worse. They also took the time to replace the emblems with chrome-deleted ones I had purchased.

Both the dad and his sons suspected the clear coat was failing because of bad prep work. They felt that, even if it inferior clear coat was used, it should not have been exhibiting that scale of failure within 15 months.

Anyway, great experience with Bell's, and I'm happy to have my spoiler looking like new.

 

[n2fooz]

I have a Teslarati spoiler that I bought on 12-20-21 and it's flaking as well. They told me: "as per our marketing team, this is already outside our return policy."
I find it ridiculous that these companies are selling $400 items that have problems in a little over a year and they basically say too bad. Had I known this, I would've just purchased and OEM spoiler.