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Red - paint quality issues
- Thread starter duy.duck
- Start date
What is going on Tesla?????
Even the Korean KIA has beautiful paint. Mayco knows how to paint a vehicle.
And Tesla wan't $2500 as an additional charge!!
BTW, I have read the Prius Forum almost daily since 2010 when I bought by first Prius ...... and currently own an Avalon hybrid.
I do not recall reading even one post about crappy paint.
Even the Korean KIA has beautiful paint. Mayco knows how to paint a vehicle.
And Tesla wan't $2500 as an additional charge!!
BTW, I have read the Prius Forum almost daily since 2010 when I bought by first Prius ...... and currently own an Avalon hybrid.
I do not recall reading even one post about crappy paint.
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
There's a sabotuer in the paint shop!
Part of me thinks it's possible. I don't see how they could be this incompetent. It must be costing them a fortune. Touching wet paint? All these contamination issues?
People complain about orange peel and soft paint from every manufacturer but I've never heard of all these other defects.
Part of me thinks it's possible. I don't see how they could be this incompetent. It must be costing them a fortune. Touching wet paint? All these contamination issues?
People complain about orange peel and soft paint from every manufacturer but I've never heard of all these other defects.
Daniel in SD - I think you may be right.
Cars have been painted for more than 100 years .... it is the most basic aspect of the manufacturing process. We speak of "first impression" ...... well the beautiful shape is probably the "first impression," but next is the paint. I admire every metallic red car passed. BTW, most of the other manufacturers market beautifully painted cars.
Personally, I am staying out of the market until Tesla corrects this problem. I am not interested in an expensive car that must immediately be returned to the SC to repair factory damage.
Toyota manufacturers the Prius in Japan, ships it all the way across the ocean, and transports it across the country .... and the vehicle arrives at the dealer with beautiful, flawless paint.
Cars have been painted for more than 100 years .... it is the most basic aspect of the manufacturing process. We speak of "first impression" ...... well the beautiful shape is probably the "first impression," but next is the paint. I admire every metallic red car passed. BTW, most of the other manufacturers market beautifully painted cars.
Personally, I am staying out of the market until Tesla corrects this problem. I am not interested in an expensive car that must immediately be returned to the SC to repair factory damage.
Toyota manufacturers the Prius in Japan, ships it all the way across the ocean, and transports it across the country .... and the vehicle arrives at the dealer with beautiful, flawless paint.
Uncle Paul
Well-Known Member
I have a friend that works at the port, where they have a building that is specifically for refurbishing cars coming off the boats from Asia. Mequires is one of these. The Germans use another similar company that also starts with M..
The tunnels have very bright inspection lights where any paint flaws become evident. They have special machines and compounds to address scratches etc. The pads are very small, perhaps the sized of a 50 cent piece and they rub and buff the heck out of them. I believe an additional line is also used to address panel fittments.
The second line of defense is at their Dealerships, where they do another prep for delivery. Still, I am not sure their cars face up any better than what Tesla is doing. Car dealerships are the masters of covering up flaws with salves and polishes that last only until the first wash. I have walked down various lots and looked closely at many different models. I pretty much can pick out finish flaws on most all of them. As mentioned, orange peel is rampant in the industry.
For many Tesla owners, their car is somewhat of a trophy. They want to take pride in it and show it off to their discerning friends. They are hypersensitive to any flaws. Most Prius owners could give a crap about a tiny scratch, fingerprint or fish eye. They are more focused on getting a well priced, versitile, fuel efficient and socially acceptable form of transportation. They do not buy them because they are beautiful, good handling, well performing or offer any type of driving satisfaction, other than smug.
I agree that Tesla needs to step it up on delivery prep. They have admitted they are in Delivery Hell. It is now their highest priority to make the delivery experience better.
The tunnels have very bright inspection lights where any paint flaws become evident. They have special machines and compounds to address scratches etc. The pads are very small, perhaps the sized of a 50 cent piece and they rub and buff the heck out of them. I believe an additional line is also used to address panel fittments.
The second line of defense is at their Dealerships, where they do another prep for delivery. Still, I am not sure their cars face up any better than what Tesla is doing. Car dealerships are the masters of covering up flaws with salves and polishes that last only until the first wash. I have walked down various lots and looked closely at many different models. I pretty much can pick out finish flaws on most all of them. As mentioned, orange peel is rampant in the industry.
For many Tesla owners, their car is somewhat of a trophy. They want to take pride in it and show it off to their discerning friends. They are hypersensitive to any flaws. Most Prius owners could give a crap about a tiny scratch, fingerprint or fish eye. They are more focused on getting a well priced, versitile, fuel efficient and socially acceptable form of transportation. They do not buy them because they are beautiful, good handling, well performing or offer any type of driving satisfaction, other than smug.
I agree that Tesla needs to step it up on delivery prep. They have admitted they are in Delivery Hell. It is now their highest priority to make the delivery experience better.
Just got my car back from Tesla/body shop. I noticeable dust nibs on both the front hood and trunk that was spotted during delivery (along with wrong tires 18 vs 19 ordered, headlight seating, A pillar bulge, door pocket vinyl rip) Tesla scheduled the appointment on day of pickup for about a week after while we were going on vacation. I went over the entire car at home and documented all the spots i could find. Dropping it off at service (Owing Mills) they spent 30 minutes going over all of my items. Tesla said they would take care of all the non-paint items at the service center and send the car over to their body shop. Received loaner and was on my way. Total time took longer than estimated (2 weeks vs. 1) but service center sent an update just about daily. Car looks fantastic. They stated they were able to address all the dust nibs by wet sanding and didn’t need to repaint. I did a once over and plan to do one last final review this weekend but all the noticeable spots are gone. While i would have loved to have picked the car up this way, Tesla service was simply amazing and the detailed car they returned back to me made me smile. Big thumbs up to Owings Mills service center. All the folks there are great and they are also on the list to start doing body work in house.
