Toyota customer service,on paint chipping.*must see

[Goudttocs]

so I wrote to Toyota in regards to the paint problems and Quality! this is the conversation;

me:
I am very unsatisfied with the quality of paint on my Prius black 07, 53k miles. I drive 123 miles round trip 80% highway. keeping enough distance from cars trucks ect.. I am a fanatic about car appearance and used to detail/do paint correction on cars as job. The clear coat on this car is way to soft for the aerodynamic stance. I understand that it will endure more damage than the average car being low and sloped. No car should pit or chip like this.
After a complete detail polish/swirl remover & wax a mere wash and dry will produce swirls marks/hazing on this car. And that is using 2 bucket wash method and microfiber towels. I took the car in(Toyota Service) to see how or why this was happening and was told the clear coat is real soft on this car & I needed to repaint the front end of car at the cost of$846.00 and should put a protective bra another $800.00 on it to keep it from chipping.I would not have bought this car if i knew it was so delicately skinned and would not appear to be as well maintained as it has been. It is very frustrating, thanks for listening


1st Response;

We apologize for your concern with the paint on your 2007 Prius, and we sincerely appreciate the time you have taken to bring this matter to our attention.

Since your Prius is a solid black, it did not come with a clear coat on it. Paint color that are pearl or metallic have a clear coat.

Thank you for your feedback on the paint because the only way we know what our customers are looking for is when they tell us, as you have. It is through this type of communication that we learn what our customers' expectations are and helps us to improve our products.


My Response;

Thanks for the reply, however I feel you are misinformed about the paint process on Toyota cars currently being produced , They are all painted with base coat/Clear coat. So please investigate this more thoroughly before replying with an "blanket response" Again I have worked with car paint for 20 years doing paint correction and automotive detailing the problem is with the clear coat durability. My car is black (paint code 202) with clear coat. I believe this car was painted incorrectly. Thanks I will be looking forward to your reply.

Toyota response;

We apologize that you feel you received a "blanket" response.

Based upon the information we have, since your Prius is black it does not have a clear coat. Metallic and pearl colored paints have a clear coat.
-----------------------
end email --------------------

at this point I am besides myself, I have called 4 separate Toyota dealerships and spoken to the collision centers at each, all had the same response! yes your car has clear coat! so why the run around? how do I respond to this?

[Patrick Wong]

Originally Posted by Goudttocs

...
Based upon the information we have, since your Prius is black it does not have a clear coat. Metallic and pearl colored paints have a clear coat.
-----------------------
end email --------------------

at this point I am besides myself, I have called 4 separate Toyota dealerships and spoken to the collision centers at each, all had the same response! yes your car has clear coat! so why the run around? how do I respond to this?

What is the point of your correspondence? Are you just venting your complaint, or are you expecting Toyota to take some action?

Is the issue whether or not your car has clear coat; or is the issue that regardless of the paint that was applied, you find that the hood and front bumper has excessively chipped?

I think your issue is the latter. In any case, with 53K miles logged, its not likely that Toyota is going to take any action with respect to repainting your front end.

The official Prius website shows the various colors currently available. Note that many of the colors have "Metallic", "Mica" or "Pearl" in the name, which implies the painting process includes a clear coat that contains something special to produce the various effects. However Black and Super White do not have such a suffix.
Toyota Prius Colors

[galaxee]

black is indeed clearcoated.

regardless, after 53k miles, paint chips are inevitable. of course, it looks worse on black. you can't expect the car to look new for that many miles unless you've thrown a clearbra on it or something. the estimate to repaint my hood was about $350, but it's not a priority for that cost to me.

[hschuck]

My 2005 SuperWhite has had the rear bumper cover repainted twice due to minor accident damage. It was done each time at a (different) Toyota dealer authorized repair facility. Both times clear coat was specified by the repair facility.

[PriusSport]

Paint chips are a sign of a lot of highway driving. Those big trucks raise a lot of pebbles and dust. Clear coat or no, you'll get the chips.

[Tideland Prius]

Originally Posted by galaxee

black is indeed clearcoated.

regardless, after 53k miles, paint chips are inevitable. of course, it looks worse on black. you can't expect the car to look new for that many miles unless you've thrown a clearbra on it or something. the estimate to repaint my hood was about $350, but it's not a priority for that cost to me.

Seriously? I was told Black and Alpine White are not clearcoated. Black Sand Pearl is clearcoated and so is Diamond White Pearl and Blizzard Pearl.

[galaxee]

DH isn't a collision/body shop guy, but i learned a fair amount from the body shop guys when the car was keyed a couple years back.

[Tideland Prius]

Originally Posted by galaxee

DH isn't a collision/body shop guy, but i learned a fair amount from the body shop guys when the car was keyed a couple years back.

Weird.... major conflicting info then.

[jayman]

Hmmm, my '04 Prius was clearcoated, but it was tideland pearl. They claim my '07 FJ in sun fusion is NOT clearcoated

Since my FJ isn't clearcoated, I have an easier time looking after the paint. First of all, the FJ paint appears better quality than on my Prius. Second, I use an aviation care product on my FJ, it works great

Aero Glaze Dry Wash (One Gallon) - Sporty's Pilot Shop

I then follow up with NuFinish, very good results

To wash I usually use Fleet Wash.

Fleet Wash (One Gallon) - Sporty's Pilot Shop

I was unsure of how this product would react with clearcoat, so I only used it on non-clearcoat vehicles

Oh, and if you want to remove those nasty scratches from plastic headlight lenses

Sporty's Windshield Care Kit - Sporty's Pilot Shop

Especially up here with snow/slush and sand spread on roads, the headlights get absolutely caked with grime. So at a gas station, after cleaning the windows, I use the squeegee on the headlights and tail lights. Naturally they get scratched all to hell

The aircraft windshield kit restores them nicely

[SW03ES]

Are you sure its clearcoated?

Lexus black is single stage, no clearcoat. I've detailed many of them and they are definately single stage. I've never detailed a black Toyota...but I wouldn't be surprised if it too was single stage.

The issue with the chipping is because of the aluminum hood I think.

Anyways the dual stage vs single stage has no bearing on chipping. If anything single stage cars are LESS prone to chipping, but they are way more prone to surface marring. Lexus single stage black marrs when you look at it funny, but it polishes up like nothing else...