Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Paint Chips

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Hi All

Really loving my Model 3 LR (2021 MIC), but have one frustration that is worrying me....

I'm only 3,000 miles into my ownership of the vehicle and already have 4 stone chips on the Frunk. They are only small but are deep enough to expose a white undercoat (See attached photo). My worry is what will the car be like by the end of the 4yr PCP.

I know in the past there were issues with paint on Tesla's but by all accounts the MIC models have better paint. The paint on the remainder of the car seems to be in good condition and isn't picking up stone chips.

My question to you all is, is this normal? Could I for some reason have weaker paint on the Frunk?

Do you think I should ask Tesla to check and consider a fixing under warranty?

I've never had a car pick up so many stone chips but I guess the Frunk is low down and a sloping surface that may be prone to this issue.

Any advice would be gratefully received.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1371.jpeg
    IMG_1371.jpeg
    103.3 KB · Views: 309
If it doesn't bother you then I wouldn't worry about it until closer to the end of your PCP period, otherwise you're going to be chasing around every new one with a touch up stick.

I don't know if MIC paint is any more resilient than Fremont paint was.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Andyb5
All cars get paint chips. The only way to prevent them is to not drive the car. You could get it wrapped but your PCP deal will include the provision for wear and tear anyway, including stone chip damage. And I doubt Tesla Warranty will cover the cost of repair given it’s highly unlikely they’d accept it’s a manufacturing flaw.
I’d just use some spot repair paint in the matching colour and touch them up. I’d be willing to bet no one else would even notice them without close inspection.
You can also get insurance policies that cover minor chips and scrapes for a just a few hundred quid if you’re really that bothered.
just an example (I have a GAP policy through them).

 
Hi All

Really loving my Model 3 LR (2021 MIC), but have one frustration that is worrying me....

I'm only 3,000 miles into my ownership of the vehicle and already have 4 stone chips on the Frunk. They are only small but are deep enough to expose a white undercoat (See attached photo). My worry is what will the car be like by the end of the 4yr PCP.

I know in the past there were issues with paint on Tesla's but by all accounts the MIC models have better paint. The paint on the remainder of the car seems to be in good condition and isn't picking up stone chips.

My question to you all is, is this normal? Could I for some reason have weaker paint on the Frunk?

Do you think I should ask Tesla to check and consider a fixing under warranty?

I've never had a car pick up so many stone chips but I guess the Frunk is low down and a sloping surface that may be prone to this issue.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

"My worry is what will the car be like by the end of the 4yr PCP."

My last car was a BMW 3 Series whose paint was very tough, but kid you not, after 5 years of ownership, the front black bumper looked grey, as if repeatedly shot with a small calibre shot gun!

I've had my M3 for 3 months, 10k miles and the front bumper is starting to look a bit rough (plus the bonnet), and this is whilst me keeping a 3 car gap when on the motorway...so there seems to be no escape!

As Mr_Dave said, if you drive it, it will get chipped.

However, I now have a new best friend, its the touch up paint bottle I bought from Chipex :)
 
I searched for a thread like this. I have a 22 M3 in black and have done 14000 miles, and I reckon I've got about 20 stone chips on the bonnet and bumper and a few down the rear doors. I've got some chipex paint, and whilst it covers the chips up, it's still visible that there is a chip there if you get close to the bodywork. This is all in 9 months of ownership, it's on a 4-year lease, so I reckon the cost to repair it all when the lease is up will be substantial.... Is my paint "soft"?
I have a red Seat Ateca that I've had for five years and 80000 miles from new, and it's made the same journey for 4 of those years, and I count around ten stone chips on the front. Granted, the front of the Ateca is mainly a black plastic grill, and the bonnet doesn't slope so steeply, but still, it's a massive difference.
 
Get used to it on a Tesla. Must be the softest paint of all cars I’ve owned by a big margin. 16000 miles in (MIC) and the bumper and front looks like it has been driven behind a road gritter most of that time.

I’ll just get a respray at some point as I intend to keep it for a long while.
 
I got front facing PPF on mine, first time i've ever bothered to get it and I reckon its saved me from quite a few but there's still a few, some that have somehow managed to make it to underneath the ppf, with no hole in the ppf 😂 Although there's a a couple of places where the ppf has ripped from the stone.

I think some of it is the car's paint but I think some of it is just the state of the roads these days these days and the amount of stones floating about.