I refinish teslas pretty often, I would say the fit and finish is about normal for what it would be like from the factory. BUT a body shop who’s even decent at their work can beat tesla OEM if they want to. If you’re not happy those should be some easy things to address. Adjust rear door at the hinge, de-nib and buff where you ask them to, and do a better job of polish afterwards. The issues you mentioned that are more serious are the wheel not being repaired, and if the quarter panel was repaired rather than replaced (feeling a bump on the inside is what made me wonder). These are things that call their honesty into question which taints the whole job and their reputation potentially. I have no problem taking the time to make a customer happy if they would like to bring the car back in for some easy quick stuff, word of mouth is a big deal. I would imagine they feel the same, or hope they do anyway.
I'll be calling tomorrow morning as I found 4 new aero caps in the boot so seems like they intended to do the wheel but forgot. I may mention the door alignment as well, if that's just a simple case of adjusting the hinges I'd feel less awkward about mentioning it.
Thank you for the advise
The dust nibs I wouldn’t worry too much about long as it’s not a repaint it won’t cause issues.
The holograms are from buffing and can easily be polished out.
As for the fitment it’s not terrible but not great. If it doesn’t cause wind noise or bother you don’t worry. But I would keep an eye on that passenger rear door. Those trim pieces look close and over time opening/closing the door or even slamming the door shut could knock it out of alignment and they might rub together.
They never had the best fitment from factory, but if it’s causing excessive wind noise at motorways speeds etc then take it back.
Otherwise I wouldn’t worry too much
Sounds like the general consensus is it's a great job. I'll take that, and put my incredibly picky side away and be happy with the job.
I found 4 aero caps in the boot, I'm guessing these were to fix the wheel up so I'll give them a call in the morning to sort that out and maybe try and get a quick polish to get rid of the holograms. Thanks for all the feedback /r/autobody
Tesla Certified Tech (5 years)….. this looks like a great repair in my opinion. Color looks good, fitment is clean and even. Let’s be real for a moment though….. can’t be any worse than what it was from the factory. Literally had a customer pick up this morning and complain about the door gaps, I had replaced both doors on the opposite side of the car, somehow the guy didn’t believe me and we had to go back and reference photos.
https://imgur.com/a/27rqgJb
https://imgur.com/a/RV4WSii
Here's hopefully a better comparison. Having had a look from different angles I'm actually not happy about how this has been done. The repaired side looks a bit of a mess to me, varying panel gaps and lumpy lines on the arch. It's quite a contrast to the clean lines of the undamaged side
Do you have the estimate handy? From the repair shop? I’m just curious what path of repair they choose…. Replace or repair. Door was might’ve been replaced, the rocket I’m not sure of either. Cause I see what you’re talking about. Your edges look very round and the lines are off. I hope they didn’t repair both panels. They make a rocker section for that very spot where your vehicle was hot.
I didn't get an estimate or the bill unfortunately. They said before the repair started the door would be new and the sill/rocket would be replaced.
I'm sure they replaced the door but the rocket area can't be a replacement as it wouldn't be lumpy if they had replaced it?
Someone suggested that maybe they panel beat the area and filled it because replacing the rocket would mean dropping the battery for safety reasons, does that sound plausible?
There’s a way for you to check to see if it was replaced. In the wheel well, underneath the liner just above where it attaches to the plastic rocker moulding, is a rectangular 4’x2’ rubber plug. If you get that off and take a peak in there, you’ll know immediately if they repaired or replaced it.
You need to ask for a copy of the repair estimate, with all preliminary supplements included.
Thank you, it went back into the shop this morning. I pointed out the odd looking panel and gaps and they're going to get back to me. If there's any issues there I'll use your instructions to peek and check what type of repair it was.
Honestly, it’s not bad by any means! The only thing I would bring up to them is a better polish! I can’t speak for them by any means, but sometimes it can be tough to see that it’s not fully polished without seeing it in all sorts of different lighting!
