Gravel road vs PLAID! Bummer

[Jameslook]

So my plaid is 5 days old. I was traveling on US 31 in northern Michigan and there was construction. The road turned to gravel for miles!! I couldn't turn around or exit. I went under 20mph and had a huge line of cars behind me. I heard the gravel hitting the fender wells and thought "it'll be ok."

Well, it wasn't. I have 100's of rock chips on my brand new Plaid now. The whole rocker panels. Some chips down the side on each door. The whole PPF that came with the car is ruined and there are ships above the PPF as well. So bummed. I hope a seasoned detailer can bring most of it back and then I can have PPF installed on the areas that are vulnerable. Think this is possible?

$140,000 spent on a new car that now has more chips than I've had on ANY car I've owned in my life! So sad.

Get PPF or treat your Plaid like a low slung exotic car if you don't want chips everywhere.

 

[DerbyDave]

OMG! Are you on 21" wheels? I wonder if it would help to raise the car suspension up on gravel roads? I really haven't taken mine on many gravel roads. I have been on some gravel driveways.

 

[Jameslook]

OMG! Are you on 21" wheels? I wonder if it would help to raise the car suspension up on gravel roads? I really haven't taken mine on many gravel roads. I have been on some gravel driveways.

It was a highway. They were doing work on it and decided to just gravel the thing for 5 miles and let us drive on it. I'll snap some photos of the rear areas tomorrow.

 

[headcase]

As has been discussed on another thread, the refresh really needs splash guards unfortunately. PPF will only go so far. I’m doing both when I pick up my car in the Fall.

 

[WilliamG]

Are there any splash guards out there yet? I have them on my 3, and would love to have some on the S.

 

[Gadget-X]

I know this doesn't help your issue but I have use clear protective material (3M Scotchgard Clear Paint Protection) in exposed wheel well areas on my vehicles for years. I also have used it on front bumpers on a few corvettes. Sorry for your loss ...

M

 

[headcase]

Are there any splash guards out there yet? I have them on my 3, and would love to have some on the S.

Not yet for the refresh. I’m hoping someone comes out with a low profile carbon fiber design.

 

[cytranic]

Happens on alot of cars when you drive on gravel roads. I go 5mph on those roads. Same with the lambo, they are not offroad

 

[xEvoLveDx]

PLEASE PLEASE post more pictures so we can get a clear view of all the areas that need protection. Sorry for your trouble but I think a good detailer can make that look 100 times better.

 

[KZ-CLT]

Cross posting from a similar thread—
I contacted RPM Tesla and the ones they have on their site definitely won’t fit the 2021. Chad texted—“they will not fit currently they don’t have the screws and we won’t be working on it til we receive an S later down the line this year”. Just passing on the information so you don’t waste your time trying their site. I’m definitely interested in finding some as well. We live in an area just north of Charlotte and the roads are littered with rocks every damn day. Picking up my Plaid Tuesday

 

[Jameslook]

Cross posting from a similar thread—
I contacted RPM Tesla and the ones they have on their site definitely won’t fit the 2021. Chad texted—“they will not fit currently they don’t have the screws and we won’t be working on it til we receive an S later down the line this year”. Just passing on the information so you don’t waste your time trying their site. I’m definitely interested in finding some as well. We live in an area just north of Charlotte and the roads are littered with rocks every damn day. Picking up my Plaid Tuesday

I'll be in Mooresville for 3 months starting Feb 1st! Two Plaids in town!

 

[2101Guy]

So my plaid is 5 days old. I was traveling on US 31 in northern Michigan and there was construction. The road turned to gravel for miles!! I couldn't turn around or exit. I went under 20mph and had a huge line of cars behind me. I heard the gravel hitting the fender wells and thought "it'll be ok."

Well, it wasn't. I have 100's of rock chips on my brand new Plaid now. The whole rocker panels. Some chips down the side on each door. The whole PPF that came with the car is ruined and there are ships above the PPF as well. So bummed. I hope a seasoned detailer can bring most of it back and then I can have PPF installed on the areas that are vulnerable. Think this is possible?

$140,000 spent on a new car that now has more chips than I've had on ANY car I've owned in my life! So sad.

Get PPF or treat your Plaid like a low slung exotic car if you don't want chips everywhere.

Im slightly..confused....PPF didnt work. So get it again?

Perhaps this is a better fix for this specific case?

 

[Jameslook]

Im slightly..confused....PPF didnt work. So get it again?

Perhaps this is a better fix for this specific case?

The Plaid comes with a small patch of PPF on the flairded rear 1/4 panels. It's ruined from the rocks on my drivers side. The passenger side doesn't look great either.

 

[headcase]

This video (especially at the 8 minute mark) gives you a good perspective on why protection is needed to deal with all the damage the front tires do to the sides of the refresh model S. But the big error in this video is believing that PPF by itself will be enough. It won't.

To reiterate, I see mud flaps (in concert with PPF) as the only real solution here.

 

[WilliamG]

This video (especially at the 8 minute mark) gives you a good perspective on why protection is needed to deal with all the damage the front tires do to the sides of the refresh model S. But the big error in this video is believing that PPF by itself will be enough. It won't.

To reiterate, I see mud flaps (in concert with PPF) as the only real solution here.

Mud flaps should be all you need. I did that on my Model 3 and never had an issue since. PPF protects the paint, but it can’t fully protect itself, after all.

 

[headcase]

Mud flaps should be all you need. I did that on my Model 3 and never had an issue since. PPF protects the paint, but it can’t fully protect itself, after all.

True. I am going to use both mud flaps and PPF anyhow.

 

[WilliamG]

True. I am going to use both mud flaps and PPF anyhow.

Until then, I guess not driving our cars is the only way. Or maybe I’ll ask Tesla to leave the factory white wrap on there to help temporarily until flaps are made. Could be a while…

 

[headcase]

Until then, I guess not driving our cars is the only way. Or maybe I’ll ask Tesla to leave the factory white wrap on there to help temporarily until flaps are made. Could be a while…

In addition to avoiding the notorious QA issues that Tesla has with initial production runs and the "alpha OS release" of this car, I won't take ownership of my refresh S for a few months to hopefully have a few more aftermarket parts available by then.

 

[jebinc]

So my plaid is 5 days old. I was traveling on US 31 in northern Michigan and there was construction. The road turned to gravel for miles!! I couldn't turn around or exit. I went under 20mph and had a huge line of cars behind me. I heard the gravel hitting the fender wells and thought "it'll be ok."

Well, it wasn't. I have 100's of rock chips on my brand new Plaid now. The whole rocker panels. Some chips down the side on each door. The whole PPF that came with the car is ruined and there are ships above the PPF as well. So bummed. I hope a seasoned detailer can bring most of it back and then I can have PPF installed on the areas that are vulnerable. Think this is possible?

$140,000 spent on a new car that now has more chips than I've had on ANY car I've owned in my life! So sad.

Get PPF or treat your Plaid like a low slung exotic car if you don't want chips everywhere.

We need a mud flap solution and fast, like when the M3 first arrived on the scene.

 

[GroovaEV]

I'm limiting my driving until I can get a full PPF install (2 weeks wait ) Bummer it's our only car now as traded in our Model 3.
And who knows how long Tesla will have it to fix the list of cosmetic issues I have with it....

Will definitely get mud flaps like ASAP when there is a solution!