Window Trim Discoloration fix

[Jkasm]

Just wanted to post my results after cleaning the window trim of my 2021 Model Y with turtle wax polishing compound.

I usually hand wash my own car, but due to rehabbing a knee injury I took my car to a contactless carwash a couple times. After a couple car washes, I saw discoloration on the window trim right away. After searching many forums, I read someone's post about using turtle wax. Just tried it and the discoloration is gone and the window trim looks brand new. Bought the wax from amazon, used a sponge applicator and wiped it right off with a microfiber towel.

Definitely will be back to hand washing my car, but there will be occasions when I need to take it in for a quick wash. Hopefully this is a fix/solution moving forward.
Posted some pics, hopes this helps!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009JKGJ2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Discoloration after a couple car washes from a contactless carwash

turtle wax polishing compound, sponge applicator, microfiber towel

uncleaned trim (left side) vs cleaned trim (right side)

full cleaned trim

 

[Twb1111]

Oh my god thank you! Just started noticing this on my M3

 

[csrpenfab]

I'd suggest you top that off with some wax or sealant of your choice. That polishing compound is just that, for polishing, but you want something to protect the trim too! I drive my MYP through a carwash (has microfiber brushes) weekly. They must use gentle soaps because I've had zero issue with trim discoloration. I did put two coats of ceramic on the entire car when new though...

 

[SpaceMan99]

Wow that's actually amazing. Both insane discoloration, and sublimely great fix!

Word of caution though - I don't know yet how Tesla make theirs, but on most cars, the window trims have an extremely thin layer of paint/anodizing/whatever it is, ie: it's not thick and able to be polished many times like regular body paint. Super super easy to polish through it. I burnt through mine in a spot on my Rav4 the very first time I polished them and I was specifically trying to be careful. It's been a problem on various other cars I've owned previously as well.

Anyway, kudos again for the amazing fix!

 

[Ghettobat]

I just had this on my new Y after the first wash. I have this stuff called purple slice I use for my Harley’s. Took it right off today and even got my prints off the hood. I’ve used this for over a decade and it’s great stuff! No affiliation with them. Fact is the bottle is about 5 years old and still half full! The wet wet is really good also.

PURPLE SLICE - EST. 2005

World famous professional quality products that work Est. 2005. Tested by experts, proven daily. Now shipping world wide.

www.purpleslice.com

 

[TomServo]

A disabled vet friend uses a touch less car wash ALL THE TIME, and he bought a bottle of Ceramic Coating (think it was Avalon King or something) applied once just to the black trim and it has protected his car since last fall with multiple car washes since.

 

[Kairide]

I'd suggest you top that off with some wax or sealant of your choice. That polishing compound is just that, for polishing, but you want something to protect the trim too! I drive my MYP through a carwash (has microfiber brushes) weekly. They must use gentle soaps because I've had zero issue with trim discoloration. I did put two coats of ceramic on the entire car when new though...

If you’re Not using a touchless car wash you may not have as many issues. Touchless car washes use acidic solutions to clean your car.
But, you will have a ton of scratches, even if they are supposedly “microfiber” brushes.

 

[hallwc87]

Just wanted to post my results after cleaning the window trim of my 2021 Model Y with turtle wax polishing compound.

I usually hand wash my own car, but due to rehabbing a knee injury I took my car to a contactless carwash a couple times. After a couple car washes, I saw discoloration on the window trim right away. After searching many forums, I read someone's post about using turtle wax. Just tried it and the discoloration is gone and the window trim looks brand new. Bought the wax from amazon, used a sponge applicator and wiped it right off with a microfiber towel.

Definitely will be back to hand washing my car, but there will be occasions when I need to take it in for a quick wash. Hopefully this is a fix/solution moving forward.
Posted some pics, hopes this helps!

Amazon.com

View attachment 797326
Discoloration after a couple car washes from a contactless carwash

View attachment 797329
turtle wax polishing compound, sponge applicator, microfiber towel

View attachment 797327
uncleaned trim (left side) vs cleaned trim (right side)

View attachment 797328
full cleaned trim

Thank you for this!!! My MY has started to do that, had it for about 1.5 years now

 

[Drakov]

Reminds me...I need to coat the rubber seals with gummi pfledge. https://www.amazon.com/nextzett-91480615-Gummi-Pflege-Rubber/dp/B004B8GTQG?th=1.

 

[shijiav]

IS there anyway to fix this?

 

[richg009]

Just wanted to post my results after cleaning the window trim of my 2021 Model Y with turtle wax polishing compound.

I usually hand wash my own car, but due to rehabbing a knee injury I took my car to a contactless carwash a couple times. After a couple car washes, I saw discoloration on the window trim right away. After searching many forums, I read someone's post about using turtle wax. Just tried it and the discoloration is gone and the window trim looks brand new. Bought the wax from amazon, used a sponge applicator and wiped it right off with a microfiber towel.

Definitely will be back to hand washing my car, but there will be occasions when I need to take it in for a quick wash. Hopefully this is a fix/solution moving forward.
Posted some pics, hopes this helps!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009JKGJ2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

View attachment 797326
Discoloration after a couple car washes from a contactless carwash

View attachment 797329
turtle wax polishing compound, sponge applicator, microfiber towel

View attachment 797327
uncleaned trim (left side) vs cleaned trim (right side)

View attachment 797328
full cleaned trim

Hello J,
Thank you for sharing for findings. I have the same issue on make 2020 model Y. I took it in for service and had all the trimming replaced. Oh so I thought. Just a couple of weeks after the new trim I’m getting the same discoloration. I also take it to a touchless car wash and always dry it myself. I’m wondering if the soaps used at the car wash are corrosive and causing this issue.
Thanks again,
RichG.

