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Tesla paint quality
- Thread starter KenYoung1
- Start date
Congrats! I picked mine up in June 2018, VIN below. Paint was and still is mint. I do have PPF on the front end to protect it. Refuse to do the final paperwork until you inspect the car first. Chances are the paint will be fine.
People don’t go on forums and start threads about how great their paint is.
People don’t go on forums and start threads about how great their paint is.
dougatconcours
Former Vendor
Hi Ken,
Much has been made of paint defects on Teslas, especially the Model 3s. In short, yes it's true. We have worked on over 1500 Model 3s since September 2017 and almost every single one has at least one defect. Paint nibs, debris in paint, paint runs, missing paint, or clear coat, etc. Most however are nothing to be concerned about.
I had a one customer reject 9 Model 3s before he finally accepted delivery and even that one he placed 74 little pieces of blue by each for us to address ( see pic) And covered his front with the same blue tape for the .9 miles from the delivery center to my shop, so it wouldn't get a rock chip. A bit much?
My advice is breath......Yes inspect the car, but there is no reason to decline delivery because you find a small dust particle in the paint. BMW, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and all other manufactures have paint defects as well. I suggest you embrace the technology and understand if you look hard enough you will find some sort of paint defect on any car......Let it go, enjoy the ride.
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Unless they started painting the vehicles outside of California, I would expect the majority of issues to remain.
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
LasVegas2019
Member
rxlawdude
Active Member
You'll find the folks spreading this disinformation tend to have skin in the game - they charge sometimes ungodly sums to "correct" paint and coat with various coatings.
It's a car, not a freakin' museum piece.
Agreed 100%. Been driving Mercedes for over 25 years (6 of them) and my 2018 MS is no worse. Actually it was worse on the Mercedes since I used to commute 120 miles round trip everyday. Paint is fine and it all depends on how often and where you drive, don’t believe all those lies about weak paint on Tesla. If you do, I have a bridge to sell.
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rxlawdude
Active Member
Pardon me here, hundreds of thousands of M3 were delivered and how many claimed to have paint problem? The early 2018 midnight silver M3 I gave my daughter still looks brand new after one year of heavy commute in SoCal traffic among big rigs and bad roads. Sounds like you are speaking from having experience from owning a few Teslas, how many bridges you want to buy?
pl8dlikafiddle
Member
All I know is, this forum is what caused me to start closely looking at panel gaps and paint... only to find my wife’s 2018 GMC Yukon Denali has worse front hood/fascia/fender alignment than my SR+....and we’ve had that thing for almost 3 years.
Do yourself a favor and look at other cars on the road just as close, and you’ll find no car or manufacturer is perfect.
Do yourself a favor and look at other cars on the road just as close, and you’ll find no car or manufacturer is perfect.
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
I have an 2018/10 Model 3 and didn't had any issues about paint or anything else.
So it's not just about the delivery, but also the whole duration of using the car.
Unless you plan to lease your car and try keeping it pristine to get a maximum of its value at the end of the lease,
there will be always a risk to get some scratches, mostly when parked.
So I would advice to get a white, or a black, color as it would be certainly be the easiest to fix for simple issues with the help a touch paint kit.
The day you will plan to sale your car, then you might consider to repaint an area if there will be too many scratches,
but I think mileage would be certainly the most important factor for the resale.
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Uncle Paul
Well-Known Member
Tesla get production paint jobs. Not show quality paint jobs.
Most find their paint to be perfectly satisfactory, but of course some will come with defects that need correction.
Would not go into delivery with lots of worries, but take a good look at your finish to see if it is acceptable to you.
Paint on my X was far better than my previous Jeep Grand Cherokees. Car is overall much better as well.
Few years ago, Tesla installed a multi million dollar quality paint center in Fremont. Seems like complaints have gotten fewer since.
Your car will be delivered by truck or train from California. Will need to be cleaned up by the delivery team before your pickup. Will give them time to check for issues.
Most find their paint to be perfectly satisfactory, but of course some will come with defects that need correction.
Would not go into delivery with lots of worries, but take a good look at your finish to see if it is acceptable to you.
Paint on my X was far better than my previous Jeep Grand Cherokees. Car is overall much better as well.
Few years ago, Tesla installed a multi million dollar quality paint center in Fremont. Seems like complaints have gotten fewer since.
Your car will be delivered by truck or train from California. Will need to be cleaned up by the delivery team before your pickup. Will give them time to check for issues.
