Service scratched my bumper. Anything I should look out for?

[michidragon]

So, I took my Model S in for some pretty straightforward service and a tire rotation. They didn't do a walkaround when I dropped it off; when I came to pick it up it had three 6-inch scrapes/gouges in the front bumper, like as if someone dragged something across it. Not minor.

They pretty quickly agreed to replace the bumper.

The thing is, they can only get hold of an unpainted bumper. They say they're sending it out to a local shop to be painted, and then I can bring it by in a week or so to get it installed. Things I'm worried about:

1 - Is the fit and finish going to be able to match -The shop they're sending it for paint has a good rating and reputation, but isn't it kind of impossible to get paint to match (is Midnight Silver Metallic) without me bringing in the car itself?

2 - Reinstalling all the clips and especially the parking sensors and their little rubber surrounds. Is that going to look all janky?

Is there anything I should ask for or do? This is my first Tesla 'body work', sort of. They say they can't get a pre-painted bumper from the factory.

I'm glad they're covering it, with all the problems I've had with this car in this year of ownership, but I have really bad luck it seems, (have had autopilot problems since a week in to owning it, lost the yellow screen arbitration, now I have a big gouge in my bumper through no fault of my own..) - I'm just worried about getting back a car with misaligned parking sensors (visibly or functionally) and the rest of the bumper being visibly lighter or darker than the rest of the car... (Oh, and I guess scuffs and scrapes that happened to the new bumper in transport. Can't forget that.)

I realize also people may not be able to predict but also just wondering what other people's experiences have been with this sort of thing.

 

[BANKWUPT]

Don't worry man, your car is pretty new so I wouldn't worry about color matching issues. I've heard MSM is also a pretty forgiving color when it comes to repairs. As for the ultrasonic sensors, I had to get my rear fascia replaced a while ago due to damage and the sensors actually looked better and were more flush than they came from the factory. Thanks San Jose collision team!

I'd actually love if that happened to me and Tesla had to replace my front fascia, that way I can put some protection on it this time around (mine's full of rock chips and scrapes... not even a year old )

Bottom line, if you don't like the repair then don't accept it. There's always going to be a very slight color different between the fascia and other body panels because of the material difference but like I said, MSM is very forgiving. White is much harder to color match between different materials

 

[rsg123]

I wouldn’t worry too much about the paint match. Just make sure the panel gaps are at least as good as before. I had to send my S back several times because of panel gap issues which were pretty horrendous. My repair involved several panels though.

 

[PhilDavid]

As a general rule, I ALWAYS take a video of the call right around at the service center before I drop off the car. It's parked on their parking lot when I do this and I have all my photos and videos backups up to Google Drive so that establishes a timestamp.

I'm glad they agreed to fix the bumper but everyone should pull into the SC parking lot and do a video around the car before you drop off the car. It literally takes just one minute. And walk around the car and inspect the paint and wheel when they deliver the car back to you as well.

Mistakes happen but it important to know when something happened so you can get things fixed. Without a video it could be a mess to deal with.

 

[random155]

I recently had a rear bumper "repaired" by a Tesla approved body shop. The finished product was so bad that they agreed to have it redone. It was minor body work and a whole re-paint of the rear bumper. My car is black, so the color wasnt an issue, but the contaminants, fisheyes and visible scratches were SOOO obvious. Second time around its 80% better, but still not like new. I say, it depends 100% on the shop that your service center deals with. Mine happens to be an Audi dealership with an attached body shop with not so well trained employees. FYI I rebuilt and painted a 69 mustang in my 1 car garage with better paint results, so I have an idea of the body and paint process. Good luck. Make sure you examine the work in front of the service center guy and point out every imperfection.

 

[D.E.]

The paint should match perfectly, of course. The truth is that the bumper has numerous curves so the metallic silver paint will reflect light slightly differently than the surrounding body panels. In fact the whole surface of the car varies in appearance depending on the light that strikes it. If the color of the paint isn’t an absolutely perfect match, it won’t show, it’ll look normal just as it does now. I’m not talking way off, just very slightly as might be with different samples of the same color paint. So it might not be worth worry.

 

[PWlakewood]

Color matching technology has come along way and any reputable shop will be using current technology so it should match perfectly and if it doesnt they will fix it. As far as if it looks janky after they install it.....some techs are better than others but it should look like it never happened and if it doesnt make sure they fix it.

 

[michidragon]

Thanks guys. The paint shop they're using seems pretty highly rated, and I called the shop and they say they do MSM all the time. So I guess my last worry on it will just be sensors being flush and gap alignment but that should be doable.

May end up getting a front PPF after this, since it might have kept whatever they dragged against it from going through. (This wasn't minor, it was like three 6-inch by 1cm gouges, taking the paint completely off.)

I am glad yeah that right away the guy who I was dealing with was just like "Tell you what, we'll replace your bumper." - there wasn't a fight or argument or anything; but for sure, i'll be doing a walkaround video every single time going forward.

 

[PhilDavid]

Thanks guys. The paint shop they're using seems pretty highly rated, and I called the shop and they say they do MSM all the time. So I guess my last worry on it will just be sensors being flush and gap alignment but that should be doable.

May end up getting a front PPF after this, since it might have kept whatever they dragged against it from going through. (This wasn't minor, it was like three 6-inch by 1cm gouges, taking the paint completely off.)

I am glad yeah that right away the guy who I was dealing with was just like "Tell you what, we'll replace your bumper." - there wasn't a fight or argument or anything; but for sure, i'll be doing a walkaround video every single time going forward.

I hate to do this but I sometimes do this when I valet park the car. Yeah I am crazy.

I then tip the valet $10 and ask them to be careful with the car so it's not like I don't take care of the valet but this puts everyone on notice that I expect the car back in the same condition and god forbid there is an issue, I have proof of the condition of the car when it was dropped off.