PIP Paint Damage/Warranty Assistance?

Hans replied personally to my personal communication to him which I mentioned above. I agree with Jim about there being more to this story. There is certainly a feeling of being treated unfairly on both sides of this and there does not seem to be agreement on the facts leading to the problem. What really happened when and who was responsible ought to be determined. What is reasonable and fair depends entirely on what THAT really is. And that could be so many different things. But as Hans said, it may come down to how it looks in the end more than how it was. This would not be the first time a conflict has been settled that way.

One of many of the same sorts of examples that I found with a simple internet search.



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Will be seeing Toyota rep. in about a week regarding paint peeling off
the front bumper of my 8 month old silver 05 Prius. Peeling started
at self-serve car wash when I was spraying the bugs off the front
bumper - there is now a quarter sized hole in paint w/frayed edges -
looks like it will continue to peel. Dealer blamed it on a rock ding
& the high pressure hose at the carwash. I looked very closely at the
plastic front bumper & didn't see any rock ding & neither did body
shop I took it to [body shop gave $325 estimate to repaint the front
bumper]. Even if there is a rock ding, which I doubt, I've washed a
lot of cars with bug dings and never had the paint peel away like
this. Has anyone else had this or any other type of paint problem on
their new Prius?







Thu Oct 27, 2005 2:36 pm

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"nightlaw1996" <candlewyck@...>
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I don't have anything against Toyota. I appreciate the quality, and technological innovations of this very forward thinking company. I own Toyota stock ADR shares and will most probably be purchasing more in the near future. I wrote a twenty five page paper on hybrid electric vehicles while pursuing my Bachelors Degree in 2001. I have been waiting for years for Toyota to release a Plug in version of their Prius and am quite happy with what they have achieved. No matter what happens with my situation I will buy and encourage others to buy Toyota hybrids and or any of their future technology vehicles. Please understand I am telling the full story based on my personal experience and my wife's experience. I don't have the underlying experience and/or understanding to explain the paint situation on my new PIP, but I do know other people have experienced similar problems and were also told that they were to blame when they know just as I do that they were not the issue. If I had not experienced this personally myself I probably would have doubts or suspicions to what had happened. I have no ill will towards anyone. The customer service issue actually a bigger issue to me than the paint peeling. I would have a problem with an employee under my supervision delivering that sort of customer experience. I am sure any fellow board members would have felt just as or more strongly than myself in the same situation (I am quite reserved). I would just appreciate a successful resolution to this issue. A successful resolution to me would be the service attendant offering an apology to my wife and Toyota working with me to assist me in remedying my paint issue whether they determine it falls under warranty or otherwise. I really did not expect to spending this much time on this issue. I never foresaw this has anything that would be a problem.

Excerpt from my research paper in 2001 entitled "Propelling to the Future":

"Government funded research on Hybrid electric vehicles dates back to the mid 1970’s at the height of the gas lines lining American gas stations. Hybrid electric vehicles currently manufactured include the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight. Hybrid electric vehicles combine the best attributes of gasoline and electric vehicles. Hybrid electric vehicles combine a small gasoline engine with an electric motor to dramatically increase range. Hybrid vehicles consist of two different types: 1. Grid connected, and 2. Non-Grid connected. Grid connected hybrid vehicles utilize an electric motor that has the main power source with a very small gasoline engine providing power assist when needed. Grid connected hybrids must be charged by plugging into an electrical source for recharge. Non-grid connected hybrids use a gasoline engine for its main source of power with an electric motor providing a power assist when needed. Non-grid connected hybrids are recharged by the gasoline engine and do not need to be plugged into an electric power source. Both types of hybrids offer less reliance on gasoline with vastly increased mileage per gallon of gasoline."

There looks like a pattern emerging here. Paint over plastic is common to both cases. If there was a rock chip that would certainly facilitate separation at a weak spot in the paint adherence.

I have had similar paint over similar plastic on my '06 Prius an never had this kind of reaction even when I DID have a rock chip. I always touched it up as soon as I found it and the paint looked new when I sold the car, recently. This is not a typical situation.

The very good thing about plastic is that if there is a chip, there is no rust. This is only a cosmetic problem. Roughing up the surface just enough for the paint to adhere with plastic WILL be different from metal. Once exposed, plastic will be more likely to abrade than metal. I suspect that this is a warranty issue and predict that it will be settled that way.

Steve, did you check the VIN yet? Every time the dealer touches the car a record is created.

