My first scratch

[mbhforum]

and it's a bad one. I stupidly opened my garage door while my trunk was open and it hit the top of the lever from the garage door. I thought it would have been worse by the way it sounded. Thoughts on fixing? I thought I read somewhere that you can't get touch up paint got silver midnight mettalic? The scratch is deep so it won't be able to get buffed out.

 

[vdiv]

Touch up paint will make it worse. Seek an advice in a detailing shop, they have a few tricks up their sleeves.

 

[mbhforum]

Thanks. My experience with touch up paint is the same that sometimes it ends up looking worse.

 

[DrivingRockies]

I took a rock to the hood. Dented and three deep scratches. I couldn't find touch up paint either. Guess the detailer might be a good option. Let me know if they give you any good advice...

 

[timvracer]

Ohhh man, I feel your pain. Being able to count on one hand the microscopic defects on my car (just got a microscratch on the chrome.. egads!). However, I recently got a significant set of scratches under the front bumper when I couldn't stop my SUMMON fast enough and it drove itself right up onto a curb. UGH!! You have to get down on the ground to see them, but it put a pit in my stomach.

Thankfully I did have PPF on, which actually helped reduce the scratching... but it couldn't stop it completely (and the PPF also got very damaged in the process)

I concur, see your detailer -- I just got done paint repairing my Honda Accord myself, and was blown away what I was able to do with the scratches on that car (most of them disappeared!). However you did get down to the primer it appears, so don't expect miracles. I'd avoid home-applied touch up at all costs. I am lucky to have a good friend I can trust who owns a body shop for any more significant repairs.

 

[SMAlset]

Take it to a good detailing shop for an estimate. Unfortunately you are on the wrong coast to send you to ours. I referred a fellow S owner in the SF Bay area to our detailer and they did great work on his car. His kid had badly scratched it in multiple places with a rock. Here's his thread with pictures of the before and after work on it. 3 year old took a rock and... Hopefully someone in your area can give you a good recommendation for a shop where you live.

 

[patrick40363]

I scratched my fender on my garage opening twice. I had a body shop take it out and touch up what they could. No problem and very inexpensive.

 

[berkeley_ecar]

While it is true that results of using touch-up paint can be iffy, it is *not* true that you can not find it for Midnight Silver Metallic (and I always have some on hand just in case). See the following discussion: Touch-Up Paint Sources. My sympathies on that first scratch!

 

[idealsol]

I feel your pain.. I did pretty much the exact same thing.
A nice scratch right into the silver plastic/chrome molding
I endedup finding a PDR guy who was really good
There was a little painting involved but I was happy with the results
Tesla wanted something like $208 just for the plastic molding
I was able to find one at a Tesla approved body shop that was like new for about $50
Good Luck
Accidents happen

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

Is your liftgate opening height still at the default setting? Just wondering for the future, if setting your liftgate to open less, would prevent this from happening again. I lowered my opening height so that the liftgate wouldn't hit the top of the garage opening, if I backed out with it open.

I was able to get solid black touch up paint at my local SC. I bought it so my detailer could use it on any rock chips before he installed PPF on the front.

 

[JPUConn]

I would add a $150 CF lip spoiler and cover up the scratch.

 

[jmanning]

Anybody use touch up paint from Tesla. Have a couple spots that aren't major but would like to touch them up. Black, killer color on scratches and dirt....

 

[mbhforum]

While it is true that results of using touch-up paint can be iffy, it is *not* true that you can not find it for Midnight Silver Metallic (and I always have some on hand just in case). See the following discussion: Touch-Up Paint Sources. My sympathies on that first scratch!

Thanks. I might try the dr colorchip as it seems a lot of people have success with that. The spoiler is an option as well. I did adjust the opening height of the trunk but apparently not enough!

 

[oktane]

Agreed easiest is to add a spoiler. This scratch of yours is very small and can certainly be fixed by a pro. You might be able to do it yourself but higher chance of messing it up the first time. If you do want to do it yourself, try it on a cheap/junk car first.

Fixing it will require filler if deep to level the scratch, followed by pigment applied with dental pick or tiny instruments, followed by clear coat the area overfilling the scratch, and then light sand/polish it down smooth.

 

[mbhforum]

I have an appointment next Saturday with the detailer that my local SC uses to fix this. He says that he needs to see it in person to determine how easy it will be to fix. He said it will be around $75 to fix which seems reasonable considering I was going to spend $50 on dr colorchip fixing it myself.

 

[mhonig]

Anybody use touch up paint from Tesla. Have a couple spots that aren't major but would like to touch them up. Black, killer color on scratches and dirt....

I bought the red touch up from Tesla. I had some scratches on the back bumper. The local authorized Tesla body shop applied about 3 coats, and my wife applied another 3 coats, but it didn't help much.

 

[GJ79]

View attachment 228692

and it's a bad one. I stupidly opened my garage door while my trunk was open and it hit the top of the lever from the garage door. I thought it would have been worse by the way it sounded. Thoughts on fixing? I thought I read somewhere that you can't get touch up paint got silver midnight mettalic? The scratch is deep so it won't be able to get buffed out.

I'd say it's totaled ! Just get a new one without a scratch !

 

[vdiv]

I'd say it's totaled ! Just get a new one without a scratch !

How rude!

 

[oktane]

I bought the red touch up from Tesla. I had some scratches on the back bumper. The local authorized Tesla body shop applied about 3 coats, and my wife applied another 3 coats, but it didn't help much.

I'd never go to Tesla for this. Think of paint repair and dent removal more along an "art" than service. You need to go to a professional with experience not a Tesla SC.

 

[jelloslug]

Most PDR guys can also do minor touchups like that.