First a few rock dings on the bumper & hood, now it's a thousand!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ Jun 13 2007, 07:51 PM) [snapback]461226[/snapback]</div>

Darned Cheapo Toyota. Blasted Cheapo Commuter Car.

Cutting corners by using lightweight difficult to produce aluminum instead of good old heavy rusty Steel.

I bet they skimped on the Rear Hatch too!

Shame.

 

My black Prius has 7000 miles on it and it has quite a few scratches that I am peaved about. I didn't have any for the first couple of months, but then, all of a sudden, I see one, then another, then another. They are all hair thin and are in various places in the front of the vehicle, from the front bumper, to the front roof. A car bra wouldn't cover most of them. I was thinking that I didn't wash all of the grit off the car before brushing it at the self car wash, but there are no scratches on the sides or back. The paint is the only real complaint about the car Looking at other cars in the parking lots, and mine seems to be the only one with scratches. I might get it painted again at 70,000 miles when I am out of school and have the free cash, I hope to own the car for a long, long time, or at least until I move somewhere where having the car is impractical.

The Prius also seems to attract the bugs a lot more than the old Astro van I used to drive, and I have fewer natural stops at the gas station to clean them off the windshield. Twice I have pulled up to a stall just to use the 'squeegy', then went inside to buy something to ease the guilt.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tempus @ Jun 14 2007, 10:53 AM) [snapback]461598[/snapback]</div>

BINGO!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ Jun 13 2007, 07:51 PM) [snapback]461226[/snapback]</div>

I used to own my own body shop and have painted exotics to grocery getters. The Prius (yes my 2004 is Black also) has a paint problem that hasn't been seen since the early days of clearcoats, where the clear would flake off once in the sun for a year or so. The paint is not thin - it's poor adhesion. It chips so easily you cannot hope to keep up with it - nothing to do with size, shape or normal driving conditions. Bird crap at the right angle will chip it! Scratches in the clearcoat are prevalent - from your blue jean stitching rubbing up against it, to a rubber ball bouncing off it - it will scratch and scratch deeply. That isn't green or uncured paint - that's poor quality paint, lousy catalyst in the hardener or something. No car today needs to wait to be waxed - that is ancient history, back in the day when cars came to you with lacquer or enamel paint that was not baked. All cars are baked today - wax away.

Now - what to do - go get yourself a bottle of Mequiar's polish (not wax, not rubbing compound), and machine polish the paint. Be careful, no faster than 1400 rpms, and use water to help it cut without burning -do it in the shade. Follow that up with a clear wax, either Mequiar's yellow, or the new ICE wax that does not leave a residue. That will get your paint as shiny as is possible, given the quality, and remove most light scratches. For heaven's sake - unless you are used to compounding and buffing paint jobs - do NOT use a rubbing compound on your Prius - you'll burn this paint and need a paint job so fast it'll make you throw up.

As for the dents and dings -aluminum panels dent like crazy, so the Prius, with it's thin panels, dents like play dough. I swear you can put a ding in this with your finger. Getting the dings out is not hard - can be done my Dentmasters, or some such outfit - who do paintless dent removal. We are talking dents less than the size of a quarter - not complex bends and crinkles -that's body work folks so don't expect miracles. AS for the chips, I'll let you in on a secret repair technique if you are really interested in getting rid of them and don't want to paint the car just yet (sheesh - in 3000 miles?).

First - get yourself some touch up paint in a bottle, with a brush. You won't be using the brush. Thin it just a bit with lacquer thinner - you don't want heavy glue like applications. Take a toothpick, or similarly small diameter stick and dip it into the paint. Let most of it drip off. Put the finest point you can into the chip, and not AROUND the chip. The trick is less is more. You want to fill the hole, but not paint the areas outside the crater. So - you do it slowly - multiple applications, with drying overnite before you do it again. You will be tempted to put more in - don't - it looks awful and cheap.

Now - if you've done this correctly - you've got a slightly raised "bump" where the chip was. Once this is dry, take a utility razor and gently shave the bump off - you do not need to get it perfect, leave more and take off less. All you want to do is get it somewhat level. Then you follow that with a light wet sanding of 1500-2000 grit paper. Nice and easy - you aren't sanding wood here - remember we said the paint sucked?? Okay - just a light scuffing to bring the edges together and if you need to - fill a little more paint, etc. It will show much better once dulled a little with the sandpaper. Lastly - once you are satisfied - use a fine cut compound (3M's Finesse it is a good one), and apply with machine buffer until is shines. Then polish it as above, then wax. Trust me - you will not be able to see nicks anymore. For those of you so inclined, this is how it's done by pros - in between major paint jobs.

Good luck - yes - that's which primer under there - mostly to cover the aluminum with a conversion coat and sealer I think, but really dumb they did not go with grey or something. This is my last black car from Toyota - take a look at the other versions of their blacks on other cars - also not good.

One last thing - if you routinely use a nose bra, you won't have chips, but you can have clear coat fogging and serious scratching do to dirt and trapped debris. Take it off when it rains - that will cook your paint when that wet bra dries on your car, and clean it periodically - otherwise, you are creating more problems then the nicks and chips.

Cya everyone !

 

Locutus took quite a beating from a hail storm last week. We had hail up to an inch in diameter. He's heading in for repairs this week courtesy of the insurance company. It was terrible, he is so pock-marked. *sigh*

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jim1eye @ Jun 18 2007, 02:54 PM) [snapback]464162[/snapback]</div>

Oh Man, that's awful. I can only imagine what that did to those panels! Here comes the bondo. I can only hope that they know how to block sand it flat - good luck!

