Take a look at these two pictures of the trim between the front and rear side windows, passenger side, of my 2009 Prius. Any idea what might be causing this. I showed my dealer and they said it looked like someone hit the car. I disagree. It looks like the trim has actually melted. There are no scratch marks like you would expect if there was physical contact. Also the front piece of trim is simply distorted (don't know if you can tell from the picture). This has only occurred in the past couple of months. Nothing has changed about where the car is parked, etc. In fact, this side of the vehicle is parked next to another vehicle I own 95% of the time. Any ideas? Seen anything like this?
Looks to me like someone stuck a screwdriver behind the trim in an attempt to pry the window/door open.
You might be right, but take a look at this higher resolution photo. If a screwdriver was used, why is their no damage to the piece underneath the damaged trim. Sorry, but doesn't seem to accept higher res image. Basically, what the higher res image would show is no damage to area immediately beneath the damaged area. Wouldn't both the top and bottom layers be damaged if someone tried to pry the door open? Maybe that's what happened, but hard to envision how. Also, no apparent screwdriver marks.
It would depend how far the screw driver was shoved in. I would also matter if it was a Phillips, or Flatblade. The reason you can not upload a Hi-Res photo to PChat is has a limit on photo size. it's somewhere around 108k or so. I optimize my pics to reduce file size, while not losing resolution! Back to the car, what do the pieces cost, and if you do one side, are you going to do the other for color matching ? Attempted break in! Too bad!
Another possibility is heat damage due to reflected sunlight. There is another thread in the GenIII forum: Defect or "External Influence" with Melted Plastic | PriusChat that discusses a similar situation.
Simple reflected sunlight cannot be any worse than direct sunlight. To be damaging, it has to be focused or significantly concentrated.
Yes, that would be the case. Try Googling: "melted siding" and see the results. One I found is: The strange phenomenon that's melting vinyl siding Another one found when searching for "vdara death ray" Las Vegas Hotel Pool: Too Much Sunlight for Swimming Tourists - ABC News
Hmmm. Might be due to reflected sunlight since condo where I live has the e-glass mentioned in some of the links provided. In any event, guess I've got to get it repaired. I'll check with Toyota, but suspect they'll charge me an arm and a leg. I see where I can get the front and rear door trim for about $50 online, but can't find anything that details how to make the repair. Anyone done this or can direct me to a "how to" source short of buying a full repair manual? Thanks.
Go to Toyota Information Services and for $15 bucks you have 48 hrs to download the entire manual for your car in PDF format. It may take a bit of time, but it will get you what you need!
HEY We NEED YOUR INFO WE HAVE OTHERS THAT HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM please get back to me with your email so we can all find out whats happening i have posted on priuschat my email is tpmelia at optonline dot net...they wont let me put my link on here sorry
you should contact your local Toyota dealer or the 800 customer satisfaction number This happened to two cars in the San Francisco area - and if I am not mistaken, Toyota was going to repair their cards for free One of the incidents was the sun reflection from a building window onto a Prius
Searching the internet for heat damaged trim on a Prius and found this chat. I have the same problem and thought it was vandalism, somebody burning the trim with a Bic lighter. One day last week as I walked by my Prius parked in my drive I was struck by the LIGHT! Literally, the sunlight reflected off my second floor "Low E" window hit my face and it was hot, uncomfortablly hot, and it is winter here. In a few more weeks as we progress into summer the sun will climb higher and I will bet it will match up with where I am parking the Prius. Did anyone find out if Toyota is acknowleging the inferior heat resistant trim?
