I just purchased a 2003 Limited Tundra in black. I had negotiated what I thought was fair deal ($200 under invoice, $500 rebate, and 4.9% financing for 60 months with $0 down). The truck was not at the dealer I purchased from and came from somewhere 60 miles away. For some reason dealers don't like telling you where they are getting the truck, I assume for fear you will go there to purchase it. The truck arrived a couple hours late and very dirty. The dealership took the car to their detail area (i.e. a guy with a spray bottle and a chamois) and started to "detail" it.
When I look at the truck under the fluorescent lights It was instantly apparent that they have completely scratched the surface of the paint. The GSM offered to pick the truck up at my house at a later date, but I told him that I would rather he keep it and call me when I was fixed. Yesterday, I got the call that the truck was ready. I was told that they had buffed out the scratches and applied perma-plate to it. I still do not know exactly what it is, but according to the dealer it is some sort of hard protective coating they apply to protect the paint. I packed up the kids and made the 60-mile drive out to the dealer in the loaner car they had graciously provided. When I got to the dealer, they had my truck under a tent. I walked in and although it was dark I could still see the scratches in the paint. The detail manager told me that all cars have the scratches but that they are more noticeable because the truck is black. I argued that I am fanatical about my vehicles and that I have a 2000 landcruiser with 35k miles that does not have any swirls or scratches in the paint.
I went in the dealer to find a dark colored vehicle that didn't have these scratches. What I found was that the camry and 4runner they had on the showroom floor had scratches (could have been because the same people who detailed my truck detailed these vehicles), but a dark colored sequoia didn't. I mentioned to my salesperson that I didn't have these problems with my LC and she said they use a different paint because the LC is made in Japan. This still doesn't explain the sequoia since as far as I knew it was made in the US.
Does anyone know if there are differences in paint quality from one model to the next?
Does anyone have a black or dark colored tundra without the surface scratches?
At this point I have given the dealership one more chance to make the vehicle right, and if it is not satisfactory, my salesperson told me they will order me a new truck and deliver it PDI? which she said would mean they would not prep it(i.e. scratch it).
I went through the exact same thing with my dealer on my black Tundra.
I brought it in to have it "detailed" and came back later that day (8 hours) only to find that it had not had one drop of water on it and all the bugs from the night before still on it. The detailing shop told me personally, that you can do more damage removing the bugs from the paint than do any good.
I then asked him if I should never wash this damn vehicle as long as I own it because it might damage the paint.
Needless to say, I took it home and about 6-7 hours later and a lot of work, the truck looked 99.99% perfect. Still working on that .01% and always will because my truck can not be to clean!
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1996 T100, 180,000 and counting
Wow I was beginning to think this forrum was dead. I guess I am used to the corvette and gixxer forums which have less lurkers.
I wouldn't mind so much if it was just dirty. What I am seeing is swirls in the paint. The patern indicates it was done when they prepped it and short of a color sanding I am not sure how they will make it right.
Did you/do you have scratches on the paint surface?
Swirls are a side effect of improper detailing or cleaning techniques, IE - not washing properly; using a circular motion to wash, wax or polish; buffing or polishing a dirty surface (no matter how small the dirt particles).
You should insist that the dealer pay to have the vehicle properly detailed by a professional and not rely on the high school kid they pay minimum wage. When I bought my truck, I insisted to the dealer that they remove the protective film, but not wash or clean the exterior paint at all.
Well, I am fairly confident that I will go to pick it up today, and once again find it in has the scratches. As I mentioned in my previous post, my salesperson said that the next thing they would do, is order a new one and not do the PDI(not sure that is the correct abbreviation). She told me that the truck would come from the factory and they would not touch it or remove any of the packaging material. This would probably the best solution since I will not have holes drilled in to the bumper for the front license plate. IMO, the cheapened out on the license mount on the 03 by not providing a mounting bracket.
This was talked about some time ago. Some say that ALL the paint on today's automobiles is inferior to what it used to be. I for one feel the paint on the Tundra is really bad. It scratches very easily and tree and/or bird droppings eat right through the clear coat. Is it just Toyota's paint and not others . . . I don't know, but I do know the paint on my wife's Lexus seems to be better than the paint on my Tundra.
Maybe it has something to do with U.S. -vs- Japan paint. On my old '87 Toyota truck, the bed was added after the truck was shipped over from Japan. The paint on the cab of the truck held up really well, while the paint on the bed, (Which was made and painted in the U.S.!), didn't hold up well at all.
