"Teflon" coating from dealer
- Thread starter TOPDECK
- Start date
Qjake
New member
Topdeck,
You should call the GM at the dealer immediately and take him up on his offer!! Before they start any work on your 4Runner. IMO you will regret having your brand new truck repainted, it will not be the same as factory. Please take the out they have offered! As Westwind said have them order the Runner you want even if you have to wait for it to come from the factory.
This is great advice, tear down, preparation, paint, and reassemble of the entire truck will take at least a month but probably longer. Remember this will be done by the same dealer that F'ed it up in the first place. I also agree that they should let you continue to drive your 4Runner while they track down your new truck which would allow you to have it for your trip.
Please keep us posted on how things are going and I wish you the best of luck!!
Q / Billy
You should call the GM at the dealer immediately and take him up on his offer!! Before they start any work on your 4Runner. IMO you will regret having your brand new truck repainted, it will not be the same as factory. Please take the out they have offered! As Westwind said have them order the Runner you want even if you have to wait for it to come from the factory.
This is great advice, tear down, preparation, paint, and reassemble of the entire truck will take at least a month but probably longer. Remember this will be done by the same dealer that F'ed it up in the first place. I also agree that they should let you continue to drive your 4Runner while they track down your new truck which would allow you to have it for your trip.
Please keep us posted on how things are going and I wish you the best of luck!!
Q / Billy
Qjake
New member
Shoulda mentioned this above but...
I see talk about changing the factory color, this might be a hard sell for the dealer as this will double the amount of work vs staying the same color. I highly doubt they will remove your interior to match all the jambs never mind getting it all matched in the engine bay etc.
You spent 40k on this truck, you have less than 5k miles It is their fault that it is FUBAR!! Go for the new vehicle so you have no regrets down the road!!
Again, Best of luck!
Q / Billy
I see talk about changing the factory color, this might be a hard sell for the dealer as this will double the amount of work vs staying the same color. I highly doubt they will remove your interior to match all the jambs never mind getting it all matched in the engine bay etc.
You spent 40k on this truck, you have less than 5k miles It is their fault that it is FUBAR!! Go for the new vehicle so you have no regrets down the road!!
Again, Best of luck!
Q / Billy
1engineer
Moderator
Man, if you get it repainted you WILL be sorry. Even the same color. Let me know if any bodyshop has the same facilities as the Toyota factory. You won't find it or the quality as the OEM. Sigh, go back and read my original post. Find a good detailer. See what they say. Then make a decision. Get away from the dealer. My last comment.
TOPDECK
New member
Thanks for the replies guys. I know it will be a bad downward spiral if they attempt to repaint it.
I will be calling our rep at Toyota corporate tomorrow before I call the GM. I want to just trade it, and get my money back for the coating.
I contacted a friend of mine that used to work at Toyota for a long time and he said that they should jump on the chance to trade the vehicle instead of going round and round with me about fixing it. It will cost less for them to get me another one, and they will have no problem selling mine.
We shall see. I will keep you guys informed.
TOPDECK
New member
A little update:
I got the truck back, and at the dealer looked pretty good. After a day or two the swirl marks are visible again. But they did get all the oil and stuff off of the plastic.
I made contact with the manufacturer of the product that was put on my car. I asked the rep directly "Is this a Teflon coating?" and she couldn't give me a stright answer. She said "Well I think it is Teflon fortified."
WTF does that mean?
She sent me over a bunch of documentation on the product including technical and scientific specs. Guess what...
No mention of Teflon or DuPont anywhere. None of the chemical compound names for Teflon were present either. This was sold to me as a "Teflon coating". That, it is not.
Now that I have the truck back, the dealer is choosing not to respond to my calls or emails for a refund. Toyota USA has escalated the case today as they tried to contact them on my behalf and also did not get an answer. Toyota started the timer today. They have 24 hours or it turns into a "non-response" whatever that means.
I will keep you guys posted.
I got the truck back, and at the dealer looked pretty good. After a day or two the swirl marks are visible again. But they did get all the oil and stuff off of the plastic.
I made contact with the manufacturer of the product that was put on my car. I asked the rep directly "Is this a Teflon coating?" and she couldn't give me a stright answer. She said "Well I think it is Teflon fortified."
WTF does that mean?
She sent me over a bunch of documentation on the product including technical and scientific specs. Guess what...
No mention of Teflon or DuPont anywhere. None of the chemical compound names for Teflon were present either. This was sold to me as a "Teflon coating". That, it is not.
Now that I have the truck back, the dealer is choosing not to respond to my calls or emails for a refund. Toyota USA has escalated the case today as they tried to contact them on my behalf and also did not get an answer. Toyota started the timer today. They have 24 hours or it turns into a "non-response" whatever that means.
I will keep you guys posted.
Last edited:
1engineer
Moderator
Please do me a favor and go to a good detailer! It will cost around $100.00 to fix it right.
"For what it's worth moment"
In order to make teflon stick to anything, you have to do either:
1. Sandblast to rough up the metal, apply a specific chemical and then teflon or
2. Sand, apply a newly developed primer, apply Teflon then bake at high temp.
Apparently your guy putting it on with a rag just didn't cut it.
