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Sorry folks. I love my car. I live in Silicon Valley which is pretty much ground zero for Tesla adoption. And I've talked to people who know what they're doing and have seen lots of Model S's. The paint job is the only thing about my car that's a downgrade from my 2003 BMW 330i and my car isn't a special case.
If I keep this car for >5 years, I'll probably bite the bullet and repaint the entire thing.
If I keep this car for >5 years, I'll probably bite the bullet and repaint the entire thing.
chickensevil
Active Member
Check all over these forums! It was stated well enough that it was something I discovered between my initial order date and before I took delivery. I was randomly perusing the forums and saw people talking about it. If you haven't seen the numerous complaints about the "soft paint" just google search it.
Let me google that for you
This is not anything new... and I am sorry if it is the first you are hearing about it. If you do not have marks on your car AND you didn't get anything done to it (a wrap, opti-coat, etc) then you must be cleaning your car with pure silk or... just never driving your car or... paying $1000 a pop to have someone else clean it professionally... because I guarantee if you look even doing the two bucket wash, blow drying the car and using microfiber that you have some very delicate light scratches on the paint.
To the topic at hand, although I don't believe they have said anything about specifically improving the quality of the paint job, it is definitely something that I don't know why they wouldn't be doing it. Their goal is to make the best product in the world. This is one of the areas they can use improvement on. I don't see how this makes us a bunch of FUD throwing short sellers a la Seeking Alpha, one can critique the car without being against the company or the car.
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PS: it is much harder to make out the scratches on a white car than it is any other color, because the scratch tends to be a "light" color itself since what you are scratching up is the clear coat... maybe we should all just have bought white cars and then it wouldn't be an "issue". But again, go put the car in direct sunlight and then look it over at all angles and as the light catches the scratches you will see them.
Or go take it to a detailer that does scratch repair... and ask them for an estimate. If they tell you that there is nothing wrong with your car, or offer you their cheapest package, then I guess you have just done a really great job on your car, and I would love to know what you are doing to keep it in that state.
+1. Hopefully the statements about the paint shop imply quality improvements. Guess we can understand the reluctance to directly address the specifics.
Chickenlittle
Banned
No need to apologize to me you determined it to be issue even before you took delivery of your car?? I am only telling you my experience and will not apologize for that. It goes through commercial car wash. As to taking it to professional shop, what a crazy idea. Why would I if there is nothing wrong with it?? That's like suggesting I take my car to a dealer and ask if I should trade it in for a new one. Gee what would they say
Guys, I'm glad I had the car for the past 1.5+ years. I knew I was taking a risk getting an early car from a startup. I'm not ticked off. I love the car. I've made money off the stock and I'm still a stockholder so I believe in the company and put my money where my mouth is.
But the paint issues are real. There are lots of S's around here. If there's sunlight and you know what to look for, the flaws are pretty easy to see. I don't know that every car has these problems. Mine certainly does. And people I trust tell me they've seen way too many cars that do for a product that's otherwise very high quality. As I said, fortunately for Tesla, most people don't notice this sort of stuff and they're fixing it.
I don't want to make a big deal out of the paint situation. It is what it is. I'm really glad they're fixing it. Let's move on.
But the paint issues are real. There are lots of S's around here. If there's sunlight and you know what to look for, the flaws are pretty easy to see. I don't know that every car has these problems. Mine certainly does. And people I trust tell me they've seen way too many cars that do for a product that's otherwise very high quality. As I said, fortunately for Tesla, most people don't notice this sort of stuff and they're fixing it.
I don't want to make a big deal out of the paint situation. It is what it is. I'm really glad they're fixing it. Let's move on.
There will be a better paint job soon. Let's move on.
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"At some point, I am guessing they will need a second Final Assembly line. I would look for that to be the key for their push into 2k. I think from the comments I have heard they said they can hit 1k+ but I don't think they will be able to get 2k out of this line... "
Meaning that they will need a second Final Assembly line in the second half of 2015 already?
Chickenlittle
Banned
Got to love it. Just agree with my premise and move on. I don't but have moved on.
