Do you feel your paint is extremely soft?

G

General Lee

New member
I feel my paint on my 05 SR5 is extremely soft. It scratches very easily, and its starting to annoy me. BTW, its stratasphere Mica.
 
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General Lee said:
I feel my paint on my 05 SR5 is extremely soft. It scratches very easily, and its starting to annoy me. BTW, its stratasphere Mica.
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Either that or the bushes around here are awfully hard. :D

I dunno, I don't have anything to compare it to, but I've got a lot of trail rash.
 
I agree but I think it's new cars in general. My 2004 Subaru WRX was really bad. I could breath on that thing and it would scratch. So far my 4Runner seems to be a little more scratch resistant then the WRX. Maybe a stronger clearcoat, or they baked it at the factory longer, I don't know. I agree though, newer vehicles seem to scratch a lot easier then the older ones.
 
Solice said:
I agree but I think it's new cars in general. My 2004 Subaru WRX was really bad. I could breath on that thing and it would scratch. So far my 4Runner seems to be a little more scratch resistant then the WRX. Maybe a stronger clearcoat, or they baked it at the factory longer, I don't know. I agree though, newer vehicles seem to scratch a lot easier then the older ones.
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I don't know what Subaru's problem is, but they suck at painting cars. The paint on my 2000 Impreza RS is bad too.

My 4Runner on the other hand is OK I suppose, better than my subaru anyway...
 
I've been very happy so far. Paint seems much better than my last car (Acura).

Clearcoats are extremely sensitive to quality cointrol, contamination, and formulation problems. They also have a short shelf life. Honda messed up on my car. I know someone who visited the paint plant.

My Toyota paint seems great.


How is it scratching? How do yo maintain your paint?
 
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The paint on the Runner is fine, you may want to take a look at the way you wash and protect it. The darker the color the more careful you have to be, to avoid fine scratches.

Koz
 
Koz said:
The paint on the Runner is fine, you may want to take a look at the way you wash and protect it. The darker the color the more careful you have to be, to avoid fine scratches.

Koz
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What he said ^^ :)
 
Koz said:
The paint on the Runner is fine, you may want to take a look at the way you wash and protect it. The darker the color the more careful you have to be, to avoid fine scratches.

Koz
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I am a detailer on the side. I am not your normal run of the mill detalier. I go through great extremes in detailing my vehicles and others as well. If I told you how careful I was with washing and drying you would think I was crazy.

I was saying that out of all the cars I have owned, This Toyota seems *very* delicate (paint wise)

Just wanted some input from fellow owners.:D
 
General Lee said:
I am a detailer on the side. I am not your normal run of the mill detalier. I go through great extremes in detailing my vehicles and others as well. If I told you how careful I was with washing and drying you would think I was crazy.

I was saying that out of all the cars I have owned, This Toyota seems *very* delicate (paint wise)

Just wanted some input from fellow owners.:D
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You may want to run a search, and look here.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/forumdisplay.php?forumid=9

Koz
 
General Lee said:
I am a detailer on the side. I am not your normal run of the mill detalier. I go through great extremes in detailing my vehicles and others as well. If I told you how careful I was with washing and drying you would think I was crazy.

I was saying that out of all the cars I have owned, This Toyota seems *very* delicate (paint wise)

Just wanted some input from fellow owners.:D
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My paint is great, I had the paint sealent package that is applied every 6 months added to my 4runner and I don't have a nick on it after 20K miles and the paint looks like new :) Maybe its the sealent? I've owned several Lexus and I would say the 4runner is as good as the Lexus. My Z's paint is not as good as the Toyota's.
 
The way toyota paints there cars seems better to me. Im not sure if you guys notice it, but if you compare the actual luster, and life of the paint compared to lets say BMW after a few years, you may see what im talking about. Im not saying the paint is better, but after a few years the toyota paint, seems to shine better in my opinion. I like my paint to look like its wet all the time.
 
Coating Performance

redwhisky5150 said:
The way toyota paints there cars seems better to me. Im not sure if you guys notice it, but if you compare the actual luster, and life of the paint compared to lets say BMW after a few years, you may see what im talking about. Im not saying the paint is better, but after a few years the toyota paint, seems to shine better in my opinion. I like my paint to look like its wet all the time.
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An interesting observation - and true! The (Japanese) company I work for is the primary supplier to Lexus and Toyota in Japan (as well as a few others). When Toyota started to build vehicles in the US they helped specify us to be one of their suppliers. We actually supply exterior coatings for roughly 1/2 of US Toyota production (among others).

Without getting into too much detail or giving out too much information, suffice it to say that the coatings systems used in Japan and the US for Toyota/Lexus are basically the same. The formulation differences come into play when trying to meet US air quality regulations. Toyota places a high value on the appearance of the coating - color and gloss retention over the life of the vehicle. This isn't to say that they sacrifice performance aspects of the coating. Coating design, like any other engineered product, involves trade-offs. While trying to maximize one property, it often involves a sacrifice in another area. For example, a "hard" coating will resist acid rain and marring better than one that is more flexible, but it may give-up deep scratch resistance, impact, and cold-temperature stone/gravel chip resistance. (I may be over-simplifying here for sake of discussion). The advent of basecoat/clearcoat technology vs monocoat (one coating) systems gives certain benfits, most notably appearance, while sacrificing a bit in others. We conduct many tests in the industry and every time we make a small formula change or develop a new color, all testing has to be repeated.

