Delivery with Body Damage

[DrDave]

I have seen a couple posts about a vehicle that Tesla was going to deliver that had been damaged. Obviously I have no idea the extent to which that vehicle was damaged and can't really get a clear idea from the thread on the other site, but I was curious as to people's thoughts on that subject. All car paint shops will repair small damage like a scratch or a piece of dirt that gets under the layers during the painting process, as well as scratches that may happen in assembly. My question is if there is significant body damage during "burn-in" or some other time prior to delivery, what is the obligation of Tesla to the customer? I'm talking about damage that would be taken care of by a repair shop - rebending of panels, use of body filler, repaint, etc.

Personally I think the damage should be revealed to the customer, who can then make a decision on delivery. To pass off a car that had to have significant repair seems like a poor decision. I would hate to have my paint peel off some Bondo a couple years down the road, and only then find out that my vehicle was wrecked before I had ever touched it.

 

[jerry33]

As far as I'm aware, most damage happens during transit. Body damage during the burn-in period would be fixed before shipping (and it would be caught because the carrier would inspect the car for damage so that it wouldn't be claimed as shipping damage). It's common to all cars because truck drivers are, well, truck drivers and doing it quickly is their priority. The Tesla difference is that because there is no dealer, the damage can't be fixed before you see it. Unless there is a specific problem (example: the tires spin on a particular kind of loading ramp and get delivered with nice grooves in the tread) the chances of a vehicle being damaged in transit is small but not zero.

 

[brianman]

Part of receiving the vehicle is to give the vehicle a once-over, making note of things that need addressing on the "Due Bill". For example, on the rear of my vehicle the metal piece at the bottom has a notch in it. We made note of that so that I can get that part replaced.

Assuming you find something "objectionable", I assume you can reject delivery until they get it addressed. Thankfully, nothing on my list was that concerning. I don't know of any Model S that have been rejected thus far or what the process is like from there.

Hopefully this helps.

 

[Lyon]

Unfortunately, the practice is commonplace in the industry. Car makers can get into trouble though. See: BMW v. Gore. Although the USSC ended up deciding that the due process clause prohibited the $2 million in punitives, it was still a pretty bad time for BMW.

All that said, customers are going to get cars that have had slight damage that's been fixed. It would be too expensive to do otherwise. And, in the end, the vast majority of those repairs will go totally unnoticed and cause absolutely no harm to the buyer.