 

[kpanda17]

Nine month old MY and M3
Only hand washed, never car washed
Ceramic treated
Washed frequently
No issue

Stay away from car washes
It’s good exercise

 

[gmetcalf18]

I don't know if my hands are more oily than most or what but I can literally rub that off my trim with my hands it confused me initially I was just checking out what it was and noticed it comes off with light friction very easily.

 

[kpanda17]

I’ve had many Toyota trucks and religiously used great car washes and all trims became ruined by those chemicals

 

[tmatsusa]

Just wanted to post my results after cleaning the window trim of my 2021 Model Y with turtle wax polishing compound.

I usually hand wash my own car, but due to rehabbing a knee injury I took my car to a contactless carwash a couple times. After a couple car washes, I saw discoloration on the window trim right away. After searching many forums, I read someone's post about using turtle wax. Just tried it and the discoloration is gone and the window trim looks brand new. Bought the wax from amazon, used a sponge applicator and wiped it right off with a microfiber towel.

Definitely will be back to hand washing my car, but there will be occasions when I need to take it in for a quick wash. Hopefully this is a fix/solution moving forward.
Posted some pics, hopes this helps!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009JKGJ2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

View attachment 797326
Discoloration after a couple car washes from a contactless carwash

View attachment 797329
turtle wax polishing compound, sponge applicator, microfiber towel

View attachment 797327
uncleaned trim (left side) vs cleaned trim (right side)

View attachment 797328
full cleaned trim

Oh wow, this is pretty cool. I can definitely see the difference and will be trying this myself! So the wax helps remove the discoloration but does it prevent future discoloration?

 

[Alicia M]

This happened to my 2023 Model Y. I took it in for service under 30 day warranty. They cleaned the trim with Windex and it’s good as new!

 

[mOny718]

I use Car Guys Super Cleaner from Amazon. Works good for the marks on the trim. Use with microfiber towel and scrub all that nasty out. Trim looks like new. This product is very good for all areas of the interior. Bought the small spray then bought the big one.

 

[kpanda17]

Guys, I’m in this plastic battle with my MY as well
Few coats of the Car Guys stuff and not sure yet
My Toyota trucks and wrangler plastic did the same
Jury is out with a long term fix

Need scrub, clean and protect
We eventually might land on two things

I’m guessing, scrub with X/TBD and then seal with ceramic

 

[CCopperpot]

This discoloration happened to my Model 3 from a touchless carwash too.

Since that happened, after every car wash, I take a paper towel and apply a bit of WD-40 and wipe the trim. There is still a tiny bit of staining visible when the surface is 100% clean/dry, but the vast majority of it has disappeared and when the WD40 is applied, you cant see it anyway. The longer the WD40 sits, the better it seems to help.

YMMV

 

[astrobill]

I don't know if my hands are more oily than most or what but I can literally rub that off my trim with my hands it confused me initially I was just checking out what it was and noticed it comes off with light friction very easily.

The point is that the oily residue and dirt will come right back sooner or later. The issue is defective anodized and/or coated trim. Yeah, you can wipe the grime off with your fingers, but it will return. The andozization and/or coating that's defective is what prevents road grime and oil from adhering to the trim and causing the issue. It's when the coating is too thin and has worn off that one gets the issue. Per my posts, this was a known issue for certain batches of trim. I forced Tesla to admit that my vehicle was one of them and they replaced all my trim for free with new parts. Issue hasn't returned since then. After all the other tricks people claim work on this thread, it always came back.

This happened to my 2023 Model Y. I took it in for service under 30 day warranty. They cleaned the trim with Windex and it’s good as new!

If it hasn't come back after a few days or weeks of driving after they just used Windex, then there's no way you had the same issue as this thread. Sounds like just had dirty trim. The issue is there's defective/thin anodization and/or coating for certain vehicle batches and the only permanent fix is to get them to replace the trim. Read the entire thread, particularly my posts.

I use Car Guys Super Cleaner from Amazon. Works good for the marks on the trim. Use with microfiber towel and scrub all that nasty out. Trim looks like new. This product is very good for all areas of the interior. Bought the small spray then bought the big one.

If it hasn't come back after a few days or weeks of driving after what you describe doing, then there's no way you had the same issue as this thread (or maybe the coating is patchy in your case...it will continue to get worse, though. The issue is there's defective/thin anodization and/or coating for certain vehicle batches and the only permanent fix is to get them to replace the trim. Read the entire thread, particularly my posts.

Guys, I’m in this plastic battle with my MY as well
Few coats of the Car Guys stuff and not sure yet
My Toyota trucks and wrangler plastic did the same
Jury is out with a long term fix

Need scrub, clean and protect
We eventually might land on two things

I’m guessing, scrub with X/TBD and then seal with ceramic

It's not plastic. It's very thin anodized and/or coated aluminum. The fix is getting Tesla to replace the defectively andozied/coated trim. Per my posts, this is a known issue with certain batches/dates of vehicles. They replaced all mine for free. Issue hasn't returned.

This discoloration happened to my Model 3 from a touchless carwash too.

Since that happened, after every car wash, I take a paper towel and apply a bit of WD-40 and wipe the trim. There is still a tiny bit of staining visible when the surface is 100% clean/dry, but the vast majority of it has disappeared and when the WD40 is applied, you cant see it anyway. The longer the WD40 sits, the better it seems to help.

YMMV

If it hasn't come back after a few days or weeks of driving after just using WD40, then you either don't have the same issue as this thread...or *maybe* WD40 somehow lasts longer at preventing road grime and oil buildup. Eventually, the issue will return. Again, the issue is there's defective/thin anodization and/or coating for certain vehicle batches and the only permanent fix is to get them to replace the trim. Read the entire thread, particularly my posts.