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Importance of shipping a perfect car

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If you read the link, it's pretty obvious that this was the first detailing AFTER the owner had been driving it for awhile.
I did read the link, all of it and looked at every picture. The detailer classified most of the items as factory blemishes, the exception being the cat scratches.

I also used the word "defects" because that's what the article notes in two separate pictures: "more defects", and "more factory defects".
 
My point being that 17 hours for a full detailing is not that out of line, especially when cat scratches are involved. Also keep in mind that the detailer has plenty of reason to show off his skills here - and some of it might have been pushed. And you don't know that the owner didn't try waxing and cleaning the car himself, before realizing he was causing damage.

Your posts seem pretty conclusive, but I just don't see where you're getting the info.

If you're concerned regarding your own car, then I'd ask my local detail shop to have someone go with me before taking delivery.
 
My point being that 17 hours for a full detailing is not that out of line, especially when cat scratches are involved. Also keep in mind that the detailer has plenty of reason to show off his skills here - and some of it might have been pushed. And you don't know that the owner didn't try waxing and cleaning the car himself, before realizing he was causing damage.

Your posts seem pretty conclusive, but I just don't see where you're getting the info.

If you're concerned regarding your own car, then I'd ask my local detail shop to have someone go with me before taking delivery.
I have no idea what you want me to say. I laid out some fairly factual statements:

- The car had factory paint defects. I trust the detailer's opinion on this as they are the expert.
- Tesla has touted their paint shop before, though I don't have a link to an article, but the "like glass" comment comes from the Tesla Factory video
- The Sig Red is Tesla's premier paint job

I then expressed a subjective disappointment in the level of work involved in fixing the factory paint defects given the impression I got from Tesla about their paint process.

That was the extent of it. I'm saw something that seemed disappointing and commented. That's it. I'm not driving at anything. I have no agenda. It's just an expression of disappointment.

I have no idea why I'm being jumped on about it. I guess I can retract the word "tons" and say "I'm rather disappointed in these defects given what I'd thought Tesla was trying to achieve".
 
It sounds as of this detail shop's purpose is to go over and beyond (or at least that is what they want you to think). I imagine the 'defects' they fix are to most considered acceptable by manufacturers and customers.

Consider the possibility there is nothing wrong with Tesla's work and anyone (Tesla or another detailed) would have to spend the additional hours to get the paint to that level of perfection. Now it comes down to the level of expectation we have from Tesla.

And why did the detail shop stop? I'm sure they could have spent another 10 hours to work over even smaller defects.

I am hoping (and do suspect) my tesla will arrive in with a quality paint job with which I am satisfied. Those who want 'the next level' of perfection can take it in to these specialty detailers.
 
ckessel, also keep in mind that this shop specializes in "exotic" cars and one would assume that these have high-end, hand-sanded paint jobs. So for the detailer to say that the Model S paint job is "normal" and he finds this same level of defects on Porsche's, Lambo's, Ferrari's, etc is pretty freaking amazing.
 
So, yes, "tons". 17 hours is tons of work.
I have no idea why I'm being jumped on about it.

Above you said "Tons of factory defects". However 17 hours was for the total, which not only includes cat scratches, but also general clean up from the car being used and dirty and effects from the storms. That's probably why there were responses after your response to Robert: it seemed even further from the actual info, making a *more* direct connection between 17 hours and "tons".

I guess I can retract the word "tons" and say "I'm rather disappointed in these defects given what I'd thought Tesla was trying to achieve".

It isn't clear that there is a reason to be disappointed at all: This detailing shop seems to simply have a higher standard than what "usually" comes from factories, in a way that may very well be *orthogonal* to the extra paint quality for Tesla's "premium" colors. There are surely different ways to add qualities to paint, of different subjective value, and they are "fixing" things that may be unrelated to the extra quality Tesla's paint has over standard paint. (It also says there weren't any "DA sand scratches", which sounds like a positive thing compared to usual sanding.)

The "premium" might be what goes into "Good amount of material to work with", for example.
 
It isn't clear that there is a reason to be disappointed at all:
Your various notes are certainly all plausible. I have limited actual data points. I can see the car and I know what the detailer's opinion of the defect source were. Now, there are many other plausible possibilities, but I have zero data to support any of them so they didn't really factor into my subjective impression of the situation.

My disappointment may be misguided or premature, but telling someone their feeling is invalid (e.g. "not clear there's a reason" or Robert's charged phrase "wildly exaggerate" ) will typically generate only emotionally hostile responses. The Deny/Rebut conversational pattern puts up walls. An Accept/Explain pattern engages: "I can see how if your expectations were high from pictures or the prototype this might look less than great, but it's actually typical of paint processes that...blah..blah..blah"

FWIW.