Paint issues continue

[GRiLLA]

Thanks all for the comprehensive responses as always I really do appreciate it. I’ll take some pictures tomorrow of the mark left by the bird poo. At this point I’m really regretting not getting the vehicle PPF’d.

Any advice on what I should do next, as I’m thinking of having PPF applied at this point so I don’t have to worry too much about issues like this moving forward but need to get all the scratches, chips etc fixed first? Any recommendations on suppliers to visit?

P.S. Tesla denied at every step of the way that the paint had any issues from factory but just the amount of threads about paint imperfections on this forum alone tells a different story, what could we do about it as community?

Thanks again,
Teza

Find a detailer near you that will also do PPF if that's what you want, there are lots of them. Polishing cars is what they do, sometimes calling it 'paint correction' it's how you remove marks and scratches.

I'm a bit of PPF skeptic personally, it's not impenetrable and you then seem to have both the paint to repair and the PPF to replace. The norm is to be careful with how you wash the car to avoid adding more swirls, touch up any stone chips which will happen, and have it detailed every couple of years to deal with anything that's there.

The only cars that can have perfect bodywork are the one's in museums behind ropes so no one even touches them. If it's a vehicle you drive down the road it's going to be imperfect.

Go look at the number of threads about paint in any other car manufacturer forum, it'll be the same.

 

[Teza]

Thank you for the further comments, one of the thoughts going around in my head is, if most Teslas are being delivered like this, will Tesla be as considerate when I hand it back after the 4 year PCP or will they try and charge for every single scratch and chip?

Also Anyone know where I can buy the black touch paint for the stone chips or is this something I should have professionally done?

 

[Jason71]

Sorry - I was trying to do 6 things at once and didn't pick up on the autocorrect *face palm*... decklid*


They're not stone chips, it's some form of contamination during the painting process. They're completely smooth to the touch because they're under the clear coat. I suspect it's either a dirty airline during base coat application or 'spitting' from the gun. Either way, I have several panels covered in the little dots and varying in size. The picture shows a huge one in the middle and then lots of little ones.. sadly it isn't just in the area show, it's literally all over the panel.

The only remedy is to sand back and respray I'm afraid.

They're not going to be happy as I'm going to be suggesting pretty much every panels gets repainted. I'm from the automotive sector (manufacturing not retail) so I've got a keen eye for how things should be. I don't feel I'm being over 'picky' but there are several howlers I'm not happy with. I think the most offensive one is a really poor 'brush-in' on the bottom edge of the front passenger door. They've clearly adjusted the door to get the gap and profile correct but gone too low on the latch, closed the door and chipped the paint. Rather than repair - and hoping nobody will check the bottom edge - have just brushed in some paint (common practise sadly) but have done a very poor job. There's also a fair bit of damage around the tread plate on the drivers side and a scratch on the IP upper.
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are you free any weekends in May when mine is due for delivery?
Mind you I am coming from a Fremont car so my standards are low.
So long as there is no actual bare metal it will probably be a step forward.

 

[GRiLLA]

Thank you for the further comments, one of the thoughts going around in my head is, if most Teslas are being delivered like this, will Tesla be as considerate when I hand it back after the 4 year PCP or will they try and charge for every single scratch and chip?

Also Anyone know where I can buy the black touch paint for the stone chips or is this something I should have professionally done?

The paint colour is PBSB (you will see this labelled in your door jam), I bought a touchup pen from Amazon for less than £10. There are perhaps more professional options like ChipEx I haven't used before.

 

[Adopado]

Thank you for the further comments, one of the thoughts going around in my head is, if most Teslas are being delivered like this, will Tesla be as considerate when I hand it back after the 4 year PCP or will they try and charge for every single scratch and chip?

"Most Teslas" are not being delivered like this. You have a car with issues that require sorting out. My Fremont car was supplied with great quality paint and has also proved to be resistant to chipping. When MIC cars came on stream there was nothing but praise for the fantastic improvements in build quality and paint ... often described as a night and day difference to the US built vehicles. Clearly there are issues with some cars, as there are for other manufacturers models and these need to be dealt with properly by Tesla. Hopefully it won't be necessary but if I were you I would be keeping a careful record of any current paint issues so that you have the evidence to hand should you have to prove their pre-existence when it comes to the end of your PCP.

 

[init6]

Not sure if this helps but I popped into a detailer yesterday to book a date for my Y to be prepared and ceramic coated and I mentioned these types of marks in paint and glass. He showed me a brand new Mercedes’ he had just had dropped of and it also had a couple of similar marks (not as many as yours). He thinks they are in the laquer (as you suggest) not the paint and will come out when he preps the car. He sees them in lots of cars. Still going to take my car to Tesla first to see what they can do. If it’s that easily rectified then Tesla should be able to sort it before I ceramic coat it.

If Tesla are just going to give it a quick polish to remove then personally I'd prefer a detailer to fix it rather than Tesla. Surgeon vs Butcher
If it needs repainted then that's a different story.

 

[Teza]

Thanks Grilla, Can anyone recommend where they purchased a touch up pen from for paint colour PBSB with a perfect match please?

 

[Holycheese]

Thats the one thing I'm not happy with my Tesla is the paint.

I have the rear yellowed white bumper and lower door trim yellowing also.

Tesla reckon it's all within specs.

I'm taking it on the chin as I've saved a ton of costs with the recent fuel rises. When I trade in for a newer model I'll refuse it at the point of pick up. Lessons learnt. Doesn't seem there strong point, paint.

 

[Teza]

Any recommendations on where to purchase the pbsb touch up paint which is an exact match please?

 

[init6]

Any recommendations on where to purchase the pbsb touch up paint which is an exact match please?

What colour is PBSB? Might be better searching for the colour than the code.

 

[Peteski]

Find a detailer near you that will also do PPF if that's what you want, there are lots of them. Polishing cars is what they do, sometimes calling it 'paint correction' it's how you remove marks and scratches.

I'm a bit of PPF skeptic personally, it's not impenetrable and you then seem to have both the paint to repair and the PPF to replace. The norm is to be careful with how you wash the car to avoid adding more swirls, touch up any stone chips which will happen, and have it detailed every couple of years to deal with anything that's there.

The only cars that can have perfect bodywork are the one's in museums behind ropes so no one even touches them. If it's a vehicle you drive down the road it's going to be imperfect.

Go look at the number of threads about paint in any other car manufacturer forum, it'll be the same.

+1000
We just traded in our 4 year old MX for a new MY. At 50k miles it had accumulated a few minor stone chips on the front end (nothing serious) which made no difference to the overall appearance or the trade-in offer (which was excellent). PPF would have been a complete waste of money.

It's easy to get carried away babying a new car with paint protection, PPF etc and the industry has really milked it in recent years.