Red - Bumper color does not match body, service refused

[NosTr4D4m]

I'm very disappointed that I got myself in this loophole. Accepted a car from Tesla, the issue was marked down and delivery advisor said that service would most likely fix the problem, but 2nd day (today) I got a call from Tesla saying that this is normal and they will not look into this further. There is a huge color mismatch between the cars body and both bumpers.
I can still return the car but will be banned 12 months from purchasing the same model+color. And do not want to use my own money to fix this mess.

I have compared another red tesla 3s and none of them has such a big color difference.

Looking for advice on how to proceed. I am located in Denmark.

 

[Revelation]

If I were you I would go into Tesla and tell them that if it is not resolved to your satisfaction then you will return the vehicle. Do not wait.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

Ugh, as both an owner and an owner of TSLA shares, this is embarrassing. Suggest you ask your contact for the contact info for the highest supervisor you can reach, perhaps your country Tesla rep.

Send him or her these photographs, which I suspect downplay the issue--try to take more photographs when the sun is out.

Advise them that you are a strong Tesla supporter, have purchased a high-end Model 3, and would like to either have your car's bumpers repainted, or simply have them order a new car for you, as the condition of this one is simply unacceptable. (But if they feel the car is fine as it is, they are more than welcome to keep it, perhaps as a service loaner, as you will be returning it at the end of your trial period unless the bumpers can be made to match the car's body.)

So sorry this has occurred; how such a thing could occur is beyond me, but such is life at Tesla these days.

 

[Skione65]

Where did you get those mud flaps? Particularly the short fronts? (I.e. last/4th photo)?

Ski

 

[640k]

I'm very disappointed that I got myself in this loophole. Accepted a car from Tesla, the issue was marked down and delivery advisor said that service would most likely fix the problem, but 2nd day (today) I got a call from Tesla saying that this is normal and they will not look into this further. There is a huge color mismatch between the cars body and both bumpers.
I can still return the car but will be banned 12 months from purchasing the same model+color. And do not want to use my own money to fix this mess.

I have compared another red tesla 3s and none of them has such a big color difference.

Looking for advice on how to proceed. I am located in Denmark.

did you take a demo/off the lot vehicle? wouldn't be surprised if the car was in an accident and/or the bumpers got marred.

 

[NosTr4D4m]

Car is new, ordered back in September, and just arrived in Denmark. Had been only driven 9km - I have no doubt that it was new.

It's hard to find whom to speak in Denmark regarding this. I have been in the basement and we checked 2-3 other Red TM3 and they all had different color bumpers on. Some of them were more visible some less, comparing other people's pictures from recent deliveries - mine is more visible.

Delivery advisor, also full of bullshit, telling me how good painting facilities tesla has and how easy it will be to fix. He will note the defect here and I will hear from service center... bla bla bla... Next day calling and telling that this is an acceptable defect by tesla standards... I can only take pictures of a car in the dark, otherwise, it looks like its build from different cars.

Will try to go to the service center and talk to them and if no compromise is found will return the car with 1500km range. I will also contact an institution in Denmark here that helps legally deal with car sales companies. Or in the worst case purchase a car in a different color.

Fell as tesla ****ed me up a bit when they refused to fix it - I already invested a lot into this, 1st TESLA Model 3 in my city too, chargers purchased, house modified...

Since its not that hard fix (according to delivery advisor) why not just fix it and make us happy. If I return a car, they will need to clean it, it will have 1500km, tire wear. They will need to reduce price to sell it further and will also lose money - probably even more than what the fix would cost.

Another thing is - no one who saw the car did not say that they could not see the difference. My colleagues noticed it from 50meters away.

 

[CharleyBC]

Deja vu of sorts on this. Long-time Model 3 folks will recall that early US Pearl White Model 3s had bumpers that didn't match the rest of the body. My fuzzy memory is that different people were getting different responses. Some like our OP got, but others where they repainted the bumpers to make it right. Eventually enough cases bubbled up to Tesla HQ and they fixed the root cause--some difference in how the bumpers were being handled in the paint shop. I think by about VIN 20000 it was all better. My VIN is about twice that (44xxx), and ours are fine.

The white and the red are similar in their multi-layer paint (base, mid, clear), as I recall. Not sure whether that's relevant. Anyway, it sure sounds like something similar has crept into the red paint shop in Fremont.

OP, like others do, I encourage you not to take "no" for an answer. Is there some consumer protection agency in Denmark you can file a complaint with? Maybe even the polite threat of such a filing would get Tesla to pay attention.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

[SMAlset]

Sometimes the angle of light or the curves to a piece can affect how evenly painted things look. I drove my cabinet and wall guys nuts with how I could perceive what looked like dirty or uneven painting of ceiling molding on my cabinets. That said I can see the bumpers look a darker shade of MCR on your car. I believe all the bumpers produced are black and painted the body color where as metal panels don't start off black. I have the Pearl MC white Model 3 and was concerned about the bumpers matching. Fortunately it wasn't a problem on my car but as mentioned above read others weren't as lucky. Sorry you are having a difficult time getting this resolved and hope things work out for you in the end.

