DON't WASH 2014 TRAIL Wheel! Please help!

[toyotasam]

Check out the pics. Please let me know if your 2014 Trail edition Wheel cap rings are doing the same. PLEASE

So my brand new 2014 trail edition has 3000 miles on it, and I noticed dents forming on the thin aluminium rings around the wheel caps. My dealer said someone was vandalizing the vehicle, but I could not see how or when since it was in secure parking all the time, in a building of elderly people, and there are no other marks ANYWHERE on the truck or wheels. So toyota warranty will not apply. They never even took them off to look at the other side.

So I was furious, and took them off the wheels to discover the tabs that attach the metal rings to the uneven plastic backing where not tight, causing the rings to rattle against the plastic.. I also noticed that the dents are exactly the same shape of the plastic below, which is not continuous, but ridged.

I don't know if the rattling did this, or the touchless car wash I always use. If it is the car wash, it would be because the metal ring is so thin and flimsy sitting against an uneven surface. Either way I am very disappointed that Toyota will not stand behind a very inferior product. Two dealers refused to entertain the idea that this is a cheap product that is not well designed.

If toyota is serious about listening to feedback, they sure are not showing it. The attitude at service is "no way would toyota produce something inferior" guess what, they did.

If anyone else has a 2014 Trail edition, please let me know if you are also getting denting on these rings. All 4 of mine are showing the same. If i can prove a pattern, they may at least redesign them so they will not dent.

You can email me directly at [email protected]
Thanks

 

[NoDak]

please either delete the other post or this one. not point in having 2 exact posts in 2 different forums (general and 5th gen)

 

[phillyd2]

I too would be like so furious! Hopefully yours will be covered by warrantee. :Cry:

For reference this is how your wheel should look.

 

[RickC5]

Just checked mine. One ring is loose, and another has one small dent in that center ring. The other two are fine.

Sorry, I can't get excited about this.

 

[desertred]

Sorry for your troubles, but you may be on to the answer in mentioning the touchless car wash. It is pretty apparent that the indentations on the aluminum rings match the pattern of the underlying plastic protrusions on the cap, indicating that some sort of exterior pressure on the ring is causing the dents. Touchless car washes can use an extremely high amount of pressure in applying he water onto the vehicle. The local washes around me all have warning signs not to use the car wash if you have loose trim pieces, flaking/chipped paint, etc. If could easily be that the water pressure against the aluminum ring is forcing the metal to bend into the cavities between the cap protrusions. If that is the case, I can see Toyota's reluctance in warranting the item.

 

[toyotasam]

Hand wash

Hi there,
I use the hand held touchless wash. It is up the street from me so it is where I stop to wash the snow and salt off the truck.

If it is the wash, and I suspect it is, I know Toyota may not warranty, they already refused to, but surely I should be able to wash the truck without worrying about denting it. In fact, i see them using the same handheld wash in the service bay. i am willing to bet that if they did that on any 4runner with these wheels, they will dent. That's poor quality for Toyota. The ring is barely 1mm thick, and should have been backed by a flat plastic backing not ridged ones. It is a poor design that should be warrantied, or at least re-designed. I hope this at least gets them to re-design it.

 

[JohnJerk]

I hope you laughed at the dealer when he mentioned vandalism. That's just f'ed.

Wouldn't a tech use a rubber mallet to put these back on? Would that explain it?

 

[adam2562]

I hope you laughed at the dealer when he mentioned vandalism. That's just f'ed.

Wouldn't a tech use a rubber mallet to put these back on? Would that explain it?

Very possible but i think he only has 3k miles. unless they've already rotated the wheels or took them off to put another set of tires on.

 

[NoDak]

Hi there,
I use the hand held touchless wash. It is up the street from me so it is where I stop to wash the snow and salt off the truck.

If it is the wash, and I suspect it is, I know Toyota may not warranty, they already refused to, but surely I should be able to wash the truck without worrying about denting it. In fact, i see them using the same handheld wash in the service bay. i am willing to bet that if they did that on any 4runner with these wheels, they will dent. That's poor quality for Toyota. The ring is barely 1mm thick, and should have been backed by a flat plastic backing not ridged ones. It is a poor design that should be warrantied, or at least re-designed. I hope this at least gets them to re-design it.

not really the same. your handheld washer probably puts out 1000-2000 psi at 1" from the nozzle, so unless your washing your car with it 1" from the vehicle I doubt you can do any damage, unless your using the pinpoint nozzle which you shouldn't since you can peel paint with it at that psi.

now commercial touchless have a several hp motor pumping up the pressure and usually the nozzle openings are bigger and push more volume thru them so I can see that happening.

personally I avoid the touchless ones, but we do have 1 hybrid car wash. pre wash is by hand, mid wash is combo of automatic cloth and touchless, and drying is by machine and by hand.

my last car I went almost 2 yrs before I washed it (Subaru legacy). it didn't look any worse than if I washed it all the time.

 

[toyotasam]

Only time

The only times the tires where off where with 10 miles on it when they put michelins on instead of stock, before I picked it up. No dents then. They have formed over the past few months as time goes on. The pressure wash is the coin operated type, $2 ones. I never get closer than 6 inches and the pressure out of these is not that strong. It just have a regular nozzle. I live in an apartment building so no access to personal pressure wash.

