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Paint Chipping Class Action?

37K views 193 replies 77 participants last post by  mikey 
#1 ·
okay, let the flaming begin, I don't care anymore.

I love the truck, the looks, the way it drives, etc. etc. etc., but I am not happy with the paint chipping.

This is not my daily driver, and has never been off road, but I am seeing a substantial amount of chips in the paint. Not only the front and a pillars, but also the side of the vehicle.

The dealership was helpful and talked to Toyota, but they said they would only paint the a pillars, and the rest was tough luck. I called Toyota and got ahold of Alonzo Scates in the customer service who was a total tool and hung up on me. Yes, I'm calling this customer disservice rep out. After calling back again, I got ahold of a nice young lady who was very helpful and took my information. I still hope it will be taken care of, but I'm wondering how many others out there are willing to pursue this thing if needs be.

People wanting to flame me can go ahead an bite me at this point as I was/am happy enough with the car (except for this) to buy my wife one as she has taken an interest in it and is up for a new car. This will definately queer the deal if it is not taken care of.

I want to gauge interest in a class action if needed in order to get Toyota to remedy this situation. I really don't want to get rid of it, but I will if I need to.
 
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#3 ·
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/general-discussion/22835-class-action-windshields.html?highlight=class+action

It's been brought up before here on the forums...class actions.

While annoying, I recommend some patience, as we are not even through the FJs first model year. I suspect that Toyota is putting some remedy together to fix this. They've been hounded about this for months now. Between the windshields and paint chips...data still coming in....

If we don't hear from Toyota next year around this time, then well maybe it will be time to get the drums beating!

my 2 cents
 
#5 ·
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/foru...ction-windshields.html?highlight=class+action

It's been brought up before here on the forums...class actions.

While annoying, I recommend some patience, as we are not even through the FJs first model year. I suspect that Toyota is putting some remedy together to fix this. They've been hounded about this for months now. Between the windshields and paint chips...data still coming in....

If we don't hear from Toyota next year around this time, then well maybe it will be time to get the drums beating!

my 2 cents
I understand what your saying, but they are pretty much saying no dice at this point. In a year, my FJ will have a grandiant white to Blue effect, and they may or may not admit a problem. Not sure if I can wait to take the risk that they will just ignore the problem.
 
#4 ·
I think once i have to replace the windshield , I'm just going to get all my cosmetic stuff fixed. Haven't had a problem with paint chips but Hopefully I can come up with some excuse about how the rocks hitting my windshield had some "butterfly effect" on my rear bumper someone scratched.

And anything else that comes up. Pay the deductible get an all you can fix buffet . (if possible):bananahump-slvrathl
 
#6 ·
I now have chipping all over my body. I've scheduled an appointment on monday to meet up with my sales guy. Overall, my dealer relationship has been great. I will see what the dealer will do for me. I just flipped 15K miles this weekend. Honestly, I can say that I have never owned a vehicle that has sustatained this level of cosmetic damage in such a short period of time. The paint on the FJ (mine anyway) is disapointing to say the least. Currently, the only panel not to have paint chips is the rear door.

I'm gonna push to have the FJ repainted at the dealer/Toyota's expense. I could understand if the FJ had seen trail abuse or had higher miles/years before this started happening. This problem certainly does not meet my expectation for durability from a company that touts durability as one of thier primary marketing campaigns.

I'll report back once I meet up with my dealer. I hope that they will be cooperative in trying to remedy this situation.
 
#7 ·
Daily driver, off road too...........1 small chip, a few woodland tattoos, 1 replaced windshield.

I don't think you're going to get anywhaere with the paint chipping problem... now if it was a paint peeling problem, maybe.
 
#14 ·
I'm not seeking a class action suit, just for the dealer to back up their product. I looked in my owner's manual and it stated that the body panels were covered if there was an issue that caused rust. I'm not sure how large a chip/peel has to be, but if it's starting to rust at 1yr/15k miles then I can only presume that it will be a rust bucket by 50 or 100K.

...and if I wanted that, I would have bought a Chevy.

If this is the best that Toyota can produce, then this may be my last Toyota. If need be, I'll pay for the re-paint myself (only if the dealer won't cooperate). I love my FJ and plan on keeping it for years to come, but Iam not sold so far on the whole "quality" aspect that they pay millions of dollars to "educate" the public about via their media campaigns. I hope that their claims about quality is more then just a lip-service.

I'll be very nice about it, but my future business is one the line!
 
#8 ·
No paint problems on mine, so no interest. I can on,y go on personal experience. The windshield issue is another story. Going on my third after only 5 months and 5600 miles.

