Model 3 Scratches All Over And What Tesla's Tech Said

[MoHazee4]

Everyone likes to make excuses for Tesla... not me.

Tesla seems to be using some cheap paint. I agree - for a car this price - the paint should be better than a Kia.

This is where BMW - Mercedes - Audi ... and maybe Rivian ... will outshine Tesla every day of the week.

Tesla will loose customers due to the paint quality -- build quality -- and customer service issues,

 

[raptor5244]

Everyone likes to make excuses for Tesla... not me.

Tesla seems to be using some cheap paint. I agree - for a car this price - the paint should be better than a Kia.

This is where BMW - Mercedes - Audi ... and maybe Rivian ... will outshine Tesla every day of the week.

Tesla will loose customers due to the paint quality -- build quality -- and customer service issues,

I am not making any excuses either but have you purchased a late model car recently? They all seem to have this "thin paint" characteristic, where they chip and scratch easier than in the past. It is primarily a result of all the manufacturers moving toward environment friendly painting processes. Why do you think these PPF films have become so popular?

 

[Kilotango74]

We paid extra to do the paint correction prior to applying the ceramic coating but I’m not convinced it was worth it. There were some minor swirl marks and light scratches but you could only see them if the light hit in just the right way. I think it would have been fine to just do the ceramic coating as long as you do it right after you buy the car.

Absolutely not. Anyone with any sort of skill in auto detailing will tell you to perform some sort of paint correction prior to a ceramic coat. Even brand new cars, regardless of their manufacture, will need some sort of correction prior to coating. Even if it’s only removing contaminants with a clay bar. Your comment illustrates your lack of knowledge when it comes to detailing. Even a brand new car will have paint issues, especially new cars. Ever heard of iron contamination? Most new cars sit in rail yards waiting to be shipped where they are covered in rail dust. It gets imbedded in your paint and must be removed before coating. If you took your car to a detailer and they “polished it” and you can still see swirl marks you got ripped off. You would have been better off washing with some dawn dish soap and slapping some Turtle wax ice on your car.

 

[Kilotango74]

ceramic coat w/o paint correction work? i.e will it cover up the problem? or maybe I'm thinking a wrap (was quoted 2500 for matte black)

Absolutely not. A ceramic coating will not “fill in” scratches or swirls. These must be removed by polishing prior to any coating, unless of course you like throwing away money like @OCR1. Containment removal and paint correction is a must prior to coating, if you don’t want to spend the money to have someone do it, do it yourself. Get a random orbit polisher and watch some YouTube videos. Go to a site like Autogeek. It’s not that hard just takes time but for your cars sake just don’t slap a coating on it and expect it to look like a show car. You will just be protecting the cars imperfections.

 

[Kilotango74]

I owned a black Dodge Stealth that suffered the same type “scratches”. I can honestly say, they look identical to my scratches AND it was the fault of my sponge and drying cloths.

Yep same thing with my black mustang. People don’t realize what an effort it is to properly take care of paint. When you own a black car with no metallic flake in it it becomes readily apparent. You can’t go through auto washes or wash your car with a brush or rag, dry it with a bath towel and not expect scratches.

 

[samk579]

Seems like Elon's plan to cut cost to increase production of the M3 to raise stock price isn't work.

 

[Kilotango74]

Everyone likes to make excuses for Tesla... not me.

Tesla seems to be using some cheap paint. I agree - for a car this price - the paint should be better than a Kia.

This is where BMW - Mercedes - Audi ... and maybe Rivian ... will outshine Tesla every day of the week.

Tesla will loose customers due to the paint quality -- build quality -- and customer service issues,

I love it when people repost their posts from other threads word for word. Guess it’s not plagiarism, but man it sounds like you have an ax to grind.

 

[Threader]

On a family vacation trip to Omega Park. A deer buck lifted his hoof and tapped and rubbed my drivers side door. I was in shock. Been to other drive through animal parks in my prior vehicles and only ever got a head poking in through windows for food.

No dents but a lot of fine scratches and several paint chips. His hoof was of course filed with road grits. Expensive lesson to learn. At least my family had a great day. I kept smiling but inside I was really upset. 2019 Blue Model 3 not even 3 months old.
Order a Tesla paint kit. I will try to fix it myself.

Obviously the last time ever going through a drive through animal park for me.

Good luck OP on getting your paint issues resolved!

 

[Johnii__82]

On a family vacation trip to Omega Park. A deer buck lifted his hoof and tapped and rubbed my drivers side door. I was in shock. Been to other drive through animal parks in my prior vehicles and only ever got a head poking in through windows for food.

No dents but a lot of fine scratches and several paint chips. His hoof was of course filed with road grits. Expensive lesson to learn. At least my family had a great day. I kept smiling but inside I was really upset. 2019 Blue Model 3 not even 3 months old.
Order a Tesla paint kit. I will try to fix it myself.

Obviously the last time ever going through a drive through animal park for me.

Good luck OP on getting your paint issues resolved!

Like my car? I can't even hardly touch my car paint..... You do not need to understand video language.... KM 5441.... 2.5 month.

 

[Johnii__82]

I have some news which you need to know.