Let's assume it is the washing, should I not be able to wash my vehicle and not worry about denting it? I think these rings should be backed by flat plastic all the way around, not sections of plastic. They are paper thin and can bend with any slight pressure.

This is my 8th toyota in 15 years, and first time ive ever seen anything like this.
Two dealers told me the same thing, vandalism. To them, no way can anything else dent these. They didnt even bother taking the cap of the wheel to see how thin this aluminum is.

 

[Whiplash Willy]

These problems are because our wheels are made in China now for cheapness. Seriously though, anytime I have ever had anyone else take of my center caps, they have gotten damaged somehow. I am sure the caps are just so cheap that they can easily be damaged by some careless tech with an impact wrench. Can't you just replace them all for like $50 and move forward?

Vandalism is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. NOBODY would vandalize someones wheel center caps, and nothing else....I am sure the dealers just said that so they wouldn't have to deal with the issue. Either that, or a Geezer with a Stroke Cane really has a grudge with your center caps!

 

[1engineer]

Its not Toyota that is not granting warranty its your dealer. They are NOT the same. The dealer is only a representative of Toyota and not Toyota itself so don't blame Toyota. BTW my wheels have scratches from roots and rocks but is it Toyotas fault they didn't build the wheels to resist rock scratches? I think so and I am going to the dealer for warranty. Good idea.

 

[FERAL 4R]

Its not Toyota that is not granting warranty its your dealer. They are NOT the same. The dealer is only a representative of Toyota and not Toyota itself so don't blame Toyota. BTW my wheels have scratches from roots and rocks but is it Toyotas fault they didn't build the wheels to resist rock scratches? I think so and I am going to the dealer for warranty. Good idea.

Stop with your fuzzy logic mis'ter scien'tist!

 

[philsey]

This is not really a warranty issue. The warranty is against the failure of an oem component (generalizing), NOT against a component's ability to withstand certain levels of treatment.

Taken to an extreme; would you expect Toyota to warrantee a parking lot door ding on the basis that the steel in the door was not strong enough? Certainly not.

Something happened, sure, but is it a Toyota faulty component? I think not. Was it vandalism? Hell no, but what do want them to say? They have to make up some ka-ka to deny a nonsense (imo) claim.

My 4R is 4 yrs old, has been subjected to weekly DIY spray washes AND drive-thru washes AND dozens of tire rotations/swaps/replacements and I have no such damage.

Suggest you get over it. I had to look a second time to see what you were even complaining about. If that bothers you THAT much, you're in for big heartache from parking lots and parallel parkers.

 

[Go JayBee]

To the OP:
Why not just remove those "glamour" rings completely?
IMO, the caps look more "trail-ish" without em'.
And, it seems to me that they would be easier to keep clean.
:girl:

 

[Jeremy556]

The only times the tires where off where with 10 miles on it when they put michelins on instead of stock, before I picked it up. No dents then.

During tire installation they had to remove and reinstall those, and they typically aren't terribly gentle with putting the center caps back on. That is almost certainly when it happened.

 

[<<<<]

I put a deep scratch on rear quarter panel first time I washed the car. I wouldn't worry about small things. Don't worry; Be Happy.

 

[NoDak]

if I remember correctly, even the platinum warranty (extended?) doesn't cover bright trim.

edit : shiny metals

THESE ARE THE ITEMS NOT COVERED:
Accessory Drive Belts; Batteries; Body Panels; Brake Linings, Pads and Shoes, Rotors and Drums; Bumpers; Carpet; Chrome; Clutch Friction Disc and Pressure Plate; Dash Cover and Pad; Door Fabric; Door Trim; Filters; Fluids; Glass (including Windshields); Headliner; Heating Hoses, Lines and Tubes; Hoses; Hybrid Vehicle Battery Pack; Hybrid Vehicle Battery Plug Assembly; Hybrid Vehicle Relay Assembly; Hybrid Vehicle Supply Battery Assembly; Interior and Exterior Trim and Moldings (including but not limited to: Ashtrays, Covers, Cup Holders, and Vents); Lamps, Light Assemblies/Housings, and Lightbulbs; Nuts, Bolts, Clips, Retainers, and Fasteners; Paint; Rust and Corrosion Damage; Seat Covers; Sheet Metals; Shiny Metals; Spark Plugs; Structural Framework and Welds; Tires; Vacuum Hoses, Lines and Tubes; Weather Stripping; Wheels and Rims; Windshield Wiper Blades (Rubber component); All interior and exterior cloth, leather, and stitching including convertible tops and/or vinyl tops including but not limited to: any vibration, deterioration, discoloration, disfigurement, warping, fading, staining, stretching, ripping, punctures, tearing, and/or scratches

 

[toyota4life]

this is why i hate things when they are new and love them when they are old and broken in. The pitted, worn out wheels on my '98 allow me to enjoy that truck more than my '14 with its pristine and perfect wheels

 

[NoDak]

this is why i hate things when they are new and love them when they are old and broken in. The pitted, worn out wheels on my '98 allow me to enjoy that truck more than my '14 with its pristine and perfect wheels

well at least the 20" LE rims have a hard raised black plastic cover for the center