My red bumper doesn’t match!?!?

[Love2Run]

Is this just an issue with the colored options? If I just stick with basic black will it all match?

My Midnight Silver Metallic matched perfectly.

Yes, I felt pressured to accept the demo with some wear and tear flaws, but they also told me before driving 2 hours to get the car that they'd take care of me and the car was considered new. Then when I got there, the delivery person treated me differently than the sales person... Again, wear and tear is different than manufacturing defect or whatever caused this. Also, you can't notice everything in the showroom lighting. It's when the car was outside on a sunny day that we noticed it.

 

[tkline]

Cool . I was considering red or white, but was also wondering if for the price they want for their paint jobs, if I'm better off just getting black and then having it painted or wrapped for a similar price, then I could pick any color under the sun. But then, I'm lazy, so I'd probably procrastinate and then never have it done.

 

[jkoya]

Then when I got there, the delivery person treated me differently than the sales person... Again, wear and tear is different than manufacturing defect or whatever caused this. Also, you can't notice everything in the showroom lighting. It's when the car was outside on a sunny day that we noticed it.

My delivery experience was similar to yours. Delivery guy was in a rush and was reluctant to add anything to the Due Bill - "If Tesla sent us the car for delivery, then it's within their specs", is what he told me several times. My delivery was outside in the rain. I will say Tesla took care of all my concerns and added everything I wanted to the Due Bill later on.

 

[Love2Run]

My delivery experience was similar to yours. Delivery guy was in a rush and was reluctant to add anything to the Due Bill - "If Tesla sent us the car for delivery, then it's within their specs", is what he told me several times. My delivery was outside in the rain. I will say Tesla took care of all my concerns and added everything I wanted to the Due Bill later on.

My first Model 3 was outside in the rain as well, pretty hard to pick out flaws in the rain. And they were pretty good about fixing the items I brought up later.

 

[Oldschool496]

take it or leave it,

Sorry to be blunt, sometimes its the only way. This car was a DEMO right, it was used in ways you never knew. Hence DISCOUNT.

This is the new norm for Tesla. You knew it going in, they don't fix anything on demos or used any longer, you got a "great deal".

My guess here is since it was a demo they replaced the front fascia and repainted it due to some damage that may have happened during test drives.

You accepted the car. It spoke to you at the moment you accepted it because you had no other option unless you waited and probably paid a lot, lot more and waited. Now the car is yours.

Now your looking harder and harder.

The car has a warranty bumper to bumper, Drive system, Battery and perforation of the body and skin as well as abnormal fading due to workmanship maybe.

It looks like the repaint or replace and repaint of the fascia was not done well perhaps. Its arguable certainly by you. You did accept the car as is.

The only remedy is start talking to them (Tesla). Since your picky, hopefully you have not made enemies too soon. Maybe they will listen.

Good luck!

If they do nothing, when you sell the car, sell it in the same light you bought it in and the next buyer will probably not notice or care about the difference, they will just be happy they got the car.

 

[Love2Run]

Sorry to be blunt, sometimes its the only way.

This is the new norm for Tesla. You knew it going in, they don't fix anything on demos or used any longer, you got a "great deal". My guess here is since it was a demo they replaced the front fascia and repainted it due to some damage that may have happened during test drives.

You accepted the car. It spoke to you at the moment you accepted it because you had no other option unless you waited and probably paid a lot, lot more and waited. Now the car is yours.

Now your looking harder and harder.

The car has a warranty bumper to bumper, Drive system, Battery and perforation of the body and skin as well as abnormal fading due to workmanship maybe.

It looks like the repaint or replace and repaint of the fascia was not done well perhaps. Its arguable certainly by you. You did accept the car as is.

The only remedy is start talking to them (Tesla). Since your picky, hopefully you have not made enemies too soon. Maybe they will listen.

Good luck!

If they do nothing, when you sell the car, sell it in the same light you bought it in and the next buyer will probably not notice or care about the difference, they will just be happy they got the car.

I was never told demo cars were a take it or leave it scenario with no repairs. I know someone who picked up a demo with a wheel scrape and tire gouge and they replaced both of those, no questions asked. Prior to pickup, I told them I was pretty picky about things being right and they assured me they would take care of me. When I picked it up, the story changed and I quickly had to make up my mind about what I would do. If I had noticed the mismatched bumper, then I would have said something, but it just didn't pop like it did in the daylight a few days later.

