Paint Quality & Fitment

[mafpolo]

I am disappointed in the fit and fitment of my M3. The rear bumper looks lousy. When I picked the car up (a 2020 M3), they took it into the service bay to see if they could adjust it. They said that they couldn't, and that the gaps met their tolerances. Also, the paint seems very soft to me and lacks depth. I also understand that silver was dropped, because they had so many problems with silver paint. My business partner has been the plant manager for two Honda plants, and he was the first manager at the BMW plant in South Carolina.

I asked him about the paint quality and fit and fitment. His opinion is that the paint quality and fit and fitment is poor, because Tesla must not care if it is any better. They could hire the best plant managers from other companies to manage these items and manufacture a car with no paint or fitment issues. As he says...people are buying them anyway, and people aren't shying away from them as a result of these issues. Painting and fitting the car properly would not slow the line down one bit. Other manufacturers build far more cars in a day without paint and fitment issues, so Tesla cannot blame it on "it will reduce the output.

As I said earlier, Musk can hire the best of the best and turn out a well painted, well clear coated, and properly fitted car. Everything else is great. After a period of years, many of these cars will need paintwork....not covered by warranty, and it will be expensive. We shouldn't have to wrap an entire cars to take care of a bad paint job. I have put Expel on the front bumpers. front part of the hood, and the mirrors of all of my cars to protect from stone chips, etc.

Bottom line. There is no excuse for the poor paint jobs and fit off items on the car.

 

[640k]

i find it interesting that you've been a member for five years and only just now acquired your TM3 and your (nearly) first post is basically a troll post about how much hatred you have for your car and Tesla's practices.

Fitment and paint quality issues have been overblown by social media. the outliers bring attention while the satisfied customers rarely post. additionally, the few people that are on forums like this are such a small percentage of consumer, it's hard to really gauge the authenticity and impact of each claim.

That said, there are a few things anyone posting here with dissatisfied threads should realize:
1. if you're unhappy with your TM3 purchase, you have 2 weeks to return. I recommend doing so. There's no reason to tie up ~$40k+ in a depreciating asset when it doesn't bring you joy.
2. Tesla is not alone in paint and fitment issues. These are common occurrences felt by most automotive manufacturers that people have come to either ignore, fix, or just don't care. It's not difficult to do some research on issues with other vehicles.
3. I'm like 90% certain no manufacturer produces large-scale vehicles with a multi-step painting process any longer. The clear coat is built in to the paint and all paint on all vehicles is water-soluble, meaning it is more susceptible to chips and debris. If you think Tesla's paint is bad, you've never owned a Subaru. Or a Jaguar. Or hell, I've seen $400k+ Bentley's with paint issues.

I put a clear bra on my last vehicle and never looked back. I drove the car for over 12 years and the paint continued to look new. I'll do it for any and every vehicle i own, but the investment is a cost you'll likely be dealing with either way. Pay the $1k-$2k up front to protect your paint, or the $2k-$3k in ten years to have it repainted, or just take the loss when you sell it.

 

[mafpolo]

Do you consider all negative posts a troll post. I didn't even realize when I joined, and frankly, that is irrelevant. I just bought my first Tesla. You have seven days to return not two weeks. As far as other cars having paint issues, I am sure that they do, bit they are outliers and very few make it out of the factory. No car I have ever bought has had paint quality issues. My point is simple...Tesla should improve its paint quality and should improve its fitment problems. Most Model 3's at the delivery center had fitment issues.

I will also add, the Model 3 is the best driving car I have ever had, and I have owned many cars. The interior is fantastic, seats incredibly comfortable, I love the technology.

 

[640k]

Do you consider all negative posts a troll post. I didn't even realize when I joined, and frankly, that is irrelevant. I just bought my first Tesla. You have seven days to return not two weeks. As far as other cars having paint issues, I am sure that they do, bit they are outliers and very few make it out of the factory. No car I have ever bought has had paint quality issues. My point is simple...Tesla should improve its paint quality and should improve its fitment problems. Most Model 3's at the delivery center had fitment issues.

I will also add, the Model 3 is the best driving car I have ever had, and I have owned many cars. The interior is fantastic, seats incredibly comfortable, I love the technology.

Tesla definitely has quality control issues, but they have a more to do with their over-automation of each step and less to do with their ability to QA as they go.

FWIW - most people that come on here in a similar fashion come and go like the wind and troll-post just to post junk and negativity. You're on a fan-ism site so there's definitely going to be some bias.

