I would push harder for a new car. First, to do a full repaint correctly they will have to dissemble the entire car, including removing all glass (roof, front, rear, etc), seals, etc. Your interior will be fully exposed to the dust in the body shop, dust from sanding your entire car, along with the elements for a long time. Go and visit the body shop to see for yourself. The stitching in the white seats will likely get dirty as hell and is impossible to clean. They use very busy body shops, not the ones that do classic show cars someone else mentioned on here.
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New Delivery - Bad Paint Job - Opinions
- Thread starter medx
- Start date
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- Tags
- bad paint Model 3 thin paint
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
If you're going to get the entire car repainted you might as well get a custom color!
I vote reject too.
Don't take no for an answer if they give you the run-around. Tesla in no position to fight PR battles with its own customers at the moment, so stick to your guns. There's no conceivable situation where something like this would be acceptable, neither on a Tesla nor on a 12K Chevy.
Don't take no for an answer if they give you the run-around. Tesla in no position to fight PR battles with its own customers at the moment, so stick to your guns. There's no conceivable situation where something like this would be acceptable, neither on a Tesla nor on a 12K Chevy.
Brentt
Member
I saw a classic GTO with this same problem. It had been painted black by a professional shop, and looked great indoors, but when you got it in the sunlight, you could see through to the primer. I don’t think you’ll have a problem with a repaint. Just be sure you get a good shop with references. If I were Tesla though. I’d let you drive that one until I got you another car, then discount yours whatever the cost of a paint job would be, and move it on out the door, or crush it.
That's pretty harsh. Don't think its nice to blame the victim in a situation that many people would have fallen into
I believe Tesla will do right by @medx.
What a lot of people are missing is:
1.) Renting a Tesla that you put miles on is expensive. $100 or more per day.
2.) @medx is going to need to rely on Tesla for many years. All this stuff is documented. Future good will is worth a lot. I know from direct experience.
With all that said, I’m not a paint professional and can’t give qualified advice on if this is actually fixable or not. Is anyone who replied so far can speak with authority? Or the right answer is no one knows until due on evaluation?
OP is rightfully concerned and we want to get him the best help. I don’t know if we just make things worst or not.
Is it reasonable for Tesla to just take the car back? Or is it reasonable for them to just fix it with some perks for @medx ?
I keep reading that Tesla is pushing the cars out in an effort to become profitable.
Having to repaint and repair cars that should never have left the factory is not helping Tesla to become profitable.
It's a dang shame that the SC must correct all the defects and deficiencies of the assembly line.
Having to repaint and repair cars that should never have left the factory is not helping Tesla to become profitable.
It's a dang shame that the SC must correct all the defects and deficiencies of the assembly line.
That’s an opex deferred to Q4.
I don’t like it either. I supported Tesla private for reasons like this.
boriszima
Member
As you did not reject the car, i hope Tesla does it right. Likely many here are harsh saying its the worst paint job, but its hard to be in the spot where you love the car. Hope it turns out for the better.
Yeah, it's a joke how it got past QC at the factory and then everyone at the delivery center. I had a busy weekend, so it would've been hard to even get back down to the delivery center and I didn't even find out about the 3 day return policy until Sunday night. I wish that would've been made clear on delivery, they just said you have three days to find anything that you wan't fixed.
I choose Black because it was free & I'm planning on wrapping it anyways with Avery vinyl or with Raail 2k Satin (when it comes out in the next month or so)...Avery Satin Khaki Green (light military green), black out or bronze the rims, 3m Crystalline tint & chrome delete (SoCal Group Buy), @Kenriko's matte white enter console wrap & carbon fiber door trim. If all the colors were free I'd probably choose the MCR.
I tweeted Elon and Tesla that they should contact me and I wrote to Tesla on the website and selected escalate to executive team. Hopefully, someone sees it soon and contacts me. I don't want to tweet the pics, because I don't want them going viral and potentially hurting the stock price.
This is what I'm mostly uncertain and uneasy about.
If anyone has any recommendations for body shops in Los Angeles, please feel free to list them. I can't get into service until October 1 at the earliest...smh. The service guy said I could go to any body shop as long as they're Tesla approved.
I choose Black because it was free & I'm planning on wrapping it anyways with Avery vinyl or with Raail 2k Satin (when it comes out in the next month or so)...Avery Satin Khaki Green (light military green), black out or bronze the rims, 3m Crystalline tint & chrome delete (SoCal Group Buy), @Kenriko's matte white enter console wrap & carbon fiber door trim. If all the colors were free I'd probably choose the MCR.