4.7.2019 we did good inspection By Finnish Chamber of Commerce https://kauppakamari.fi/en/goods-inspection/goods-inspectionwhat-a-goods-inspector-does/ on 2x Tesla Model 3 mine had 5xxx km and other 8xxx km and found out that paint is THIN & soft and does not even comply with Tesla standards thickness on some areas.

Also the paint is soft. Hardness on my car is: F on pencil scale.

Report is available here. --> TavarantarkastuskertomusTesla_YLG_880_maalipinta.pdf
It is in Finnish you can use translation tools to understand what has been inspected.

Also i made a tweet on twitter again to Tesla & Elon Musk to wake them up.

https://twitter.com/Savolainen_J/status/1157336753923088384


Now in the news also.

Finnish Tesla Model 3 Inspection Reveals Soft, Thin, Under-Spec Paint

Finnish Model 3 Inspection Reveals Tesla Using "Soft, Thin, And Under-Spec" Paint On Vehicles

Finnish most valued car magazine published. Tekniikan Maailma - Wikipedia

Tekniikan Maailma

 

[Johnathansmith]

Do YOU HAVE or HAD Paint Issues with Tesla? Has anyone did a Tesla Paint Dispute Resolution with NCDS (National Center for Dispute Settlement)!

I am looking to find others that had Tesla Model 3 paint issues and got the dispute worked out with using NCDS.
I am just in the starting stages of my dispute and I am looking on data to use to show that so many others are also having this issues. What I would like to ask from everyone is two things.

1) Please log your paint issues on my form so I can use it as data to show that others are having paint issues and what are the issues Are you having Tesla Paint Issues

2) You should open a claim with the NCDS to get your paint issues fixed
NCDS - Home

I been doing a lot of research on the paint issues and it would be great if I can please get everyone paint issue data into the system so I can see any pattens.. Thanks

If you know of any cases please let me know
Thanks

 

[GrisLightning]

My grey model 3 perf only has 1k miles and already chipping pretty bad in front of back wheels. I don't drive on gravel or sandy roads. Usually just around town where most roads are 45 mph. I've now ceramic coated just to help alleviate it but it's only going to be temporary I'm sure. I think we are going to see in the future that the windshields and paint are extra soft/thin. I love everything about the car but for 60k the paint quality isn't there. You can have a ten year old subaru here in CO with no chips on the rockers ( we did have one) but our model 3 already has more than a few in 1k miles .

 

[WilliamG]

My grey model 3 perf only has 1k miles and already chipping pretty bad in front of back wheels. I don't drive on gravel or sandy roads. Usually just around town where most roads are 45 mph. I've now ceramic coated just to help alleviate it but it's only going to be temporary I'm sure. I think we are going to see in the future that the windshields and paint are extra soft/thin. I love everything about the car but for 60k the paint quality isn't there. You can have a ten year old subaru here in CO with no chips on the rockers ( we did have one) but our model 3 already has more than a few in 1k miles .

I don't think it's the paint so much as the design. I brought this up in another thread, but my 2008 STI's wheels were tearing up the back door paint due to the flared nature. I think this is a similar thing going on here. Those doors looked sandblasted within a few months. Subaru addressed the issue with some PPF on those rear doors later in the year.

Anyway, this is not unique to Tesla, at all.

2008 STI Paint Chipping Thread (now including Impreza and WRX) - Subaru Impreza WRX STI Forums: IWSTI.com

All I can say is that every Tesla owner should install mudflaps.

 

[WilliamG]

My grey model 3 perf only has 1k miles and already chipping pretty bad in front of back wheels. I don't drive on gravel or sandy roads. Usually just around town where most roads are 45 mph. I've now ceramic coated just to help alleviate it but it's only going to be temporary I'm sure. I think we are going to see in the future that the windshields and paint are extra soft/thin. I love everything about the car but for 60k the paint quality isn't there. You can have a ten year old subaru here in CO with no chips on the rockers ( we did have one) but our model 3 already has more than a few in 1k miles .

Ceramic coating isn't going to protect one bit against rock chips. It's not going to "help alleviate" rock chips in any way, shape or form. I'm being firm on this because I don't want people wasting their money in the hope that a ceramic coat is going to help with this issue.

 

[Johnii__82]

My grey model 3 perf only has 1k miles and already chipping pretty bad in front of back wheels. I don't drive on gravel or sandy roads. Usually just around town where most roads are 45 mph. I've now ceramic coated just to help alleviate it but it's only going to be temporary I'm sure. I think we are going to see in the future that the windshields and paint are extra soft/thin. I love everything about the car but for 60k the paint quality isn't there. You can have a ten year old subaru here in CO with no chips on the rockers ( we did have one) but our model 3 already has more than a few in 1k miles .

Hey ! Welcome to club. We are now approaching with lawyers @Finland to Tesla because too thin & soft paint.

You should join also:

Tesla Model 3 owners worldwide with paint issues

My paint was GONE in paved roads with summer tires in 4 weeks driving.

My car price was 96.000 $ ! Model 3 p with eap + fsd etc.

Here is my story + others story:

Consumer advocacy service

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