Seeking Scratch Repair Advice

UberEV1 · Jan 4, 2015

It finally happened to us too . . .

After parking the car in my brother's garage, we opened the tailgate and forgot to check the clearance. His garage being smaller than ours, the inevitable happened and the tailgate hit one of the garage door slat hinges - Ouch! The scratch isn't too big and it doesn't look to have dented or deformed the metal itself. So, what would be the best way to repair this (seems repainting the entire tailgate might be going overboard)? And, any recommendations for somebody in the San Jose area who would do a great job?

Thanks in advance!

UberEV1 · Jan 6, 2015

Bump: Anyone out there who has had to repair similar size scratches?

Gizmotoy · Jan 6, 2015

Time to visit a detailer. It doesn't look too serious, but while I'm pretty comfortable with paint repairs, I'm not sure even I would touch that. There are two spots that look pretty deep, but those other white lines may buff out with some polishing compound.

Certainly if you take it to the body shop you'll get the default "repaint the trunk" response, so definitely see if someone can correct it first.

Larry93428 · Jan 6, 2015

So sorry to see the damage.
If they do repaint the entire trunk, that is not to be afraid of.
Touch-ups look good when new but with time they show.
I would prefer a full repaint.
~Larry

drsaab · Jan 6, 2015

U can try dr colorchip for touch up. Wont match painting it obviously, but will fill up the scratch better than it looks now and better than a touch up pen.

UberEV1 · Feb 28, 2015

UPDATE

Before going to a full lift gate re-paint, which is always a fall-back option, I looked first into doing a spot repair. I discovered a local auto paint repair service (Finish Line Painting) that came to me, positioned the car for best lighting and then completed the repair in about 2 hours. It was a bit more involved than I expected (sanded out / repaired scratches, sanded down clear left and right to allow for color blending, primed, painted color, painted clear, polished). The result looks very, very good (see below)! Under certain direct sun conditions, it is possible to see (barely) the blend transitions on each side, but if you didn't know to look for them, you wouldn't notice anything. My wife thought I was crazy because she couldn't see it at all. So, at least for now, I seem to have a very good solution at a very reasonable price.

For those of you in the SF Bay Area, the contact information is below. Glen told me that he has been doing this for 30+ years, frequently does repairs on exotic cars and was directly supporting the Tesla Factory on the first 1000 Model S builds as they worked out issues on the line. Very nice guy and someone to know.

Glen Machado
Finish Line Painting
408-482-1150
[email protected]

eco5280 · Feb 28, 2015

Wow, that's a terrific repair. I'd be pleased as well. He seems to have gotten a little over enthusiastic and painted over the T emblem

Gizmotoy · Feb 28, 2015

eco5280 said:
Wow, that's a terrific repair. I'd be pleased as well. He seems to have gotten a little over enthusiastic and painted over the T emblem

Could always stick it back on. It had to come off to repaint, and likely can't be reinstalled until the paint has cured for some time since it wasn't baked.

Repair looks fantastic. I'll keep Glen in mind.

eco5280 · Feb 28, 2015

Gizmotoy said:
Could always stick it back on. It had to come off to repaint, and likely can't be reinstalled until the paint has cured for some time since it wasn't baked.

I'm beginning to think that nobody on this forum, even when they see a WINKING SMILEY FACE can understand a joke.

Gizmotoy · Feb 28, 2015

eco5280 said:
I'm beginning to think that nobody on this forum, even when they see a WINKING SMILEY FACE can understand a joke.

Or maybe that we understood the "joke" and thought someone might be interested to know why it's like that?

UberEV1 · Feb 28, 2015

eco5280 said:
Wow, that's a terrific repair. I'd be pleased as well. He seems to have gotten a little over enthusiastic and painted over the T emblem

I wondered why he needed to use 3 gallons of bondo..??.. (JK) :wink:

Actually, I haven't reinstalled the "T" yet since I was considering adding Artsci's lighted T. And now I have the flexibility to install it upside down if desired. :biggrin:

kp.sfo · Mar 2, 2015

Thank you UberEV1 for sharing. This looks terrific. Bookmarked on yelp for future reference...

alohates1a · Mar 3, 2015

Another "thanks for sharing" and glad this worked out for you. Hope it will be years (or never) that I have to utilize this service source but good to know that he is in the bay area!

It actually looks pretty clean, de-badged without the T logo

mmh · Mar 3, 2015

Thanks for the update, looks very nice.

On a side note, I love the debadged look. I removed the logos from mine within 8 hours of owning it:

EBill · Mar 3, 2015

Pictures of debadged look but with rear lighted T and red letters on the Tesla.

Now that the rear "T" is off you have no template to install it again. I had a similar problem when installing my lighted T as the shop doing the XPEL wrap took off the T before I could measure the location. Fortunately another Tesla was nearby and I could measure the distances:
-The bottom of the T is 3.8 cm from the bottom of the hatch lid
-The top of the arch is 2.2 cm from the top of the hatch lid
-There is a 3mm gap between the arch and the T.
The contours of the T will also help guide you to fit it into the right place on the hatch.

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