I tweeted Elon and Tesla that they should contact me and I wrote to Tesla on the website and selected escalate to executive team. Hopefully, someone sees it soon and contacts me. I don't want to tweet the pics, because I don't want them going viral and potentially hurting the stock price.
This is what I'm mostly uncertain and uneasy about.
If anyone has any recommendations for body shops in Los Angeles, please feel free to list them. I can't get into service until October 1 at the earliest...smh. The service guy said I could go to any body shop as long as they're Tesla approved.
My wild guess is that from seeing some of the terrible paint jobs here + 1 guy's 3 at work w/all sorts of exterior alignment probs is that they'd rather push out the cars, take a chance that the buyer will accept so that they collect revenue and can book revenue.
If the bar's set too high and there's too much rework (while trying to make some numbers for the quarter), that'll just slow things down, reduce the above and cause them to miss numbers.
Remember, Tesla's been losing hundreds of millions of $ each quarter since 2017 and has racked up almost $6 billion in net losses besides over $10 billion in debt. Right or wrong, investors seem accepting of these losses.
NathanielHrnblwr
Member
Question:
Does anyone know ..... Is the Model 3 the only Tesla vehicle with paint problems?
(My brother owns an S that is about a year and a half old. The paint is beautiful, and seemingly perfect).
In an effort to understand why the paint on the 3 has become unacceptable, I'm thinking .........
* poorer quality paint (possibly, but that does not explain the voids where no paint was applied)
* rushing them out the door (that would require re-programming the robots)
* Insufficient drying time in the paint booth (so many reports of dust beneath the clear coat .... this may be one issue)
* poor preparation (sanding, primer)
* finally, poor, or no QC.
Although not yet an owner, I have been a staunch advocate and defender of Tesla. I have argued confidently that the company would be successful. The designers have created an absolutely beautiful design, and the engineers have complemented the design with so many technical innovations.
But for the first time, doubts about Tesla's ability to sustain itself, and deliver a vehicle worthy of the $60-$80k it requires to obtain a copy, are eroding my confidence. So value for the money is a big and growing concern.
Secondly, I'm not prepared for the criticism from my "better half" every time I need to take it back to the SC tp correct defects. It would be a negative reinforcement of my own sentiments.
Recognizing that it is human nature to write about faults on a forum such as this, how many owners received pristine, defect-free model 3's?
Believing that there are such experiences, it would b e interesting to know the frequency and especially the date.
Is the situation improving, or deteriorating? That is the BIG QUESTION>
Does anyone know ..... Is the Model 3 the only Tesla vehicle with paint problems?
(My brother owns an S that is about a year and a half old. The paint is beautiful, and seemingly perfect).
In an effort to understand why the paint on the 3 has become unacceptable, I'm thinking .........
* poorer quality paint (possibly, but that does not explain the voids where no paint was applied)
* rushing them out the door (that would require re-programming the robots)
* Insufficient drying time in the paint booth (so many reports of dust beneath the clear coat .... this may be one issue)
* poor preparation (sanding, primer)
* finally, poor, or no QC.
Although not yet an owner, I have been a staunch advocate and defender of Tesla. I have argued confidently that the company would be successful. The designers have created an absolutely beautiful design, and the engineers have complemented the design with so many technical innovations.
But for the first time, doubts about Tesla's ability to sustain itself, and deliver a vehicle worthy of the $60-$80k it requires to obtain a copy, are eroding my confidence. So value for the money is a big and growing concern.
Secondly, I'm not prepared for the criticism from my "better half" every time I need to take it back to the SC tp correct defects. It would be a negative reinforcement of my own sentiments.
Recognizing that it is human nature to write about faults on a forum such as this, how many owners received pristine, defect-free model 3's?
Believing that there are such experiences, it would b e interesting to know the frequency and especially the date.
Is the situation improving, or deteriorating? That is the BIG QUESTION>
super20g
Member
I just turned my 3 over to service to fix various delivery issues including fish eye and dust nibs in pretty much every panel (generally just a few, but still...). Doors sagging. Panels not flush with one another and not centered.
They gave me a brand new loaner S built at the same time in the same color as my car. I took it home and gave it its first bath because it literally just came off the delivery truck, was dirty as hell and hadn't been prepped. Anyways, I took my time cleaning the S and there are no paint issues. No gap issues. The panels are all flush with one another, etc... The build quality is remarkably better in every way.
Now I just have to keep fingers crossed that my car comes back in decent shape and still feels like a new car to me and not something service and the body shop has molested. Doesn't help that I got an alert on my phone saying the speed limit I set at 85 had been met. I told them there was an odd noise on the driver side at highway speeds, not back to the future speeds...