GrantK
New member
I'm guessing that they have 24hrs to challenge, if not they loose by default and you win. Then, hopefully, Toyota corp will take over and make things right. If that's what happens, ask to use a different dealer.
westwind77
New member
I would not take it anywhere! A detailer may be able to cover it up, but the underlying problem is still going to be there. I would let it sit as is so if you do need to go to court over it you can show exactly what it looks like. Have you been taking photos the whole time? I hope you have, documenting how it looked when you got it back the 1st time and each time it came back will only strengthen your case, even if it is just with Toyota.
Of course if you are going to keep the 4R and just want a refund for the 'service', sure have it detailed, but myself, I would be after a new 4R.....after you get back from the road trip! Tell Toyota you would be happy to take delivery of a new one at any point along your travels, who knows, you may drive right by a dealership with a sister 4R (let them do the digging to see)!
4Runner Teflon Problem
Absolutely, do not repaint. The job will never be as good as the factory paint, and when they bake it the lubricants in all of the fittings, joints, doors, rear few mirrors will be melted and dried out. My wife had her car repainted back in the 90's. The original paint went south after about 2 years. The power rear view mirrors seized up. I was able to get the garage to replace the mirrors, but it is not worth the hassle. A repaint will also lower the value of your vehicle and it may be difficult to prove the repaint was not because of an accident.
Absolutely, do not repaint. The job will never be as good as the factory paint, and when they bake it the lubricants in all of the fittings, joints, doors, rear few mirrors will be melted and dried out. My wife had her car repainted back in the 90's. The original paint went south after about 2 years. The power rear view mirrors seized up. I was able to get the garage to replace the mirrors, but it is not worth the hassle. A repaint will also lower the value of your vehicle and it may be difficult to prove the repaint was not because of an accident.
TOPDECK
New member
No way am I repainting. It will be more trouble than what it is worth. I just want my money back for the "Teflon" coating.
They put it on there, and it was obvious that it came off. Then they just waxed and buffed it after. They never put the stuff on again, not that I would want it back on there.
Not to mention, it isn't a "Teflon Coating"! hahaha
They put it on there, and it was obvious that it came off. Then they just waxed and buffed it after. They never put the stuff on again, not that I would want it back on there.
Not to mention, it isn't a "Teflon Coating"! hahaha
TOPDECK
New member
Things have been..um...resolved.
Per the paper I signed, I must leave it at that.
However I will say this:
The new car finish is a loss. We have established here that repainting is not a good idea for many reasons. "Fixing" it by taking it to a high-end detailer might only produce the same results. The cost isn't worth the risk or reward. So we will most likely wrap it (3M vinyl) before our next (after the one starting this week) overland trip later this year, possibly for the Maya 2012 Rally. This vehicle was purchased just for this type of thing, so we don't mind re-wrapping it every so often. This vehicle will be built up gradually as we go, so I guess the exterior finish will change with the rest of it. LOL
Here are a few things I learned:
I am just glad it is all over. I just hope that our issue may have sparked a sales meeting about this so called Teflon coating, and I hope that it will be sold more carefully using accurate information from now on.
Per the paper I signed, I must leave it at that.
However I will say this:
The new car finish is a loss. We have established here that repainting is not a good idea for many reasons. "Fixing" it by taking it to a high-end detailer might only produce the same results. The cost isn't worth the risk or reward. So we will most likely wrap it (3M vinyl) before our next (after the one starting this week) overland trip later this year, possibly for the Maya 2012 Rally. This vehicle was purchased just for this type of thing, so we don't mind re-wrapping it every so often. This vehicle will be built up gradually as we go, so I guess the exterior finish will change with the rest of it. LOL
Here are a few things I learned:
I am just glad it is all over. I just hope that our issue may have sparked a sales meeting about this so called Teflon coating, and I hope that it will be sold more carefully using accurate information from now on.
Last edited:
Johnny Utah
New member
i need details man!!!!!!!!
CookieRoe
Senior Member
As long as your happy, it's all good (i guess)
Thanks for sharing your experience as painful as it was. I was cringing the whole time. Let this be a lesson that the Telfon coating is pure BS. I also hope a salesperson sees this and thinks 5 times before even offering the crap. Maybe Telfon is good for those who NEVER wash their car, but on a forum like this, this is extremely unlikely.
Godspeed!
Thanks for sharing your experience as painful as it was. I was cringing the whole time. Let this be a lesson that the Telfon coating is pure BS. I also hope a salesperson sees this and thinks 5 times before even offering the crap. Maybe Telfon is good for those who NEVER wash their car, but on a forum like this, this is extremely unlikely.
Godspeed!
scoobydann
New member
without seeing pictures I won't say for sure but if you find a reputable detailer they should be able to correct whatever is wrong. Go to www.autopia.net Www.autopia.com (they are different) and www.autogeek.net. You will find a wealth of information regarding your paint and you might want to ask about a reputable detailer in your area.
Be careful as there are "hack" detailers abound that don't know the correct procedure using rotaries, use fillers to cover imperfections and generally shouldn't be detailing. Inform yourself on those websites choose a detailer with the right info, you might even find a guy to do the wrap, I know some of them do on autogeek.net.
Ukie
New member
It's autopia.ORG
