New 4R - defective paint

Z

Zachary

New member
I bought a new 05' Sport V8 4x4. about two weeks ago The color is natural white. The problem is with the paint - or actually the clear coat.

I was hand washing the car today. When it was dry, I noticed a circle of about 1 inch on the side of the door that appeared off color. It kinda looked like light was refracting off of it. However, when I inspected it closely, it looked like someone touched the clear coat before it was dry. Then, a friend of mine noticed 11 more little spots on the right side of the truck, on the top part of the doors, all the way from front to back. Then I noticed another blotch on the fuel door.

I owned a 2000 Sport and the paint was flawless. I know my 2000 had that Toyo group pkg which included (so they say) an additional clear coat. My '05 does not have this package. Still, this is a defect. Do any of you have this problem? What should I do? I bought the truck in Florida, but I have to drive to New Jersey tomorrow. I'm gonna take it to a dealer there and have them fix it.

Your thoughts?

Zachary
 
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That is definitely out of the ordinary. The paint/clear coat was flawless on my runner when I got it. I checked it closely. I have since added some offroad custom pinstriping, as well as some lovely paint chips.
 
my back bumper has a ~1.5 inch mark that is about 0.5 inch thick where it appears that somebody touched the wet paint in the factory, then proceeded to use a small brush to 'fix' their mistake. Because it is a metallic paint, this 'fixed' area looks much darker, but they ended up spraying the clear coat over it so you can't feel it at all. I showed the dealer, they agreed it was a factory defect, but also said it would probably be best to just leave it alone rather than have them repaint the whole bumper.
 
Try a heating up the effected areas with a heat gun....blowdryer might work if that's all you got. I've seen the odd light coloured Tacoma and 4R that had some weird spots in the clear on delivery and often heating them up the area got rid of them. Don't ask me why/how or what they are, but this worked.

Hopefully that's all your's needs....try one of the spots first. Or just bring it to the dealer and see what they say/do.
 
Based on previous posts the white does not have clear coat. If it is as severe as you seem to indicate, 13 spots, I would not accept it and get a new Runner. Nothing a dealer can do will get it where it is factory equal.
 
I'd plan to take it to the service manager right away. The longer you wait, the easier it will be for them to say that it was caused by something you did.
 
The problem is that I am getting ready to move today and will not arrive in NJ until next Monday, which means that I can't go to a Toyota dealership until that Tuesday or Wednesday.

I am so upset about this problem. You wouldn't expect this is a cheap $15,000 car, much less a $36,000 TOYOTA!!!! A friend of mine bought a new Yukon Denali - also in white. His paint is flawless. It was so embarassing to have my Japanese made vehicle have this ridiculous defect! Why didn't Toyota notice this problem before it left the lot? What happened to their 1 million point inspection????

Other than the paint problem, the truck is perfect and I couldn't be happier. But still, the paint is a significant issue and could get much worse soon.

Did I also forget to mention that there are several tiny little spots on the truck that look like rust spots? I tell myself, it can't be rust - the truck was made on July, 05, and I picked it off the truck on August, 05! What gives!!!!!!!!

The is definately a defect, and Toyota should fix it. The Toyota dealership in Florida from which I bought the truck are very good people. I just hope that a Toyota dealer in NJ will be just as good.

My lawyer may also come to play if there are any problems.

BTW, you are right. The more time passes the more Toyota will be able to say that I did something. That's part of the reason that I am posting this problem, so that I can document the problem, print it, and give it to toyota. I'm glad to hear that someone else has had this same problem, so that Toyota can't say that this is the first time that this has happened to one of their vehicle. The difference with my truck, however, is that it is not on the bumper, but rather on BOTH sides of the truck. If they have to repaint it, then so be it. The truck has a 3yr/36,000mile warranty - use it!

