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Model 3 paint wearing off
Roadrunner13
Member
If I might add a bit...all Tesla have painted front-ends as opposed to radiator grills...(not a defect
)Those are also very exposed to rocks from other cars.
PFF the front-end of the car: full hood, nose/bumper and (possibly) front quarter panels is a good investment no matter what paint quality your car batch had!
RDubya
Member
Unfortunately, regardless of paint quality or batch, if you encounter rocks and sand (such as non-city driving or where they add it to the roads) you will have issues along the rocker panels. The car's aerodynamics are such that the vehicle is effectively out of the way of blocking things coming off the tires. With the minor exception of behind the rear wheel, where you can see that my paint was destroyed. This also means that that particulate (dirt, rock, sand, etc) can and does come back against the car body.
I'm far from saying I don't like my M3. If anything, this car is wonderful to drive and fully entertaining when I hit the gas. However, it is NOT going to be able to stand up to winters in any location that uses rock or sand for ice management on the road! Ever. Tesla will tell you it is environmental, the county you live in is going to tell you it is the car problem, etc, etc. With that said, make sure you get a PPF that is thick and self healing. Talk to the person putting the PPF on and make sure they understand what you are trying to protect against.
Also, look at the renders for the Model Y! Just go to their page there is a big old Red Tesla Y up there right now - Model Y | Tesla. Note they have a much more conventional rocker area. This is another reason I love Tesla cars as a whole. These people learn quick and adjust faster than most manufacturers.
(As an aside, I bought a Nissan Titan in 2002 - the brakes sucked and were way under engineered; sales guy said they fixed it in 2004 and I bought a new one; big fat NOPE boat; complaints everywhere; took until 2010 for Nissan to correct the models going forward and even then some said too little too late; I can't speak for all but I didn't buy another Nissan after all that - however, since I had that car for nearly 10 years they made absolutely ZERO upgrades to my software that I was ever aware of - I've had my 3 for a year, sentry mode, track mode, lane keeping, the list goes on).
If you buy a 3, and you have any chance of going where there will be debris on the road, get it fully protected. You don't want to find out it costs $11,000 to repaint the rockers because you weren't willing to spend a 4 or 5 thousand when it was new. By the same token, be aware that your car won't like crap in the road and avoid it if you can or just drive slower on that part, or if you are really lucky, don't drive your new sexy car during the winter (OK, not realistic for most of us).
I'm far from saying I don't like my M3. If anything, this car is wonderful to drive and fully entertaining when I hit the gas. However, it is NOT going to be able to stand up to winters in any location that uses rock or sand for ice management on the road! Ever. Tesla will tell you it is environmental, the county you live in is going to tell you it is the car problem, etc, etc. With that said, make sure you get a PPF that is thick and self healing. Talk to the person putting the PPF on and make sure they understand what you are trying to protect against.
Also, look at the renders for the Model Y! Just go to their page there is a big old Red Tesla Y up there right now - Model Y | Tesla. Note they have a much more conventional rocker area. This is another reason I love Tesla cars as a whole. These people learn quick and adjust faster than most manufacturers.
(As an aside, I bought a Nissan Titan in 2002 - the brakes sucked and were way under engineered; sales guy said they fixed it in 2004 and I bought a new one; big fat NOPE boat; complaints everywhere; took until 2010 for Nissan to correct the models going forward and even then some said too little too late; I can't speak for all but I didn't buy another Nissan after all that - however, since I had that car for nearly 10 years they made absolutely ZERO upgrades to my software that I was ever aware of - I've had my 3 for a year, sentry mode, track mode, lane keeping, the list goes on).
If you buy a 3, and you have any chance of going where there will be debris on the road, get it fully protected. You don't want to find out it costs $11,000 to repaint the rockers because you weren't willing to spend a 4 or 5 thousand when it was new. By the same token, be aware that your car won't like crap in the road and avoid it if you can or just drive slower on that part, or if you are really lucky, don't drive your new sexy car during the winter (OK, not realistic for most of us).
I don't know whether the paint is soft or not, or whether California regs make a difference or not, or whether water-based is softer or not, but I do know that the car's aero design increases the demands on the exterior.
