Paint damage

[Kelowna Steve]

Greetings. I am new to the forum. Picked up my Model Y from Vancouver last weekend and drove the ~4.5 hour trip home to the Okanagan. The vehicle inspection before I drove it away was fault free, other than the minor removal of some tape left in-place under the roof glass. I was delighted with my purchase - this vehicle is amazing on so many levels!!
To my horror and dismay, I washed the car off after the trip and discovered my rear doors have been sandblasted by road grit. The journey back did not have nearly the amount of grit as the trip there, so I considered the road surface as average. I have contacted the Service Dept on this, but they won't be visiting to inspect the damage for a couple of weeks. I am gutted that my new vehicle is no longer new and now anxious to find out if the repair is going to be at my cost. I have taken a couple of shots, one showing the damage to the paint "wet" and another "dry" to show the damage to the clear coat as well as paint. The plastic trim is also pock-marked. Of note is that the Tesla store sells front mud guards and a PPF for this area so it is obviously a known issue. My question is why these two minimal cost items wouldn't be installed on every Model Y sold for the Canadian market and/or why did my sales rep not mention this, so that I could have installed them before my trip???

 

[oakvillemike]

Ugh those pictures are painful to see. Sorry for that - I've always been concerned with this though I noticed that the Model Y, whether due to design or not, seems to be more susceptible to this sand blasting (my plastic trims are also sandblasted in that area). I've had my 3 since 2018 and the paint in that area remains fine (thank god) having gone through a couple of winters of driving. Didn't even decide to install the mudflaps at this point.

For the Y (similar to the 3) I set an appointment for PPF on the same day (for the 3) or a day after (for the Y) just to minimize driving time without protection. It's unfortunate the your (or even my) sales rep wasn't more proactive about this but perhaps they just haven't been getting enough complaints about it yet. You might get lucky and have it fixed by them as "goodwill" (I've noticed Tesla does a lot of goodwill repairs, which I appreciate greatly as I've never had such a level with other brands/dealerships) but maybe approach a PPF installer to get some protection installed in that area, if not other major areas on the rest of the car once this is all done?

 

[kingston-ont]

That really sucks. Mud flaps or not, this is obviously not normal paint wear after a few hundred km. If you poke around this forum a bit you'll see similar stories from others. (Here, for example.) You might want to get in touch with others who have had the same issue, to see if they had any luck with compensation or other redress from Tesla. Keep us posted.

 

[Vancouver ClearBra]

Greetings. I am new to the forum. Picked up my Model Y from Vancouver last weekend and drove the ~4.5 hour trip home to the Okanagan. The vehicle inspection before I drove it away was fault free, other than the minor removal of some tape left in-place under the roof glass. I was delighted with my purchase - this vehicle is amazing on so many levels!!
To my horror and dismay, I washed the car off after the trip and discovered my rear doors have been sandblasted by road grit. The journey back did not have nearly the amount of grit as the trip there, so I considered the road surface as average. I have contacted the Service Dept on this, but they won't be visiting to inspect the damage for a couple of weeks. I am gutted that my new vehicle is no longer new and now anxious to find out if the repair is going to be at my cost. I have taken a couple of shots, one showing the damage to the paint "wet" and another "dry" to show the damage to the clear coat as well as paint. The plastic trim is also pock-marked. Of note is that the Tesla store sells front mud guards and a PPF for this area so it is obviously a known issue. My question is why these two minimal cost items wouldn't be installed on every Model Y sold for the Canadian market and/or why did my sales rep not mention this, so that I could have installed them before my trip???

I'm so sad to see the damages. We try our very best to educate clients to the need of getting clear bra ppf done asap. The mud flaps and tesla's little piece of ppf aren't going to stop all damages to those areas, let alone to the front end etc... especially since it's black. You'll have an endless battle keeping it safe, even if a ceramic coating was done, as it isn't designed to stop sand blasting and rock chips.

Most likely due to how busy the pick up location is they don't have the time to introduce ppf to all clients. We do however get a good deal of referrals from Tesla sales associates, just not enough as without the ppf the Tesla's really take a beating with the new water based paints used. In fact, we had a model 3 come in early summer last year and they had the vehicle for 5 months and their wasn't a panel on the vehicle without chips or scratches right through the paint. Unfortunately they had to pay to paint the bumper and do some touch ups then covered the whole vehicle with ppf.

