MY Door Trim Discoloration

[Kandiru]

Update, I washed the car by hand using very little shampoo, rubbed the trim while drying with microfiber and the streaks are GONE.
Getting neutral shampoo and washing car in driveway, come winter I will buy the cheapest laser touch free car washes and dry by
water blade and towels.

 

[acarney]

Laser touch free?

 

[Kandiru]

Laser touch free?

Always, and while at it talk to staff to make sure they do not recycle the water. Any carwash with whirly scrubbers and staff rubbing at cars will result in rapid paint deterioration.

 

[acarney]

Always, and while at it talk to staff to make sure they do not recycle the water. Any carwash with whirly scrubbers and staff rubbing at cars will result in rapid paint deterioration.

I'm still trying to figure out the laser part of the car wash...

 

[jcanoe]

Always, and while at it talk to staff to make sure they do not recycle the water. Any carwash with whirly scrubbers and staff rubbing at cars will result in rapid paint deterioration.

These days commercial car washes are required to recycle the water they use. The used car wash water is collected, filtered, aerated and deodorized before being reused. The only fresh water used is a few gallons in the final rinse step to reduce water spots.

 

[acarney]

These days commercial car washes are required to recycle the they use water. The used car wash water is collected, filtered, aerated and deodorized before being reused. The only fresh water used is a few gallons in the final rinse step to reduce water spots.

Ding, correct.

You can't get around those chemicals (I'm not even sure you could find a supplier for non-harsh chemicals for a commercial carwash, I looked it up one day and in the tens of chemicals I checked not a single one had pH near 7, even the ones called "gentle" and "eco").

Wash it at home or in the self wash bay, those chemicals need to be more gentle so you're not spraying HF containing products on yourself or others.

 

[astrobill]

Update, I washed the car by hand using very little shampoo, rubbed the trim while drying with microfiber and the streaks are GONE.
Getting neutral shampoo and washing car in driveway, come winter I will buy the cheapest laser touch free car washes and dry by
water blade and towels.

Sorry to say this, but I believe the discoloration will likely be back within days. I've cleaned it off a few times and it comes back within hours or days each time. It's either the material itself breaking down or road contaminants adhering to the trim, or both. The reason is likely because of faulty trim coatings or paint of some kind.

As an aside, note that the oily, iridescent nature of the discoloration is very similar to what one often sees in cheap, recycled rubber and plastic products from China. It could also be road surface contamination (e.g., oil in asphalt sticking to the trim over time?) that's not being properly repelled due to faulty coatings or anodization (at least one commenter has stated the trim is anodized aluminum).

When I pressed my local Tesla Service Center about the degradation being pretty abnormal for a relatively new vehicle and asked for trim replacement, I was told by the representative that there's apparently a known issue with the black trim on Model Y vehicles made before Nov 2020 that results in this problem. I presume it applies to the Model 3 as well.

All this talk in multiple threads about the pH of different car washes or products and ways to restore the trim seems to be dancing around the issue. The problem here seems pretty obvious...the trim parts are faulty. Not to mention that needing to find a baby-hands, kid-glove product to gently wash a $55K to $100K vehicle without damaging it seems a bit ridiculous, frankly.

There's either an issue with protective coating(s), anodization, paint, or all of these that makes them susceptible to degradation and/or contamination. Not sure what the specifics are, and opinions are all over the place in this forum on the issue, but it's clearly abnormal for exterior trim on a vehicle that one has had for less than two years.

 

[acarney]

Sorry to say this, but I believe the discoloration will likely be back within days. I've cleaned it off a few times and it comes back within hours or days each time. It's either the material itself breaking down or road contaminants adhering to the trim, or both. The reason is likely because of faulty trim coatings or paint of some kind.

As an aside, note that the oily, iridescent nature of the discoloration is very similar to what one often sees in cheap, recycled rubber and plastic products from China. It could also be road surface contamination (e.g., oil in asphalt sticking to the trim over time?) that's not being properly repelled due to faulty coatings or anodization (at least one commenter has stated the trim is anodized aluminum).

