Model S custom colour mock-ups ..

[Larry Chanin]

BTW, went for $155,000....

Hi Nigel,

I don't like those chrome "paint" jobs, but I do like the clear coat polished aluminum such as this Bugatti EB Veyron 16.4 Pur Sang.

Larry

 

[ElSupreme]

Very Orange, here we come...

Hi Nigel,

I don't like those chrome "paint" jobs, but I do like the clear coat polished aluminum such as this Bugatti EB Veyron 16.4 Pur Sang.

Larry

I wonder if they will paint non-Sigs. I doubt it. But I would push the 'Very Orange' or a Clear coat on the aluminum as what I would pick.

 

[vfx]

So the paintpoop from the Fashion Island show yesterday is they are not SELLING custom colors.

It seems if a client has prior knowlage that Tesla is doing it they will do a custom paint. It's not an easy process for them.
After primer the car is pulled off the line and sent to an outside paint shop and returned to the line. Got a cool lecture on the science of painting, paint guns, testing and durability finish of paint thickneses. It's not as easy as one would think and just switching colors in the robot painting "pot".

Turns outa after as many as 50 full car paint tests per color the right combination of paint flow volume and robot gun paint speed is determined. They can't put in different color and offer the same guarantee of quality that the stock colors will offer. As you can imagine they test with thickness gauges and other high tech measuring devices.

The Roadsters were partially robot and partially hand painted so an artist could see and adjust on given a custom color. The Lotus factory did insist that the paint be a Dupont paint but I found that every paint maker has every paint color (so a "dupont" or "PPG" body shop could do paint work on any car). Maybe the custom Roadsters were fully handpainted in the line by the experts do did the hoods and other small parts.

I will also note on the Tesla factory tour the excitable paint foreman talked about how getting a paint formula to perfectly match on metal and the plastic bumpers was a BIG deal. Not sure if he meant finding one ideal paint formula or having different mixes made up for each so the dry to the exact same shade, tone and density.

So if you had heard about it and you opt for custom,

It will take a lot longer
Cost a lot more (A deterring $12K apparently)
And I would not be surprised if paint longevity had a limited warranty on lifespan since it's done offsite.

 

[Tommy]

I will also note on the Tesla factory tour the excitable paint foreman talked about how getting a paint formula to perfectly match on metal and the plastic bumpers was a BIG deal. Not sure if he meant finding one ideal paint formula or having different mixes made up for each so the dry to the exact same shade, tone and density.

I can attest to the difficulty. In my day to day driving, I have seen a lot of brand new "luxury class" cars with plastic bumpers that are mismatched to their surrounding body panels; not so obvious to the naked eye but more so when I wear my polarized sunglasses.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

So the paintpoop from the Fashion Island show yesterday is they are not SELLING custom colors.
...
It will take a lot longer
Cost a lot more (A deterring $12K apparently)
And I would not be surprised if paint longevity had a limited warranty on lifespan since it's done offsite.

Thanks, Eric, for the poop....er...scoop! Wonder how this plays into Sigs wanting General Production colors? Would that require offsite work as well or will the paint robots be ready for that? I know AnOutsider's thinking Brown; there might be others too...

 

[AnOutsider]

Thanks, Eric, for the poop....er...scoop! Wonder how this plays into Sigs wanting General Production colors? Would that require offsite work as well or will the paint robots be ready for that? I know AnOutsider's thinking Brown; there might be others too...

Yeah, that's what I was wondering. Certainly sounds like the process is a headache (on top of being expensive). Probably only worth it if you want some "out there" exclusive color.

 

[neroden]

So the paintpoop from the Fashion Island show yesterday is they are not SELLING custom colors.

It seems if a client has prior knowlage that Tesla is doing it they will do a custom paint. It's not an easy process for them.
After primer the car is pulled off the line and sent to an outside paint shop and returned to the line.

Still tempting...

So if you had heard about it and you opt for custom,

It will take a lot longer
Cost a lot more (A deterring $12K apparently)
And I would not be surprised if paint longevity had a limited warranty on lifespan since it's done offsite.

But maybe I'll just get the cheap paint, wait for it to get damaged, and then have the car repainted in 5-10 years with my preferred (really unusual) colors.

 

[NigelM]

Yeah, that's what I was wondering. Certainly sounds like the process is a headache (on top of being expensive). Probably only worth it if you want some "out there" exclusive color.

But on WestCoastCustoms it always looks so easy and it takes like 30 minutes!