I fucking love patina on vehicles so much. This is definitely clown shit but point me towards a vehicle with copper panels and you can take all my money.
My Metalbird is developing a patina that looks a lot like rust. Apparently that's intentional and temporary but we'll see. I only paid $60 not $100,000 so I'm not as upset as I imagine these people are.
In particular, oil and acidic soiling, such as tar or bird droppings, should be cleaned immediately with an alcohol-based solvent. Immediately afterwards, rinsing with clear water or a pH-adjusted soap is recommended. This type of cleaning should be necessary after every longer ride.
Funny enough, I love going through the car wash. I like it so much that I have one of those unlimited wash
deals at my local soft touch place. I probably get 3 washes a week on average.
But the idea that I'd have to do that is nuts. And the shit about special soap and whatever? No way.
For a couple years I worked at a company that mainly sold fasteners. Think nuts and bolts for residential, commercial and industrial use. They came in different grades (strength), materials and coatings based on usage (for example indoor or outdoor use).
I was told by other sales associates that "stain less" was more accurate than "stainless." The reason being that if you expose stainless steel to water long enough, it will rust. However, it will take significantly longer to stain/rust compared to plain steel.
You want to use stainless steel in places where things will come into contact with water but not in situations where it will be submerged in water or exposed to the elements for long periods of time.
Your joke was pretty much how I was taught about stainless fasteners.
Sadly, no amount of money can teach a billionaire such simple things.
What if they covered the metal in some sort of protective coating? Perhaps even a colored waterproof coating. I think I heard of something like that once. It's called paint.
They chose to use the same stainless as the rockets, 301, which is not the best at resisting corrosion(rust) compared to other stainless varieties like 304 that was used on the DeLorean. Had they used 304 it is likely the rust wouldn't be anywhere near as much of a problem, the DeLorean stainless panels are still looking great and may only need a polish every few years.
Likely they chose 301 over 304 because they are already buying it for Starship and it takes to forming somewhat better.
On the plus side the steel is 3mm thick and that leaves a considerable amount of material to polish with before adding a clear coat or a clear protective film if the vinyl film coating was not chosen when buying it.
Stainless steel is resistant to a certain degree of corrosion depending on the specific type of steel. If Tesla went with a steel that's resistant enough to handle rainwater but not resistant enough to handle salted roads or salty maritime air then their cars can rust even if they're made with genuine stainless steel.
Of course that still means they chose the wrong steel.