I don't know squat about painting cars, but I do know that most of the complaints about new Model 3's seem to be about the paint job or the phone key. Who can tell/speculate about why this is such a problem with Tesla's when other companies have been doing nearly flawless paint jobs for at least a couple decades?
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So, why does Tesla have such a hard time painting cars?
- Thread starter StellarRat
- Start date
One thing is they have changed their paint process twice. First they were manually doing it, and the paint shop became their bottleneck. Cars were just sitting there waiting to be painted, not good for hitting production goals. Hitting production goals became their #1 priority due to investor pressure. As in, hit the Model 3 production goals or go bankwupt.
Then they changed to robotics, and at least once the paint shop got sabotaged. Doesn't seem like the paint shop is the bottleneck any longer, so now they just gotta fix whatever problems there are and hopefully they can improve it.
They've only been mass producing cars for around 9-10 months. Paint issues should get resolved over time, much like how early production vehicles were all about panel gap/alignment issues that got resolved halfway through the year. As for why other companies are doing ok well they've been mass producing for much longer so they've already got the system down. But please don't call them flawless, ask any reputable detailers they'll tell you they often have to do paint correction on factory vehicles before laying PPF & ceramic coating.
Then they changed to robotics, and at least once the paint shop got sabotaged. Doesn't seem like the paint shop is the bottleneck any longer, so now they just gotta fix whatever problems there are and hopefully they can improve it.
They've only been mass producing cars for around 9-10 months. Paint issues should get resolved over time, much like how early production vehicles were all about panel gap/alignment issues that got resolved halfway through the year. As for why other companies are doing ok well they've been mass producing for much longer so they've already got the system down. But please don't call them flawless, ask any reputable detailers they'll tell you they often have to do paint correction on factory vehicles before laying PPF & ceramic coating.
<Disparaging comment about California>
That’s literally the entire explanation.
**mod note: edited out the disparaging comment due to continuous reports on it.
That’s literally the entire explanation.
**mod note: edited out the disparaging comment due to continuous reports on it.
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seattlite2004
Active Member
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
I want someone to explain how painting a car is difficult to automate. Seems way easier than all the other automation. Also wouldn't it be way cheaper to have someone inspect the cars after painting and rework them in the factory instead of having the work done by bodyshops? Much easier to paint a car before it's assembled. Take for example my bumper. Clearly someone touched it before the paint was dry. Why not just repaint it at the factory? Is there some accounting gimmick with having these show up as warranty repairs? I guess they can book it in Q4 instead of Q3. Seems very shortsighted.
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
People say this but it doesn't explain why there is dirt and hair in the paint. In my case you could argue that VOC rules made the paint not dry before they touched it but really you'd think they would figure that out by car 55,000
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I don't know that Tesla has more paint issues than anybody else. I do know that Tesla buyers are hyper-sensitive about this because the Internet tells them to be. I also know Elon wants to increase the throughput of the paint section. To do that, they will need more paint stations though. The flow rate of the sprayers is basically fixed, curing times are basically fixed, and so throughput of the existing system is capped at a certain level.
If you want to see how cars are painted
BMW uses the same process. Most manufacturers do. This is a bunk argument by people that don't understand pretty much every manufacturer holds themselves to a higher standard than the U.S. does, and other countries hold manufacturers to standards beyond California's.
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Daniel in SD
(supervised)
I've washed my cars myself for years and have never seen a "dust nib" Luckily I've only got one on my Model 3 and I'm not picky enough to complain about it.
I was hoping this was the case, but when even the showroom model has dust nibs front and center on its bumper, you know they are struggling in this area.
People say this but it doesn't explain why there is dirt and hair in the paint. In my case you could argue that VOC rules made the paint not dry before they touched it but really you'd think they would figure that out by car 55,000
It’s the cars from the tent. Being outside
Here's a trivia question:
Q: Who manufactures anything in California?
A: Literally no one.
What about Tesla?
Ohh... Figuratively no one then. Just Tesla.
"California" is an acceptable answer for any reason a manufacturer moves out of state or overseas.
Best And Worst States For Business In 2018
Toyota moved from # 50 to #1.
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jelloslug
Active Member
Every car I have had has had factory paint defects. Some were worse than others but all of them had something.
So unless a paint expert comes in that knows Tesla’s process intimately and can answer with authority my answer makes more sense than any one else’s as I provided evidence on California being unfriendly at everything business.
In a fantasy world, Jerry Brown goes to Fremont and gives Musk a directive to take the kid gloves off and ensures California plants produce the best painted cars in the world.
In a fantasy world, Jerry Brown goes to Fremont and gives Musk a directive to take the kid gloves off and ensures California plants produce the best painted cars in the world.
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Wait what? I'm not a paint expert but you can pretty much put 2 and 2 together here. They're painting the cars too fast with too much contamination in the process.
Let’s go deeper into the rabbit hole.
Considering the cost and complexity of paint is less than military grade battery packs -
Why are there not a dozen paint facilities?
People say this but it doesn't explain why there is dirt and hair in the paint. In my case you could argue that VOC rules made the paint not dry before they touched it but really you'd think they would figure that out by car 55,000
There’s nothing to figure out other than slow things down.
Or scale up to multiple paint facilities.
Love how people disagree because they are pissed but can’t offer a better explanation.
Interesting. I never thought of this as a reason. But they don't HAVE to rush these cars through paint. Well, thanks to the endless greed of our Ponzi scheme financial system, I guess they do. So I will offer a counterpoint and say it's Wall Street that is causing these defects.
There are a few threads just on paint alone.
Speaking from experience with my own car in Red, not sure why Tesla can’t fix simple things like Fisheye etc, let alone catch it at the Final QC area...
Speaking from experience with my own car in Red, not sure why Tesla can’t fix simple things like Fisheye etc, let alone catch it at the Final QC area...
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
California has the highest manufacturing output of any state. You clearly have no idea what you're talking about.
2014 State Manufacturing Data Table | NAM
I really don't get all the California hate.
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