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chickensevil
Active Member
That is my impression, yes. Again, maybe they get much more out of the Final Assembly line than I am giving them credit for, but from the way it was discussed they would hit 1k. Then it was asked would there be further improvements or would 1k be the top, and they said yes, they could likely get more from it. But the feeling I got from those comments wasn't to the degree of we can double the output of the line.
chickensevil
Active Member
I am not quite willing to move on about the paint thing, because the sentiment of some is that there is no issue with the paint. I advise you to go talk to a detailer of your choice who has worked on the Model S along with all other variations of cars. I did, and here is the feedback that I got from them... and this was his comments about the car, not mine.
Comments: The paint is "very soft". The painting on the car is very uneven. It heavily resembles the painting and finishing touches similar to a low run, high end car (eg. Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc). The "detailing" done by the service center is on the same level as any other "dealer detailer", which is to say, it is a low end, low quality, minimum wage detailing to the point where you are likely doing more harm than good to the car.
Maybe we are just asking for too much in our paint... we are looking for perfection in a field that no manufacturer even comes close in the first place. But the concensus I was getting from the detailer was that the high volume cars tend to have a better quality paint on them. So I am sure we will see this naturally get better for Tesla as they up their number of produced cars. If their paint shop is to be the "most advanced paint shop in the world" this would indicate that both the speed of pushing a single car through the shop and the quality are going to be the best in the world. Right now, they can't even get the painting to coat evenly across the entire car... so... I would say they need to improve.
Comments: The paint is "very soft". The painting on the car is very uneven. It heavily resembles the painting and finishing touches similar to a low run, high end car (eg. Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc). The "detailing" done by the service center is on the same level as any other "dealer detailer", which is to say, it is a low end, low quality, minimum wage detailing to the point where you are likely doing more harm than good to the car.
Maybe we are just asking for too much in our paint... we are looking for perfection in a field that no manufacturer even comes close in the first place. But the concensus I was getting from the detailer was that the high volume cars tend to have a better quality paint on them. So I am sure we will see this naturally get better for Tesla as they up their number of produced cars. If their paint shop is to be the "most advanced paint shop in the world" this would indicate that both the speed of pushing a single car through the shop and the quality are going to be the best in the world. Right now, they can't even get the painting to coat evenly across the entire car... so... I would say they need to improve.
Actually, if you would read the title of this thread then you will see that it's not really about the paint, instead it's about the weekly production numbers in Fremont during the next few years. Therefore, I request you to please move on, or start another thread about the paint.
chickensevil
Active Member
The Tesla factory in Fremont is operational again since Monday August 4th, 2014. That's more than two weeks ago.
How soon will they be producing 1,000 (or more) Tesla Model Ses per week? How soon can they reach that rate/level of weekly production? How about: as from the first week of September 2014?
How soon will they be producing 1,000 (or more) Tesla Model Ses per week? How soon can they reach that rate/level of weekly production? How about: as from the first week of September 2014?
Here's a guess : 13 working days in July before the shutdown with 160 cars/day = 2080 cars produced. 5 working days to ramp up production during the first week at 100 cars/day = 500 cars. Guidance calls for 9000 cars produced in Q3. So they need to produce 6420 cars in the remaining 36 working days or around 180 cars/day. Assuming a gradual increase in production rate, they'll only need to hit 1000 cars/week by the end of the quarter to get there.
Some more info on this front:
Tesla Motors Factory Revealed: Silicon Valley Meets Detroit, Combining Perks And Manufacturing
Tesla Motors Factory Revealed: Silicon Valley Meets Detroit, Combining Perks And Manufacturing
chickensevil
Active Member
Just for clarification this is just the new final assembly line that was put in place. But this scratches what I thought I knew... So I am happy they are going to get significantly more volume out of this optimized line 
I think Q3 will be hurt more by the slower than expected ramp of the new assembly line than new paint shop. Wouldn't expect major construction to start until Q4/Q1 2015, just some demo work in Q3.
chickensevil
Active Member
Sounded like on the call that we wouldn't see anything new added to the factory until Q1 of 2015... I think they will be busy enough putting in all the new tooling for the MX to really have time to do much as far as expansion goes.
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