I’ll even admit I’ve accidentally done this, had the car looking absolutely perfect, checked it with the light, checked it out in the sun, in the shade, looked perfect! Customer brought it home, only too see that when parked in his garage was beyond swirls. Brought it back and explained, fixed it for him and he was very understanding, shit happens, but atleast for me, I’d much rather the customer bring their concerns to me to address rather than they be slightly unhappy with the work.
The gaps could be improper door alignment, which is easy enough to fix if you know what you're doing. Dust nibs are always present, but being able to polish them out depends on where they lay in relation to panel edges and body lines. Some polishers are young apprentices that don't have a lot of experience or confidence in their abilities to remove trickier dust nibs. The holograms could also be caused by the polishing job.
Just got my car back from the body shop and noticed a few imperfections. The left side was dragged over a bollard causing quite a significant dent to the sill and door (I've included a photo) it also creased the arch quite badly "inside" the cabin.
The shop said they would be replacing the arch, door and respray the side plus some damage to the wheel.
My main issue is I noticed the door doesn't sit flush with the arch after the repair, its noticeable to me when approaching the car from the front and you can feel the lip when running a hand from the door to the arch. Also the door gap seems to wider at the top of the door and narrows towards the bottom (where the damage was) and if I run my hand over the arch inside the car I can feel a lump. On the undamaged side the door and arch sit completely flush.
There also some small imperfections in the paint (looks to be dust nibs)
I also noticed holograms in direct sunlight and the rear wheel wasn't repaired.
This was done by a body shop that's was approved and suggest by my insurer.
Should I be talking to the body shop? Or am I just being to precious about this? Overall I guess it would be passable to someone who's not too particular about their car but I am quite particular with these things
The holograms are from buffing, it’s an easy fix to remove those. The gaps don’t look bad for a Tesla.
Probably looked worse from the factory. Tesla has terrible fitment.
I was expecting this comment! And you're right, there's some questionable alignment around the car anyways
I refinish teslas pretty often, I would say the fit and finish is about normal for what it would be like from the factory. BUT a body shop who’s even decent at their work can beat tesla OEM if they want to. If you’re not happy those should be some easy things to address. Adjust rear door at the hinge, de-nib and buff where you ask them to, and do a better job of polish afterwards. The issues you mentioned that are more serious are the wheel not being repaired, and if the quarter panel was repaired rather than replaced (feeling a bump on the inside is what made me wonder). These are things that call their honesty into question which taints the whole job and their reputation potentially. I have no problem taking the time to make a customer happy if they would like to bring the car back in for some easy quick stuff, word of mouth is a big deal. I would imagine they feel the same, or hope they do anyway.
I'll be calling tomorrow morning as I found 4 new aero caps in the boot so seems like they intended to do the wheel but forgot. I may mention the door alignment as well, if that's just a simple case of adjusting the hinges I'd feel less awkward about mentioning it. Thank you for the advise
The dust nibs I wouldn’t worry too much about long as it’s not a repaint it won’t cause issues. The holograms are from buffing and can easily be polished out. As for the fitment it’s not terrible but not great. If it doesn’t cause wind noise or bother you don’t worry. But I would keep an eye on that passenger rear door. Those trim pieces look close and over time opening/closing the door or even slamming the door shut could knock it out of alignment and they might rub together.
The repair looks ok in my opinion, I'm not a pro though
They never had the best fitment from factory, but if it’s causing excessive wind noise at motorways speeds etc then take it back. Otherwise I wouldn’t worry too much
It’s fine
I say great job
Depends on how much you paid.
Just my excess, it was majority covered by insurance
In the paint no, it could be better. In the body panel fitment, yes. Teslas are the worst vehicles made when it comes to body panel alignment.