You might want to check to see if certain colors are more prone to chipping, but I can't see any reason why, unless they're just more obvious.
 
#10 ·
I baby mine, haven't really been off road, and my A-Pillars, hood, fenders, and even doors have enough chips to ruin my wash day. I pointed it out to my dealer at my 10K oil change and they basically said, "yep, those are rock chips, not our problem." I filed a complaint with Toyota, and while they were polite enough, I was basically given a case number and told to jump. If they're being hounded about this issue, everyone is playing dumb around here. Sign me up for this suit and F the flamers. Off road vehicle or no... if chips aren't earned on a trail, I don't want to see em.
 
#130 · (Edited)
I baby mine, haven't really been off road, and my A-Pillars, hood, fenders, and even doors have enough chips to ruin my wash day. I pointed it out to my dealer at my 10K oil change and they basically said, "yep, those are rock chips, not our problem." I filed a complaint with Toyota, and while they were polite enough, I was basically given a case number and told to jump. If they're being hounded about this issue, everyone is playing dumb around here. Sign me up for this suit and F the flamers. Off road vehicle or no... if chips aren't earned on a trail, I don't want to see em.
Sing me up too! I got 19K (Not a daily driver) and have been using the touch up pain I got like crazy!! I love the truck too and I dont get why the paint chips soo easily!!!

IM IN! PS I have Voodoo Blue as well.
 
#12 ·
#13 ·
This is great news! I originally thought I would live with the chips on the front of the truck, but now that chips have literally appeared all over the rig, I'm getting concerned. Plus, some of the chips were deep enough to cause minor rusting. All I want is a rig that will endure the first few years without cause for concern. I've got my appointment on monday and will report back with my findings.

Thanks for supplying your links. This will give me some idea on how to proceed forward.
 
#15 ·
For those of you who have had success in getting Toyota to take care of repainting your cars... I sure would love to know your case numbers (once you've gotten your work taken care of)... It would be nice to have proof of such a practice. Everyone I talk to pretends they've never heard of a paint chip problem. (or a windshield problem for that matter!)
 
#16 ·
The problem, to play devil's advocate here, is how do you tell who has paint chips because the paint and who has them because they went off road and got rock chips, or tail gate to much and get rock chips...you see my point right?
I hate the chips on mine, probably over 20 or so. I clean them and touch them up and move on.
 
#19 · (Edited)
FJoel,

I have no intention of suing Toyota over the paint job. I just want to see what they can do for me. The FJ is the first auto from any manufacturer that I have ever purchased new. Needless to say, I have higher expectations for a new car with only 15k miles on it. Due to my insane schedule with my job, I havn't had an opportunity to go wheeling yet. I would certainly be more occomodating if I had beaten my FJ up on the trial and had a bunch of desert pinstriping to show for it.

As it stands, the FJ has been a weekend vehicle to go skiing up in the mountains with.... Shouuld I just sit back and idley watch my FJs exterior become worthless from little use? I say, no way!

5 days a week, my FJ sits in a garage. On the weekend, I look forward to parking my Audi and taking the FJ for a spin.

As I stated earlier, I will get my FJ repainted (with the best paint available), out of pocket (if necessary) to keep my baby for years to come. But I'll tell you one thing...If it comes down to me footing a bill for a paint job that is degrading by the minute because Toyota couldn't run a few more coats or have more clear coat applied, then this will be the last Toyota I ever purchase.

Now, the windshield is another matter alltogether...but I won't hi-jack this thread for that topic. I've very publicly stated my positoin on that matter and am looking forward to the sharks taking a bite out of Toyota's A$$ on that one! And if need be, I'll turn my FJ into a rock crawler and trailer it up to the trail to go on my expeditions just to avoid replacing the window every 6 months.

Like it or not, the paint job and the front windshield are the achilles heel of the FJ. The choice is theirs, make it right or loose my business forever!
 
#20 ·
I dunno man, I don't see Toyota just all of the sudden screwing up their paint jobs. They know what they are doing, maybe there are just more rocks on the roads these days, it was a bad winter...

And for windshields... go hit up a jeep or hummer forum. If you want a vehicle with a windshield at that angle you are going to be chipping glass.

The FJ's are Japan made. Unless Toyota has some new "Kia" like game plan where as they cheap out on whatever is possible (glass and paint in this case) it's not their fault. Rocks hit your paint and it chipped. It's not like it is peeling off.

You want Toyota to cover rocks hitting your paint is what it comes down to. You should be trying to get rocks off your roads or something more productive. You can get the best D@mn paint in the world. Now drive @ 60 plus MPH and put a rock in front of it. Paint chip!!!