Obviously no one is perfect but when you spend a decent amount of money on a vehicle, it's not a fun experience having these issues. There are plenty of people with similar issues.
Tesla Model S,3,X owners worldwide with paint issues
Attachments
pl8dlikafiddle
Member
This issue isn’t unique to Tesla, but I consider it as an oversight on Tesla’s part. Some manufacturers install a protective film in similar areas or provide mud flaps - Tesla now provides mud flaps, but this should have been done from the beginning or a protective film provided at that location and in front of the rear tires on the fender (many manufacturers do this - Porsche provides protective film from the factory).
This is unique to cars in cold climates where roads are salted/graveled or cars that are driven on terrible roads.
Not an issue everywhere else.
Which is the whole point of this thread, to give the original poster information so they can make an informed purchase. Looking at most of the comments in this thread are from those in areas where snow/road salt isn't a concern. Poster is from Chicago, IL. Look at the one comment shortly after my post, " Sounds like you are speaking from having experience from owning a few Teslas, how many bridges you want to buy?" Seriously, the attitude that some people throw around here don't make others feel very welcome to community. Tesla's paint quality never has been one of their strong points but some are completely oblivious to Tesla issues in colder climates.
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
May be Tesla should consider having a additional painting option. like for bad weather areas,
such as BMW’s Most Expensive Paint is the $10,300 Individual Pure Metal Silver
Proflig8tor
Member
2019 M3 paint (mine must have been painted in the tent) is bad. Not only was a lot of dirt in the paint, the application around door hinges and what not was random and very thin. The car arrived with multiple deep scratches and worse, the very young men in the delivery center were quite rough with a buffer and burned the paint where they hit it hard with compound. Surprisingly, a lot of the scratches did buff out (much better than I would have thought possible). I used to run a body shop. I'd fire anyone who tried to deliver that to a customer (wouldn't even be a hard decision). Even in summer 2019 quality control at Tesla must have been really sketchy. The company seems disinterested in feedback with none of the surveys that buyers of anyone else's product receive.
We are at 10,000 miles now and the paint, such as it is, has held up well. We had PPF applied to the front 1/2 the fenders, hood, rocker panel and bumpers. No chips. Only one spot where we assume bird poop caused a change in finish on the clear coat that is about 3mm diameter. I've spent a lot of time polishing and waxing the thing. It is a nice design to look at.
I figured the car is our family daily driver and we have two kids. Even if the car were delivered perfect, it was not going to remain perfect. The kids have scratched the glove box and the lower interior panels by kicking it (they tend to push against those panels to get into car seats and adjust their position in seats since their little legs don't quite reach the floor.
The car is still tight and quiet. Fast. Not a single mechanical issue. Battery range was NEVER the 240 or later 250 promised. The SR+ had a high of 227 and is estimated to be at 221 now. The drivetrain and technology has so exceeded expectations that the paintwork has been mostly forgotten and my 53-year-old eyes are not as picky as they were at 23. This isn't a Roadster and it is not priced like one.
As for other manufacturers; Acura is among the best. Lexus has been slipping from what used to be a perfect product. Mazda does really well. The paint on our two E Class Mercedes and my dd GTI have been nearly perfect. Ford truck is better than Tesla. Again, the car looks like it was painted by an average high school shop class.
We are at 10,000 miles now and the paint, such as it is, has held up well. We had PPF applied to the front 1/2 the fenders, hood, rocker panel and bumpers. No chips. Only one spot where we assume bird poop caused a change in finish on the clear coat that is about 3mm diameter. I've spent a lot of time polishing and waxing the thing. It is a nice design to look at.
I figured the car is our family daily driver and we have two kids. Even if the car were delivered perfect, it was not going to remain perfect. The kids have scratched the glove box and the lower interior panels by kicking it (they tend to push against those panels to get into car seats and adjust their position in seats since their little legs don't quite reach the floor.
The car is still tight and quiet. Fast. Not a single mechanical issue. Battery range was NEVER the 240 or later 250 promised. The SR+ had a high of 227 and is estimated to be at 221 now. The drivetrain and technology has so exceeded expectations that the paintwork has been mostly forgotten and my 53-year-old eyes are not as picky as they were at 23. This isn't a Roadster and it is not priced like one.
As for other manufacturers; Acura is among the best. Lexus has been slipping from what used to be a perfect product. Mazda does really well. The paint on our two E Class Mercedes and my dd GTI have been nearly perfect. Ford truck is better than Tesla. Again, the car looks like it was painted by an average high school shop class.
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