When I pressed my local Tesla Service Center about the degradation being pretty abnormal for a relatively new vehicle and asked for trim replacement, I was told by the representative that there's apparently a known issue with the black trim on Model Y vehicles made before Nov 2020 that results in this problem. I presume it applies to the Model 3 as well.

All this talk in multiple threads about the pH of different car washes or products and ways to restore the trim seems to be dancing around the issue. The problem here seems pretty obvious...the trim parts are faulty. Not to mention that needing to find a baby-hands, kid-glove product to gently wash a $55K to $100K vehicle without damaging it seems a bit ridiculous, frankly.

There's either an issue with protective coating(s), anodization, paint, or all of these that makes them susceptible to degradation and/or contamination. Not sure what the specifics are, and opinions are all over the place in this forum on the issue, but it's clearly abnormal for exterior trim on a vehicle that one has had for less than two years.

It might not be a defect rather then just a bad pick in materials. The pH of wash chemicals are pretty harsh and they tend to react and attack metal more than a painted surface with clear coat. It could be Tesla just decided to go for a "premium" product with an anodized metal product that made care extremely difficult. Other products might go for a painted metal where the paint essentially acts as a protective layer or they might even be using a non-metal style product for black trim.

Is it still an issue, 100%. It should not be this hard to wash a car, especially for the people that don't mind if it isn't sparkling clean or has some swirls in the paint. A standard auto car wash should be useable without drastic changes. However, from Tesla's side it might be "as expected" based on the material properties and thus not "a problem" in the sense of recall or defect.

 

[astrobill]

It could be Tesla just decided to go for a "premium" product with an anodized metal product that made care extremely difficult.

True, it's not a defect that warrants a recall from the NTSA or anything.

However, the fact they made an apparent change in Nov 2020 -- or know that the problem dates to vehicles made before that month -- implies they recognize there was an issue beyond just "sensitive to some car care products."

If folks are correct these are anodized parts, I'm a bit surprised Tesla or their vendor messed it up. After all, anodization makes aluminum pretty darn corrosion resistant. Perhaps the original vendor didn't anodize deeply enough or made mistakes with the "black colorized anodization" process on some or all of the early production runs?

I also have to say that it's REALLY bad on some cars..far worse than the cases I've seen on here (including my own).

There's a Jun 2020 Model Y in my town that's so bad that it makes the car look like absolute garbage...to the point where even Tesla would not want the car being seen in a high Tesla sales area like the DC area. I felt so bad for the guy that I left him a note on his windshield passing along what Tesla told me about the issue.

 

[Bob2C]

Wiper fluid will have the same outcome...I always handwash and never have a problem with the trim..

 

[astrobill]

Wiper fluid will have the same outcome...I always handwash and never have a problem with the trim..

@Bob2C Which month was your vehicle made and which Model is it? Do you not have any of the discoloration at all? If you do, how long before it comes back after a wash?

 

[acarney]

I actually hadn’t realized Tesla made a change, feom
My understanding we’ve seen 2021 owners mention the same issues and I feel like I’ve seen people on Facebook groups that had taken delivery in the last few months and after the first wash had the rainbow issue.

 

[Bob2C]

@Bob2C Which month was your vehicle made and which Model is it? Do you not have any of the discoloration at all? If you do, how long before it comes back after a wash?

May22 build. Model Y. I had discoloration with wiper fluid hitting it. Nothing when I hand wash home with softened water. PH around 7. I was able to get the staining off using turtle wax seal and shine spray.

 

[Bruce2020]

I actually hadn’t realized Tesla made a change, feom
My understanding we’ve seen 2021 owners mention the same issues and I feel like I’ve seen people on Facebook groups that had taken delivery in the last few months and after the first wash had the rainbow issue.

