Clear Coat Failure

[Fromanhb]

Fellas, after washing my truck yesterday I've noticed 3 different spots on my truck where the clear coat is failing. Two different spots on the roof, one about an inch in diameter, the other about half an inch. The third spot is on the hood and is about an inch long by a centimeter wide.

Normally paint isn't covered under warranty so the service manager is going to take a look at it this week and see if it's a defect or "operator error."

The truck is only 2.5 years old with 35,000 miles. Has anyone else noticed problems with the clear coat on 07+ models?

I'll try to get some pictures up but I'm having difficulty getting the spots to show up on camera, since the metallic silver paint seems to hide the defects.

[xtacoman]

I have an 07 too but no clear coat failure as of yet. I think that there are a few plants that they make these trucks and you should be able to tell where its from. Perhaps other from the same factory are having the issue and it can be a recall item. Ill check to see where my truck was made too.

[nomadic]

mileage should have nothing to do with paint... i've been thinking of having the truck sprayed with a coat of clear, i know someone that would do it for me cheap. now i'm paranoid and i have to go look over the truck...

[xtacoman]

The only issue with that is that the top coat will only adhere as well as the bottom coat so IMHO you would be wasting your $$ without sanding through the factory clear. If you have the money this would be a good thing because the paint is pretty thin on these trucks.

[tsolomon]

Don't let the dealer buffalo you. Paint is under the warranty if the clear coat is falling off or failing prematurely. You are very close to the end of your warranty and if they think they can stall you they may try to wait until you are past your milage or time to cover the issue. The warranty is BUMPER TO BUMPER, paint included. Obviously, if the problem is due to some product being applied or some other outside influence, then that would not be a manufacture defect. Otherwise, don't budge on warranty repair. Make sure you DOCUMENT your visit with your dealer. If need be, send an email to the general manager or write a letter. I've seen less than honorable dealers do this to people. They try to wait them out of their warranty coverage especially if things are slow for them and they have a body shop this could be a better paying job. Let me be clear that there are some very good dealers out there that are very respectable and run by honorable families, thank you to those people. You didn't seem to be completely clear as to what was happening with your paint but be assured that if you or some other person has not induced or contributed to this issue it is a warranty item and you need to make sure that you can demonstrate that you brought this issue to the dealer prior to warranty expiration. If need be, send a letter to Toyota describing your concern for your paint. Remember with these kind of letters, honey attracts more bees than vinegar. I've had this issue before so I know how you feel and what you are going through. Good luck. Oh, try taking pictures in a shaded area or different types of lighting. Direct sun or dark areas (unlit garage) may be too much of one extreme or the other. You may end up having to show the difference in the failed area and a normal area by lack of reflection. This can be done with a hand held light of some sort or possibly by a camera flash at the right angle. Different colors of light may help also. Good luck! In the words of Galaxy Quest Captain "never give up, never surrender".

[dan1942]

I had an 07 as well and just got rid of it for an 2010. The 07 had a complete wrap on it for 2 years and when I pulled off the wrap all the clear coat was perfectly intact. Usually if you have a weak clear coat you will notice it when you pull off a wrap.
Good luck!

[Fromanhb]

I did purchase a platinum 6yr, 100k warranty, just waiting on the final paperwork. However, while reading the warranty coverage and exclusions it specifically states paint is not covered.

However, I would presume that factory defective clear coat would fall under different circumstances. I'm afraid to hear the "you failed to upkeep your paint properly, and the damage was caused by bird droppings" excuses. I'll put up a fight if I have too, but would prefer not to get into it.

[Tankerhank]

I tell ya the jury is still out on this EPA required water based paint on vehicles. I am sure in time it will get better but we will have to see how this stuff holds up. And the thing is it don't matter what brand a vehicle ya get you are stuck with these water paints.

[sneekee_MT]

I've owned my 07 radiant red tundra for about a month now and my biggest complaint is the paint job. I'm not sure what the H*ll Toyota was smoking when they painted my truck? There is absolutley no clear coat on my truck and if your breath on it to hard it scratches to the bare metal. I'm just waiting until I can completley re-paint the whole thing. It' really irks me off that its 2009 and car manf. can't figure out how to apply paint? I probably won't ever buy a toyota again.

[Tankerhank]

Have fun finding a manufacture that is required to use water paints.

[sledhead907]

I've had mine over a year, and it looks better than when I took delivery. The truck get's washed once a week, and a wax "booster" applied using Cobra Microfiber towels. I've gotten a few small scratches over time, but have been able to pull them out with my PC7424.

With that said...

How is your paint failing? Could it be bird bomb etching?

[JaredPointer]

As much as I love Toyota vehicles, they have the worst paint outside of Kia of any vehicle manufacturer I detail. Thin, bad orange peel (although that's an industry standard these days), soft (easy to mar), easy to chip & scratch, etc. I had to have a 2005 Tacoma completely repainted in 2006 - and no it was not covered under warranty. I went pretty high up the customer service chain with the complaint, but in the end it came down to the fact that Toyota does not cover the paint unless it is workmanship related - i.e. not environmentally caused from fallout, acid rain, etc. Again, I had a 2009 Tacoma that had terrible etched waterspots. Again, I had to get the hood repainted - again, Toyota did not cover under warranty. Now I have an 08 Tundra limited that appears to get a paint chip if you look at it wrong. So far, the only Toyota I have ever bought that did not have some sort of paint issues is my wife's 2009 Highlander, and the jury could still be out on that one.

[PPosey]

OK so what is safe to clean tar off of a 2008 tundra? recieved several splotches on the hood this weekend from road construction,,,,,,,,,,,,,, worried about this paint issue

[JaredPointer]

OK so what is safe to clean tar off of a 2008 tundra? recieved several splotches on the hood this weekend from road construction,,,,,,,,,,,,,, worried about this paint issue

Stoner's Tarminator will work out of the can. You can also use various APC's at a light dilution. You could try clay also. All of this assuming a normal wash (using car shampoo) doesn't get it off. Always try the least aggressive method first and be careful trying to "rub" it off, as the paint on these trucks is so soft and thin you can easily mar it (spiderwebbing, swirls, scratches, etc).

[Fromanhb]

I've had mine over a year, and it looks better than when I took delivery. The truck get's washed once a week, and a wax "booster" applied using Cobra Microfiber towels. I've gotten a few small scratches over time, but have been able to pull them out with my PC7424.

With that said...

How is your paint failing? Could it be bird bomb etching?

I make sure bird poop doesn't stay on the paint. However the damage appears to be the start of failing clear-coat. Similar to that of older vehicles

I took some iPhone pics that at different angles, it's very hard to see on camera at some angles.