San Diego: What's up with all the Model S body work at Amato's?

[brianstorms]

A friend of mine took his car in to Amato's Auto Body Shop in Sorrento Valley recently and got to talking with one of the techs there about Tesla.

What I was really surprised to hear is that the tech told him that Amato's has seen "hundreds" of Model S's. "Tons of body work," he was told.

So what's going on? Is everybody having fender-benders, or is this work done at the direction of Tesla's SD Service Center? Pre-sales work? Post-delivery corrections?

Kinda curious why Amato's is being deluged with Tesla work here in town.

Any locals taken their car there?

 

[markb1]

A friend of mine took his car in to Amato's Auto Body Shop in Sorrento Valley recently and got to talking with one of the techs there about Tesla.

What I was really surprised to hear is that the tech told him that Amato's has seen "hundreds" of Model S's. "Tons of body work," he was told.

So what's going on? Is everybody having fender-benders, or is this work done at the direction of Tesla's SD Service Center? Pre-sales work? Post-delivery corrections?

Kinda curious why Amato's is being deluged with Tesla work here in town.

Any locals taken their car there?

Not sure, but Amato's is apparently the only Tesla-certified body shop in the area. My car will soon be there, because it was in a fender bender.

 

[Dwdnjck]

I took my car there on tesla sc recommendation for scratches on the roof. Their estimate was $4400, possibly more. My insurance adjuster approved only $1900 for the repair. I took the car to West Coast Specialties. They agreed to do the work for what the insurance had estimated. They did a great job. They are also a high end body shop.

 

[ggr]

We took ours there after the front fender/bumper/mirror had a run-in with the garage door springs. It's a big car. We were happy with the service. Now, this is the first car we've ever had where we'd have bothered fixing this purely cosmetic damage.

 

[yobigd20]

I remember reading somewhere that a lot of them are getting rear ended. Of course nobody has numbers to back that up. Another place I read speculated that "the aggresive regen braking" could be the cause of that (which I disagree with since regen turns the brake lights on...)

that being said, I myself almost got rear ended badly last week. This one guy was following me at 5:30am and flashing his lights (I think I passed him at the previous light...he might not have liked that or something) but then started to tailgate me and flash his lights. (mind you, this was 5:30am and there was really nobody around, he could have passed me in the other lane but instead was doing this erratic behavior). Anywho, I did not want this guy behind me. so I changed lanes and sped up to about 75mph (in a 50mph zone) to get away from him. he changed lanes too in sync with me and continued to tailgate me at this speed. I was starting to pass someone (at this point I'm in the right hand lane) and some voice in my head said "change lanes again." ok then i'll pass some random car on the left and change lanes so this idiot behind me wouldn't be behind me anymore). So I do that and he doesn't pass me or anything, just hangs there in my rear passenger side blind spot (but I knew he was there). A few seconds up was another red light with 2 cars already stopped in each lane. Immediately I was like "great, now I have to deal with this idiot pulling up beside me". Well I started to slow down and stop at the light. The amount of time between when I switched lanes to get him from not being behind me to when I was stopping at this light was only about 10-15 seconds. As I'm stopping I look over in my mirror and this guy isn't slowing down at all, in fact it looked like he was speeding up and them SLAM he smashes into the car directly next to me stopped at the light going like 50-60mph. That would have been me if I didn't change lanes. I don't know what this guy's problem was or what his state of mind was. He could possibly have never seen a Tesla before and was ecstatic about it (doubt it), he could have been drunk (thats a good possibility), or he could just been an angry road rager. In any case, I looked over in the car next to me to see if the person inside of the car he smashed into the back of was ok. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a female or had kids of anything inside. Just a startled young man in his twenties (I mean really who expects to get smashed into the back of at 5:30am in the morning when it's pitch black out). He started to get out of his car and walk back to the other guy. Anywho that was the end of that but yeah how freaky was that. Had I not changed lanes this guy probably would have just smashed into the back of my P85. crazy world crazy people. crazy that I even had this little voice in my head that said "change lanes so that this guy is not behind you". Somebody was looking out for me that day.