Rather than a vertical-sided car, like a Prius, which would keep the tires totally within the space of the wheel well, Tesla chose to curve the sides of the car under. Looks nice, but it exposes the underside, rockers and lower door, to any road grit thrown up by the tires. The rear wheel well arch flare, behind the door, also gets exposed to road grit. Then, having underbody panels to smooth the airflow means more grit makes it further back. In a regular car, without underpanels, grit would be hitting all the exposed underbody parts, and falling to the ground, where in the Tesla, all that grit gets redirected along the airflow towards the back.
Then you also have wide tires, and AWD, all contributing to the problem. So, whether paint is an issue, in my mind, doesn't really matter, because I doubt any paint could withstand the amount of road grit abuse due to the design choices made by Tesla, for aesthetics and aerodynamics.
Rather than a vertical-sided car, like a Prius, which would keep the tires totally within the space of the wheel well, Tesla chose to curve the sides of the car under. Looks nice, but it exposes the underside, rockers and lower door, to any road grit thrown up by the tires. The rear wheel well arch flare, behind the door, also gets exposed to road grit. Then, having underbody panels to smooth the airflow means more grit makes it further back. In a regular car, without underpanels, grit would be hitting all the exposed underbody parts, and falling to the ground, where in the Tesla, all that grit gets redirected along the airflow towards the back.
Then you also have wide tires, and AWD, all contributing to the problem. So, whether paint is an issue, in my mind, doesn't really matter, because I doubt any paint could withstand the amount of road grit abuse due to the design choices made by Tesla, for aesthetics and aerodynamics.
@RDubya @KenC @dskid
It would seeem like some late 2018 and early 2019 Model 3s do have softer paint than usual in cars of this type judging by these images and videos. Those certainly seem unusual results for such new cars. There also seems to be thin paint on some cars.
It would seeem like some late 2018 and early 2019 Model 3s do have softer paint than usual in cars of this type judging by these images and videos. Those certainly seem unusual results for such new cars. There also seems to be thin paint on some cars.
Is it an area people touch when opening or closing the doors?
As one possibility, you may wish to read the thread about paint issues, if the paint issues are in areas that may be subject to wear and tear from touch - or if they may be lacking in paint:
Model 3 paint wearing off
Most reports are based on road rash but there are also reports that touching by finger could leave more marks than is usual for cars of this kind.
There is a theory that some later 2018 or early 2019 made cars at least have thinner and softer paint than previously and that shows in easier wear on the doors as well as possibly a see-through effect from too little paint in some areas of the car.
Here is a picture of the see-through effect in some painted areas:
Here are a couple of more extreme examples of the wear and tear:
Well, there are certainly cars with weaker paint than other, no doubt. However I am not sure about the date range, as mine is smack in the middle of it with no issues.
Well as I said some cars, I certainly don’t know it is all cars.
There is now an effort to collect the Model 3 paint issues into a Google Docs apparently:
As far as I hear there are actually quite a few Canadians reporting issues on Facebook and Twitter. I guess winter can make it worse.
That's an understatement, the combination of salt, gravel, sand is very trying on the cars. I was told by the company who ppfed mine that the issues correspond to certain batches of cars. There were also some other batches with other issues...
True, but I really hope Tesla is going to take his responsibility seriously and foot the bill. Honestly, I paid for the wrap but it really annoyed me to spend another 2k on a 60k car.
pdx_m3s
Active Member
I made custom front splash guards for my Model 3 using RallySport's "Basic Universal" mud guard kit. This should help keep road debris away from the rocker panels and doors. The guards are attached using the existing lower holes (with longer BelMetric Tesla clips), although you have to drill a hole for the upper clip. Less than $30
Wow. Looks good. Thanks for sharing that. Any chance you could provide more details on how you drilled the hole? Also could you post some pics that show more of the car with the mudflaps on? I think lots of people would be interested to see how the look overall. Thanks again.
pdx_m3s
Active Member
Something interesting....I just ordered some pre cut rocker panel PPF for the 3 and they asked whether the car had the "textured paint" or not on the rockers. The film supplier is showing 2 different cut options based on what paint the 3 has. I wonder if that means Tesla made a change to make this area more rugged. Many cars I've had in the past have had the rocker area base coated with a heavy textured material which supposedly reduces chipping and wear. It's clearly visible. Anyone with a newer 3 seeing this? I don't pick mine up until this weekend.
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