I am surprised that Tesla hasn't addressed the issue given countless complaints from owners. I never care for the chrome delete. The flush door handle in black color is hard to locate at night in poor lighting condition. At this point, I will take the chrome over black.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

my wife's 3 has this issue on the old 'chrome' trim, and we got the same BS not under warranty.

If your CAR can't survive a CAR WASH. It's not a real car. So tired of this crap designed by 12 year olds to look good on a computer screen, and can't survive a week in the real world.

 

[Bikeman]

As the Tesla community has identified ways to avoid some discoloration issues (proper washing / proper car washing solutions), perhaps it is now time to figure out a wiper fluid that has less chance of causing the trim issues? I can't experiment myself with this until early next year, as my car is still piles of raw materials.

 

[kschumake83]

As the Tesla community has identified ways to avoid some discoloration issues (proper washing / proper car washing solutions), perhaps it is now time to figure out a wiper fluid that has less chance of causing the trim issues? I can't experiment myself with this until early next year, as my car is still piles of raw materials.

I would like to figure out a way that the wiper fluid dosen't cause streaks down the front windows, and forget about driving with the front windows open when you use the wiper fluid. But seriously we have to stop calling it "proper" car washing. It has been said before when living in a snowy salt covered area where the temps are below freezing for periods of time "proper car washing solutions" would be to run it through an automatic carwash. It sucks to like this car so much because I feel like an Iphone guy talking great about all the good things but brushing everything else under the rug. My 21 chevrolet 3500 looks great coming out of the carwash until it gets dirty, the 22 MY looks better dirty than it does coming out of the carwash.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

lol. you're holding it wrong? No. If you make a CAR that can't CARWASH... you failed.

 

[Brian Hill]

True, it's not a defect that warrants a recall from the NTSA or anything.

However, the fact they made an apparent change in Nov 2020 -- or know that the problem dates to vehicles made before that month -- implies they recognize there was an issue beyond just "sensitive to some car care products."

If folks are correct these are anodized parts, I'm a bit surprised Tesla or their vendor messed it up. After all, anodization makes aluminum pretty darn corrosion resistant. Perhaps the original vendor didn't anodize deeply enough or made mistakes with the "black colorized anodization" process on some or all of the early production runs?

I also have to say that it's REALLY bad on some cars..far worse than the cases I've seen on here (including my own).

There's a Jun 2020 Model Y in my town that's so bad that it makes the car look like absolute garbage...to the point where even Tesla would not want the car being seen in a high Tesla sales area like the DC area. I felt so bad for the guy that I left him a note on his windshield passing along what Tesla told me about the issue.

Am I reading you correct that they fixed it? My 2023 MY has this problem and after six months I finally noticed it first on a passenger side sill. It’s not happening the same to all of the trim, just certain sections.
I am actually very upset if their response is simply “stop using commercial car washes.” You mean Tesla knew about this 3 years ago and no warning when I took delivery? Frankly my deliver experience was bad on many levels, but how to take care of the car (for those of us new to EV and Tesla in particular) should involve more than just “go download the Tesla app and goodbye.”

 

[astrobill]

Am I reading you correct that they fixed it? My 2023 MY has this problem and after six months I finally noticed it first on a passenger side sill. It’s not happening the same to all of the trim, just certain sections.

Yep, the Sterling, VA Service Center replaced all my window trim at no charge.

The advisor said this was a known issue in vehicles made before Nov 2020...and mine was made in Sep 2020. In Nov 2020, they supposedly made some change to the anodization or coating process or something, or at least that was what she told me.

It's hard to say if vehicle made after the Nov 2020 date still ended up getting the older trim parts anyway. I'd guess yes, given Tesla's infamously sketchy parts chain management.

It's in their interest to fix it for anyone who asks. They shouldn't want Teslas driving around looking like that.

I'm thrilled with the all-electric Volvo XC40, by the way. Much higher build quality in every respect. The new Volvo EX30 looks pretty good, too....and muuuuuch less expensive than a Model Y.