MY Door Trim Discoloration

[rxlawdude]

I can easily say the majority of white MYs have paint issues when you consider the door panel and bumper color mismatch issue.

It's easy to say anything. My problem is the ease with which you claim THE MAJORITY of white MYs have this problem.

I'm happy to listen to an objective source that has knowledge of the entire MY population and the incidence of paint problems. Please refer me to that source.

You are correct that a SIGNIFICANT portion of white MYs have paint matching issues. I stipulate that fact, and agree Tesla needs to make it right for those owners with the problem. I disagree, due to lack of real evidence (remember, complainers tend to post, happy owners are more likely enjoying their cars too much to post here), that the MAJORITY of MYs are defective outside of accepted automotive standards.

 

[MYMY]

It's easy to say anything. My problem is the ease with which you claim THE MAJORITY of white MYs have this problem.

I'm happy to listen to an objective source that has knowledge of the entire MY population and the incidence of paint problems. Please refer me to that source.

You are correct that a SIGNIFICANT portion of white MYs have paint matching issues. I stipulate that fact, and agree Tesla needs to make it right for those owners with the problem. I disagree, due to lack of real evidence (remember, complainers tend to post, happy owners are more likely enjoying their cars too much to post here), that the MAJORITY of MYs are defective outside of accepted automotive standards.

Would an industry expert suffice as a "source"? Sandy Munro Thinks Tesla Fremont Paint Shop Is A Piece Of Rubbish

 

[rxlawdude]

"Munro tells the story of a Model S that he saw..." Yep, that's damning for EVERY TESLA EVER MADE. According to your logic.
Opining the shop is "rubbish" is not the same thing as saying the MAJORITY of Teslas have significant paint defects.

I'm just not sure why you're disagreeing with facts.

 

[MYMY]

"Munro tells the story of a Model S that he saw..." Yep, that's damning for EVERY TESLA EVER MADE. According to your logic.
Opining the shop is "rubbish" is not the same thing as saying the MAJORITY of Teslas have significant paint defects.

I'm just not sure why you're disagreeing with facts.

OK I guess the source specifically addressing paint issues was not enough facts. Some more facts; Sandy Munro quote on the MY “Paint is still crap. I really don’t like it, ... They really need to do something about that.” In his YouTube tear down of the MY, he actually offers the name of an industry paint expert that he thinks Tesla should speak with because the "dirt" in the paint is so bad. Sandy Munro cherry picking Teslas with paint issues I guess and him not giving an opinion of the overall paint vs. the industry standard he kind of noticed over the years.

Experts say Tesla has turned the corner on quality

 

[rxlawdude]

OK I guess the source specifically addressing paint issues was not enough facts. Some more facts; Sandy Munro quote on the MY “Paint is still crap. I really don’t like it, ... They really need to do something about that.” In his YouTube tear down of the MY, he actually offers the name of an industry paint expert that he thinks Tesla should speak with because the "dirt" in the paint is so bad.

Experts say Tesla has turned the corner on quality

We'll just have to disagree on your assertions supported by trying to hammer unrelated parties' statements to fit your narrative. You remind me of the clinical meta-analyses articles that attempt to make a conclusion based on multiple smaller studies' results. The difference is, those meta-analyses assess objective, repeatable studies, not opinions from random authorities.

I'm done discussing it.

 

[MYMY]

We'll just have to disagree on your assertions supported by trying to hammer unrelated parties' statements to fit your narrative. You remind me of the clinical meta-analyses articles that attempt to make a conclusion based on multiple smaller studies' results. The difference is, those meta-analyses assess objective, repeatable studies, not opinions from random authorities.

I'm done discussing it.

LOL, oh yes reminded me of those silly clinical meta-analyses articles from random authorities.

Very high degree of certainity with my assertion when it is backed by an industry expert who provides consulting services to the entire automotive industry.

You should avoid forums because, unlike my assertion, there are many, many random opinions. Enjoyed the discussion.

 

[Quorky]

Can we agree that Tesla has some serious issues that continue to be ignored in leu of hitting their quotas? Sooner or later these issues need to be addressed as they have been getting a pass for some time.