 

[joefee]

We took ours there after the front fender/bumper/mirror had a run-in with the garage door springs. It's a big car. We were happy with the service. Now, this is the first car we've ever had where we'd have bothered fixing this purely cosmetic damage.

:scared: We like to keep our babies nice and shiny!

 

[jerry33]

I suspect people are more likely to get their Teslas fixed compared to most other cars. Denise swiped a yellow bolster the first day she took her 2001 Prius to work. I used some rubbing compound to get the yellow off, but never did get the hardly visible dent fixed.

Yobigd20. That's scary. I have an 05:30 story too, but not in the Model S. The driver behind me accelerates past me in the left turn lane after stopping at the light, continues across the intersection, hits the concrete island, jumps over it and ends up in the right lane curb. I suspect he didn't realize that was a left turn lane as the lighting is very poor on that intersection, the island doesn't have any markings and is as wide as a lane. Had I accelerated hard from the stop he would have run right into me.

 

[Teriyaki88]

I heard that too. Unconfirmed rumor was that many dings were self-induced a la distracted drivers. It would be impossible but it would be interesting to see how many accidents occurred during the first 2 months of delivery vs drivers who had the car for many more months. I too had a couple of close calls early on due to distractions. Again..self induced.

 

[earlyretirement]

Yeah, I agree with the others that most are probably babying their Model S more than any other car. I got a scratch in other cars where I wouldn't bother to fix it but if I got a scratch in my S then I'd fix it.

I'm not sure how much work is from cosmetic defects but my car was in the shop a few weeks ago. Actually from the factor my paint job was really horrible on my hood. Just awful. Not only did my car arrive with many paint chips from rocks but it got scratched SUPER easily. I thought this was the norm. My back panel was also poorly painted and was very light with cosmetic flaws.

I simply asked Tesla to fix it and they did! They repainted the entire hood and NOW it's awesome. So much so that I don't think I will go with the XPEL as I was planning as I'm not sure it will need it. Been driving it a lot and the paint this time is really great and they did a great job. They also fixed my rear panel. Looks great! They did a really good job so definitely I'd use them if something happened to my S in an accident or scratch or something.

They did quality work and I'd highly recommend them.

 

[yobigd20]

So much so that I don't think I will go with the XPEL as I was planning as I'm not sure it will need it.

big mistake. get the XPEL. you'll regret it if you don't.

I could only budget a full front XPEL. If I could do it again, I would have hte entire car paint corrected first, and I would fully wrap the ENTIRE car. I'm getting minor scratches all over the place and wish I could wrap the sides and rear too.

 

[gaswalla]

big mistake. get the XPEL. you'll regret it if you don't.

I could only budget a full front XPEL. If I could do it again, I would have hte entire car paint corrected first, and I would fully wrap the ENTIRE car. I'm getting minor scratches all over the place and wish I could wrap the sides and rear too.

I totally agree. I wrapped 80% of the car (due to finances limiting me from 100%), and now that 20% needs special care.

 

[markb1]

big mistake. get the XPEL. you'll regret it if you don't.

I could only budget a full front XPEL. If I could do it again, I would have hte entire car paint corrected first, and I would fully wrap the ENTIRE car. I'm getting minor scratches all over the place and wish I could wrap the sides and rear too.

Something like Opti-Coat or CQuartz Finest might be enough to prevent minor scratches. Depends on how minor. But my car was accumulating a lot of wash damage, and CQuartz Finest made a world of difference.

 

[brianman]

I could only budget a full front XPEL. If I could do it again, I would have hte entire car paint corrected first, and I would fully wrap the ENTIRE car. I'm getting minor scratches all over the place and wish I could wrap the sides and rear too.

Thanks for sharing your data on this. Is this worse than your previous vehicles, or do you just notice/care more with the Model S?