Also, I'm not looking harder and harder. We saw the bumper color difference from 100 feet away as we were walking up to the car. In fact, it was my friend who noticed it first.

We'll see what they do. The reason I posted here was to see if other people had similar situations and to see what the outcome was for them.

Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it.

 

[Oldschool496]

Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it.

Speak to them nicely. Just another warning though, if they say they will repaint it again, it may get worse or other may take place as well. Weeks your car will not be visible to you, loaner or no loaner its not fun.

Sometimes things are better left. I speak from experience here only, not being snippy by any means.

 

[voip-ninja]

Bumper was likely repainted at a crappy body shop. Plastic or metal you shouldn’t see contrast color like that.
My model 3 is a darker silver and color match. Since your rear bumper isn’t the same issue it is likely it was repainted by a crappy body shop.

Doesn't have to be a crappy body shop. Multi-coat red is the hardest color to match that Tesla currently produces, I believe the paint shop process for it is 3 or 4 coats before clear coating.

Unless a body shop sprays it exactly the same way that Tesla does then it won't exactly match.

@Love2Run you are probably stuck. You bought a demo car that was discounted and this is the kind of thing that can happen. Tesla stocks front and rear bumpers that are painted from the factory in order to speed up minor repairs. You should investigate what it would cost to obtain the properly painted factory part and see if Tesla is willing to give you a discount on it.

You can also compare your front bumper to others, take photos and try to use that to gain a bit of leverage on Tesla to make this right.

It is also possible that it came this way from the factory. I had an Audi A4 that was dolphin grey and had noticeable color shift on the rear bumper that I didn't notice really till I'd had the car for a couple of months. The dealer provided documents showing the car had never been re-painted but it doesn't mean that it wasn't re-sprayed at port of entry from Germany or that they just didn't get a poorly painted batch of bumpers at the factory at the time my car was built.

TL : DR? Caveat Emptor.

 

[Love2Run]

All:

I know this is an old thread, but some folks wanted to see it from farther away, so here it is. The driver side matches just fine, it's just the passenger side.

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

There was definite repaint on the bumper. Whoever did it didn't blend to match the rest of the car. I had a dent to my driver door and they quoted a repaint job on the entire left side to blend match the multi stage paint.

Get them to pay for a wrap

 

[Skione65]

All:

I know this is an old thread, but some folks wanted to see it from farther away, so here it is. The driver side matches just fine, it's just the passenger side.

@Love2Run,

Are your front tires flat?? How low is your car?

Ski

 

[vjason]

No. Back in the day when I bought a truck cap the dealer showed me multiple different GM "black" paint chips to use to match my truck.

Every time they change the batch of paint there is the possibility of the colors being slightly different. That being said black and white would tend to be safer than most, though white even more so over time since it doesn't really fade.

This is why I disagree with them shipping prepainted body pieces, as there is no guarantee that they will match your factory paint job. I'm not saying this is always an issue, just that it can be one.

Is this just an issue with the colored options? If I just stick with basic black will it all match?

 

[Love2Run]

@Love2Run,

Are your front tires flat?? How low is your car?

Ski

Just the standard P3D+ Looks really low in that picture

 

[Skione65]

Just the standard P3D+ Looks really low in that picture

@Love2Run,

Mine doesn’t look that low.....looks slammed. Must be the angle.

Ski

 

[Runebane]

@Love2Run,

Mine doesn’t look that low.....looks slammed. Must be the angle.

Ski

I think it's the raised sidewalk in front of the car that makes it look lower.

 

[jkoya]

I know this is an old thread, but some folks wanted to see it from farther away, so here it is. The driver side matches just fine, it's just the passenger side.

I can definitely see the color mismatch. Did Tesla eventually agree to fix it for you ?

 

[Love2Run]

They want me to come in to have their independent body shop see if it needs to be repainted. It's two hours each way, so I'm waiting until I have something else for them to work on at the same time.

 

[Love2Run]

@Love2Run,

Mine doesn’t look that low.....looks slammed. Must be the angle.

Ski

Rear shot, not lowered. I would like to drop it about an inch though. Also would like to powder coat the wheels.

 

[jkoya]

@Love2Run - Sorry to hear they are so far away. Is there a Tesla approved body shop closer to you that can offer their opinion ?

 

[Love2Run]

@Love2Run - Sorry to hear they are so far away. Is there a Tesla approved body shop closer to you that can offer their opinion ?

No, have to take it to Portland