Is this fixable or will it never be the same?

[Glamisduner]

I was at work waiting for the attendent to check my badge, and the gate closed on my car.

Concerned about paint match and devaluation of the vehicle.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[camalaio]

Some of that looks like dirt or something still?

But anyways, being honest and setting expectations, the white is really hard to touch up in a small area and have it look good. They may suggest repainting the whole panel, which is more money. As a result though, it should be very well matched and only noticeable if you knew it was there.

As for valuation, don't know how it works elsewhere but I highly doubt this goes on the vehicle record. The damage is too small.

 

[Glamisduner]

Some of that looks like dirt or something still?

But anyways, being honest and setting expectations, the white is really hard to touch up in a small area and have it look good. They may suggest repainting the whole panel, which is more money. As a result though, it should be very well matched and only noticeable if you knew it was there.

As for valuation, don't know how it works elsewhere but I highly doubt this goes on the vehicle record. The damage is too small.

There is some dirt on the PPF seam to the left, but on the dent that is black paint from the gate.

Every time I have had a panel painted on previous cars it does not match, and years down the road it matches even less and looks terrible. Maybe time to to think about trading it in for something else.

 

[smatthew]

What kind of gate system do they have that closes on objects? What if there had been a person standing there instead of your car? Someone is responsible for the safety of that gate system. And that person is probably responsible for the damage to your vehicle.

Sorry it happened to you.

IMO, a lawyer wouldn't be worth the cost. Either the building is going to say "oh oops, how much is it" and hand you a check, or they'll send you to their insurance company, who will take 2+ years paying for it. I've been told in this situation the best thing to do is to just file a claim with your insurance, and give them the details. Let them try to collect from the building or building's insurance.

 

[Glamisduner]

What kind of gate system do they have that closes on objects? What if there had been a person standing there instead of your car? Someone is responsible for the safety of that gate system. And that person is probably responsible for the damage to your vehicle.

Sorry it happened to you.

IMO, a lawyer wouldn't be worth the cost. Either the building is going to say "oh oops, how much is it" and hand you a check, or they'll send you to their insurance company, who will take 2+ years paying for it. I've been told in this situation the best thing to do is to just file a claim with your insurance, and give them the details. Let them try to collect from the building or building's insurance.

Well they were working on the exit gate while this happened, not sure if it's related or not. Attendends called the police over and they had me file a report.

 

[smatthew]

ugh. doubly sorry it happened to you. At least you've got the police report, and the fact that they were working on the gate is kind-of evidence that something was wrong......

 

[hellocar]

Every time I have had a panel painted on previous cars it does not match, and years down the road it matches even less and looks terrible. Maybe time to to think about trading it in for something else.

I assume this is a joke?

 

[dirkbike1]

A great body shop can fix this and you will never be able to tell it happened.

 

[FurryOne]

After a few shopping center trips that small dent will be the least of your worries. Get Tesla's touch-up paint and cover it.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Many would just touch it up with a paint pen and call it a day.

If it is dented, then maybe $100 for a ding remover would make it even less noticlble.

For other, only a full blended respray would be acceptable, but even then, if you inspect closely enough it can be still not perfect.

 

[dmurphy]

I realize it isn’t a Tesla, but what panels here have factory paint, and which (if any) were repainted?

Very similar Pearl white tri-coat as Tesla uses.

All this is to say - don’t freak out, that’s easily fixable.

 

[Glamisduner]

I assume this is a joke?

No joke.

 

[Glamisduner]

I realize it isn’t a Tesla, but what panels here have factory paint, and which (if any) were repainted?

Very similar Pearl white tri-coat as Tesla uses.

All this is to say - don’t freak out, that’s easily fixable.
View attachment 583426

wait 10 years and take another picture.

Many would just touch it up with a paint pen and call it a day.

If it is dented, then maybe $100 for a ding remover would make it even less noticlble.

For other, only a full blended respray would be acceptable, but even then, if you inspect closely enough it can be still not perfect.

It is certainly dented, right on the crease and will need new PPF and ceramic.

My Friend had a similar dent, but on the quarter panel, it was $10,000 to fix.

 

[Glamisduner]

I forgot to mention, no video, because I pulled over to check the damage before remembering to hit the record button Unless there is some trick to getting the video feed back?

 

[1965Falcon]

As a former automotive body worker in my younger years, you are looking at a door and quarter panel blend. With a knowledgeable painter this isn't a big deal and I wouldn't worry about future age if quality paint is used. Modern paint is probably better than what Tesla is using. Still not going to be cheap. Document and report to your insurance and let them fight the battle for you, that's what you pay them for. If you were parked and waiting, it should hopefully fall under comprehensive insurance.

