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Cheap paint?

6K views 51 replies 26 participants last post by  Fragman 
#1 ·
Has anyone else had problems with the quality of the paint on these trucks? I've had my truck for 3 1/2 months and put roughly 17000 kms on it and I've already wore through the paint on my door sill. I also took a chip out on the back of the cab beside the rear window while I was removing my headache rack, I literally just touched it with the the wrench (box end even) and it chipped! I'm not too concerned with the asthetics of it because it is a work truck, and the chip is behind the headache rack and out of obvious sight, but I don't want to have rust issues within a few years. Anyways I applied some touch up paint to the chip (not perfect but to keep it from rusting) and I was thinking of having my door sill touched up and applying a 3M clear protective liner over all 4.

Has anyone else had similar problems or know of others that I should be aware of? I'm often leaning over the bedside to grab stuff and I'm worries that I'll scratch them up with the zipper and buttons of my coveralls.
 
#2 ·
uh yeah buttons and zippers would scratch any modern paint job, but especially paint from 2008 on when EPA mandated water based. couple that with the fact you have single stage non clear coated white paint and it will scratch. but you really have to take care of it...stop hitting it with wrenches, stop dragging feet across the door sill, stop rubbing zippers and buttons on it...any truck/car/whatever will scratch when subjected to that abuse. also, dont bother posting about soft sheet metal when u lean on the bed and it starts denting...thats been discussed almost as much as the paint has....but then you have people who take care of paint and it lasts and lasts.
 
#5 ·
yeh.. Its ****.
 
#6 ·
My rubber hose scratches my from washing it and barely touching while I was getting into my bed to rinse the top of the truck. I ask the dealership about it and they told my toyota put the bare minium of paint coverage on there cars and trucks. Then proceeded to tell me there is nothing they could do about it. Today's paint sucks.
 
#7 ·
My dog's nails scratch through the paint. Not just the surface, but through the paint. Our paint is crap, even by watercolor standards. I've heard of a few guys that prepped and completely repainted their new Tundras with real paint and clearcoat.
what ya'll fail to realize though, is even with the thickest paint and clearcoat, a dog's nails will still scratch it. heck, clearcoat finishes have been around forever, and a towel can sratch the surface putting swirls in it. thats why paint finishes on anything should never have tools, dog's nails, zippers, buttons etc rubbed against them. not sure what you guys expect but nothing, and i do mean nothing, will hold up to that, aside from perhaps powdercoating or linex-ing the dam thing. perhaps the old acrylic finishes of 50 years ago were thick enough to handle the abuse people and dogs put them through, but geez....to complain and act suprised that dogs nails, zippers, wrenches, etc scratch or chip paint is kinda ignorant IMO...
 
#8 ·
Yeah, as far as dog's nails go...I've seen that happen on plenty of vehicles in the past 20 years. Most unsightly marks once they are there, but you know exactly what caused it...immediately. That's going to happen on any car/truck...I don't think you can fault a vehicle's paint when it comes to a dog's scratching...vehicle will lose every time.
 
#9 ·
Scuffing the paint is one thing, but scratching through it is another.

...Not my first dog, or my first car with paint.
I guess I should park it in the garage so the paint doesn't have to endure the everyday environment that cars have been subjected to for the last 100 years. I drive my truck and would like the paint to hold up a little better. It's not a Kia for crying out loud. Rubber hose from a car wash or rubber soled tennis shoes should not ruin the paint.
 
#10 ·
i have had other toyota pickups and a land cruiser. The paint on my 2007 tundra is the softest and worst paint. i have stopped paying much attention to the paint job since it was getting so frustrating when i would carefully buff out a spot only to find lots of other inperfections or door dings .

My other toyotas never showed as much visible damage .. they were dark colors also.
 
#12 ·
u guys probally think its ok to use the carwash foaming brush on paint too....
 
#13 ·
About average compared to other makes. It's right up there with rotors as a top complaint among modern pickups and SUVs. The most durable paint I ever had was on my 95 Ranger and the 97 Corolla I drove for a bit. In light fender benders or door ding situations with those vehicles the paint didn't even always chip down to the primer. Alot of times the worst I had to worry about was minor clearcoat scuffs that could easily be removed by hand.

On my Crewmax, one of the first things I noticed when I got around to a good thorough hand wash after a few months is on the rear bed sides down low right where the bed transitions into the rear corner of the fender well, there's a tiny sliver of exposed sheetmetal where they didn't get the area covered with primer or basecoat but then extended the clearcoat over it. On BOTH sides. I touched it up rather than deal with a complete repaint that might lead to other problems or imperfections.

A few chips have already materialized due to minute road debris or dirt, but it's not much worse than my 04 Dakota. I think I got one from hitting it with the pressure washer. Both paint jobs had more of a tendency to show damage from road rash and minor contact than my late 90s vehicles. My 97 Corolla could survive a minor door ding or light fender bender with bent body panels and there would still be no damage to the base coat. My 04 Dakota and 09 Tundra, I know to expect paint chips. Even ones where I haven't hit anything or seen what caused them. If it was my Ford or my Corolla it was at least accompanied by a ding, dent, or something else to indicate that something more than a tiny speck of dirt in the air caused it.

I've gotten real good with touch-up paint as a result.

If your luck is similar to mine you can regularly get hit by other drivers and get insurance-funded high quality aftermarket paint jobs, re-doing the whole job piecemeal at someone else's expensee.
 