I'll send you a direct message to see if we can work out a deal on getting this brought to the coast for us to properly protect it for you, so you don't have to watch it degrade away with each drive.

 

[Kelowna Steve]

Greetings. I am new to the forum. Picked up my Model Y from Vancouver last weekend and drove the ~4.5 hour trip home to the Okanagan. The vehicle inspection before I drove it away was fault free, other than the minor removal of some tape left in-place under the roof glass. I was delighted with my purchase - this vehicle is amazing on so many levels!!
To my horror and dismay, I washed the car off after the trip and discovered my rear doors have been sandblasted by road grit. The journey back did not have nearly the amount of grit as the trip there, so I considered the road surface as average. I have contacted the Service Dept on this, but they won't be visiting to inspect the damage for a couple of weeks. I am gutted that my new vehicle is no longer new and now anxious to find out if the repair is going to be at my cost. I have taken a couple of shots, one showing the damage to the paint "wet" and another "dry" to show the damage to the clear coat as well as paint. The plastic trim is also pock-marked. Of note is that the Tesla store sells front mud guards and a PPF for this area so it is obviously a known issue. My question is why these two minimal cost items wouldn't be installed on every Model Y sold for the Canadian market and/or why did my sales rep not mention this, so that I could have installed them before my trip???

My appointment with the mobile service team was just cancelled and I got a message stating that the Warranty does not cover paint damage due to "environmental factors". However, in the same statement, Tesla "recommends installing the All Weather Protection Kit" to prevent such damage. This option was neither offered or recommended to me prior to my delivery and pick-up - my sales person knew where I was coming from and driving to after delivery. I have subsequently purchased & installed the OEM mud flaps and there is a substantial reduction on the dirt landing in this area. I can't add any ppf without having the area first repaired. Does anyone here know how I might escalate such an issue/dispute?
Thanks in advance

 

[thor_2019]

Sorry to hear this Steve. This is a known issue and the same thing happened to my Model 3, I wish I put the PPF on the area.

 

[Vancouver ClearBra]

Sorry to hear this Steve. This is a known issue and the same thing happened to my Model 3, I wish I put the PPF on the area.

We can help whenever needed and clear bra can be put on even with the sandblasting or rock chips to prevent further damage

 

[duanra]

It seems that some cars have a better paint than other. I bought mine in 2018, a MR3 and I drove it during the full winter without protection in Quebec. I never had a paint issue.
Since I am paranoid, i applied ppf in Spring.
I was lucky.
It seems also that the black paint is more fragile.
Anyhow, Tesla should be paying more attention to the paint, rather than selling more stuff to cover their short coming.

 

[Vawlkus]

It seems that some cars have a better paint than other. I bought mine in 2018, a MR3 and I drove it during the full winter without protection in Quebec. I never had a paint issue.
Since I am paranoid, i applied ppf in Spring.
I was lucky.
It seems also that the black paint is more fragile.
Anyhow, Tesla should be paying more attention to the paint, rather than selling more stuff to cover their short coming.

Tesla’s current paint setup is limited by a California statute that inhibits Tesla from applying paint as they would prefer too.

This will unfortunately continue to be an issue until TerraTexas is online and producing Model Ys with an updated paint shop setup. Once GigaBerlin has their paint shop functional then those changes may be imported into the Fremont paint shop. We’re talking a few years at least I’m afraid though.

 

[Kelowna Steve]

Installed the OEM mud flaps on the front wheels and the muck thrown up on to this area seems to have been reduced significantly. I don't think this is as much a paint issue as it is a design flaw. The best paint in the world would have a hard time resisting being sandblasted ~6 months a year. Tesla are not rushing to address this, so may have to do the ppf to limit further damage occurring thru rest of season and deal with the pitting damage later. Iowa Tesla guy had the same issue and did his own repair

 

[BadAlien]

Ya it totally sucks! I can't believe that tesla does so many thing amazingly and so many other things so terribly.
This would not be acceptable with any other car manufacturer...
Problem is that to tesla this is normal when it obviously should not be.
I was lucky to have friends who told me EXACTLY what to do otherwise I would not have gotten the car wrapped at all. I was still stressing because my wrap appt was 2 weeks after getting the car. Luckily the paint was ok at the time I got the wrap done.
I feel you seriously it's terrible. Get it wrapped ASAP. Full front bumper hood, lower doors (front/back) and full rear bumper.