 

I'm just telling myself that dimples improve the air flow over golf balls so it's got to work for my hood

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tempus @ Jun 18 2007, 04:16 PM) [snapback]464207[/snapback]</div>

There ya go - positive thinking - I love it. When you start to spin in your Prius at 80 ft off the ground, enroute to the green - let me know, I want to watch!!

 

I used a vinyl bra since day one when I got my prius and I've got about 3000 miles on it. I've cleaned the bra twice now and there is not one ding or scratch on the bump or the front hood, looks just as it did from day one. I am glad I got the bra, it really helps.

 

I hope that when Toyoto calls or mails one the many surveys, you guys nail them on the paint jobs. If there is no category for this, add it to the bottom.

Even on the dealer survey, I added things to the bottom, that concerned the CAR.


This paint is unacceptable and Toyoto should recall and fix this, pronto.

 

I agree that the paint (job) seems worse than on other cars. Within a few months I had all sorts of little chips on the front hood and bumper as well as little dents -- especially the bumper. And this was after I had applied several coats of Zaino over several weeks. I find the chips very difficult to fill with the Toyota silver touch-up paint (thanks for the tips, ginostef) -- which seems thin and grainy looking -- though I tried various techniques.

Are some colors worse than others?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Les Gas @ Jun 18 2007, 04:57 PM) [snapback]464245[/snapback]</div>

Very typical - the hazing of the clearcoat is what is making it look duller. Try the polish routine I discussed above - you'll need to rejuv that clearcoat by adding a high quality polish to restore the bumper to shiny. Bug cleaner is kerosene - virtually harmless to all modern paints, yet I have experienced the same thing - dull and hazy after using any kind of degreaser. I think the cc is very porous and not well cured to react this way. Almost like it never dried fully. I have the same bug mark on my roof. Baked the clearcoat and literally imprinted it. Don't bother trying to wet sand and polish it out - it's down to the base coat on mine. Very similar to Ford's problems with its clearcoats in the early eighties.

Sigh......

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusRos @ Jun 18 2007, 06:33 PM) [snapback]464321[/snapback]</div>

The silver paint is very challenging. I've sprayed some bumpers with it and it takes many coats to build up the metallic finish and cover. The thinnes is typical of metallic paints -they go on slowly and build slowly so spraying them does not create a zebra effect (overlap points getting more metallic, more reflective, therefore every 6-8 inches you can have a couple inch wide stripe if you don't watch the air pressure, distance, and viscosity of the paint). The grainy looking appearance I think you are referring to is actually the metallic flakes in the paint- there are a lot of them. My suggesting is that you shake the bottle furiously and see if that helps. If not - add a drop or two of lacquer thinner - small amounts. This may shake up some of the pigments that are stuck to the bottom (if any) and make the viscosity a bit higher for you. It shouldn't be watery, nor should it be like finger nail paint. Good luck!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ Jun 12 2007, 07:33 PM) [snapback]460507[/snapback]</div>

I just bought my first Prius (2006 seaside blue) in May and it was used with 7000 miles....I have put 4000 more miles on it in the last six weeks and have only found only one scratch on the entire car. I probably would not have even noticed the scratch if it weren't for the fact that I washed it by hand yesterday and saw it above the driver's side door. So, at 11,000 miles or so I have been very lucky so far. However, I HAVE wondered about buying a bra, and was told by my father-in-law that bras cause problems due to them holding in moisture, which results in major rust damage. Is this still true with an aluminum hood?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ Jun 12 2007, 07:33 PM) [snapback]460507[/snapback]</div>

I just bought my first Prius (2006 seaside blue) in May and it was used with 7000 miles....I have put 4000 more miles on it in the last six weeks and have only found only one scratch on the entire car. I probably would not have even noticed the scratch if it weren't for the fact that I washed it by hand yesterday and saw it above the driver's side door. So, at 11,000 miles or so I have been very lucky so far. However, I HAVE wondered about buying a bra, and was told by my father-in-law that bras cause problems due to them holding in moisture, which results in major rust damage. Is this still true with an aluminum hood?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kentano @ Jun 18 2007, 07:54 PM) [snapback]464360[/snapback]</div>

Th trapped moisture is a real problem, but rust is not usually the result. What happens is the moisture (which can be quite aciditic), fogs the clearcoat of your paint and causes paint film damage that will require painting to fix. Cardinal rule - take the bra off when it is wet, before the sun hits it. let it dry out, clean the surfaces and reapply it when dry. Otherwise - you just trade one problem for another one.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ginostef @ Jun 19 2007, 08:13 AM) [snapback]464661[/snapback]</div>

If you let it dry out, you should not have any problems. I live in Seattle and it rains quite a bit here, I Park in a garage and by the next morning the bra is dried. The important thing is to not let a wet bra bake in the sun, and wax the area each time you reapply the bra. This might sound like alot of work but its worth it, since my bumper and hood still looks like it did when I pick it up from the dealer.

Wayne

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(wayne60014 @ Jun 19 2007, 04:07 PM) [snapback]464850[/snapback]</div>

Exactly - it's the moisture cooking under the black bra in the sun that take out your clearcoat - wax or no wax, but certainly wax helps with scratch prevention that can occur when the bra gets dust and dirt under it and it stays on the car a prolonged time (like sandpaper).
Gene