Tesla Service damaged my car door shell

[Aerodyna]

Hi all,

I took my 2021 Model 3 (4months old) to Tesla Service last week due to water leak and wind noise issues and at the end of a day I received a call from SC saying they damaged my car when they were pulling into the shop and made a huge dent in the passenger door shell. And they promised to replace the door. After a week they replaced the door and today I am going to pick it up. They ensured me that this fix/replacement is not going into the car's history so it shouldn't depreciate my car's value.

I was wondering if anyone had a similar experience before. Do I need to worry anything about this? I am ok with the fix since they replaced with the original parts but still worried about if it will somehow depreciate my car's value in the future? Any suggestions before I pick up the car? Should I ask for a compensation? Or any document should I ask for future concerns?

 

[Zirak]

The only major thing I can think of is the paint would most likely no longer match with the other panels, Either it'll be hugely noticeable or just a slight difference. Normally a body shop would blend the paint of panels around it to match the replacement door.

When you are at the SC to pick up the car, take photos all around (and below) your car to ensure there isn't damage anywhere else, and also take pictures of the door meeting with the panels around it to see if you can capture the paint difference, and compare it with the paint with your factory door. You would want to bring this up with them and hopefully be able to get a compensation, or at least enough $ for an authorized Tesla body shop to cover blending it if you decide to go that route (or keep the $ if you don't).

 

[Aerodyna]

Thanks for the tip. I will definitely do that. Do you think given the entire car paint is relatively new, would it match better with replacement door? I heard that as the cars get old these color matching becomes more of a challenge.

The only major thing I can think of is the paint would most likely no longer match with the other panels, Either it'll be hugely noticeable or just a slight difference. Normally a body shop would blend the paint of panels around it to match the replacement door.

When you are at the SC to pick up the car, take photos all around (and below) your car to ensure there isn't damage anywhere else, and also take pictures of the door meeting with the panels around it to see if you can capture the paint difference, and compare it with the paint with your factory door. You would want to bring this up with them and hopefully be able to get a compensation, or at least enough $ for an authorized Tesla body shop to cover blending it if you decide to go that route (or keep the $ if you don't).

Thanks for the tip. I will definitely do that. Do you think given the entire car paint is relatively fresh, would it be easier to match with the replacement door? I heard that as the cars get old these color matching becomes more of a challenge.

 

[KenC]

The installed doors were pre-painted?

You'll presumably get a document with the info on the door replacement, and/or paint job, so you'll have that.

 

[Aerodyna]

The installed doors were pre-painted?

You'll presumably get a document with the info on the door replacement, and/or paint job, so you'll have that.

No they will replace just the damaged door with a new one. But concern is factory color and replacement door color may not fully match.

 

[Zirak]

No they will replace just the damaged door with a new one. But concern is factory color and replacement door color may not fully match.

There will be a difference for sure, even though the cars paint is relatively new, it won't ever look the same. Though you may not even notice it from a distance, it's usually when you look up close when you tend to see the difference. Also, it depends on your paint colour too, some are easier to spot a clear difference, while others look nearly identical.

Most Tesla SC's don't do paint work on the cars in house, so you'd likely have to take it to a body shop to get it corrected. The paint job that an authorized body shop does is really good, and you often can't tell the difference after they've finished up with your car.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

The best protection from damage depreciation is detailed pictures of the damage before the repair. What really scares people about buying cars that have had damage is not knowing how bad the damage was. No damage history is best, but if you have to leave buyers to use their own imagination about the extent of the original damage, they are going to walk away.

Doesn't sound like you bothered to visit the SC to take pics. Did they send you any?

 

[Skione65]

What color is your car?

Ski

 

[DaveRZ]

As long as the repair is fully documented (what they did, when they did it, etc, and the normal body shop warranty intact) I wouldn't worry about it. Get a few pictures too.

Long story, but my sister years ago had a PT Cruiser with some minor body damage on the left rear she was getting fixed at a dealership. After the repair was done, an employee backed into the right rear of the car causing nearly the same damage to the opposite side (according to the service writer). The dealership let her know about it and kept the car for another week and fixed the right side. Fast forward about 4 years later and the paint on the right rear starts bubbling off and there's obvious rust under the paint. She took it back to the dealer where she got it fixed since the repair was obviously not done right and surprise! No record of them ever re-doing the right side, only the left side. The only "proof" we had that they had damaged it and fixed it on the right was an email she sent me telling me about it when it happened. Obviously this went nowhere. DOCUMENTATION! .

 

[TLLMRRJ]

 

[Aerodyna]

What color is your car?

Ski

It is blue. I checked the car over the weekend and I wasn’t able to see any color difference with the replaced door and the rest of the car body. I checked the reflection from different angles and all seems perfect and no evidence of repair(i was still suspicious in case they lied and repair it) All the edges seem to be aligned. However, they did a terrible job keeping the car clean when they were working. I have white interior and enture car was full off oil stains. Also couple of permanent scratches on console. I didn’t pick up car and asked them to document all the repairs. I will escalate this to Customer Service. Not sure what I will get but i am super disappointed with Tesla SC now.