Were you at a retail public carwash? Or, Were you washing your car, yourself, with a pressure washer?

If you were using a pressure washer, on a new car, or any car, that was an idiot move.

I must say the paint on my Pip bumpers seems fragile, but irregardless, a pressure washer is NEVER appropriate for a car. A Pressure Washer is something you use to clean concrete and heavily accumulated and imbedded contamination, Not the high luster painted finish on a automobile you care about. Whats wrong with a soft wash mitt and soapy water in a bucket?

This genius tried to pressure wash his car too.

Ouch.. it does seem to do a pretty good job at stripping the paint if that is the intended goal

i wouldn't even use the hand sprayers at the car wash. when i got my miata in'91, the preferred method was to put the car in the shade, hose it off without a nozzle, soap it with a clean mitt, rehose, resoap, always washing the mitt in clean water, never rinse in dirty water.

Yep, still doing that with not only my '91 Miata, but also my PiP and my ten year old Lexus. None of my three Prius' or the Lexus has seen a commercial car wash since new. I bought the Miata from my son, who sadly hasn't seen the light and used commercial car washes on it. Still, I've been properly caring for it for the last five years.

I would hope that the selling dealer would have record of the repair which may be the answer to this whole situation. As you have stated, there is damage to the vehicle however we have no way of knowing when or how that damage was done. Have you tried contacting the original dealer? I know they are not close since you bought your vehicle from Virgina but maybe they could pay to have the work done in Oklahoma.

Even if Toyota finds that the other dealer damaged the vehicle, they will make the selling dealer pay for it since they are solely responsible for damage caused after the vehicle is on the lot. As a dealer, as soon as we sign for that shipment, anything after that point is our responibility when it comes to damage.

I do hope that Erica can get to the bottom of this for you and I'm sure she already has access to all contact information for this situation.

stevenveteran,

Any update?
What is the name of the car wash shop you used?
Did Erica contact you?

Let us know?

yes, inquiring minds want to know!

Update!!! Toyota has arranged with a local authorized body shop to repair vehicle paint damage. I will be taking it to the shop this coming Tuesday and pay for the repair and Toyota will reimburse. Overall I am quite satisfied with Toyota USA quick and cordial response. Much Thanks to Erica and the rest of the team members. I believe I have learned a lot from other PIP owners one of the most important I believe no matter what caused the damage I will be washing my vehicle by hand in the future. Thank you for all of your support and helpful information. And I ran VIN report and nothing out of the ordinary appeared.

Thanls for the update! Good Luck on paint job!

Steven, I am pleased and not astonished to learn the news.

I do not share your pledge not to use a pressure car wash. Just keep the "wand" a foot away from the car. Dried on bugs should first be thoroughly soaked to soften them up rather than trying to blast them off. Even that should not peel the paint off unless there is a flaw. If the paint is waxed, cleaning is easier. Follow the body shop instructions regarding waiting for the paint to cure before waxing, however. Mine said to wait three months when I had my Volvo repaired after colliding with a deer.

I am having the same problem. I have a v5 (black) with ATP bough at the first part of December 2011. In mid-July 2012 (at 7000 miles), the paint started flaking off the bumper during hand-held sprayer car washes. I've used this same car was for my Lexus, Honda, Toyota, Nissan and more (many cars over the years) and have never seen this happen. I don't hold the sprayer in one place for long and carefully move it back-and-forth over the tough bug stains. I don't hold the sprayer super close and I pretreat the bug with the foam so they come off quite easily. There are three spots now on the bumper (all very low on the bumper, about a quarter sized, not near each other). The are not getting any bigger (yet!) with further washings. There does not appear (or feel) to be any damage in those areas (like rock chips). I am also careful to fill in chips each week after washing with touch up paint. I have reported this to my local dealer and they are contacting Toyota to see if it's a warranty issue.

This is very disappointing. Is the paint quality of Toyota going downhill? Or are they using some special "eco" paint for the Prius that is crappy? This is really unacceptable for a new car... It most certainly had BETTER be a warranty issue or they're going to have one irate person on their hands (my wife!).
--Russ

I forgot to mention that this is my 4th Prius and 5th toyota in 12 years. I love toyota and would not hesitate to buy another. I'm not worried about this getting solved (yet), but it has been nearly two weeks (come Monday 7/30) since I told my dealer. How long does it take Toyota to reply to them? They told me about one week....

--Russ

I just found out Toyota is going to cover mine as well!

Cheers!

--Russ