Paint Issues and Rust on 2012 Prius Two

I'd say the paint is a little more scratch prone than most (similar to a Subaru that we own).

The reason that the hood didn't rust is that it is aluminum. It can corrode but it won't be red rust.

The only significant paint damage that my car has incurred was the keying that it got when it was 3 weeks old.

Whereabouts do you live? There doesn't seem to be a strong tendency for rust in these cars but it's a little hard to know from PriusChat and its Californa/Southwest weighted population.

 

Just food for thought: One time we bought a "new" car, that had sideswiped something, likely a bulkhead coming off a ship. In Canada they're LEGALLY* allowed to have had repairs up to 20% of the car's retail value, and still call it new. The paint could be pulled off with masking tape, is how bad it was.

Anyway, the dealership, who apparently didn't get the full story, it happened in transit to them, gave us a decent, on-the-spot trade in.

(You're within your rights to stroke out that clause, say append it to read "$500 max", if the dealership will go along with it. A contract's not carved in stone.)

 

I have a 2012, I drive 90 miles a day, mostly on the freeway here in socal. Toyota is know for their soft clearcoats. I have two dings from rocks, and I know from rocks as they make a good noise when they bounced off. Both of them have a small rust spot in the pocket of each. And were talking a pin head size. Not much you can do but clean the rust out with a needle and get a chip repair kit. My Prius is black and will show every nick and chip I get. Your scratces also could be from various products and towels from washing it. Check out www.autogeek.com and learn how to protect your paint. I did and it is a bit of work but it made a big difference in the shine.

 

i would ask an independent body/paint shoppe for their opinion.

 

Here is my chips, just above the front glass line.

 

Yap, this as well as hood is the rock impact zone. They are quite big indeed.
Pardon my asking, but is this your first car?
Most people know to fill the defects with touchup paint before surface rust sets in. The paint may be soft all right, but this damage is not going to be covered by warranty.
BTW, Black paint is way the hardest to keep in any decent shape as any defects will show like crazy.

 

White has it's issues too...
All the exterior plastics are solid black then final painted to the car's color. When you get a chip or scratch down to the plastic on a white Prius on any of the plastics (especially the nose area that's prone to rock strikes) you get a very noticeable black chip mark/track in the white paint.

If my last two cars weren't silver- I would have gone with that color for the Prius as it's probably the most forgiving color available.

 

I had seven chips at the end of the first week in my bumper, and hood. Touched up the paint and had a clear bra installed. Haven't had any more chips, since. And, yes! The white sucks on the plastic, you can never get it to be a bright white with the touch up paint, because of the black underneath. I think as the paint ages a little, it is less chip prone...

 

The white touch up paint from Duplicolor tends to yellow in sun. Rustoleum started marketing a new line of touchup paint. I hope it's better.