Protective Film Before Doors Repainted?

[MVM3]

I just took delivery of my Model 3 on Tuesday and there was 1 small chip in the paint on the driver door and 2 on the passenger rear door. Tesla is going to fix them for me which I'm assuming means repainting the doors. Unfortunately they're so backed up with body work they can't do it until July. I want to do a clear protective wrap on the front end to protect the paint and would prefer not to wait until July to prevent any damage before then. But if I remember right when getting paint work done in the past they would blend into the front panel when doing the paint on the driver door. Not sure if that was just because it was an older paint job and the paint would have faded so they couldn't get a perfect match without blending or if that's just how it works. Does anyone know if I'd be safe to put the film on before painting or do I need to wait?

Thanks!

 

[kev1n]

you are right that with older cars, they would blend to match paint better with faded and new paint but it also highly depends on your color. it can be done both ways, blend or no blend. if you have white pearl or red pearl, they are harder to match by not blending vs something like black.

i would go ahead and do the PPF but they might argue back that your film is causing it to not match perfectly if it is off a bit.

 

[Lhshockey24]

I just took delivery of my Model 3 on Tuesday and there was 1 small chip in the paint on the driver door and 2 on the passenger rear door. Tesla is going to fix them for me which I'm assuming means repainting the doors. Unfortunately they're so backed up with body work they can't do it until July. I want to do a clear protective wrap on the front end to protect the paint and would prefer not to wait until July to prevent any damage before then. But if I remember right when getting paint work done in the past they would blend into the front panel when doing the paint on the driver door. Not sure if that was just because it was an older paint job and the paint would have faded so they couldn't get a perfect match without blending or if that's just how it works. Does anyone know if I'd be safe to put the film on before painting or do I need to wait?

Thanks!

I chose to forgo any Tesla body work and let the shop doing the wrap and ceramic coating fix the issues. I have had bad experiences with things getting repainted on a car and it would’ve driven me nuts. Given the backup, perhaps you just get the work done and see if the shop will touch up, paint correct, and coat the doors.

 

[MVM3]

I chose to forgo any Tesla body work and let the shop doing the wrap and ceramic coating fix the issues. I have had bad experiences with things getting repainted on a car and it would’ve driven me nuts. Given the backup, perhaps you just get the work done and see if the shop will touch up, paint correct, and coat the doors.

That’s not a bad idea, thanks! I have no idea what a wrap/ceramic type place can fix but the chips are quite small so maybe they can do something. I will ask.

Thanks!

 

[MVM3]

you are right that with older cars, they would blend to match paint better with faded and new paint but it also highly depends on your color. it can be done both ways, blend or no blend. if you have white pearl or red pearl, they are harder to match by not blending vs something like black.

i would go ahead and do the PPF but they might argue back that your film is causing it to not match perfectly if it is off a bit.

Thanks! It is red so sounds like it could be a problem

 

[Lhshockey24]

That’s not a bad idea, thanks! I have no idea what a wrap/ceramic type place can fix but the chips are quite small so maybe they can do something. I will ask.

Thanks!

They should be proficient in “paint correction” and touching up then applying one or two coats of ceramic (after buffing out any clear coat scratches) might make it hardly noticeable.

 

[kev1n]

That’s not a bad idea, thanks! I have no idea what a wrap/ceramic type place can fix but the chips are quite small so maybe they can do something. I will ask.

Thanks!

how bad is it, pictures? because you could have them reimburse you for the damages and go with a touchup job, you will likely get some rock chips down the road anyways unless you planned to do a full car ppf

 

[MVM3]

how bad is it, pictures? because you could have them reimburse you for the damages and go with a touchup job, you will likely get some rock chips down the road anyways unless you planned to do a full car ppf

Definitely not bad, I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't even notice. Guessing most people on a forum like this would though. I'll get pics later. Thanks!

 

[SMAlset]

Our shop found two slight scratches on my husband’s MS when we picked it up (one we think we got from a stone on the way there to the shop) and they did paint correction on those two spots. MSM color. Couldn’t tell where they were afterwards. Film applied by them afterwards.

Now on my white Model 3 delivery we had 2-3 very minor dust/paint issues that I would have handled the same way except for the fact there was a panel issue at the passenger headlight/fender/frunk that I wanted fixed. Figured it was going in for that work I’d have the paint done at same time. So decided to wait on film/ceramic for that reason. This was back in 9/2018 and heavy deliveries in the Bay Area at that time so body shop was super busy. A month for this and then had to wait to get new appt. for film/ceramic as they got super busy with lots of new Model 3 owners looking for film as well. If I didn’t have the panel adjustment, definitely would have just had our film guys correct those spots. Drove as carefully as I could and as little as I could during that wait time for the film. Was nice we had my husband’s PPF’d car to use in the meantime for a lot of the driving during that time.

If people have minor paint issues at delivery and plan to get film at a quality shop, I personally don’t understand why more people don’t just have their paint correction work done at the same shop.

 

[MVM3]

Here are the pics with my thumb for size reference. Not the best wasn’t sure how to deal with the reflection.

 

[P85_DA]

Here are the pics with my thumb for size reference. Not the best wasn’t sure how to deal with the reflection.

I would just PPf that ..I had a MC Red S that had some paint work and you could tell as hard to match ..Paint correction can probably fix most of that stuff and film will cover rest

 

[kev1n]

Here are the pics with my thumb for size reference. Not the best wasn’t sure how to deal with the reflection.

i would see if they will reimburse you or give you a free hpwc/something. way better than trying to paint match and worry about them leaving paint seams in the door jams. i know its a new car but nothing will be 100% for long

 

[MVM3]

Sorry, what does hpwc stand for? Thanks for everyone’s input!

 

[P85_DA]

Sorry, what does hpwc stand for? Thanks for everyone’s input!

High power wall connector