#14 ·
EPA sticking their nose in everything. Paint inside and out is cheap. It's a shame to have such a nice truck with paint that easily rubs off the interior and exterior.
 
#15 ·
I've already done diy paint repairs twice on my tundra... now I have this site bookmarked... I think you're right about the paint scratching/chipping too easily.

I drove an Accord previously and didn't seem to have anywhere near the amount of paint problems I do now. It may also be just the fact that the Tundra is wider and takes up more space in parking spots. Who knows..
 
#18 ·
The paint is super thin and the sheet metal isn’t much thicker. If I happen to look at tailgate or bed wrong it with ding and chip. A truck is supposed to be used like a truck. I using mine and in a year it’s going to look like s***.
 
#19 ·
or u can take care of things and use them carefully and not abuse them and they will still look unlike Sh** for years. heck, i know i had a repaint due to vandals but ive never had a door ding or scratch on the truck bfore that paint job, and it was going on 3 years old then...and its been used to haul alot of stuff and people...just take care of it...no need to touch the outside of the cargo box even if using it for work...put stuff INSIDE the bed not outside the bed or outside shell of tailgate and nothing hurts it...dont be one of these doofusus that uses bungee cords across everything down the bedsides etc and wonder where the scratches come from. again, common sense prevails. dont hit the outside parts with tools or materials and theres no issue. dont lean on the side of the bed...thats not what its meant for. the inside is the cargo area. that area is whats supposed to be used for work. not the outside. if they wanted u to use the outside as well they would make a bedliner cap for it. if u cant take care of crap anybetter than that, then linex the whole thing.
 
#20 ·
or u can take care of things and use them carefully and not abuse them and they will still look unlike Sh** for years. heck, i know i had a repaint due to vandals but ive never had a door ding or scratch on the truck bfore that paint job, and it was going on 3 years old then...and its been used to haul alot of stuff and people...just take care of it...no need to touch the outside of the cargo box even if using it for work...put stuff INSIDE the bed not outside the bed or outside shell of tailgate and nothing hurts it...dont be one of these doofusus that uses bungee cords across everything down the bedsides etc and wonder where the scratches come from. again, common sense prevails. dont hit the outside parts with tools or materials and theres no issue. dont lean on the side of the bed...thats not what its meant for. the inside is the cargo area. that area is whats supposed to be used for work. not the outside. if they wanted u to use the outside as well they would make a bedliner cap for it. if u cant take care of crap anybetter than that, then linex the whole thing.
If you use a truck the outside of the bed will get hit with things. There isn’t any way around it. I could be extra careful not to dig the fragile paint or sheet metal. But what if someone else is loading it and I am not there to hold their hand? All I am saying is the paint and sheet metal on my Tundra is way too thin and will not hold up under heavy use.
 
#21 ·
well the easy way around it is to put a 6 inch lift on it hahaha. that way u cant reach over the side to put stuff in, so nothing hits the side and problem solved. hahahaha. perfect excuse for a lift "uh honey, i need a lift to prevent body damage".

but seriously, ive had pickups that ive used for lawn mowing business back in high school, as well as loaded and overloaded this one and others, with tons of crap and never hit the outside of the bed. guess im just more careful? oh and if its my truck, no one loads or unloads anything from "my" truck w/o me there so i dont have that issue. anyone around me knows not to touch, lean or rub my cars/truck/boat w/o my permission and even then they know not to bother it cause i am particular.
 
#22 ·
Hey Barney, wake up and realize that for some people a truck is a tool. It gets used, sometimes abused, but it needs to hold up!! If not, you have to upgrade your tools. I love my tundra, and I loved my old Toyota 4x4s, and I really hope it holds up for the 3 years I need it to (5 would be extra nice)! But for you to tell me and others in my situation thing like don't lean over your bedsides and don't let other people load or unload your truck is the ultimate example of ignorance! I guess I was just hoping that these trucks were built more like a 3/4 ton like everyone says they should be.
For what it's worth, I didn't realize there had been a change to the paint industry wide in the last couple years, so that explains a lot and answered my question. But lay off with the f***ing "you should pamper your truck like it's a luxury car" BS!
 
#23 ·
My dog's nails scratch through the paint. Not just the surface, but through the paint. Our paint is crap, even by watercolor standards. I've heard of a few guys that prepped and completely repainted their new Tundras with real paint and clearcoat.
my dog also nailed my paint by the gas tank. he was tied to the bed and the sucker tried to hopped out and bam his nail dent it when he was flung around... the paint chipped off about 1"x1". the paint is as thin as your hair, its crap! used touched up paint because its just a work truck, but its like having a big zip on the tip of your nose.
 
#24 ·
Paint on my '07 Tundra scratches a lot easier than my 95' T100 did and that scratched easier than my 94' F250 and that scratched easier than my 80' Dodge. Notice the trend? I hear the paint on the 2014 redesign will be so fragile that the body will be shaped like a hot dog and Toyota plans to sell full-body condoms. Just think how simply you could change the color scheme!
 
#25 ·
Paint is garbage. I agree but nothing we can do about it
Well, you could just Line X the whole truck. No more cheap paint problems.:beavbutt:
 
#26 ·
If you want a good comparison, check out an FJ cruiser. They are painted over seas without the EPA regs. The paint is MUCH MUCH betterererer.

I could see either Line-X or a Flat black wrap in my future.....
 
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