Not all that happy of a (day 1) camper, but 60K was my top. I couldn't afford an S and it's a little bigger than I prefer as well. Still love the driving experience, it's great! Just not a fan of the fit and finish after the 900 day wait.
Edit: I have a feeling a good portion of the 3's are similar to mine. I saw several on different occasions at the service center with the same issues. Not terrible, but not ideal shape at a 60k price point. If people claim perfect cars, I am not sure they know what to look for or just not as detail oriented... I am sure some batches are better than others.
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Thank you super20g.
It was a very informative report .... not good, but informative. No, I can't afford an S either.
The most distressing thing you wrote is that the defects are more extensive than paint issues.
Has fit & finish returned as a problem? "Doors sagging," and "panels not flush."
I hope others will write.
I presume the S is assembled at the same Fremont plant?
Just a different assembly line?
It was a very informative report .... not good, but informative. No, I can't afford an S either.
The most distressing thing you wrote is that the defects are more extensive than paint issues.
Has fit & finish returned as a problem? "Doors sagging," and "panels not flush."
I hope others will write.
I presume the S is assembled at the same Fremont plant?
Just a different assembly line?
NathanielHrnblwr
Member
The S is assembled on a different line but shares the same paint shop.
My 3 was almost perfect - just a small paint issue on the passenger door sill which I’ll remedy with a bit of touch up paint. No panel alignment issues, no “sagging doors”, etc. Remember, the issues get the spotlight. They’re delivering thousands of model 3s without prior prep, rework, etc. so issues may appear to be more frequent.
This one was quite unique and we haven’t seen anything like it.
My 3 was almost perfect - just a small paint issue on the passenger door sill which I’ll remedy with a bit of touch up paint. No panel alignment issues, no “sagging doors”, etc. Remember, the issues get the spotlight. They’re delivering thousands of model 3s without prior prep, rework, etc. so issues may appear to be more frequent.
This one was quite unique and we haven’t seen anything like it.
super20g
Member
I don't want to take up too much space in this thread on my particulars, but wanted to follow up a bit.
Mine was an August dual motor build in the 68K range. At delivery, it was well detailed and I really didn't pick up on much more than a few smudges on the headliner. I was with my wife and daughter. I should have went alone to be less distracted. Lighting wasn't great either.
After taking my time at home, my issues were: headliner bent/broken above driver, roof glass/rear glass do not match (now understand that is currently as designed), passenger door sag, front bumper fitment issues meeting fenders and headlights, run your finger along hood/fender gap and its high then low then high, hood off to one side and close to pinching fender, fish eye in center of hood where i guess there was solvent under it the size of a silver dollar, charge port door sticking out on that side, recessed in on passenger side taillight (think this might just be how it is after looking at a few), trim on passenger side by windshield wiper blade loose and cant be snapped into place (snapped into place on driverside), when you pop the hood, the inner fender lip isn't painted on one side (bare primer) but is fully painted on the other side, dust nibs (and fish eye) in the paint on various panels, some feel like sandpaper like in the jams, passenger rear door sticks out from passenger door in the middle of the gap, nick out of the plastic on the bonnet of the driver side mirror, door hinge bare metal where they beat on it to align the door, door jambs around the hinges you can see the primer (I guess this is another normal thing i just haven't seen before on other manufacturers), consistent rattle noise on driverside at highway speeds, retaining clips missing from fender liners, water stands in the rear door sills and rushes out when you open the doors, windshield wipers chatter and miss big areas (thinking this is just the blades or the glass surface needing cleaned with ISO or something), little panel in the passenger footwell that doesnt click into place and just hangs down, glove box crooked and pinching a piece of plastic on the left, rear seats have puckering where they were stictched too tightly in an area (service said new one might arrive like that as well so they wont order one... others on the lot didnt have that), the carpet seam on both the driverside and passengerside was really loose and incomplete looking, there was damage and holes actually all the way through the black plastic sideskirts under the car on both sides in the same place (not sure if damage under the plastic as well), the battery has light scratches on it from transport I assume, probably a few other odds and ends i am not thinking about.
Some perhaps I am being picky on, yes. But when they all start to add up it just makes you annoyed that you are having to take time off to deal with this stuff when you just forked over 60k and not everything will be corrected. Hopefully this one is a outlier and build quality is improving. Scares me to wonder what is under that plastic and body panels... Only a few hundred miles on the car so long term durability concerns me a bit. My prior daily driver was an Acura and fit and finish are great and that thing just drives... My jeep is decent but far from perfect, but that was as expected.
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