The clear coat on the roof of my '08 has has suddenly begun to crack and peel. Is this normal for this age car? What experiences have others had with this problem?
Are you the original owner of the vehicle????? I had a 2004 'till 2011 with out any paint peeling> I sounds like your vehicle was repainted at some point................
The problem is rampant here in AZ, particularly with the darker colors. It's hard to find anything that doesn't have exactly what you describe unless it was garage kept and able to be under covered parking when they were at work.
This suddenly started happening to my light green 2008 Prius also. I see that yours is also the light green. I called Toyota and they said this is not a 'known issue'. Today, I saw TWO other 2008 light green Prius's in my city with the same issue. It has to be something with this run of the 2008 light green Prius. Please call and report to Toyota if you have not yet.
Paint is a wear item. Cars left out in the sun for 10 years tend to have paint problems, particularly clear coats. The "not a known issue" is the biggest issue here. Somebody at the dealership is actively blind. Tires, brakes, windshield wipers, light bulbs, belts, batteries, clear coat... They all wear out. At least a bad paint job doesn't prevent normal use of the car. I think red is the worst, but other colors can be almost as bad. You can repaint the car, wrap it, live with it, or replace the car. Do they still make non-clear coat white?
I would guess those cars were never waxed enough? Maybe I have just been lucky. I've owned 3 Toyota vehicles. And a Honda. All with a clear coat. They were parked in the warm/hot sun 365 days a year. 10 years each car. None of them ever had a problem with the clear coat. Why? Because I always waxed them every other month. Sometimes I just did the roof & hood. But do it often.
I have the same thing happening on my 2012. It started about 6 mos. ago and is getting worse very quickly. Got no help at dealership today. Body shop guy said his was doing the same thing. We just paid the damn thing off. They want $1400 to repair the roof and front bumper. The spoiler is crap too but they forgot to include that in the bid. Did some searching and found no class actions covering this. I hand wash and wax yearly. Sits in the driveway but so what, it should last longer than this and it's really pissing me off.
