Problem with snow and scratched hood

Are you talking about the paint protection that is supposed to keep the paint from chipping or the paint protection that stops corrosion?

I get them confused.

 

If you bought paint protection from your dealer you got ripped off. Period! Try to get your money back and get it painted by a really good shop and stay away from any "paint protection" since they are just glorified insurance policies without the regulations that insurance companies usually have and it is just a huge profit center for the dealership, not that there is anything wrong with that, as long as you know about it.

If you are talking about a physical film that is made by 3M or some such thing, that is a different matter but I can't imagine that the film might have failed so catastrophically.

 

Paint protection doesn't really do anything, other than increase the dealer's profit margin.

The Prius has fairly soft paint. Most likely there was something in your brush.

Tom

 

Do those streaks follow the flow you used to sweep the snow off? Do the streaks show up any where else you brushed off? I can't see a brush causing this problem... the streaks are to uniform.

 

OK... just doesn't seem right. A day after I got my car I grazed one of my doors with the end of my jack handle. If you didn't know where it was, you would be hard pressed to find the mark. I was actually happy with how the paint stood up. Of course I do have the white color which helped.
I wonder if your issue may have been there before you bought the car as was just covered up with a sealant...

 

Ouch! Toyota does not use durable paint on the Prius. Good luck getting this fixed. The first trip after the hood is fixed should be to a VentureShield installer. Get the lights, bumper, mirror backs, full fenders & full hood covered. This is why I called my 2006 a scratch magnet and the 1st trip the 2010 made was to Armortec to get shrink-wrapped.

 

That stuff can be used on lights... say the fog light lenses? Do you think it would prevent them from getting cracked. I just noticed today that both my fog light lenses are cracked.

 

How deep are the scratches? Can you feel them if you run a fingernail across them. If not, they will literally buff out, no matter how bad they look. A good detailer could tell you how much will be involved.

 

IF that's the case you may find some mention of it in the service record, but maybe not. My service record shows that the dealer had "DentPro" come in to fix some door dings or something before turning the car out on the lot.
Had the snow turned icy or was it just dry fluffy white? If it had thawed slightly and then refroze I could imagine ice chunks scraping their way down the hood. Or maybe a snow plow tossed some small stones onto it, then they got covered by more falling snow and did the scratching as you brushed it all off.
I'm willing to bet that a decent auto detailer can fix it with careful polishing.

- D

 

Tiny pieces would have to be cut for the fogs. The plastic is great for protecting against scrapes, scuffs & scratches but may not protect against an impact. The plastic will deform with the surface.

Register the VIN at http://www.toyotaownersonline.com/index.html to see the dealer service records.

Those scratches are down to the primer. I wouldn't think they could be hidden if they were present before delivery. I saw the scratch on my hatch from a distance and to their credit CHT had it expertly repainted.

 

Ever since my first Black Passat, I've shied away from snow brushes entirely. I scratched the hell out of my car with that -- took me days to get it all back to 100%. This is also one reason why, after six black and two very dark blue vehicles, I own a Blizzard Pearl. Getting too old to deal with that crap anymore. I still don't use a brush on this vehicle.

NB: The paint protection is purported to guard against environmental damage (sap, bird poop, acid rain, etc.), not physical damage (paint guard -- stone chips, scratches, etc.). Even with the paint protection (the sealant), you still need to make sure you get that crap off as soon as possible -- it just buys you a little more time.

 

This is the first time I had to "dig" out my car in I can't remember how long. . . . My Prius had frozen snow drifts up to my door handle. After a few hours I was getting tired and not as careful . I was hesitant to use a brush, but didn't know what else to use. After I got the snow off there was 4" of frozen snow/ice. I was stabbing at it with the ice scraper. Not good. When trying to dig around the car I couldn't tell where the end was and took paint off the front bumper. My poor sad Prius. We got round #2 yesterday and have to dig out again. Sure miss having a garage.

The hardest part was cars parked on both sides of me so didn't have much room to maneuver the shovel. What has everyone been using out there? Most people here don't have shovels (live in a condo). I don't want to hurt it anymore.

Thank you,
Karen