Help! My paint is chipping on my FJ?!?

[airwing53]

I have a Voodoo Blue FJ and my paint is chipping all around the vechile. Took it to the dealer and the are blaming it on rocks and other debree. On the inside of the door, on the side of the vechile???? No way!

I've heard of other people having the same issue with this color FJ. This is insane! I payed $35,000 for a brand new vechile with a defective paint and the Toyota Coprs wont do anything about it! I wanted to know if there is anything else i can do. What are my option.


-Tim

[Jason.FJ07]

Thought I read it in the sales Brochure that 2007 fj cruiser has a chip resistant paint. You might want to check it out and see what they got to say about it if that is what Toyota is promoting.

Best of luck.

[shawnadg]

Hey, so is mine. Did you get any helpful reply's? It happened within a day or so after 3 months and a carwash.

[geekspeed]

mines chipping on the inside of the door as well -- thought it was just me. Maybe a service bulliten is in order?

[Touti]

This is becoming a know problem to every FJ Cruiser owner. Mine (Sun Fusion) is 3 months old, 6,000km and it's got 10 chips, 2 of which are down to the metal and rusting already.

I found them this morning after a close inspection, I thought I only had 2. I'm gonna call my dealer tomorrow and see what he has to say about it and I won't accept any "rocks" excuse. I've had 2 Honda CR-V's before, one that I drove for 5 years and it didn't have 10 paint chips on it when I changed it for my FJ Cruiser.

[Bekko]

I just bought my FJ (Voodoo Blue) in March and have chips all over it. I am thinking this is defective paint?? Has anyone had any luck with Toyota on this matter?

[airwing53]

Unfortunatly, I didnt get any help from the dealer. They blamed it on rocks. Rocks? on the inside of the door? In the back? I was furious. No support from Toyota at all. I was extremly dissapointed because I love the truck. I ended up trading it in at night right before they closed. I lost about $5,000 all together, got a same truck same color. So far so good, we will see.

[FJ Driver]

I don't think it is just the blue color. I have a black cherry that I have had for under three months and the amount of chips is incredible. I talked to a girl who had hers repainted because the chips were so bad. If I remember correctly she had under 5000 miles on it. Since then I have been talking to other owners when I run across them. I have spoke to owners of all other colors except the silver and they all have severe paint chips.

I have paint chips inside the door too. The dealer blames it on vehicle design and rock chips. I have had my paint inspect by a professional painter and he says that the paint looks incredibly thin and probably has to much hardner. I love my FJ but I am really fustrated with the paint and Toyota's response.

Mel

[FJ Driver]

Update::

According to Toyota the dealership makes the determination as to whether it is a manufactures defect. i.e. rock chips vs. paint defect.

Secondly, they claim to not had any complaints. If and when (maybe never) they determine that something is amiss they will issue a special service bulletin to look into the issue.

If you have "rock chips" please call Toyota Customer Relations at 1-800-331-4331 and get it documented.

[DryLan]

My paint is chipping too on my FJ with only 5500 Km. I had communicate this problem with Toyota service and i waiting for a call from toyota representant.

The color of my FJ is blue.

[thinshavings]

The Tundra suffers from thin cheap easily chipped paint also. Mine is an '04 and the paint leaves alot to be desired.
Let Toyota know this won't fly...remember the paint debacle of the early 80's that several manufactures had? I think Toyota said they were using an acid rain resistant paint which means a new type of paint.

[NicksToy]

Apparently Toyota never learns. The same thing happened to a lot of the 05 Tacomas. We're talking about hundreds of chips all along the rocker panels and rear fenders, after only 5 weeks of ownership on my truck. Many other people had the same problem. Toyota's initial response was that it was rock damage and therefore not covered under warranty, but eventually Toyota repainted our trucks at no cost since they were brand new. Some of us, though, had to go the legal route to get that done.
I'm sorry to hear that the FJ is having the same problem. It really makes me think twice before I ever buy another Toyota.

[timbo86]

I have had the same problem. We are currently going to arbitrations with toyota. We took the FJ on a 1000 mile trip and must have gotten 20 new chips. We have chips on the doors top of the hood etc. The paint is thin. Anyone been to arbitrations on this yet and if so please email me. I want some ammo when I talk to these people. I restore the old fj's and paint them myself and the paint doesn't chip on those and I paint in a garage not a high tech booth. We purchased this vehicle because of the Anti-chip paint. I actually spoke with toyota and told them I didn't want to be a complaining customer and it seemed as if they were receptive but we will see. We are planning on getting another one but we are waiting on the outcome of the arbitration.
I work in the medical field and speak to approx. 400 people a month and when speaking of toyota I make sure that I tell them about the paint. I have numberous pictures of old toyotas that I have redone in my office.

[Targamond]

2007 Voodoo Blue - I am presently trading mine in on a Tundra (for paint and other reasons). Within 8hrs of having bird droppings behind the passenger window the paint was removed to the white primer. I drive 130mi/day and have not had the windshield chipping/cracking problems, but I must agree that Toyota skimped on providing a quality paint coating on the FJ. The Tundra paint appears to be of a higher quality (when viewing side-by-side), so I am hoping this is a model-specific problem.

[sxipro]

I have the Brick colored 2008 FJ and no chips yet. Got about 2500 miles on it, keeping my fingers crossed. The brick is one of the two new colors for 2008 though.