I bought my xB 5 days ago and I love driving it. It's a great vehicle. There is one problem.

My xB has the Black Sand Pearl paint job. The paint job is great everywhere but the hood. The hood has 4 rather large spots and numerous smaller spots and lines that are a greyish blue color.

I have taken it back to the dealership (one hour away) and they took a look at it. They said it was caused by water that gets trapped under the plastic they put on the hood for shipping. They said that the spots were moisture trapped under the clear coat. That the spots would "cook" out over a month. They said this was a normal occurence.

A couple of questions for those paint savy:

1) Is this normal?

2) Does this cause damage to paint job? Will I see the permanent results a year or two down the road?

3) Will the sun "cook" out the spots over the next month?

4) Any suggestions on how to document this with the dealership so they don't blame it on me if this doesn't correct itself?

Part 2. Delays in aftermarket parts.
They said they would have the aftermarkt parts this Tuesday. (Quick Shift, Fog Lamps, Sway Bar, Rims) They don't have the rims and quick shift yet. But they are unwilling to install the fog lamps and sway bar now. They keep putting it off. I keep hearing maybe Friday. Are delays with dealerships like this common? Any thing I can do to move this process along? Any suggestions to calm my nerves?

The salesman has been very nice and the dealership seems well run, but I have this nagging feeling in the back of my head that the other foot is going to drop and I'm going to get screwed over someway. I'm not so much worried about the parts, I've paid for them already and they will put them in when they put them in. I'm more worried about the marks in the paint. The parts are just compounding the anxiety. Any knowledge would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Lekker :?:

 

i wouldnt worry about the parts not being in. i had the same issue when i got mine but when they came in i got a loaner car for the day while they did all the stuff. so it was all good.

i dunno about the paint though, maybe call another scion dealer and explain to them, maybe its common. otherwise try calling scion, the number is somewheres on scion.com

 

I've never heard of anything like that in the paint.

To document:

Take lots and lots of pictures from all angles, close and far.

When you took your car in for the spots, they should write up a work order. Be sure to go to the service dept and have them do one. It should say something like: Customer reports spots on hood. Please check and advise. They then need to complete the order with their findings. This will document the problem and date in writing. Don't just pull up to the sales dept and talk to the salesmen about it.

Call the scion customer line at 1.866.70.SCION. and ask them if they've heard of this and if it sounds acceptable to them. Ask them what you can do if the problem doesn't go away.

That's where I'd start. Good luck.

As for the parts, I'd just as soon wait and get them all done at once. I just took my Box in for a few items. I waited so I wouldn't have to make multiple trips for minor things. Turns out they didn't know that a glass shop has to do the rear trim replacement, so now I have to make a second trip to deal with it...

 

Thanks for the advice. I've done the picture thing (with date and time stamp, but that's kinda worthless). I'll give scion a call tonight and see what they say and I'll take it by the dealership tmrw to make sure the do the work order on it.

I'm not so much worried about the parts, but the paint thing sounded fishy to me.

Cheers,

Lekker

 

Just get a CF hood and be done with it.

 

They were absolutely correct on the paint issue. There is a TSB that describes this condition and your dealer could show it to you. The Rappguard plastic can get bubbles in it and moisture in the voids permeates the fresh clearcoat leaving "stains". A careful application of heat gun will clear this right up if you are not the patient type. No worries.

 

HUH? Ive never head of that- From my understanding the paint is baked at over 300 degrees from the factory (versus 180 degrees aftermarket) so the clearcoat is compleatly cured when it leaves the factory. Im not saying your totally wrong, but that dosent make sence...

As for the parts- they probably want you to wait for all the parts to get in- that way they can get them done in one big swoop...

 

Actually it makes perfect sense. The Rappguard is applied at the factory and can be on the car for some time. New paint is not fully cured. It takes some time for the paint to fully cure. This is not my opinion, this is what is stated in a service bullitin written by Toyota Motor Sales in response to the exact problem the customer originally stated. One thing I have learned over the years is that the older I get, the more things I have never heard of.

 

you can always send the pictures to yourself via the postal service, it'll give you a post date stamp.

 

only so long as you don't open the envelope with the pictures in it. otherwise you just have an opened envelope (with on old date on it) that's now being used to hold some pics. if it's open - there's zero proof it was mailed WITH the pics in it.

 

Why waste time with the Perry Mason BS? Why not see your dealer and see what they have to fix this? It's amazing that every time anyone has the slightest problem some on this forum become the Warren Commission.

 

Good luck. Hopefully the dealer will do something about the paint.
If not, wax?

 

So the dealership called today and said it was going to take 2 to 3 weeks to get the quick shift!?! So they had me drop the car off tonight to put on the other parts. I had them make a note on the work order describing the issue. So now the problem is documented. I'm going to give it the month they asked for. If it doesn't clear up in a months time then I'll get them to take care of it (or send out a hit squad).

I just find wonder if this is a known issue then why not take steps to prevent it?

As for waxing, I don't want to do anything that might allow them to point the blame finger at me. It is documented now so I don't have to worry about that so much. Besides, if the moisture is under the clear coat then waxing won't do $hit for it. For right now they know I have a documented issue with it so I hope they will do the right thing.

 

My car had this exact same problem! The dealer told me they could repaint the hood at no charge, but I was afraid it wouldn't match (This was before the TSB). So I decided to leave it alone. I went to go try some scratch remover after my first week of ownership, but I noticed it was almost gone. Sure enough, it *completely* went away in a few weeks after sitting in the sun all day. I ordered my car and saw it when it arrived with the plastic still on. I picked it up the very next day and did not notice the defects in the paint as I took delivery at night. My opinion is to just wait it out.