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From White to Grey paint - "Multicoat" an issue?
- Thread starter dansev
- Start date
Yes. Multicoat usually does cost more for other auto manufactures, not sure why it was ever the "free" option for Tesla.
A typical pearl white paint has the base coat(s) White, then coat(s) of Pearl, then coat(s) of Clear.
Example, a 3-stage paint would be: White, Pearl, Clear.
A 2-stage paint would be: Grey, Clear.
Also, on a 2-stage paint, you can just spray it on with different thicknesses and doesn't matter. But on a Pearl White paint the Pearl translucent coat is more difficult because it has to be evenly sprayed or the car color wouldn't match as you looked at it at various angles in the light.
So a 3-stage paint would typically cost more than a 2-stage paint, regardless of color.
This of course doesn't explain why the Blue and Black are not also "free", as they are not multi-coat.
Most other auto makers would charge more for the Red and White, as they are multi-coat. But the Grey, Blue, and Black should be free. But who knows with Tesla, they seem to change the pricing for some reason only known to them.
A typical pearl white paint has the base coat(s) White, then coat(s) of Pearl, then coat(s) of Clear.
Example, a 3-stage paint would be: White, Pearl, Clear.
A 2-stage paint would be: Grey, Clear.
Also, on a 2-stage paint, you can just spray it on with different thicknesses and doesn't matter. But on a Pearl White paint the Pearl translucent coat is more difficult because it has to be evenly sprayed or the car color wouldn't match as you looked at it at various angles in the light.
So a 3-stage paint would typically cost more than a 2-stage paint, regardless of color.
This of course doesn't explain why the Blue and Black are not also "free", as they are not multi-coat.
Most other auto makers would charge more for the Red and White, as they are multi-coat. But the Grey, Blue, and Black should be free. But who knows with Tesla, they seem to change the pricing for some reason only known to them.
My current black M3 still looks OK. I treat it like crap, basically because I have no choice. I live in the city with no garage, just a driveway (thankfully.) I wash at the local automatic war wash because I have no spigot in my driveway and really no time to manually wash my car. I live in Boston where the car is subjected to the worst weather, road salt in the winter, etc. I have swirls from the washes, but really, it looks OK all things considered. Will the multi-coat white do noticeably better due to the extra coat? And will I really care given what I just wrote about my M3? Getting the "free" grey is starting to grow on me. It's more unique. Maybe a bit more classy? Possibly spend the $1000 on white interior which will be better in the summer and look a step above...
No one knows for sure, but a lot of the speculation for this (which I happen to agree with) centers around when Tesla made the change from Black as the free paint color to White.
Back in 2018, Black was the free color, and White, which was listed as "multicoat white" was an extra $2500. A lot of people were clamoring for the "promised 35k Model 3", and the specs for that car were supposed to have cloth seats, (non multicoat) white, and some other changes. Additionally, Lots (and lots and lots and lots) of people were returning / complaining about the paint on their vehicles when they went to go pick them up.
Black paint looks great when its clean, but its hard to keep clean, and also tends to show swirl marks and other paint imperfections easier, so people were really (REALLY ) complaining about the paint on their new cars before pickup (like 10 times more than now, if anyone can believe that considering how much people complain about it still).
Anyway, Tesla swapped from black paint as standard to white, and it was the same white they used before (multicoat white), and the speculation around that time was it was simply because white shows less paint imperfections (not "has" less paint imperfections, "shows" less paint imperfections).
A lot of people who paid $2500 for the same white paint that people were getting "free" were pretty unhappy, but this is how things go.
You ROAST in the sun as the black draws the most sunlight. I was thinking of white being more reflective.
I think it's more of a marketing decision. You see a lot of comments about so many white Tesla's. Elon has been known to make changes for no reason.
agree. when they went from black to white the consensus was that it hides better paint imperfections (which never made sense to me... white metallic is tricky and costs more) ... and now going from white to grey to hide imperfections again? c'mon... it's marketing and to push vehicles. Grey looks super good on the cars whereas the white has been standard for so long and all you see is often white Teslas...
I have the white and it's a freaking nightmare to keep clean. Where I am there are insane amounts of bugs and things and they're constantly plastered all over my car.
Regardless of temp I would've gone MSM or Black.
Also yeah, there are an overwhelming majority of White compared to anything else.
Another massive downside of the white is that if you get a deep scratch, the undercoat is black, so it's super visible. My first week owning it, I backed out of a supercharger in Texas and scraped my right front bumper and I have two deep scratches on it that I've yet to fix (laziness, really), if I had gone black it would be far less visible.
Regardless of temp I would've gone MSM or Black.
Also yeah, there are an overwhelming majority of White compared to anything else.
Another massive downside of the white is that if you get a deep scratch, the undercoat is black, so it's super visible. My first week owning it, I backed out of a supercharger in Texas and scraped my right front bumper and I have two deep scratches on it that I've yet to fix (laziness, really), if I had gone black it would be far less visible.
There are only 5 colors, and they sell a ton of these. There is going to be a lot of all colors. I have a blue one, and while I dont see as many blue as I do white or grey, I still see tons of them, cause "sales volume / only 5 colors".
jf64k
Member
I seem to remember Musk replying to a tweet from someone complaining of too many white Teslas.
He said something to the effect of "looking into it"
He said something to the effect of "looking into it"
There are no perfect colors. I've owned them all over the years and there are advantages and disadvantages of each.
Personally, my favorite color is black, but only on the day I buy it. After that, it's downhill because it shows imperfections worse than any other color and it tweaks my OCD.
Silver and gray are generally the safest colors and among the best at hiding dirt, but they're about as exciting as watching golf on television.
I have settled into white exteriors for my last several vehicles. I like the high contrast with the black bits. White, especially a bright white like Tesla's, shows dirt easily, but does a good job with hiding imperfections (except rock chips that expose the primer). Swirl marks, paint etching, minor scuffs and scratches - all much less visible on white than any other color.
Of the colors Tesla offers, I prefer white. I wouldn't own another gray vehicle, but I'm glad to see the switch to gray because even out here in rural East Texas, I'm starting to see too many Teslas exactly like mine. There's even another one with Baymax headrests.
Personally, my favorite color is black, but only on the day I buy it. After that, it's downhill because it shows imperfections worse than any other color and it tweaks my OCD.
Silver and gray are generally the safest colors and among the best at hiding dirt, but they're about as exciting as watching golf on television.
I have settled into white exteriors for my last several vehicles. I like the high contrast with the black bits. White, especially a bright white like Tesla's, shows dirt easily, but does a good job with hiding imperfections (except rock chips that expose the primer). Swirl marks, paint etching, minor scuffs and scratches - all much less visible on white than any other color.
Of the colors Tesla offers, I prefer white. I wouldn't own another gray vehicle, but I'm glad to see the switch to gray because even out here in rural East Texas, I'm starting to see too many Teslas exactly like mine. There's even another one with Baymax headrests.
Here's the tweet:
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