 

[Kelowna Steve]

If I apply the OEM PPF to the bottom rear qtr of the rear doors to limit further damage, can the PPF be easily removed later on in order to correct the pitting without taking some of the clearcoat / paint with it and making a bad situation worse??? I presume if Tesla supplies it rather than a 3rd party, they would have some liability for same if this occurs? Also, does anyone know the thickness of this material? Are there different PPF "grades"?

 

[MY2Ski]

Installed the OEM mud flaps on the front wheels and the muck thrown up on to this area seems to have been reduced significantly. I don't think this is as much a paint issue as it is a design flaw. The best paint in the world would have a hard time resisting being sandblasted ~6 months a year. Tesla are not rushing to address this, so may have to do the ppf to limit further damage occurring thru rest of season and deal with the pitting damage later. Iowa Tesla guy had the same issue and did his own repair

Steve,
How well do you think the paint correction and PPF will work on my Y? I got the paint kit and the PPF and am wondering whether it is worth even trying to fix.
I now have the Tesla mud flaps on the front and the Amazon ones on the rear to limit further damage. ~6k miles in total and about 1,500 miles in snow/gravel.
< Chris

 

[Vancouver ClearBra]

Steve,
How well do you think the paint correction and PPF will work on my Y? I got the paint kit and the PPF and am wondering whether it is worth even trying to fix.
I now have the Tesla mud flaps on the front and the Amazon ones on the rear to limit further damage. ~6k miles in total and about 1,500 miles in snow/gravel.
< Chris

Paint correction aka. polishing isn't going to help this at all. The only thing you can do realistically is have those doors repainted then get full door clear bra applied at minimum. I'm sorry to see you've had so much sandblasting damage so soon.

 

[Vancouver ClearBra]

If I apply the OEM PPF to the bottom rear qtr of the rear doors to limit further damage, can the PPF be easily removed later on in order to correct the pitting without taking some of the clearcoat / paint with it and making a bad situation worse??? I presume if Tesla supplies it rather than a 3rd party, they would have some liability for same if this occurs? Also, does anyone know the thickness of this material? Are there different PPF "grades"?

It can be removed and normally won't take off any paint. Yes there's 8 mil and 10 mil films as well. I'd suggest having the doors repainted then apply full door clear bra at minimum like I recommended in the previous post. There would be no liability from either Tesla or 3rd party. Personally I would suggest getting your whole vehicle done with clear bra as eventually the front end will get chipped up over your ownership.

 

[Kelowna Steve]

Steve,
How well do you think the paint correction and PPF will work on my Y? I got the paint kit and the PPF and am wondering whether it is worth even trying to fix.
I now have the Tesla mud flaps on the front and the Amazon ones on the rear to limit further damage. ~6k miles in total and about 1,500 miles in snow/gravel.
< Chris

Hi MY2Ski - your damage looks worse than mine - especially to the front of the rear door. I feel your pain! Tesla did not accept any liability for the damage, nor offered anything towards mud flaps, ppf or paint correction to appease me. I used Dr Colorchip on mine to hide the white pitting and then put the Tesla PPF over top. PPF helped to hide the imperfections in paint sheen and surface profile and overall was satisfied with the end result. Much cheaper than a re-spray. I was gutted this happened, but had to move on. Thankfully all other aspects of my ownership experience has allowed me to do just that. I just wished Tesla would have provided me with an advisory warning and offered these items "pre-installed" at delivery - would have been only too happy to pay the cost premium. The PPF and mud flaps took all of 5-10 min a side to install.

 

[brulaz]

Was just told by Toronto Tesla that I'll get the front mudflaps and rear ppf patch by default, no charge on my M3.
Guess they figure winter driving here is worse than on the wet coast.
Looking into adding a full front ppf as well. Trade-in car has a lot of stone chips, prolly from following too close.

 

[brulaz]

Was just told by Toronto Tesla that I'll get the front mudflaps and rear ppf patch by default, no charge on my M3.
...

Meh. They ran out of rear ppf, but they did give me the front mud flaps. So on my own for ppf.