Ive only owned my M3 MIC LR two weeks and have noticed this in the sunlight today - its only really visible in the sun. To my untrained eye it looks like poor polishing from Tesla. Is its too late to report this, and would they actually try and fix it or is it tough luck now.
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Poor polishing
- Thread starter marts_uk
- Start date
Holograms caused by poor refining during polishing. Easy to get that put straight. Wether or not Tesla entertain the idea of sorting it and or doing it to an acceptable level is up in the air.
I am currently looking at ceramic options, so that may get sorted by the detailer - the only thing putting me off is if I get it coated and then in the future something happens with the paint work due to a Tesla defect (I see a few owners have had resprays from Tesla for example) - am I stuffed?
You NEED to get this sorted before you get a ceramic coating, otherwise you'll be looking at it for a very long time.
Any decent detailer would be doing a polish before coating with ceramic, so they may well correct this as part of their process. Worth checking with them in case it needs more work than they normally cover, although as @Mustard K says its a relatively simple thing to fix.
It seems a lot of the new Model 3's delivered in late March are like this - mine included. I suspect it was a rogue team at a central location doing a terrible job preparing the cars as, to be fair, all the cars I've taken delivery of in the past from Tesla never had scratches like these. I took mine back to the service centre for an issue with the window seals and mentioned the scratches as well. They claimed to polish it but half the scratches were still there. I followed this up by saying I'm taking it for a proper polish at a specialist and to my surprise they offered to contribute towards the cost of this because they failed to rectify them during the service visit. If it's not a big hassle taking it into the service centre then it does seem worth submitting a request in the app and including the photos of the scratches as Tesla do seem to be aware of this issue and will at least try rectify it. However, if you're going to do a ceramic anyway maybe not worth all the effort going to the service centre as the detailer should handle this - maybe worth getting a report from them saying how much extra work the scratches caused and the corresponding additional cost as Tesla might contribute like they have done with me.
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Cardo
Active Member
Mine had the terrible polishing issue, as well as a small scuff. Seeing as I was going to get the car detailed and ceramic coated, I kept it well away from the Tesla SC. Detailer did a fantastic job tidying up the paint, though apparently it did take longer than usual, due to the poor state of the paint and needing to be careful not to polish straight through.
I was lucky with mine, a couple of scuffs that I polished out myself. Loads of overspray on the boot after they realigned it and touched in missing paint from the boot rubbing on the bumper.
Other than that it was ok, did a single stage with Scholl S20 on a honey pad. Came up really well, topped with carbon collective platinum paint and oracle. White is much more forgiving though.
Other than that it was ok, did a single stage with Scholl S20 on a honey pad. Came up really well, topped with carbon collective platinum paint and oracle. White is much more forgiving though.
curmudgeon
Member
I woudn't bother asking Tesla, they recently fixed the paint swirls in my blue Model 3 after they washed it with a bucket of stones. The swirls were reduced but not gone altogether and with wax applied over the top they were mostly just hidden rather than polished out.
If you want the paint fixed properly then take it to a good detailer who will polish it for a couple of hundred quid. For my money just put sealant on it after the polish, much cheaper than ceramic and some of the spray sealants are really good now.
Uncle Paul
Well-Known Member
It is not unusual for production cars to have light imperfections. Most will find a quick trip to your favorite detailer to provide the correction they desire. Then a top coat of ceramic and you are good to go.
Tesla service centers are not set up to provide hours and hours of polishing to give a car show finish. They can usually provide cleaning and a quick wax.
Tesla service centers are not set up to provide hours and hours of polishing to give a car show finish. They can usually provide cleaning and a quick wax.
Cardo
Active Member
Which, to be honest, is a bit naff when spending £40k+ on a car. This shouldn’t be required, but, hey, Tesla.
Why would it be hours in a service centre if same could be achieved with a quick trip to a detailer?
Reality is every other new car I've had has arrived without swirls, holograms and paint defects. That's not a "car show finish" - but to expect that any new car would be shiny and without defects isn't a big expectation.
Would you expect to unwrap a new iPhone and the screen to be swirled and you have to take it for re-polishing?
That's not a very good analogy. An iPhone is not left to sit in a car park, strapped to a train or car transporter and shunted across countries. It's not washed using the same bucket as every other car at the dealers. That's where most damage to paintwork comes from. Orange peel is done at the factory but everything else is done either en route or at the dealers. If you get a new car detail, most detailers will tell you to ask the dealer not to touch the car. This is not unique to Tesla and I've seen poor paintwork on every car I've ever owned. Jaguars, BMWs, Audis, all had something wrong with them. Mostly caused by the dealer washing the car but also some outrageous orange peel. Holograms are likely caused by the dealer trying to fix a scuff and to those in the know, making it worse, but the vast majority of owners, they will just see a shiny car.
What do you mean by stuffed?
If your paint started flaking off for example then I'd expect Tesla to respray the affected part, but I'd be surprised if they re-applied a ceramic coating. You may have a better chance of convincing them to pay for this if the ceramic coating is fairly new, but I'm pretty sure that would be down to a good will gesture rather than anything they'd be bound by.
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