Also, while we try to obtain the same performance for all colors, there are some differences that arise here because of the pigmentaion used as well as levels needed for gloss and hiding requirements. White and black "tend" to be less forgiving for chip resistance while some bright organic colors like reds are slightly more prone to fade and have possible adhesion/delamination issues. Don't get nervous here! I am talking minor performance differences that require lab testing to quantify over a long period of sevice life and should not be an issue to the consumer.

Remember that the coating on your car is a "system". Steel substrate, pre-treatment, e-coat, primer/surfacer, basecoat, and clearcoat. All these coatungs must be properly formulated to work as a SYSTEM. They must also be applied correctly at the factory. A problem in one area can cause the while system to fail for some property at some point.


Oh yeah - which color do I like ............ I'll take silver!
 
Well mine is almost 2 years old and I have three chips on the front of the hood. It is obviously from small debris flying off of other tires in front of me. I don
 
Re: Coating Performance

Gromulus said:
An interesting observation - and true! The (Japanese) company I work for is the primary supplier to Lexus and Toyota in Japan (as well as a few others). When Toyota started to build vehicles in the US they helped specify us to be one of their suppliers. We actually supply exterior coatings for roughly 1/2 of US Toyota production (among others).

Without getting into too much detail or giving out too much information, suffice it to say that the coatings systems used in Japan and the US for Toyota/Lexus are basically the same. The formulation differences come into play when trying to meet US air quality regulations. Toyota places a high value on the appearance of the coating - color and gloss retention over the life of the vehicle. This isn't to say that they sacrifice performance aspects of the coating. Coating design, like any other engineered product, involves trade-offs. While trying to maximize one property, it often involves a sacrifice in another area. For example, a "hard" coating will resist acid rain and marring better than one that is more flexible, but it may give-up deep scratch resistance, impact, and cold-temperature stone/gravel chip resistance. (I may be over-simplifying here for sake of discussion). The advent of basecoat/clearcoat technology vs monocoat (one coating) systems gives certain benfits, most notably appearance, while sacrificing a bit in others. We conduct many tests in the industry and every time we make a small formula change or develop a new color, all testing has to be repeated.

Also, while we try to obtain the same performance for all colors, there are some differences that arise here because of the pigmentaion used as well as levels needed for gloss and hiding requirements. White and black "tend" to be less forgiving for chip resistance while some bright organic colors like reds are slightly more prone to fade and have possible adhesion/delamination issues. Don't get nervous here! I am talking minor performance differences that require lab testing to quantify over a long period of sevice life and should not be an issue to the consumer.

Remember that the coating on your car is a "system". Steel substrate, pre-treatment, e-coat, primer/surfacer, basecoat, and clearcoat. All these coatungs must be properly formulated to work as a SYSTEM. They must also be applied correctly at the factory. A problem in one area can cause the while system to fail for some property at some point.


Oh yeah - which color do I like ............ I'll take silver!
Click to expand...

I knew it...I think.

:bash:
 
What I've noticed is the paint on the plastic bumper seems to chip pretty easy.

Mine Runner is silver, and when it gets a chip you can see the dark plastic underneath really easy.

I haven
 
Mine is pretty soft too, I have a lot of chips (some in places I didn't know could be chipped) and I'm still getting marring even though I'm anal as heck about how I treat my paint.
 
Re: Coating Performance

Gromulus said:
An interesting observation - and true! The (Japanese) company I work for is the primary supplier to Lexus and Toyota in Japan (as well as a few others). When Toyota started to build vehicles in the US they helped specify us to be one of their suppliers. We actually supply exterior coatings for roughly 1/2 of US Toyota production (among others).

Without getting into too much detail or giving out too much information, suffice it to say that the coatings systems used in Japan and the US for Toyota/Lexus are basically the same. The formulation differences come into play when trying to meet US air quality regulations. Toyota places a high value on the appearance of the coating - color and gloss retention over the life of the vehicle. This isn't to say that they sacrifice performance aspects of the coating. Coating design, like any other engineered product, involves trade-offs. While trying to maximize one property, it often involves a sacrifice in another area. For example, a "hard" coating will resist acid rain and marring better than one that is more flexible, but it may give-up deep scratch resistance, impact, and cold-temperature stone/gravel chip resistance. (I may be over-simplifying here for sake of discussion). The advent of basecoat/clearcoat technology vs monocoat (one coating) systems gives certain benfits, most notably appearance, while sacrificing a bit in others. We conduct many tests in the industry and every time we make a small formula change or develop a new color, all testing has to be repeated.

Also, while we try to obtain the same performance for all colors, there are some differences that arise here because of the pigmentaion used as well as levels needed for gloss and hiding requirements. White and black "tend" to be less forgiving for chip resistance while some bright organic colors like reds are slightly more prone to fade and have possible adhesion/delamination issues. Don't get nervous here! I am talking minor performance differences that require lab testing to quantify over a long period of sevice life and should not be an issue to the consumer.

Remember that the coating on your car is a "system". Steel substrate, pre-treatment, e-coat, primer/surfacer, basecoat, and clearcoat. All these coatungs must be properly formulated to work as a SYSTEM. They must also be applied correctly at the factory. A problem in one area can cause the while system to fail for some property at some point.


Oh yeah - which color do I like ............ I'll take silver!
Click to expand...

So if your 4runner gets smacked in a accident your screwed? Right??? Plus we are lucky that are 4runners are built in the top factory in the world in Japan :)
 
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