 

[earlyretirement]

big mistake. get the XPEL. you'll regret it if you don't.

I could only budget a full front XPEL. If I could do it again, I would have hte entire car paint corrected first, and I would fully wrap the ENTIRE car. I'm getting minor scratches all over the place and wish I could wrap the sides and rear too.

How much did you pay for full front XPEL? I believe the entire car would be like $3750 or something? The guy I talked to said that the entire car was overkill and not needed. Maybe I will get the hood after all then.

I don't put the car through a carwash. I hand wash it. Actually I find if you just rub it down every 2 or 3 days with Quick Detail spray it prevents the need to wash it much. I live here in San Diego when I can't even remember the last time it rained. So it stays fairly clean. I bought a TON of cleaning products when I bought the car. Probably like $800 worth of sprays, waxes, car polish, leather cleaner, etc. All work pretty well.

I do think the quick detail spray on an every 2 or 3 day basis really helps. My car is black so I like to keep it clean and the quick detail spray really works well. But maybe I will get the hood wrapped after all.

 

[jerry33]

How much did you pay for full front XPEL? I believe the entire car would be like $3750 or something? The guy I talked to said that the entire car was overkill and not needed. Maybe I will get the hood after all then.

Most quotes are about double that for the whole car--from a reputable place. I don't believe it's overkill as it will protect from keying and will minimize damage from an accidental scrape. In addition, when it's removed the paint will appear the same over the entire car.

 

[yobigd20]

Thanks for sharing your data on this. Is this worse than your previous vehicles, or do you just notice/care more with the Model S?

Yes, much worse. I've had a metallic silver Camaro, metallic blue Murano, red Rav4, metallic tan Ford Flex, and my last vehicle was a RR Evoque which was "Sumatra black" or something like that. I used to wash the Camaro and the Evoque like a hawk too. None of them would scratch like the MS. You could microswirl very easily even with a microfiber cloth. I've never seen paint so soft on a car before. I guess I should point out that my p85 is solid black, but the loaner I had I think was Multi coat white. Damn that is the best white I've ever seen. Metallic and shiny. It's damn near impossible for me to see any swirls on that. But on the solid black? Super easy to see swirls and scratches in standard light. At a minimum the black MS's need paint correction and a coat of something - Opticoat or ppf film.

How much did you pay for full front XPEL? I believe the entire car would be like $3750 or something? The guy I talked to said that the entire car was overkill and not needed. Maybe I will get the hood after all then.

Full front XPEL ultimate around ~$1800

Entire car is not overkill, especially for solid black.

 

[Liz G]

Got my baby fully wrapped for $3600. Glad I did. Already saved me from 2 incidents that would have resulted in paint touch ups.

Also, agree that people are likely fixing things cosmetic issues more on this car than they normally would have. I got a dent in my hood, wasn't even that noticeable, but I couldn't stand the thought of leaving it. Luckily it only cost $150 to get out.

That would be a great poll. How many people "baby" their S and how many just treat it like any other car.

 

[earlyretirement]

You know I think also much depends on the paint work from the factory... Because when I got my car back at the end of August the hood was horribly painted! Not only did it have several chips that looked like rocks hit it in transit but it got TONS of swirl marks just washing it or waxing it just as all of you said. The paint is VERY soft.

But I wouldn't get swirl marks anywhere else. Just on the hood. It was HORRIBLY painted. Tesla did do well and painted the entire hood and corrected it. NOW it's perfect and I don't get swirl marks when I wash it.

I never, ever washed a car or vacuumed it like I do with my Model S. I typically don't go more than 2 days without washing it with the spray wash and quick detail spray. Been busy lately so slipped a few days but it doesn't happen often.

I do wish the paint wasn't so soft. I probably will end up wrapping it as I plan to keep it for many years. I bought the 8 year pre-paid service and the 4 year extended warranty so I'm protected until 100,000 miles.

 

[gaswalla]

I don't think your paint is protected with the basic or extended warranty. Based on what you said, you should wrap the car asap