The red paint on our Model 3 was very good. There was one spot of touch-up paint above one of the rear door handles and a couple of other minor imperfections. Since we had our car wrapped with paint protection and ceramic coated, the detail shop also did paint correction. They spent about 5 hours on paint correction and the whole car is essentially flawless now. There's no way I'd buy one of these and NOT get paint protection... I've seen quite a few Teslas (most of them red) with damaged paint from parking in leaking parking garages.
Randy at Detail Authority in Fairfax. It's almost time to schedule my one month follow-up appointment.
Yes, but there are so many issues you need a separate thread for EVERY colour!
Looked very carefully at a Kia Niro yesterday, no sign of orange peel. I expect mine to be delivered that way.
Maybe the cheaper models, €20k range I'd expect it. €50k, no way.
Same problem here. I got mine on Aug 31. See pictures . Even my driver side door sill is missing. I set up a service appointment for the next time they had available towards the end of October.. Disappointed given that this was $55k+ car.
Attachments
You care about the inside of your door?
rainforest - I sure care, not only about the inside of the door, but the other areas that are suppose to be finished.
I worked hard for many years .... that translates into an appreciation of worth.
I demand value for my money.
I worked hard for many years .... that translates into an appreciation of worth.
I demand value for my money.
It's perfectly reasonable to care about those kinds of defects, especially on a car costing this much. Much cheaper cars would not come with such problems, and if they did you would be right to demand they be fixed.
Honestly I don't know how they keep having these problems. This was an issue that everyone else solved long ago, and a lot of it looks like damage done during assembly. It's the sort of stuff you would see in the 80s, not these days.
Honestly I don't know how they keep having these problems. This was an issue that everyone else solved long ago, and a lot of it looks like damage done during assembly. It's the sort of stuff you would see in the 80s, not these days.
I picked up my red one manufactured 8/2018 and did not see flaws on initial inspection. Took it strait to a detail shop for a clear bra. During their wash/polish/clear bra/ceramic coat treatment they found 5 issues. They attributed them to damage during shipment, essentially 4 tiny paint chips (less than 1mm) and one larger one that did not make it through the clear coat but was a good scrape in the upper layer. So, yes, they can do a proper job on red.
Then again if they get 90% perfect they are messing up on 400-500 a week (across all colors). They need to get their process to 99.9%, given their system of constant improvement via software on the line, they will probably hit it sooner than later. It appears that have already made tremendous progress given that we are talking about months of production, not years. Remember in the 70s Japanese cars were considered low quality cheap imports how many YEARS did it take them to get to high quality. Tesla is moving in months instead of years - the Tesla advantage of continuously fixing issues on the fly instead of model years.
Then again if they get 90% perfect they are messing up on 400-500 a week (across all colors). They need to get their process to 99.9%, given their system of constant improvement via software on the line, they will probably hit it sooner than later. It appears that have already made tremendous progress given that we are talking about months of production, not years. Remember in the 70s Japanese cars were considered low quality cheap imports how many YEARS did it take them to get to high quality. Tesla is moving in months instead of years - the Tesla advantage of continuously fixing issues on the fly instead of model years.
mike123abc - Glad that your defects were minimal. I hope you have years of enjoyment, which for me, means trouble free and efficient transportation.
Like you, I am unable to understand why Tesla is experiencing so much difficulty with the paint. Your comparison with Japanese cars is valid .... but back in those days they were painted by hand.
Why a robotic painted car cannot be near perfect each and every time is unfathomable.
Even the KIA has beautiful paint.
We've seen examples on this thread where paint was not even applied in some areas.
(Maybe Tesla needs to hire some Koreans to help programming the robots)
For a final paint job to be near perfect, the preparation must be near perfect. Paint will not cover fit and finish issues.
Sadly, it appears that in the rush to produce 3's, the prep is not what it should be.
If I understand it correctly, the S's are being delivered with near perfect paint.
Now, someone will write in response and say that other cars have paint issues that are addressed before they are delivered.
( don't deny that, but Tesla is shipping vehicles that should never have left the factory.
Tesla cannot, as a business plan, continue to rely on the Service Centers to correct, repair and fix assembly defects.
Like you, I am unable to understand why Tesla is experiencing so much difficulty with the paint. Your comparison with Japanese cars is valid .... but back in those days they were painted by hand.
Why a robotic painted car cannot be near perfect each and every time is unfathomable.
Even the KIA has beautiful paint.
We've seen examples on this thread where paint was not even applied in some areas.
(Maybe Tesla needs to hire some Koreans to help programming the robots)
For a final paint job to be near perfect, the preparation must be near perfect. Paint will not cover fit and finish issues.
Sadly, it appears that in the rush to produce 3's, the prep is not what it should be.
If I understand it correctly, the S's are being delivered with near perfect paint.
Now, someone will write in response and say that other cars have paint issues that are addressed before they are delivered.
( don't deny that, but Tesla is shipping vehicles that should never have left the factory.
Tesla cannot, as a business plan, continue to rely on the Service Centers to correct, repair and fix assembly defects.
When I pay extra $2000 for a red coat and $60k for a car I care. Especially when I compare it to my 14 year old $15k Toyota.
If they forgot the door sill seems a very bad quality control.
I am also concerned about rust in the North East we have salt and harsh winter. My 14 year old Toyota has less rust then my 8 year old Honda so hopefully Tesla will last that long.
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