-Paint issues. Nothing new and continues to be an issue that is not isolated to a very small subset.
-QC is taking a back seat to volume right now and that is worrisome. Gaps issues, alignments, etc... all have to be an issue that has to be handled post delivery... why? In what world is this acceptable for $60k+ car?
-Why is it I can get a sales guy on the phone in a split second, yet when I have an issue with service or something else concerning the vehicle, it's crickets? Customer service experience is lacking.
-No loaners, no reservation for loaners is unacceptable.
-I get inspecting a vehicle once over but why do I have to show up to tesla with a phone book thick checklist of all that can be wrong with the vehicle that has been pushed on others? If the answer is that I should pay more attention, makes me feel that I am getting taken for a ride... used car sales tactics where I have to watch my rear in case I get effed.
-Tesla should partner with somebody that knows how to move cars. Carvana, Vroom, Meinhem...etc. The excuse that they are not in the used car business creates very poor optics. Yeah, sounds like they don't care to stand behind their product in the sense that they don't think they can resell em? Just push em to Carvana / Vroom and charge a 100 broker fee or something marginal.
-Trim discoloration? Are you kidding me? Come on.

I love my M3P and think it is the greatest car I have owned. However, I am scared. I am afraid that anything happens to it mechanically, cosmetically, accident related and I will be left out on my butt. No loaner, no support to get anybody on the phone, no recourse of any kind.

Was a nightmare getting the refund back for the solar. Was a nightmare getting a refund for touch-up paint that doesn't match at all, not even close. It's absurd. It shouldn't happen and it worries me that all this support for tesla vehicles will disappear once people had 'enough ' and the industry labels Tesla as a poor quality vehicle.

It's an awesome product but it has been disappointing hearing so many horror stories.

 

[rxlawdude]

Can we agree that Tesla has some serious issues that continue to be ignored in leu of hitting their quotas? Sooner or later these issues need to be addressed as they have been getting a pass for some time.

Absolutely. My only quibble (seemingly not understood) is when people claim that "MOST" or "ALL" or "NONE" of a product have a problem. TMC is not a representative sample of owners, and thus statements like "MOST" (>50%) or "ALL" (100%) or "NONE" (0%) are insulting to those understanding statistics. Similarly, the opinion of one auto expert claiming that the Tesla paint shop is bad is not dispositive that "MOST" or "ALL" Teslas have bad paint.

Again, it's clear that SOME MYs have severe defects or significant fit-and-finish issues. That's my point: some. Not all, not most.

And I concur that communication is Tesla's Achilles heel.

 

[Quorky]

Absolutely. My only quibble (seemingly not understood) is when people claim that "MOST" or "ALL" or "NONE" of a product have a problem. TMC is not a representative sample of owners, and thus statements like "MOST" (>50%) or "ALL" (100%) or "NONE" (0%) are insulting to those understanding statistics. Similarly, the opinion of one auto expert claiming that the Tesla paint shop is bad is not dispositive that "MOST" or "ALL" Teslas have bad paint.

Again, it's clear that SOME MYs have severe defects or significant fit-and-finish issues. That's my point: some. Not all, not most.

And I concur that communication is Tesla's Achilles heel.

Sure, I don't have an issue with one side of argument or the other just pointing out some of the things that really worry me. I am thinking of picking up a MY in the next few months and having serious reservations about that decision.

For same money I can get a CPO X5M and revisit the decision in a few hrs of tesla gets its act together. I do love the no maintenance, no oil, no gas... just plug in and drive.

 

[phil4791eng]

I use a “touch” car wash and it’s happened to my MY too. I’m coating my car with Armor Shield IX this week and I’ll see if that prevents it in the future.

 

[rxlawdude]

For those having this discoloration, does it appear in patterns that look like finger or palm prints?

 

[eyedub]

I had the same issue on mine as well and I can confirm WD40 works instantly. I sprayed a small amount on a microfiber towel and it wiped right off. See image of wiped section vs not.
View attachment 586352

i used WD40 as well and saw a similar result right away...after about 24 hours, the pattern comes back....how is yours holding up now?

and to follow up on my service:

Technician came to house today. This was a follow up from a previous tech visit a couple weeks ago to spec the issue. At the first visit the tech promised me the whole trim would be replaced at no cost.

Unfortunately, now two weeks later, a different technician showed up and he only had the upper trim parts for left and right with him. Good news: those parts were replaced free. However, he said to replace the rest, it would require a service appt and the fix would not be covered by warranty. I suspect that the car wash cause has something to do with this opinion.

im not sure i will fight it due to a new problem exposed with the hatch. im going to post it separately.

 

[MYMY]

Technician came to house today. This was a follow up from a previous tech visit a couple weeks ago to spec the issue. At the first visit the tech promised me the whole trim would be replaced at no cost.

Unfortunately, now two weeks later, a different technician showed up and he only had the upper trim parts for left and right with him. Good news: those parts were replaced free. However, he said to replace the rest, it would require a service appt and the fix would not be covered by warranty. I suspect that the car wash cause has something to do with this opinion.

