Model S Repair scratch in front fender--$2800 estimate by Tesla Authorized Shop

[Law&Disorder]

One of two aftermarket shops accessorizing my car over a two day period put a deep scratch in the passenger side fender of my brand new P85D and then tried to cover it up by sanding it down so I wouldn't notice until I had left the shop. Mission accomplished for them, I didn't notice until the following day when the car was parked in the sun so I've got no way to prove which one did it.

So now I have a scratch and paint that has been sanded down to nothing by the mystery shop. I could tell by looking at it that the fender would need a full repaint and as a bonus, my car is the MultiCoat Red so the repainting is a minimum three step process.

One body shop with whom I'm friendly quoted me $750 to repaint the fender only but I was concerned that only a Tesla shop could match the MC Red so I took it to the only authorized body shop in my county for an estimate. That estimate was $2850 but included repainting the hood and the door to make sure the color blended correctly. The authorized shop also mentioned that they'd done more than ten repair jobs with the MC red and it's almost impossible to match the color without prior experience.

I'm thinking of just paying up the $2800 to make sure this is done right.

Am I a fool?

 

[30seconds]

I would try the $750 place first. See if they do other high end cars - lots have very unique paints

 

[Tamar]

How disappointing! Do you have any recourse with the aftermarket shops?

 

[Law&Disorder]

How disappointing! Do you have any recourse with the aftermarket shops?

If I could figure out which one was responsible I could sue. But I don't know who did it and I certainly don't have enough evidence to prevail in small claims court against either one. Even if I did, I'm not sure it would be worth my time to sue over something less than $3,000 in repairs.

 

[CHG-ON]

I am very sorry to hear about your experience. I would call out that shop on this forum so that others of us don't get the same misfortune.

 

[anxman]

I have a black P85D and I beaned a concrete pillar in my garage and scraped the front right fender 3 days after buying the vehicle (argh!). I found a dealer that specializes in aluminum work for other high-end cars and he quoted me $1500 to repaint the fender. He also repainted part of the door and trunk area so that it blended properly. Basically, I'd just make sure that whoever is touching the car, has worked on a Tesla before.

 

[Hometheatremaven]

I had similar damage plus my front fender was dented. Fortunately I had Xpel Ultimate. Here is my write up with pictures: The first thing you should do after you buy your new Tesla

 

[gavine]

@Wk057 had his entire car wrapped in glossy yellow for less than $2800. Search for it. It turned out very nice.

 

[stevem]

One of two aftermarket shops accessorizing my car over a two day period put a deep scratch in the passenger side fender of my brand new P85D and then tried to cover it up by sanding it down so I wouldn't notice until I had left the shop. Mission accomplished for them

Any chance you want to let us know which aftermarket shop to stay away from? Obviously you can't prove who did it, but you can say "it was here and I think they might have done this".

 

[3mp_kwh]

I'd be more picky about aluminum work, if I ever needed it. PPG supplies the paint, as they do for other brands. Sorry this happened to you, and hope you at least approached them?

 

[jaguar36]

The Tesla is not a magical car, and while it does have aluminum bodywork, so do alot of other cars at this point. Regardless if its just a scratch it doesn't matter if its aluminum or not. If the body shop does good work and says they can obtain the right paint and can match it, I'd trust them. Obviously the shop that has experience is going to say that you need to have experience to do a good job with the mulit-coat red. Of course that also means they are admitting that the first couple of cars they did didn't turn out to well.

I'd also put some pressure on the two aftermarket places that caused the scratch, see if you can get one to admit to it.

 

[Law&Disorder]

Update. All's well that ends well. I called the last shop I was at and they reviewed the video tape and decided that there was a "possibility" they did it.
Repairs to be made at authorized Tesla body shop at their expense. Very stand up business I think.

Next stop following repairs is XPEL Ultimate!

 

[Gizmotoy]

Update. All's well that ends well. I called the last shop I was at and they reviewed the video tape and decided that there was a "possibility" they did it.
Repairs to be made at authorized Tesla body shop at their expense. Very stand up business I think.

Next stop following repairs is XPEL Ultimate!

Ha. In other words, "Oh crap, we definitely did that."

I don't know what you were having done, but something causing a big scratch and then sanding it down should seemingly be pretty obvious on video. Glad they, sort of, admitted to it and are covering the repair.

 

[MoeMistry]

Can you post a photo?

If you didn't notice it, hopefully it's a faint line. Clear braing it may cover it up completely.

You should speak to the two shops and let them know...it shouldn't be too difficult for you to decipher which is responsible based on the reaction you get. If in fact, either of the two shops did do the damage, you'll know which one because it's probably something everyone in the shop knows about.

Sorry you have to go through this. A reputable shop will ALWAYS let you know if something happens. People are human and things like this happen. How you handle it and take care of your client is what sets the notable shops from the others.

- - - Updated - - -

Update. All's well that ends well. I called the last shop I was at and they reviewed the video tape and decided that there was a "possibility" they did it.
Repairs to be made at authorized Tesla body shop at their expense. Very stand up business I think.

Next stop following repairs is XPEL Ultimate!

If possible, clear bra it and see what it looks like...keep paint original IMHO.

 

[BoerumHill]

Update. All's well that ends well. I called the last shop I was at and they reviewed the video tape and decided that there was a "possibility" they did it.
Repairs to be made at authorized Tesla body shop at their expense. Very stand up business I think.

Next stop following repairs is XPEL Ultimate!

Good on them for owning up to it.

 

[mobe]

This incident is the exact reason that I passed on the pearl, (MC), red and pearl white options. Both colors are stunning, but if they are damaged its often difficult if not impossible to match. The standard procedure to match a pearl white car is to paint a test panel with the base, then mask off a section and paint the remainder with one coat of pearl, let that dry mask off a smaller section and spray another coat, repeat once or twice more for a total of three to four Pearl coats, then clear the entire panel, hold it up to the actual car in different lights and spray the number of coats of Pearl that matches best. Also you can vary even that by how wet the Pearl coats are sprayed on, ( dryer = flakes dry in a random pattern close to the surface and appear lighter, wetter = flakes sink deeper into the layer, flatten out and appear darker). Then pray for a match. Sometimes the entire side of the car will need to be repainted if a perfect match cannot be achieved. This is also true but to a lesser extent with any metallic paint, except with a standard metallic paint the number of coats is not as critical.
I really love the Pearl white but I would be afraid to even take it out of the garage.