Fix paint scrape on fender

[jaydee49]

I was hiking yesterday and where I had parked just to the right of me was a very short wooden rail/fence. When I left I backed out at a bit of an angle, thought I had more space than I did and figured the camera/sensor would let me know if I was too close.

Well I was wrong on both fronts and the camera/sensor never beeped and I just scraped the edge of my fender with one of the wooden rails. Luckily it just scraped some paint off the fender but didn't cause any dents or cracks.

Anyway, I was wondering if you guys had suggestion(s) for the best type of place to get the paint touched up? I am afraid if I take it to a Tesla service center it's going to cost me and arm and a leg, but I also want to paint to match up as nicely as possible. If it matters, it's a 2014 Model S. Thanks in advance for any recommendations!

 

[Tezzie]

This is a very common scrape on a Tesla model S. Why don’t the sensors sound an alert when the corners of the front fenders are too close? They do when the center of the front fender is too close to an object.

I got a similar scratch when turning right up the hill to my house. The right corner of the front fender scraped the road when I turned into the hill going up to my house too fast—10 mph. I have PPF on my entire car, and it scraped through that.

Am I going to take it to Tesla to get that fixed? Hell no! My PPF guy is going to run the car over to a body shop that does a lot of Teslas, a place he recommends, and they are going to take care of it. Then he is going to reapply the PPF to that area. It sucks, but, oh well.

Tesla sensors do not sound an alert when you are close to a curb, either. You have to park further away from the curb than the white guide lines on the rear cam indicate.

 

[SunTek]

This is a very common scrape on a Tesla model S. Why don’t the sensors sound an alert when the corners of the front fenders are too close? They do when the center of the front fender is too close to an object.

I got a similar scratch when turning right up the hill to my house. The right corner of the front fender scraped the road when I turned into the hill going up to my house too fast—10 mph. I have PPF on my entire car, and it scraped through that.

Am I going to take it to Tesla to get that fixed? Hell no! My PPF guy is going to run the car over to a body shop that does a lot of Teslas, a place he recommends, and they are going to take care of it. Then he is going to reapply the PPF to that area. It sucks, but, oh well.

Tesla sensors do not sound an alert when you are close to a curb, either. You have to park further away from the curb than the white guide lines on the rear cam indicate.

It sounds like you have a stand-up PPF guy! We are actually now making a thicker PPF for higher impact resistance and can hopefully even further prevent situations like this - PPF Ultra Defense.

 

[Tezzie]

It sounds like you have a stand-up PPF guy! We are actually now making a thicker PPF for higher impact resistance and can hopefully even further prevent situations like this - PPF Ultra Defense.

OOh, this is good to hear! I used a different brand PPF than SunTek--XPEL Ultimate--but when it's time to replace what's on my car, I'll have a look at Suntek. Can you recommend installers in the LA Area?

 

[SunTek]

OOh, this is good to hear! I used a different brand PPF than SunTek--XPEL Ultimate--but when it's time to replace what's on my car, I'll have a look at Suntek. Can you recommend installers in the LA Area?

Sure! We have so many in that area in may be best to use our dealer locator here, you will search by your zip and see a list of dealers in that area. Feel free to ask any other questions you may have - we'd love for you to try SunTek!