Very interested if the manual recommends avoiding car washes? Also if the Teslavangelists, with untreated trim, will take one for the team and try a cash wash and report back so we can have a stratification of statistical data within an error factor of +/- 2% to support this thread. Any one off findings, environmental influences that Tesla should of considered (i.e using the car) or posts that are not very nice otherwise are pure rubbish.

 

[rxlawdude]

Very interested if the manual recommends avoiding car washes? Also if the Teslavangelists, with untreated trim, will take one for the team and try a cash wash and report back so we can have a stratification of statistical data within an error factor of +/- 2% to support this thread. Any one off findings, environmental influences that Tesla should of considered (i.e using the car) or posts that are not very nice otherwise are pure rubbish.

Mine has been to the touchless watch two times, and there is no discoloration of the trim.

 

[eyedub]

Very interested if the manual recommends avoiding car washes? Also if the Teslavangelists, with untreated trim, will take one for the team and try a cash wash and report back so we can have a stratification of statistical data within an error factor of +/- 2% to support this thread. Any one off findings, environmental influences that Tesla should of considered (i.e using the car) or posts that are not very nice otherwise are pure rubbish.

FWIW the technician told me to hand wash only

 

[rxlawdude]

FWIW the technician told me to hand wash only

You'll find examples of Tesla people saying the darndest things. Consistency of messaging is not a strong point of Tesla's corporate culture.

 

[MYMY]

How do we start and maintain a running list of car wash locations that don’t ruin your trim? Maybe a sticky thread?

 

[Spaceosaurus]

Stainless steel cleaner did it for me. I don't have as much free time as those saying to wash by hand so car wash it is. It only seems to happen occasionally and is usually only one side or the other which is weird.
A quick wipe of Weiman stainless steel cleaner fixed it pretty quick.

I tried a number of the things in this thread and the best hands down was the Weiman Stainless Steel Cleaner wipes. I tried Car Guys, WD40, Degreaser, water, and fierce rubbing -- all of them did something but the Weiman you could literally see the buildup drip away. I got a tube of the wipes and will just keep that in my car for when I got to the touchless wash.

 

[Armenously]

Hi Folks I can confirm that going through an automatic car wash that isn’t using simoniz will cause the residue. Freaked me out at first. I took a cloth and buffed it and some of it came off but it still looked terrible. Then I was reading here saw the reference to the Weiman stainless steel cleaner my wife uses for our appliances and used that and it cleaned it up pretty well. Sprayed the Cleaner onto the cloth to control spread.

There were a few spots that i had to let the cleaner soak a little longer before buffing to get the heavy residue off.

We’ll see if it holds up, but now I have a choice…go through the car wash and immediately polish the chrome delete to keep the residue off OR just wash the car myself. oh well. But at least I was able to mostly restore the finish (the picture attached is the before polishing photo).

 

[eyedub]

View attachment 589517 View attachment 589520 Hi Folks I can confirm that going through an automatic car wash that isn’t using simoniz will cause the residue. Freaked me out at first. I took a cloth and buffed it and some of it came off but it still looked terrible. Then I was reading here saw the reference to the Weiman stainless steel cleaner my wife uses for our appliances and used that and it cleaned it up pretty well. Sprayed the Cleaner onto the cloth to control spread.

There were a few spots that i had to let the cleaner soak a little longer before buffing to get the heavy residue off.

We’ll see if it holds up, but now I have a choice…go through the car wash and immediately polish the chrome delete to keep the residue off OR just wash the car myself. oh well. But at least I was able to mostly restore the finish (the picture attached is the before polishing photo).

The Weiman stainless steel cleaner is working better than the WD40 solution. But there are still faded traces of the 'stains' visible in the trim...they are significantly less visible, but they are not removed/erased after 48 hours following application of the cleaner. The immediate application produces a beautiful, clean trim...but it does not completely repair 100%. Any one else have this experience? Other solutions help?

i received this note from Tesla Service Shop in Rockville, MD:

I have done some research into the stained Brightwork issue. We have found the following products to be effective in removing the stains:


#1: Meguiar's 205 Ultra Finishing Polish (1108079-00-A)

Meguiar's 105 Ultra-Cut Compound (1108078-00-A)

Meguiar's D301 Finishing Wax

Meguiar's D166 Ultra Polishing Wax

Meguiar's 21 Synthetic Sealant

Meguiar's 100 Pro Speed Compound

3M 06064 Perfect-It Machine Polish

3M 06068 Perfect-It EX Ultrafine Machine Polish

3M 36060 Perfect-It EX Rubbing Compound