"Teslas have a soft clear coat." Fiction or fact?

[Jean-Claude]

Maybe not all.

Oh definitely not all. But many do. Speaking of BMW paint...

We are wrapping up on a full-monty 2018 Competition Package BMW M4 that is brand new right now. The car came to us completely swirled up and the front bumper got a horrible respray. The respray was likely performed at port or the dealership because I would NEVER think BMW would be okay with what came to us.

I have seen plenty 6-figure cars with missing clear coat on exposed areas, base coat that was not sprayed as good as it should have been and other odd quirks. My .02 is that this is due to an ongoing trend of manufacturers corner cutting to save $ on the painting process. But I've seen, just about across the board, that the coverage and fit and finish of modern paints have taken a turn for the worse over the last 10 years.

 

[milleron]

Which detailer in Columbus? I know a few.

Auto Detail Doctor in Alexandria. He did a great job with the Suntek and Opti-Coat. Sure hope it protects the "soft paint."

 

[trayloader]

Back to topic.
Not true at all IMHO.
My 2 yo Red looks like day one. Never hand washed. No swirls, nothing.

 

[ThosEM]

How does one recognize a "swirl"? Can you take a photo of one? Asking for a friend... ;-)

 

[jelloslug]

How does one recognize a "swirl"? Can you take a photo of one? Asking for a friend... ;-)

Common Auto Detailing Paint Defects: A List for Paint Correction

 

[Mark Z]

After a year, my 2017 MS has plenty of clear coat defects due to spot removal of droppings rather than an immediate wash. The clear coat would require professional correction at this point. It still looks okay from a distance. Just don’t examine the sheen carefully with sunlight or bright specialty lighting. Some small chips have occurred in the front due to travel where sand can drift onto the desert highways.

Above all, avoid additional scratches by NOT letting Tesla wash the vehicle during service.

 

[arnesto]

California EPA rules mandate use of water based paint. Other states/nations don't have that strict requirement and so they can use solvent based paint which is more durable. Not sure about "soft" as that is a relative term but in my experience my black LEAF has no issues or scratches over 3 years whereas my Tesla within 6 months had 3 scratches despite ceramic coating and front XPEL. NUMMI closed before CA paint rules came into effect.

 

[vcor]

@arnesto - Not sure why after 5 years you reposted croman's comment. Did you mean to say it's wrong? All automakers for many years use water-based paints and coatings. Japan, the USA, and Europe all use the same coatings. The old VOC-based processes are far more expensive and time-consuming for factories to use, are harmful to workers, and make no sense to use. They are not better than the current generation of paint and coatings and that is why every automaker switched 20+years ago.

Now one could argue the paint or coating is not applied properly, but why would any automaker want to do that? Soft "paint" is nonsense by those offering expensive aftermarket coatings to explain why they charge so much. Now those coatings can have value, but legitimate shops don't need to make up stuff to sell a good product.