If the physics off rocks hitting your vehicle really bothers you, you will never be happy. $h!t happens. Deal with it. Be happy, and enjoy your FJ. If you can't enjoy it because the paint gets hit by pebbles, stones, rocks, really hard bugs, whatever, then I respect your decision to boycot Toyota due to bad paint.

There should be a dealer option for 20 extra coats of clearcoat...
 
#25 · (Edited)
Black Cherry,

I'm with you on that one. But for the time being, I'm going to exhibit some patience. I just got back from a visit with my dealer. My sales guy (who has been stellar and exhibited a high degree of professionalism) inspected my FJ and noted that the chipping was excessive in his opinion. He then spoke with the service manager about the problem.

The service manager stated that the factory representative needed to inspect the damage to see what can be done. She apparently won't be in for another three weeks. So, I now have a tentative date to speak with the factory rep.

I was cordial about the additional meeting and will be looking forward to seeing what the rep has to say. I'm being patient and nice about it for now. I'll report back once I meet with the factory rep. and give everyone an update.
 
#28 ·
Kilted makes a very good point, but just to further play devils advocate, I bet a look at one's skids might give an idea of how robustly a vehicle has been playing off road. I guess I'll either be signing up for the touch up paint option or inventing fantastic off road adventure "fish stories" to imress the babes!
 
#33 ·
Mine too! Horrible quality for any vehicle with only 15K miles on it.

But as I stated before, If they don't make it right....ALL of my future business is on the line!
 
#34 ·
It is more than 3 people having problems with paint chipping -- in fact, you won't have to look too hard to find a poll that shows a lot of people are having this problem.

Like the windshield issue, I think the shape of the truck has something to do with why chipping can be so bad. But I also think the paint is pretty bad. I've had other vehicles -- even other vehicles that have been in mud and on roads that are sanded in the winter -- that haven't had nearly the problems as I have on the FJ with just a few hundred miles on it. I have a number of chips on the door that go all the way to metal.

After a few off-road related scratches in my truck, I've become less concerned about a few chips and plan to try the cleanning/touch up method for a while. However, that's just me.

People should be able to reasonably expect a brand new vehicle should not be peppered with white/silver spots -- and enough people have had the problem that it appears to be a genuine issue.

I don't think going straight to lawsuit is the answer -- particularly if everyone really concerned with the problem hasn't even bothered to inform Toyota, open a case number, talk with the dealer, etc.

OTOH, I am having trouble understanding why, with issues that seem to be happening to a significant percentage of owners, someone always feels the need to be a pompous d1ckbag about it when other people decide they would like to do something about it. I guess the Internet is just a good way for pompus d1ckbags to spout off.

BTW, just for fun, I called a body shop buddy of mine to see how much it costs to repaint an entire vehicle with paint adhesion problems. He said that if the paint is really bad, it will always be a problem even if you repaint, because the base coat still won't stick to the vehicle. It sounds like the only way to truly fix the problem is to completely remove the jacked up paint and that this is prohibitively expensive.
 
#35 ·
I just got back from seeing the Engineer and Toyota Rep. Here is what happened..

I just got into work just now! I spent the morning at IRA Toyota. To think the first thing I do when I come into work is to log into this site and update my fellow FJ'ers.. Boy this is sad. Anyway...

The engineer was a really nice guy so was the Toyota Rep. Here is what their had to say..

Paint Chipping - No repaint! Why, paint chip issues are only happening in the Northeast and Northwest portions of the country. It's the rock salt their use on the highways during the winter months. States like Texas and Florida do not have these issues. The paint has to be at a minimum 2 mm to 4 mm thick. My FJ was a little over 4 mm in some areas! Therefore no manufactors defect was found! He also said that Toyotas made in the U.S. do have paint issues. It's because of the EPA guidlines. However our FJ's were built in Japan which do not have these guidlines. Therefore the paint quality in Japan is far better than the U.S.

I was a little worried due to Spartacus' battle scares from off-roading. But they turn their heads when it came to that. Good thing..

Windshield Issue - This is a design issue. It again only happens in the Northeast and Northwest portions of the country. They did say to keep complaining about it. Toyota will do something on the 2008 models. Also their have a diesel version of the FJ for canadians! More on this on a separate thread.

I did get a free bottle of touch up paint! The service manager was very helpful so I didn't rip his head off when I found out that I wasn't going to get a free paint Job!:slant:
 
#37 ·
I'm not reading this whole thread but this has nothing to do with Toyota or Toyota paint. A lot of automakers use environmentally safer water based paint these days. Go to any other auto forum and you'll see similiar threads. I had the same problem with my audi. Soft paint. If it's a problem, get clearbra, but please don't waste your time trying to get toyota to warranty it or threaten class action lawsuits, it only makes it worse for the rest of us.
 