Zachary
 
Zachary said:
That's part of the reason that I am posting this problem, so that I can document the problem, print it, and give it to toyota. I'm glad to hear that someone else has had this same problem, so that Toyota can't say that this is the first time that this has happened to one of their vehicle. The difference with my truck, however, is that it is not on the bumper, but rather on BOTH sides of the truck. If they have to repaint it, then so be it. The truck has a 3yr/36,000mile warranty - use it!

Zachary
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If you are worried about having it documented, I would recommend calling Toyota headquarters as well.
 
I'm almost positive your brown/rust like specks are rail-dust. My 05 had quite a bit on the back 1/2 of it. A dealership can remove it, or you can buy a claybar and do it yourself. Personally, I preferred doing it myself as it gave them less of a chance to screw something up--besides me finding the time to bring it in and wait. Claying is easy, cheap and the results are very very nice. You may/may not want to do the whole vehicle depending on your time.

I too found a NASTY paint flaw on my hood a couple weeks ago. It is under the clearcoat. It almost looks like a drop of rain hit my paint when it was wet. Nobody but me probably will ever look that closely at the hood to notice, but I know it is there. I'm sure my option is to have the dealership strip-repaint it, but to me that isn't an option at all! I agree, quality stardards aren't what we expect them to be.

I hate to say it, but the best cars I've owned for fit/finish were my '93 4Runner and my 05 Honda S2000.
 
For the paint spots I would CYA as fast as possible,ie get it to a dealer to verify and document the defects. A full repaint will be BIG$$

For the rail dust (rust spots) here is the TSB. Any dealer can print it out for you.

Number/ID: PA005-04
Date: 2004-12-16
Group: PAINT
Title: IRON PARTICLE RUST CONTAMINATION REPAIR (REVISED)
 
I just called my dealer on that tsb and they said to bring it in for inspection. It is not a "warrenty" item, but a case-by-case item (they have always been good about those at my dealership). Anyway I asked what the fix was and they read it to me that they wash the vehicle with some sort of concentrated cleaner (not claying). I bet it strips all the wax off of it and I can imagine that they don't re-wax it. I'm going to do some digging into this "cleaner" as the only fix I'm aware of (up to now) on raildust removal is the claying process.

Again, I'm leary of having some washboy at the dealership use this stuff on my 4Runner incorrectly with a old, dirty washmitt and end up putting fine scratches in the paint.

Please let us know how your dealer handles it!
 
Zachary said:

Did I also forget to mention that there are several tiny little spots on the truck that look like rust spots? I tell myself, it can't be rust - the truck was made on July, 05, and I picked it off the truck on August, 05! What gives!!!!!!!!
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I am 1000% sure that the little "rust" specs are just fallout/rail dust. Happens to all vehicles, yet is most noticeable on light colours, namely white. Comes off with clay bar everytime.
 
Mafster said:

I too found a NASTY paint flaw on my hood a couple weeks ago. It is under the clearcoat. It almost looks like a drop of rain hit my paint when it was wet. Nobody but me probably will ever look that closely at the hood to notice, but I know it is there. .
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Heatgun. Seriously, give it a try. I've seen very ugly paint imperfections on 4R hoods that came out with nothing more.
 
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thanks for the idea of a heat gun--though all I have is a hair dryer--do you think that gets hot enough?
 
Mafster said:
thanks for the idea of a heat gun--though all I have is a hair dryer--do you think that gets hot enough?
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I haven't tried a hairdryer, but it's worth a shot.....it's free and with a hairdryer at least you can't hurt anything. With the heat gun I just kinda did circles over the imperfection until it got hot enough that it started to go away.
 
I just ordered a nice heat gun. Figured it was time to do it right. Hopefully it works!

Thank you!

Thomas
 
You could also try to get the dealer to pay to have it detailed. That's probably what they'd do if they acknowledged it was a defect or was from shipping. After all, they arrive on the West Coast and need to be shipped to the Midwest and East.
 
Yea bring it to Jerzey, the dealers are so nice up here. (he he) Once here they will tell you that it is good ole acid rain! Just kidding. I hope you find a painless solution.
 
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