 

[OCR1]

I'm very disappointed that I got myself in this loophole. Accepted a car from Tesla, the issue was marked down and delivery advisor said that service would most likely fix the problem, but 2nd day (today) I got a call from Tesla saying that this is normal and they will not look into this further.

Well, you accepted the car with the service advisor saying they would “most likely” fix the problem. When someone says they will “most likely” do something, to me that means maybe they will, maybe they won’t.

But if you only wanted to accept the car under the condition that it be repainted, the service advisor was really not giving you any assurance at all, and you should have rejected the car.

Yes, you can still return it but as you said they may ban you from reordering. Although from what others have said you can simply reorder using a different email address and Tesla most likely won’t even notice.

As we’ve said over and over again in this forum, never accept a Tesla with paint defects, period. It’s way too much aggravation dealing with Tesla, and even if they agree to fix it you will waste so much time screwing around with it. And for everything they fix, they will break something else, and you will make this an endless project to get it right.

 

[jkoya]

If Tesla refuses to fix it and it will bother you to look at it, I would probably return it. Hopefully, they will work with you to make things right...

I was at the Tesla Store/SC in Rocklin, CA and they had a red Model 3 on display and the sensors in the rear bumper were a different shade of red than the actual bumper. It was very noticeable to everyone looking at the car. The color of the sensors in the front matched the bumper. The employees working the front counter said that was the way the car was delivered from the factory.

 

[NosTr4D4m]

Sensors are a different shade than the rest of the car too, I do not mind that. What I mind is that it's very visible from all angles when that bumpers and body-color does not match. Will try to involve some consumer protection agencies today.

 

[William On T]

If Tesla refuses to fix it and it will bother you to look at it, I would probably return it. Hopefully, they will work with you to make things right...

I was at the Tesla Store/SC in Rocklin, CA and they had a red Model 3 on display and the sensors in the rear bumper were a different shade of red than the actual bumper. It was very noticeable to everyone looking at the car. The color of the sensors in the front matched the bumper. The employees working the front counter said that was the way the car was delivered from the factory.

I wonder how this happens. The only thing I can think of is if parts get painted on different days using different batches of paint, and if the paint doesn't have great quality control there might be slight differences in hue or saturation.

 

[Chuck305]

When I ordered my first M3 it arrived with much more minor paint issues, chip here and there, primer exposed in a few areas in the usual spots for Tesla. My desire to have the M3 especially with the free 2yr supercharging promotion at the time was very strong, but the voice of reason prevailed and I walked away. For me paint work on a brand new car was a deal breaker as it will not only incur a large hit on the resale value, it will never be the same.

My advice to you is return the car now as I doubt they can match the body paint without blending the hood and quarter panels; it’s never going to be right after a repaint.

If you can live with repainting then still go back and tell them you want to initiate the return process and if they don’t immediately offer to repaint your bumper and blend your car (very bad idea IMO) proceed with return because if that doesn’t motivate them nothing will.

Although you currently hold the power to return the car keep in mind if you keep driving it and incur damage you loose that option and then your stuck. Whatever you decide to do, good luck

 

[analRaviOli]

Yeah man that is terrible it looks like as others said it was either bumped or crashed into maybe from demo, etc and they resprayed it without blending it in. That is just awful. Definitely bring that in man and return it.

 

[NosTr4D4m]

Involved customer protection agency in this, they said they will help me. Tesla is still claiming it's up to their standards, and will not do anything about this.

 

[jkoya]

Involved customer protection agency in this, they said they will help me. Tesla is still claiming it's up to their standards, and will not do anything about this.

Hope everything works out - keep us updated !!

 

[Need]

It's a pretty big difference in color and clearly shown the pictures. I can't believe they won't fix it.. maybe Tesla at Denmark does things differently. I know many people got it fixed last year in the US when a bunch of white bumpers does not match the car's body white color.

 

[WilliamG]

That is horrendous. And embarrassing that Tesla believes that’s acceptable.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Hard to think that it would be pre delivery repair, as both bumpers have the issue.

Sometimes, even factory paint will have slight variations simply because the material (Metal Vs Plastic) will show differently, even thought the same color was applied.

In your case, it looks like the bumper shows a slightly, but significant, difference in shade.

Surprised that Tesla will not send it over to a local approved body shop for paint correction in your case.

They might even be able to clip on another set of pre painted factory bumpers that would match better, but since delivery is new in your area, perhaps they do not currently have those in stock.

 

[wokuku]

Where did you get those mud flaps? Particularly the short fronts? (I.e. last/4th photo)?

Ski

My guess is those are the Tesla All Weather Protection Kit, which consist of two sizes of front mud flaps. Tesla announced this kit earlier for Canada but maybe they are available in Europe as well. I am trying to figure out how to buy it in the States