You don't stand alone in thinking that Tesla needs to figure their stuff out. I made a long post that basically covers just this. Great car, best I've owned in more than a decade, but the car is just built as an econo-box. Some people spend $55k+ for speed, status, etc., and then gripe when the vehicle they receive is of the same quality as the sub-$30k vehicle. This is pretty much how every econo-box super car works.

Source: owned an STi for 12 years. It's an econobox wrapped in performance parts.

 

[mafpolo]

640...You make a good point regarding the manufacturing process. Other than the items I griped about, the car is amazing. I can make a long list of the things I love about the car. The things I complained about come from a history of keeping my cars looking like new regardless of age. Also, I keep a car for a long time if I like it...sell it when I get tired of it. I believe that it is going to be extremely hard for the legacy manufacturers to ever catch up to Tesla with their EV's. The handling of the car is also fantastic. I talked to a guy yesterday who told me it's his favorite car (90th car he has owned or bought), and he has a 911 in the garage that he doesn't drive anymore. I can well see that. I do look forward to silver coming back.....it's my favorite color.

 

[glide]

i find it interesting that you've been a member for five years and only just now acquired your TM3 and your (nearly) first post is basically a troll post about how much hatred you have for your car and Tesla's practices.

Fitment and paint quality issues have been overblown by social media. the outliers bring attention while the satisfied customers rarely post. additionally, the few people that are on forums like this are such a small percentage of consumer, it's hard to really gauge the authenticity and impact of each claim.

That said, there are a few things anyone posting here with dissatisfied threads should realize:
1. if you're unhappy with your TM3 purchase, you have 2 weeks to return. I recommend doing so. There's no reason to tie up ~$40k+ in a depreciating asset when it doesn't bring you joy.
2. Tesla is not alone in paint and fitment issues. These are common occurrences felt by most automotive manufacturers that people have come to either ignore, fix, or just don't care. It's not difficult to do some research on issues with other vehicles.
3. I'm like 90% certain no manufacturer produces large-scale vehicles with a multi-step painting process any longer. The clear coat is built in to the paint and all paint on all vehicles is water-soluble, meaning it is more susceptible to chips and debris. If you think Tesla's paint is bad, you've never owned a Subaru. Or a Jaguar. Or hell, I've seen $400k+ Bentley's with paint issues.

I put a clear bra on my last vehicle and never looked back. I drove the car for over 12 years and the paint continued to look new. I'll do it for any and every vehicle i own, but the investment is a cost you'll likely be dealing with either way. Pay the $1k-$2k up front to protect your paint, or the $2k-$3k in ten years to have it repainted, or just take the loss when you sell it.

Uhhhhh the fitment and paint issues are not overblown at all. They are a real problem.

The paint issues are due to regulatory restrictions in California. Expect that to change once cars start being made in China and...any other US state.

I have no idea what their excuse for the panel gaps is. Not enough experience putting cars together I guess.

 

[mafpolo]

Glide...once they get that down, they should own the world. It is such an impressive car. I personally like the 3 far more than the S. I was concerned about going to a car much smaller than I am used to....then my wife asked how many people do I carry around.....answer was "Usually it's just me or me and one other."

 

[North75]

I can't remember where I read it now, but I recall reading some comments from a professional detailer regarding the paint and his opinion was that Tesla's paint wasn't really any different than other manufacturers. One big difference this guy suspected was that the paint wasn't fully cured, because of how fast Tesla ships cars from the factory to consumers. He seemed to think that the paint would continue to cure and get harder over the first few weeks/months of ownership.

Don't know if the above is true, but sounds somewhat plausible to me.

 

[glide]

Glide...once they get that down, they should own the world. It is such an impressive car. I personally like the 3 far more than the S. I was concerned about going to a car much smaller than I am used to....then my wife asked how many people do I carry around.....answer was "Usually it's just me or me and one other."

There are many things they need to “get down” above and beyond the simple stuff like painting and fitment issues before they can “own the world”.

I would put “service” as a top-tier priority.

 

[640k]

I can't remember where I read it now, but I recall reading some comments from a professional detailer regarding the paint and his opinion was that Tesla's paint wasn't really any different than other manufacturers. One big difference this guy suspected was that the paint wasn't fully cured, because of how fast Tesla ships cars from the factory to consumers. He seemed to think that the paint would continue to cure and get harder over the first few weeks/months of ownership.

