Red multi coat is now $2,500 - I would love to be a fly on the wall in their meetings!

[MXWing]

I wonder what Tesla’s move is here.. stop producing Red cars?

Or demand for Red paint is inelastic at $2000 so it goes to $2500?

AWD at 6K I can see people still biting regardless but a full $1000 cost over other paint options is puzzling to me.

I don’t question anything Tesla does that makes them money because they badly need it. Just wondering what their game plan is.

My Econ speciality was game theory and I am having a hard time seeing where Tesla is going!

 

[seattlite2004]

Sounds like they are passing on the current rework costs to future customers...NICE!

 

[MXWing]

Sounds like they are passing on the current rework costs to future customers...NICE!

Assumption is if people are still buying Red.

I need a 1000 rebate for going with solid Black.

 

[seattlite2004]

Assumption is if people are still buying Red.

I need a 1000 rebate for going with solid Black.

Doesnt matter...Red needs to be reworked..so they are passing/baking in the rework costs to the customer.

 

[MXWing]

Doesnt matter...Red needs to be reworked..so they are passing/baking in the rework costs to the customer.

Is there a source for something specifically being wrong with Red that makes it require more reworks?

 

[Big-T]

Oh ****, I've just been working thru configuring the red. They may have just reached my threshold, that's a huge premium for red. No notice either, and they just gave notice on other colors they were about to discontinue.

 

[seattlite2004]

Is there a source for something specifically being wrong with Red that makes it require more reworks?

Just anecdotal posts....and maybe cuz its a problematic color Tesla:
Elon Musk Admits Paint Is The Current Tesla Model 3 Bottleneck

 

[insaneoctane]

How hard will paint fixes, corrections and blends be if the red clearcoat is really tinted and not clear?

 

[voip-ninja]

Is there a source for something specifically being wrong with Red that makes it require more reworks?

There’s a recent thread where someone happened upon a Tesla approved body shop. There were 4-5 red cars sitting there with tape marking stuff that needed rework.

One of the local detailers near me who is quite well regarded told me that red is always the toughest color to detail but Tesla in particular struggles with red. He detailed one of, if not the first, P3+ cars in Denver and it looked like a very fine spray of dirt was baked into the paint, to the point that Tesla offered to repaint the entire car.

Final point, Elon tweets that red is the “hardest” color they paint.

There are specific things about red that make it hard. Most multi coat red painted cars have minimum 3 and sometimes 4 coats of paint. I don’t know what they do now but at one time they used to use pink as the base coat.

Also they use a tinted clear coat as a top coat to give it more luster.

More coats and use of special base coats all introduce extra steps in the paint process where if something goes wrong the customer will notice it and increases the chances those things can happen.

Sure looks pretty when it comes out good though, just pray you never need to get even a fender repainted.

 

[JasJ]

MCR has been a problem in the Model S as well... Took three builds for me to get a car. For me the Red is beautiful but it makes me wonder if they need to paint these outside of California with fewer 'rules' on painting. Next time I would get a Blue as that has almost the same pop in sunlight as the red. Less chance of re-work.

 

[Daniel in SD]

MCR has been a problem in the Model S as well... Took three builds for me to get a car. For me the Red is beautiful but it makes me wonder if they need to paint these outside of California with fewer 'rules' on painting. Next time I would get a Blue as that has almost the same pop in sunlight as the red. Less chance of re-work.

What rule in California requires workers to put hair and dirt in the paint? Or touch it while it’s still wet? Or scatch the bumper? I don’t think it’s a legal problem. Haha. These are from my car:

 

[ebmcs03]

Red attracts too much attention and has too much problems. Wouldn’t get it even if it was free like black haha

 

[Maximilien]

It's interesting how Pearl White price didn't go up to $2,500.
Maybe because it is harder to tell the defective paint job unlike Red.

 

[Aieukl378]

It's interesting how Pearl White price didn't go up to $2,500.
Maybe because it is harder to tell the defective paint job unlike Red.

FYI I took my white 3 to the detailer(who's down the street from the service center so very familiar with Tesla paint) for washing/coating and they said paint is perfect.

 

[Aieukl378]

I don't get worked up to much about these increases. I look at them as "early adopter fees" which will ensure Tesla will be around in the future. Also, it will allow them to continue spending on R&D which will benefit all of us as(more OTA update goodies etc., faster refreshes, new models etc).

 

[NOLA_Mike]

I think the price on Multi Coat paints is to discourage as many folks as possible from choosing it. I think whatever process is used for the Multi Coat paints slows down the line and they want to do whatever they can to keep the production line going as fast as possible. I think their pricing reflects some of the costs associated with slowing the line down - if you're willing to pay for it then they'll do it.

Mike

 

[Jedi2155]

If they are seriously having that much problems with a color, they should consider pausing it and focusing on fixing it rather than past the cost to the customer while they determine why its causing them so much grief. But then again Tesla is in a cash crunch so oh well.

 

[PeterK]

They should bring back Signature Red, but only available on a fully loaded Model 3 Performance + for a limited time. Jack up the average MSRP and profits, with a color that’s probably easier to paint than Multicoat Red.

 

[JPUConn]

Another consideration. Musk said they have to shut down the paint line and run only mcr in a more time consuming and more labor intensively process.

Could Tesla have implemented a profitability allocation model and realize they need to increase pricing on certain areas to maintain consistent Margin basis relative to ASP?

My initial gut stil is that they unfortunately aren’t doing the diligence I’m suggesting above and instead are trying to push buyers who want the $7,500 tax credit to option a car that may already be built and if they want a custom spec that Tesla doesn’t necessarily want to build then more $.

 

[ReddyLeaf]

Tesla can just about charge any price. There’s essentially no competition. At our small 9-car National Drive Electric event there were three model 3 and all were red.