I guess I was spoiled by the quality of the LC and assumed all toyotas had a higher than average paint quality. A neighbor has an escalade that is less than a year old and the paint quality on that is really bad.
Dude, no matter what have them order you a new truck - I would. You paid a lot of money for the truck and it should be perfect. Personally, I got a white truck for the very reason that I didnt want to have to worry so much about "swirls" (but black is tight if its WELL maintained). I didnt wash my truck or anything until I did all my research on detailing. The bottom line is that WHAT MATTERS THE MOST FROM PREVENTING SWIRLS (IMHO) is what type of cloth/towel/chamois etc. you use to dry/wash/polish your truck. ITS THE TYPE OF CLOTH MORE THAN WAX/POLISH/CAR WASH that will dictate whether you will get swirls or not. You can read all the hundreds of posts and threads on the subject - but if you want my opinion then wash your truck yourself (car washes use cheap terry cloth towels to dry sometimes). Use a clear coat safe wash mit, dry with a high QUALITY chamois and polish (BY HAND) using an expensive, 100% cotton bath towel (from high end department stores - the super soft Fieldcrest Cannon ones). Use whatever high quality car wash liquid and polish you want (although I do use the Zaino products). Whatever I am doing must be right because I CHALLENGE ANYBODY TO FIND ANY EVIDENCE OF PAINT SWIRLS ON MY TRUCK. Yes its WHITE, but even under my flourescent street lights at night there is not a trace of a swirl anywhere at any angle you may look at it!
I heard from a source that the paint on the Tundra is water based and that Toyota uses water based paint because of environmental reasons. As you guys know it’s also very thin. My truck looks like hell from just one winter here.
That said
Camry you saw most likely made in USA - scratches
FourRunner - made in Japan - scratches
Sequoia - made in USA at the same place as Tundra - no scratches
Tundra - made in USA in Indiana - scratches
Element in common - dealership ?
Draw your own conclusions.
PDI = Pre-delivery Inspection?
If your neighbors 'Sclade is year old and looks bad, maybe all Toyota's do have better than average paint (i.e. please define average)
O2K
PS Paint is different in Japan and USA, its called environmental requirements
I didn't want to start a discussion on car care just wanted to get some feedback on the paint quality of the tundra. Without getting hung up on the definition of "average" I thought some of the members here could give me their thoughts on the paint and finish relative to their other cars.
regarding washing and detailing; I usually only hand wash my vehicles, but in this case, since the truck arrived dirty there would be not way to tell the condition of the paint without letting them wash it. Had I taken it home, I would have been responsible for it. although I discourage it, my wife occassionaly has her car detailed by someone other than myself and she does not have any surface damage.
I am very fanatical about my vehicles and do not have one scratch dings or dent on any of my cars. trucks, or motorcycles. I have gotten dings on occassion and immediately have the PDR guys at my house to fix it.
I follow the zaino best practices for detailing which includes cutting all polyester thread off of the 20 or so field crest towels and washcloths that I buy every 6 months. In addition, I rinse the cloth off with a 40 PSI hose pressure about 100 times during the course of washing my vehicle. At the end of a wash, the bucket of car wash ,or dawn if I am stripping the wax down, is still crystal clear.
Am I fanatical? Yes. Will I get a new truck? Yes. I am sure that I will go in and find that the vehicle is not up to my standards and will have a new one delivered sans PDI.
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If your neighbors 'Sclade is year old and looks bad, maybe all Toyota's do have better than average paint (i.e. please define average)
O2K
PS Paint is different in Japan and USA, its called environmental requirements[/QUOTE]
I shouldn't have introduced my neighbors escalade in to the discussion as there are clearly differences in their level of car care, or lack there of.
I do not know the environmental differences that you speak of. Can you elaborate on those differences?
In the last year I have owned both an 02 4-Runner and 03 Tundra in Jade Green. 1 from Japan and 1 from Indiana. Both had the same tendencies to show every scratch, swirl and defect. No differences.
I too am a fanatic about my vehicles. For several years I have purchased all of my car care products from www.griotsgarage.com and have found them to be the best. The orbital polisher with #2 and #3 polishing compounds every several months removes the light swirls. No matter how careful you are, you "will" get swirls. The dark colors simply make them easy to see.
Toyota paint.....not better...not worse than any others that I see.
I don't think it scratches any easier than any other vehicle that I have owned, it is just black, black shows everything! Every car has minor surface scratches, black just shows then really bad at certain angles with certain light.
I love my black when it is clean, but that only lasts about 15 minutes. It will be the last black vehicle I ever buy.
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1996 T100, 180,000 and counting
Is the tundra paint quality inferior?
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