Don't know if the above is true, but sounds somewhat plausible to me.

the explanation i gut wasn't the curing issues, it has to do with how they change the paint between coatings. red and blue tend to be the worst in picking up residual colors from other paint. the missing sections and bare paint in area has more to do with Tesla cutting corners for either production or costs benefits. unless any of us are on the inside we are all just speculating anyway.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

If you think Tesla's paint is bad, you've never owned a Subaru. Or a Jaguar. Or hell, I've seen $400k+ Bentley's with paint issues.

Boom, right there! That's where you lost all credibility. I have owned a lot of Jaguar and Land Rover products, and their paint is amazing, period. Not just amazing compared to Tesla, that ranks at the bottom, but amazing compared to any car at any price.

 

[KenC]

Any pics of the bad fit on the bumper? I would have thought those sort of issues were resolved after about 50,000 units built. Never heard about the problems with the silver paint. I thought red and multilayer white were the most difficult. And now, white is the standard paint.

 

[mafpolo]

Mine is a white M3. The rear bumper has a gap where it meets the body of the car. They looked at it in the SC at delivery, and they told me that was "within tolerance," and thus could not fix it. I wanted it badly, and in retrospect I should have turned it down and waited. However, the car was a "demo" with 300 miles. I think I got a good deal, which was another reason for not wanting to turn it down. I know it was a return, because somebody had put their home address as "home" in the nav system. They also told me they get very few LR AWD demos. The returned car doesn't bother me at all. Being white, as the car gets dirty, dirt builds at the gap...sitting on top of the gap. When I say the car gets dirty, I mean gathers dirt, so the rest of the car still looks relatively clean, but dirt is building on the top of the bumper gap.

 

[CLLACAB]

From the other side of the aisle, I just picked up my Performance 3 Red/Black. I spent 45 minutes going over every inch of the car and I could not find anything wrong. Every panel fit was perfect and the paint had no issues.

 

[cab]

The depth and gloss on these cars just isn't at the level of other manufacturers. I was in a Tesla showroom recently and a Model 3 owner and I struck up a conversation on this topic and he was bemoaning the paint quality relative to both his BMW X5 AND his Toyota. While I own an "S", I tend to agree. It doesn't compare my past BMWs or my wife's 8 year old Volvo. Even after buffing both cars recently, the Volvo's paint looks better. When you add things like build quality, road nose, and ride quality to the equation, well, it is a disappointing Tesla isn't prioritizing this stuff a bit more.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

From the other side of the aisle, I just picked up my Performance 3 Red/Black. I spent 45 minutes going over every inch of the car and I could not find anything wrong. Every panel fit was perfect and the paint had no issues.

Telsa’s red M3’s are probably the worst, which is ironic because that color is the most expensive.

The big issues are bumper color mismatches, and uneven amounts of color across panels, especially for the doors.

You may not notice the uneven color until after your honeymoon period is over and you can more objectively evaluate the car.

The bumper mismatches are just gross incompetence. The uneven color across the panels must be Tesla trying to get cute and save themselves some pennies by putting the absolute minimum amount of the color coat. Real cute since the only solution is a complete respray of the car.

These are paint problems that have extended from the first Model 3’s to come off the line to the most recent ones. So yeah, Tesla doesn’t care about quality.

 

[Msjulie]

I have to guess it's not that they don't care, they just (currently) can't do better within the limitations they have set for themselves.

I'm lucky I guess that my red car's bumpers match the body color, there were a couple tiny defects but in general you have to be looking for them.

Perhaps I give them slack because my car is an early 2018 build; I would hope things would get noticeably better. Clearly quite possible given the quality marks the Chinese built cars seem to be getting.

 

[XLR82XS]

The handling of the car is also fantastic.

Indeed it is. The dual motor cars are 50/50 weight distribution. No wonder I love driving it so much!

 

[john5520]

Well, I haven't given my car a really close inspection yet as I just picked it up yesterday, but fit and finish seem good. I'm actually impressed with the paint as well, but my expectations might be quite low as I have owned several cars with really cheap paint and fitment issues. I loved my MazdaSpeed 3 and Camaro SS, but boy was their paint thin and cheap. The Model 3 is quite a step up, IMO.

Want to see some gaps you can kick a football through? Visit the Mustang forums. And those cars can easily cost more than a Model 3.

Also, comparing the Model 3 to higher end cars that cost twice / triple the price isn't fair. If I paid 80+ K for a car, it better come with quality paint.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

If I paid 80+ K for a car, it better come with quality paint.

Some people paid close to $80K for their early Model 3s with all the options. They didn't get good paint.