PIP Paint Damage/Warranty Assistance?

Hi everyone. I ran across this posting when I was searching online for any other owners who issues with their paint chipping from their vehicles.

Let me give you some background:
I own a 2012 Prius Two (not a plug-in), purchased in April 2012
A few weeks after purchase, I noticed a chip in the paint on my hood, I didn't think too much of it, but in retrospect, it seemed a bit odd since I just got the car. The chip is all the way down to the metal, so it must have been a hefty rock that hit it. (No rust on this spot though)
A couple weeks ago I noticed three small chips in the paint on the roof of my Prius, again all the way down to the metal but this time there is rust underneath! I don't know when these occurred or what caused them (I'll post some pics later) but I highly doubt it was due to a rock or another "environmental" factor. I took the vehicle into the dealership and surprise, surprise, I was told that the damage was environmental and not a defect and would not be covered under the warranty. The service manager also said there were other spots on the roof and blamed these on environmental factors too. I was crushed to hear this! I've only had the car about 15 months and it's already rusting??? I have never heard of this happening. Prior to this car, I owned a 2009 Toyota Corolla and had absolutely no issues with the paint. I don't drive or store either vehicle differently so I don't understand how this could happen! In all the cars I've had, I've never seen this. Sure, I've had rocks chip the paint before, but never all the way down to the metal and 3 is a straight line. I was told by the dealer that a rep from Toyota would be in town in August and can take a look at my car. I'm afraid that they will say the same thing and I'll be stuck with a car that is slowly rusting away. Do anyone have any advice on what I can do? To add insult to injury, the manager at the dealership had absolutely no advice to prevent this damage from happening in the future! Shouldn't the paint on the car be more durable and not chip all the way down to the metal??? From some of the prior postings, it looks like Toyota Corp is a fairly reasonable company to deal with and I'm hoping I will have the same luck. I'm so upset over this because I love my Prius.

On a side note, I also noticed tons of tiny scratches in the paint, all over the car. It's almost as if the paint was too soft or something. I had a body shop point out the rock chip on the hood to me, they had used a grease pencil to draw a circle around it and I noticed that the impression of the circle was still on the hood after the grease pencil was washed off. That seems pretty odd doesn't it?

Thanks everyone for reading this!

 

Hi Jasmine78,
Have you opened a case with our Customer Experience Center? If so, please message me privately with your case number and I will investigate. If you haven't done so, the number for CEC is 800-331-4331.
Thank you for being a loyal Toyota driver!

Natalya Edwards
Prius Product Marketing
Toyota USA