 

[Glamisduner]

As a former automotive body worker in my younger years, you are looking at a door and quarter panel blend. With a knowledgeable painter this isn't a big deal and I wouldn't worry about future age if quality paint is used. Modern paint is probably better than what Tesla is using. Still not going to be cheap. Document and report to your insurance and let them fight the battle for you, that's what you pay them for. If you were parked and waiting, it should hopefully fall under comprehensive insurance.

Parked = stopped? or Parked = car in park?

This is how tesla repainted the car to correct delivery issues. (A brand new car corrected by the Tesla Paint shop of choice) Can you see the tape line? Because I sure can. And this was a very minor touch up, a paint chip about 1/8th the size of this dent. Also it's more aparent in real life where the line moves as your head does. There is also a minor color mistmatch that the picture does not show.

 

[camalaio]

Parked = stopped? or Parked = car in park?

This is how tesla repainted the car to correct delivery issues. (A brand new car corrected by the Tesla Paint shop of choice) Can you see the tape line? Because I sure can. And this was a very minor touch up, a paint chip about 1/8th the size of this dent. Also it's more aparent in real life where the line moves as your head does. There is also a minor color mistmatch that the picture does not show.

View attachment 583468

"Knowledgeable painter" being the key. I hate to throw the Tesla folks under the bus, but they're really not known for their quality paintwork at any step of the process. Take it to a real reputable body shop and see what they recommend. They don't need to be Tesla-certified to deal with paint.

Anecdotally, both Tesla (pre-delivery) and a third party shop (in my possession) have repainted/refinished my front bumper. The Tesla work was obvious, dulled, and wrong. The third party shop paint job is flawless to this day and blended perfectly. (this is with the blue)

Many many many cars on the road have this sort of repaint/blend done, and you'd really never notice.

On a side note, it seems you're a reflection of younger me (no idea if you're actually younger, that would be unlikely, but I digress). Very concerned about perfect paint and resale. You cannot control that forever, someone or something will mess that up for you. It's much nicer to yourself to just let that go - every car eventually has scuffs, touch-ups, chips, all over it. And they still sell, because that's just a thing that comes with being on the roads and in parking lots.

Our Model 3 is covered in tar spots, the rear Tesla logo is rusting or something (honestly that was a surprise), it has scratches and a few door dings, hood is pitted and chipped to hell, windshield basically looks sandblasted and deeply gouged. And the number of "beautiful car!" comments I get from people up close to the car is still constant!

 

[hellocar]

On a side note, it seems you're a reflection of younger me (no idea if you're actually younger, that would be unlikely, but I digress). Very concerned about perfect paint and resale. You cannot control that forever, someone or something will mess that up for you. It's much nicer to yourself to just let that go - every car eventually has scuffs, touch-ups, chips, all over it. And they still sell, because that's just a thing that comes with being on the roads and in parking lots.

Great advice here.

Someone on here pointed out that Tesla does their best to help you come to peace with that, by providing paint defects right from the factory

 

[Wittangamo]

Glamisduner, Yesterday at 9:32 PM
I forgot to mention, no video, because I pulled over to check the damage before remembering to hit the record button Unless there is some trick to getting the video feed back?

Even though you can’t view it in the car, the video should still be on your USB drive coded with the date and time. You should be able to find it by plugging the drive into a computer. I know of a case where a hit-and-run trucker was nabbed because the side camera caught the company logo on the cab.

 

[1965Falcon]

Parked = stopped? or Parked = car in park?

This is how tesla repainted the car to correct delivery issues. (A brand new car corrected by the Tesla Paint shop of choice) Can you see the tape line? Because I sure can. And this was a very minor touch up, a paint chip about 1/8th the size of this dent. Also it's more aparent in real life where the line moves as your head does. There is also a minor color mistmatch that the picture does not show.

View attachment 583468

Assuming you have comprehensive insurance, it should cover anything that is not considered an accident. I think you'd need to explain what happened. I see this similar to a parked car getting hit by a golf ball, etc. which would be covered under comprehensive insurance.

That's a really poor repair by the way. Easy to do if you blend too far and don't give yourself enough room. Good luck...

I went to a grocery store 2 weeks after we picked ours up and it was obvious someone let a cart roll and hit the top of the front fender and leave a nice scratch and dent. Before I had sentry mode enabled... oh well, kind of bound to happen.