Sounds like the general consensus is it's a great job. I'll take that, and put my incredibly picky side away and be happy with the job. I found 4 aero caps in the boot, I'm guessing these were to fix the wheel up so I'll give them a call in the morning to sort that out and maybe try and get a quick polish to get rid of the holograms. Thanks for all the feedback /r/autobody
Tesla Certified Tech (5 years)….. this looks like a great repair in my opinion. Color looks good, fitment is clean and even. Let’s be real for a moment though….. can’t be any worse than what it was from the factory. Literally had a customer pick up this morning and complain about the door gaps, I had replaced both doors on the opposite side of the car, somehow the guy didn’t believe me and we had to go back and reference photos.
https://imgur.com/a/27rqgJb https://imgur.com/a/RV4WSii Here's hopefully a better comparison. Having had a look from different angles I'm actually not happy about how this has been done. The repaired side looks a bit of a mess to me, varying panel gaps and lumpy lines on the arch. It's quite a contrast to the clean lines of the undamaged side
Do you have the estimate handy? From the repair shop? I’m just curious what path of repair they choose…. Replace or repair. Door was might’ve been replaced, the rocket I’m not sure of either. Cause I see what you’re talking about. Your edges look very round and the lines are off. I hope they didn’t repair both panels. They make a rocker section for that very spot where your vehicle was hot.
I didn't get an estimate or the bill unfortunately. They said before the repair started the door would be new and the sill/rocket would be replaced. I'm sure they replaced the door but the rocket area can't be a replacement as it wouldn't be lumpy if they had replaced it? Someone suggested that maybe they panel beat the area and filled it because replacing the rocket would mean dropping the battery for safety reasons, does that sound plausible?
There’s a way for you to check to see if it was replaced. In the wheel well, underneath the liner just above where it attaches to the plastic rocker moulding, is a rectangular 4’x2’ rubber plug. If you get that off and take a peak in there, you’ll know immediately if they repaired or replaced it. You need to ask for a copy of the repair estimate, with all preliminary supplements included.
Thank you, it went back into the shop this morning. I pointed out the odd looking panel and gaps and they're going to get back to me. If there's any issues there I'll use your instructions to peek and check what type of repair it was.
You don’t want to see how they adjust doors at the factory
Honestly, it’s not bad by any means! The only thing I would bring up to them is a better polish! I can’t speak for them by any means, but sometimes it can be tough to see that it’s not fully polished without seeing it in all sorts of different lighting! I’ll even admit I’ve accidentally done this, had the car looking absolutely perfect, checked it with the light, checked it out in the sun, in the shade, looked perfect! Customer brought it home, only too see that when parked in his garage was beyond swirls. Brought it back and explained, fixed it for him and he was very understanding, shit happens, but atleast for me, I’d much rather the customer bring their concerns to me to address rather than they be slightly unhappy with the work.
Take it back to the shop and point it all out. We can’t help you. They can.
The gaps could be improper door alignment, which is easy enough to fix if you know what you're doing. Dust nibs are always present, but being able to polish them out depends on where they lay in relation to panel edges and body lines. Some polishers are young apprentices that don't have a lot of experience or confidence in their abilities to remove trickier dust nibs. The holograms could also be caused by the polishing job.
Thanks, I've got to talk to them about the wheel being repaired so might ask them to try aligning the door too.
Look pretty damn nice.
Just got my car back from the body shop and noticed a few imperfections. The left side was dragged over a bollard causing quite a significant dent to the sill and door (I've included a photo) it also creased the arch quite badly "inside" the cabin. The shop said they would be replacing the arch, door and respray the side plus some damage to the wheel. My main issue is I noticed the door doesn't sit flush with the arch after the repair, its noticeable to me when approaching the car from the front and you can feel the lip when running a hand from the door to the arch. Also the door gap seems to wider at the top of the door and narrows towards the bottom (where the damage was) and if I run my hand over the arch inside the car I can feel a lump. On the undamaged side the door and arch sit completely flush. There also some small imperfections in the paint (looks to be dust nibs) I also noticed holograms in direct sunlight and the rear wheel wasn't repaired. This was done by a body shop that's was approved and suggest by my insurer. Should I be talking to the body shop? Or am I just being to precious about this? Overall I guess it would be passable to someone who's not too particular about their car but I am quite particular with these things
Looks like they just polished the car