The blizard-pearl white paint on my 2011 RAV4 is literally jumping off the car. It started at the roofline between the sun roof and windshield. Now the gas door and passenger rear panel too. Losing more daily. Also see ALOT of others suffering the same problem.
We did receive a note from Toyota that they recognize the problem and intend on doing a “customer support program”( not a recall). That was months ago and we’ve been in touch with the local dealer and “ no word yet”. In the meantime if I trade the car in or try to sell it we stand to lose $$$.
I think it’s time for a class action suit or demand a recall.
Yipes…that is unfortunate. Though if Toyota is ahead of the issue… I’d just wait and see what that resolution spells out to be… This is not an inexpensive fix.
Toyota’s given no time frame for action and you’re right it won’t be a cheap repair. So if I want to sell or trade up I lose $$. Car runs great otherwise.
Well your choice is to wait and see… or lose money. Be prepared to suffer both scenarios semi simultaneously however…
I’d push the resolution of the issue by calling or writing those who contacted you about the problem to begin with and inform them that waiting is not something that would be prudent as the issue is getting worse.
This car was probably repainted at some point and the prep work wasn’t done correctly. Paint doesn’t just flake off like this.
Why would Toyota acknowledge a paint problem with cars that were repainted by someone else?
OP, were you planning to trade the car any time soon? Looks like it’s just the paint, not the e-coat, so you can probably afford to wait. But I’d be getting ever-louder with Toyota asking them why “repaint the car” requires so much “working on” before it’s implemented.
Yeah… I’ve seen paint flake off on all sorts of vehicles… just pulls or falls off in sheets. Most likely a prep problem at the factory…when it occurs the way we are discussing here.
My Dad’s brand new 76 Aspen did that. Picked it up from the dealer. On the way home the paint started pealing. He turned around and went back to the dealer…By the time he got back to the dealer the paint was almost completely off the hood. The dealer painted the whole car for free. He had to wait almost 3 weeks because of the backlog of Aspens (and Volare’s) that were being repainted.
No manufacturer is immune to this. Although we’re not sure if the vehicle was ever repainted. Check with the Rav4 forums and see if anyone else is experiencing this.
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Recalls are for safety related issues that are systemic. Paint flaking off is not a safety issue. The way defects like this are dealt with is exactly as it was described- customer support program or similar verbiage. They are not going to repaint every car, only those with the issue and probably for a limited time window. That is, if they decide to do it. Good luck with that class action lawsuit. The lawyers will get rich and you’ll get a voucher for peanuts toward a new car. Just a prediction…
The repair phase for this customer support program began in December, you may not have received the second notice yet because they are sent out in phases. You can contact your dealer to schedule the repair.
There are recalls for Paint issues. Safety recalls are one segment…There are other type’s of recalls.
FWIW the 2000 Ford Ranger that I bought 3 years ago had obviously had some body work and a complete paint job done. In the past year the chips and dings on the inside of the bed have resulted in large pieces of top coat rolling off and looking identical to the photo here including the nice grey primer underneath that seems to have needed a light sanding before painting. The rest of the paint including the outside of the bed have so far shown no signs of loose paint. It appears that the truck was in a wreck and a new bed was installed with a prep sanding on the outside but not on the inside. Maybe a few loads of gravel this spring will finish off the white paint and if so maybe I’ll put a coat of bed liner on it. But like all the trucks I’ve ever owned it was bought for work and not for looks. That’s what my wife used to say about me…
Prove it…They didn’t even recall the frame rot issues. Show me an instance where all owners were notified to bring their vehicle in because of paint.
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New car paint problems seem to be pretty common complaint. My 1990’s Corolla came from the factory w/a minor paint defect on one panel. It was caused by some sort of paint contamination they experienced. They offered to repaint the affected panels under warranty, but I just lived w/it. The devil you know vs the devil you don’t sort of thing. The photo you show above OP is of course not acceptable, not something you can live with. It might be a problem that occurred at the factory and only affected a few cars, or it might be due to a paint reformulation required by the EPA to reduce air polluting emissions as the paint dries that is affecting many cars. About the only thing you can do at this point is to continue to contact both the dealership and Toyota. If this is the way it came from the factory, I expect they’ll eventually address it.
This is not a new car paint problem, the OP’s vehicle is 9 years old.
1.7 million vehicles involved in this warranty extension for the paint…