#40 ·
First, I don't believe in the rock salt theory, I bought my FJ in Oct. 07. Less than three weeks after I bought it I started to notice chips so I ordered a container of black touch up paint and got to work. We all know that the winter started late in the Northeast therefore rock salt is a bunch of BS. I am starting to notice chips in the white as well, I am going to order white touch up next.

If there was a class action suit what would be the remedy? Free paint jobs for everyone, a monetary refund, Toyota pays for us to have them painted on our own or free touch up paint for the life of the vehicle?

It's one thing to get them to admit to a problem and another to get them to do something about it.
 
#43 ·
I agree with you with regard to the difficulty of getting Toyota to do something about it which is why class action suits are popular these days. I'm not advocating legal action in every situation, but I can say that how they tread on this matter will certainly influence which manufacturers I purchase vehicles from in the future and which ones to stay away from.
 
#45 · (Edited)
MTB,

Your penchant for pulling apart statements and making counter claims is admirable but doesn't mean much. You might be jaded by the "quality" of the FJ but I'm calling B.S. On my rig, the polka-dotting is everywhere except for where the clear bra is-that's why I'm upset about the sub-standard paint job on the FJ and why my sales guy said "it's the worst he's seen." Why you seek proof is beyond me, I'm simply relaying my experience so that others can have full knowledge of the problems BEFORE they decide to buy one. I'm not into blowing smoke up people's A$$ES when there is a real problem. It may not happen to all FJs but it is certainly happening to mine. Personally, I have nothing to prove to you unless you happen to work for Toyota and can score me a factory authorized warranty paint job. If you do happen to work for Toyota and can talk to someone at corporate, then I'd be happy to supply photos.

And if you don't like my posts then quit gravitating toward them. Thanks for the advice to play nice...Oh, OB1...but I think I'll pass and honor my first amendment right to free speech without all the P.C. niceties that permiate this society and make people weak by design. I think I'll leave the sensitivity training to all the brain-washed automatons out there. Ultimately, if you don't like what I have to say then place me on your banned list and you'll never have to see them again.

Until then, I'm going to make a stink about these problems until they are resolved. As far as I'm concerned, there is no rule on the forum that states that all comments need to be positive in regard to the overwhelming "I love my FJ" mentality. By and large, I do love my FJ, but that doesn't mean that every aspect is stellar, because it isn't!

You are entitled to your opinon as am I. Suggesting that I limit my freedom of speech to your version of acceptability is hog wash and completely denies THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

Again, I'm not sure why you persist on standing up for the untouchable "quality" and "durability" of the FJ when it is apparent to me and other owners that there is a growing problem with the paint and the front windshield. My current opinon is that cosmetically (exterior only), the FJ is crap!!! I'm sorry if this bursts your "FJ is god" bubble, but I have higher expectations from a company that prides itself on quality.

Based on your sentiments on both this thread and the windshield thread, my guess is that you don't have a problem with either-good for you!

Now, admittedly, I have a short fuse when I see BS statements made that have no apparent merit. In my case, I have my own FJ with all the chipping and pitting (paint and windshield) as proof. Is this a widespread problem with a majority of FJs out there? I don't know. But if a blanket statement does have merit then back it up with fact or at least a personal story to give some street credibility. As far as everyone's "damages" go, I'm comfortable enough with their stories without needing pictures. I have compassion and don't need hard evidence to know what they are going through.

Responding to any entry is open to anyone. No one has made me forum moderator but free speech is a two way street. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but in my opinion, don't throw out non-sensical statements if you don't want to get flamed. Cause I've got my flamethrower with a big old tank of fuel at my disposal.

:flamed:

Jo2,

Just because paint chipping happens to other vehicles does not make it right-it just means that other manufacturers make lemons too!

If my Audi were exhibiting a tenth of the chipping I've seen occur on my FJ, I'd be in the face of Audi as well!!! In fact, I just got off the phone with my Audi salesman (now GM) and explained what was happening. His response was that "if the same damage had occured to my Audi he would have it warrantied and suggested I do the same with Toyota."

Two (or more) wrongs do not make a right, whoever sold you on that bag of garbage probably has a bridge they want to sell you as well!!!
 
#48 ·
Yup! You can paint a turd any color you want and it will still be a turd...only a candy coated one! ;)

What will be the true test is if the '08s have similar problems...my guess is that Toyota will make adjustments and the newer model years will be "new and improved". But only time will tell!
 
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